Research
The research project to be carried out over the next three years by the Marine Mammal Research group at Macquarie University, Bass & Flinders cruises (Whale Watching Sydney) as part of an Australian Research Council linkage grant, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and IFAW is intended to discover some important answers to the sustainability of whale watching not just for the Sydney region but internationally.
Get involved, this Year as past of our ongoing project we have volunteer positions avalible to help us collect information.Click here for more information
Whale Watching Sustainability
We hope to show if the current state and federal rules for whale watching are adequate, inadequate or over-protective for migrating whales. This can be measured by comparing whale-boat interactions and comparing them to behaviour recorded from shore based observatories. This information will be critical to establishing the sustainability of the industry over the long term.
Whale Migration Path
The research will collect data to discover why and how the whales navigate on the yearly migration and what oceanographic features affect their path. Apart from the high purely scientific value, this information will have a direct application on predicting the whales path each day and thus should help reduce boat travel and search times, leading to a smaller ecological footprint and a better experience for whale watchers.
Whale Facts
Research will help us understand the known unknowns and possibly even the unknown unknowns, but for the knowns we think we known we have included some whale facts and some links to further reading
The Humpback whales migrate past our coastline each year, their timetable is predictable, but not exact.
Humpback whale Spyhop beside Ocean Dreaming
From mid May - early August they are heading north to give birth and mate at this time of year they tend to swim at 4-5 knots (5-9km/h) and will have regular down times. They may pass close by the boats to inspect us as they swim, but will tend to keep moving North. They can be very active however especially the large pods of males as they jockey for primacy in anticipation of the mating season
click to Wikipedia page on Humpback whales
Late August - December: The whales are swimming south Mothers with their newborns, and males after the mating season. They tend to spend more time on surface and swim slower (so that the calf can keep up!) although occasionally we will see some long down times. This part of the season is best for Muggings were the whales will come up close to the boat and investigate us!
click to IFAW Australia animated migration map
June - November: Other whales species will occasionally appear, here are some we have seen off Sydney.
The Blue whale
The largest animal on earth, we may see one or two per season. They can be hard to watch with long down times and unpredictable directions!
click to Wikipedia page on Blue whales
Southern Right whale
Our second most common visitor, they often swim into the harbour or bays along the coast searching for a safe place to mate and give birth.
click to Wikipedia page on Southern right whales
Pilot whales and False Killer whales
Often seen in large pods these mammals are prone to beaching.
click to Wikipedia page false killer whales
Dolphins
Both Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose or 'flipper' type) and common pacific (pictured on our bows) dolphins visit with us on about 50-60% of all cruises, they are not migrating like the larger whales, but live in our coastal waters.
click to Wikipedia page on Bottlenose Dolphins
Whales are wild animals, they may do anything, what you see is up to them!