Having a "whale" of a time

[lukesfishinmission]

Probably not so relevant to you guys in VIC but thought you may enjoy the images none-the-less

I could not pass up the opportunity to share some of these awesome photos of the whales breaching and frolicking a short distance from Mackay harbour last weekend. There are 2 main reasons for this and the first one is because I think these pics are amazing and would be of interest to many people considering not everyone gets the chance to see these majestic creatures. Secondly, to make fisho’s and boaties aware that these things are out in large numbers at the moment and to be extremely careful when venturing out to sea, especially during low light periods.

Humpback whales make their annual migration from Antarctica to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef marine park between May and September each year. They do this in order to court, mate, give birth or rear their calves.

These pictures exhibit the standard tail extensions, flippering and breaching behaviour.

There are a bunch of do’s and don’ts when it comes to boating near whales so if you need to be informed, please check the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authoritys website. Some very basic ones include not being allowed to motor within 100m of a whale (unless it comes up to you when stationary) and only 3 boats are allowed to be in the caution zone which is between 100m-300m from the whale. These images were all taken whilst in the caution zone and look closer due to the utilisation of a large zoom lens on the SLR.

These photographs actually belong to my friend and colleague Henriette and I would just like to thank her immensely for allowing me to use her amazing images for this post.

For the rest of the images, visit http://www.lukesfishinmission.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lukesfishinmission]

couple more pics

[Boonanza]

Excellent pics Luke love your work mate :thumbsup:



Cheers Steve

[poodoo]

Awesome pics of the humpback whales!

[drew 2]

Great pic's mate,thank's for sharing them. It would be awesome to be there to see them live,but i dont think i'd be going too close,one of them landing on your boat would wreck your day.

[smile0784]

thanks for the pics
their great

[Pedro]

Sensational . . Thanks for sharing.
Pedro@cliftonsprings.

[lukesfishinmission]

Thanks to all you guys for your comments - cheers, Luke

[Fish-Hunter]

Great pic's Luke , thanks for sharing them :thumbsup:

[lukesfishinmission]

Cheers mate