Whales in Queensland, Australia

[Dragon Lady]

I'm just about head south from Bowen in Queensland Aust and I'm a bit concerned about having a collision with one of the many whales migrating south.
So are there many around at the moment and is there any areas to stay clear of?

[rusky]

Yeah, there are heaps around. They are in general also heading south. We saw more whales [& closer] in the years we had black antifouling paint.

Its part of qld in whale season. Keep an eye out . Where are you planning to get to on each leg of the trip?

[Dave852]

Saw dozens from the shore just a few meters off Cape Byron 4 days ago. So staying in close is not an option! Ovive never saw any between Brisbane and Yamba at night a week ago. Was almost no wind so the motor was on...

[Dragon Lady]

We saw quite a few today but were motorsailing, so I think the engine noise would have kept them at a distance.
I'm just considering shut the engine down, as we have just come into some decent wind off Port Clinton.

[Dragon Lady]

Just came down the coast and only saw a few whales around Mooloolabar, though we did go a fair way offshore and the winds were pretty wild so we could have easily missed them.
Happy to say we didn't bump into any!

[rusky]

Great stuff Dragon
When are you in Moreton Bay?

[DtM]

Running the motor does not keep them away.

They are very smart and will almost always miss you. They are also very inquisitive and may just tap you for fun.

[Flybridge 31]

Hi,just be careful. I saw a badly bent prop from a 44' Riveria that was hit by a whale off the coast of Sydney.

The boat was cruising along when all at once they were hit by the whale.
Luckly the skipper shut down both engines as the bent prop shaft was putting the bent prop through the bottom of the boat.

So the engine noise doesn't put them off.They just don't mean to hit the boat as we don't mean to hit them.