We flew from Sydney to Hervey Bay on the 15th and
spent two lovely days wandering the beaches, eating great Thai food, avoiding a
crazy hostel-mate, and talking with a lovely couple from York.
On our third day we went whale watching with the Pacific
Whale Foundation. What an amazing trip! The tour was led by the researchers
themselves, so it was a great and actually cheaper tour than other more popular
ones in the area. We stopped and hung out with several pods of humpbacks as
they travelled north from Antarctica. Around 80% of the migrating whales stop
to visit Hervey Bay for some reason. They were so friendly and curious and came
right up to and under the boat! Also, since it was breeding season, some of the
males were showing off and being a bit aggressive toward other males. Not in
any scary sort of way though – for example, they would blow bubbles in the
other male’s face to disorient him and to get in closer to the female! Funny
fishy.
They came so close to our boat that we were able to hear the
males’ songs through a small overboard microphone used by the researchers. They
encouraged us to yell and wave because it actually attracts the whales. My
first instinct was to remain still and silent…I guess whales are just party
animals who like a good raucous – just not stomping on the boat.
Another amazing thing at Hervey Bay are the parrots! At dusk
thousands of them flock and screech around just above the trees by the beach.
They do this for about a half hour before settling down for the night. Then, once
they’re back in the trees, out come the fruit bats! They are huge and soar
silently overhead. They don’t fly with the constant flapping you think of for a
bat, but rather looked like hundreds of batman symbols gliding above.
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