I had never actually seen a whale. True, while in Atlanta a year ago I had seen a Whale Shark, but of course that didn’t count. The most exposure to bona fide whales I had ever had was watching Star Trek IV many years ago, and so Humpback Whales in particular held a certain fascination for me. And even now as we sat aboard the Ocean Defender, drifting in a large bay, and listening to live Humpback Whale song over onboard speakers, I felt a secret thrill knowing that these very animals might one day be needed to save the planet. Of course we still had 266 years before that happened.
The idea to come the here had been suggested by my now regular travelling companions, the Condoleons, some months ago. Sometime after that I had plucked a 2019 Queensland Fraser Coast Visitor’s Guide from the stack of newspapers next to the wood burner while trying to get a fire started one night. Flipping through it I had seen an advertisement for whale watching in Hervey Bay and the picture sold me immediately. Since the Covid pandemic had effectively cancelled the rest of my globe-trotting adventures, I was looking for anything close by to do as a consolation prize. Kroombit Tops had been checked off of the list, but now this three day vacation by the sea was likely to be my last great adventure before quitting Australia.
Peter, Carolyn, and I had made the three hour drive to Urangan with a three day plan in mind. (Three hours looks like nothing on a map.) The first day was to consist of a trip out on a whale watching boat courtesy of the Pacific Whale Foundation, which would use the proceeds to fund further whale and dolphin research as well as other conservation programs.
After driving a round a bit we found the marina and checked in before queuing up at the boat. We were each given a generous dab of hand sanitizer before climbing aboard our designated vessel, the Ocean Defender, and being welcomed aboard by our skipper ‘Millie’, who had once travelled halfway around the globe in a boat with her sister. To my delight we had the three front row seats. I hadn’t tried out my sea legs for years, but a decade earlier I had lasted two hours on a boat in extremely choppy seas without getting sick, so I wasn’t too worried. We motored out of the marina and made our way out into the bay, dealing with wakes that actually put the ride on a level with the rough one we had had at Kroombit the week before. I was suddenly, and oddly, grateful for having been on so many roller coasters and other rides at Cedar Point through the years, as that motion training stood me in good stead now.
To our left on the trip out was the Urangan Pier, which extended a full half mile out into the bay and seemed to go on and on. After several minutes a woman came up to me and apologized that she was going to have to block my view of the water. Her name was Leigh and she was from the UK. It was her job to be the whale spotter, keeping on the lookout for spouts, breaches, flipper waves, head raises and the like to locate the whales.
Part of The Pacific Whale Foundation’s mission was to put a stop to illegal whaling, but now as we were on the ocean straining our eyes for signs of the Humpbacks, it felt a lot like what someone in a crow’s nest would be doing as they looked for whales to target. Before we had come down the ramp to the marina we had passed a large mechanical whaling harpoon overlooking the bay. It had, I imagine, been placed there as a reminder of the threat that still exists for the planet’s largest mammals.
Hervey Bay was the best spot to see whales in Australia between July and November as the animals travel down the East coast as part of their annual migration, They always stop into the bay to rest a bit before continuing on, and it serves as a kind of nursery where the calves can play safely. Even so, the whales stay relatively close to shore in the hopes of avoiding orcas. This year was reported to be especially good for seeing whales because of the reduced sea traffic due to Covid 19, so we had that in our favor.
There were a lot of interesting, but half heard conversations about how the calves suckled exactly (weird) and how whale song is physically produced (no one’s entirely sure). But I did glean two interesting facts. One was that one or more random male whales, who are not related to a mother and calf, are often designated to escort them, and they sometimes do this for quite a long time. A second was that a male whale will sing the exact same song all year, altering it slightly as time passes. The following year it will pick up right where it left off and continue altering it’s song.
On the way out we saw very little, but after turning around and heading back we began to finally get better views of the whales. The strategy for getting a good look was to find a spot where the animals were and pull up nearby, but not too close. This was done out of respect for the whales, who would then have the option to come over and investigate us if they wanted or simply keep their distance. It was a fifty-fifty chance they’d come over, but more often than not they couldn’t resist a quick look at us, especially the calves. We mostly got flipper waves and tails, but we did see some breaches and one even swam over to us upside down with it’s calf. Even though we were already behind schedule getting back to the marina, Millie was nice enough to detour for us twice and those were some of the best views we had all day.
It was quite an experience. I only wish I could have done one of the whale dives! That’s on the new system to do list for sure.
As we sped back to base, we saw Fraser Island keeping pace with us to one side. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was looking into my own future. as we’d be there tomorrow.
Our nautical adventure finished, we next drove to the Lazy Acres Caravan Park where Peter and Carolyn had booked accommodation. It wasn’t much to look at, but once we got inside it was actually very cozy. It was a modular home with a full kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, and shared living and dining area. I made immediate use of the bed, since I still had the headache from that morning, and then woke up three hours later to eat fast food.
Peter is a vegetarian and so he got a ‘Rebel Whopper’ from Hungry Jacks. (The title of this sandwich should make clear that these restaurants are really just ‘Burger Kings’ under a different name for legal reasons.) I chose a McDonald’s cheeseburger instead, but later kicked myself for it. I had never eaten a Rebel burger and I had still not tried anything from Hungry Jacks. I had at this point sadly fallen back into familiar habits rather than trying every new thing I could find as I had months before.
We had started quite early that day and it was well past my hosts’ bedtime, so I retreated to my room after dinner and thought about what lay ahead. Peter had mentioned Fraser Island before we had left Monto, describing it as the world’s largest sand island, to which I had smiled politely while yawning internally.
The next day’s adventure, however, was to change my opinion completely.
Gracie is pregnant.
(spit take)