Whales!

Hervey Bay is the name of this town and it's named after the real bay where it sits on, between the mainland and the north part of Fraser Island. In the afternoon after we arrived in Hervey Bay we got on a boat with 13 other passengers and sailed out in the bay to spot whales. The whales that can be spotted here are humpbacks and they can be seen here in them months of July until mid-Nov. First the young males come and later the mothers with their calves. They come here while the bay is shallow and safe for the young ones. They tend to stay here for a number of weeks, in which the calves drink 600 liters of the mother's very fat and rich milk every day. When they have grown enough and stored enough energy they will leave for the rich feeding grounds near Antarctica, where there is plenty of krill to feed on and to get ready for the next migration cycle. It is very remarkable to realize that the mother doesn't feed herself during the whole migration.

After having sailed out into the windy and a bit rough bay for an hour, during which I was kind of seasick, I was totally wet from my own perspiration and didn't feel well at all, we spotted our first mother and calf. Later we saw more, spouting, splashing their tails on the water and sometimes jumping. Impressive. Eveline, who had hesitated to go on this excursion first, was totally enthousiastic. Making a photo of such gentle giants appeared to be very difficult, but I got some that can give evidence of this particular experience.