{"id":14040,"date":"2021-04-23T15:39:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T07:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/?p=14040"},"modified":"2022-05-10T14:46:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T06:46:34","slug":"big-swell-bigger-whale","status":"publish","type":"daily_blogs","link":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE!"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.9″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]<\/p>\n

22.04.21<\/p>\n

We celebrated Earth Day in style today! Our typical visiting cetaceans were present and accounted for – Long Finned Pilot Whales and Sperm Whales. With multiple encounters of both these species throughout the day. We even spied a small pod of beaked whales momentarily before they surfed the swell and dived back down again. These elusive marine mammals are known for being very quiet and they didn\u2019t even stay to have their picture taken. Notable absence once again were our black and white sea panda friends, Orca<\/a>. We searched high and low over almost 100 nautical mile and found no trace of them. Luckily we were distracted with other wildlife!\u00a0<\/p>\n

The action really kicked off just 2pm. A Sooty Albatross started the excitement! My personal favourite pelagic bird – they are so cute! With their big cartoon eye and big chocolate coloured body. I flew on our six o\u2019clock, soaring in our slipstream. It was also looking for orca, where it would then feed opportunistically on any snacks left by them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A large blow on the horizon at the hotspot caught our attention, appearing large we assumed Sperm Whale from a distance. We meandered over as it was in the general direction of home. We jokingly mentioned it could be a Blue Whale because of the height it reached. Not quite big enough for a blue, but we were not expecting to find what was responsible for it!\u00a0<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video _builder_version=”4.0.9″ src=”https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Fin-WhaleFkw-1-1.mp4″ hover_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.9″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]<\/p>\n

On approach we found False Killer Whales with a swirl of birds above. They were uncharacteristically friendly! Coming straight for our vessel just like orca do. They hung around us, with some still off in the distance fishing. Bottlenose dolphins were here too. All of these animals were mingling together but little did we expect what unfolded next. The almost 3 metre swell was creating for a fun atmosphere with BIG gentle rolling waves. They might have been big, but our next whale was bigger\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

A FIN WHALE\u2026! My oh my. The big blow we spied earlier belonged to this baleen fellow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the history of our tours out here in Bremer, we have only had this privilege once before. Fin whales come in second for biggest whale, only after the Blue whale. They are filter feeding, with asymmetrical pattering on their lower jaw. This means that one side is white and one dark blue!!\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fin was chaperoned by two friendly false killers, who appeared to be playing and socialising together! A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14063,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

19.04.2021<\/p>

After many hours on the water today, we unfortunately headed home without catching a glimpse of the main attraction, orca.\u00a0<\/p>

Although orca-less, our day certainly wasn\u2019t without wildlife. Pilot Whales kept us entertained in the morning while we encountered energetic striped dolphins at midday and then a lone bull sperm whale in the afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>

Squalls of light rain whooshed past us, and on the horizon were more patches of this same weather. It provided an epic moody backdrop, with a waterspout appearing at one point! A waterspout is a vortex or column of water connecting the ocean to the clouds above. Basically like a mini cyclone. Ours juuuuust touched, enough for Machi to get a legendary photograph.<\/p>

The highlight would have to be the striped dolphins. An easy 200 individuals were busting out of the surface, giving an appearance of boiling water!\u00a0Every so often one particularly boisterous dolphin would propel itself easily 2 or so meters into the air! Wriggling it\u2019s body for maximum hang time, it would \u201cfree Willy\u201d back into the water almost 10 meters from take off. Like popcorn going off, they couldn't be contained to their fluid home. Some even jumping higher than the shearwaters were flying!\u00a0<\/p>

We try again tomorrow where we will have a sunshine filled day!\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14040","daily_blogs","type-daily_blogs","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-whale-watching-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBig Swell, BIGGER WHALE! - Naturaliste Charters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Naturaliste Charters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturalistecharterswhalewatching\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-10T06:46:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nat_charters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/\",\"name\":\"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE! - Naturaliste Charters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\\\/old\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-23T07:39:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-10T06:46:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\\\/old\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\\\/old\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1149,\"caption\":\"pod\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/blogs\\\/daily\\\/big-swell-bigger-whale\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching\",\"description\":\"Whale Watching Western Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\\\/old\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/NC-Logo-2021-with-catchphraseArtboard-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\\\/old\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/NC-Logo-2021-with-catchphraseArtboard-1.png\",\"width\":1093,\"height\":456,\"caption\":\"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/naturalistecharters.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/naturalistecharterswhalewatching\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/nat_charters\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/naturalistecharters\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@naturalistecharters\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@naturalistecharters\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE! - Naturaliste Charters","description":"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE!","og_description":"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.","og_url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/","og_site_name":"Naturaliste Charters","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturalistecharterswhalewatching\/","article_modified_time":"2022-05-10T06:46:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1532,"url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@nat_charters","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/","url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/","name":"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE! - Naturaliste Charters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-23T07:39:33+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-10T06:46:34+00:00","description":"A chance encounter and luckily for us the whales hung around our vessel for over an hour ensuring plenty of photo opportunities. How lucky are we that our Earth gives us magical moments like this.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/whale-pod-scaled.jpg","width":1920,"height":1149,"caption":"pod"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/blogs\/daily\/big-swell-bigger-whale\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Big Swell, BIGGER WHALE!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/","name":"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching","description":"Whale Watching Western Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#organization","name":"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching","url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/NC-Logo-2021-with-catchphraseArtboard-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/NC-Logo-2021-with-catchphraseArtboard-1.png","width":1093,"height":456,"caption":"Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturalistecharterswhalewatching\/","https:\/\/x.com\/nat_charters","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/naturalistecharters\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@naturalistecharters","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@naturalistecharters"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/daily_blogs\/14040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/daily_blogs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/daily_blogs"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalistecharters.dilatevps1.cloudsites.net.au\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}