Hervey Bay, for many years was a group of villages, used primarily for people who wanted a quiet seaside life, with good weather, fishing, walking, contemplating the finer things in life, and generally enjoying the lifestyle the area offers. Things have changed now, with a population of 50,000 and growing, Hervey Bay is a dynamic coastal town, with a rapidly expanding economy, and almost continually visited by tourists. Being the centre for the best whale watching in the world, and the gateway to Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, and 4X4 magnet, the town’s economy is stimulated by over 2,900,000 (2004-05) visits a year of excited, enthusiastic tourists!!
Discovered, and named by Captain Cook on his epic journey along the eastern coast of Australia in 1770, the area lay basically unchanged until the 1860’s, when Boyle Martin arrived to become the first settler. Gradually villages grew on the waterfronts, to take advantage of the better things in life that the coast offers, and Polson’s Point (now Point Vernon), Barilba (now Pialba), Torquay, Urangan and Gatakers Bay, were born. The area grew and in 1977, the villages were combined to form what is now, Hervey Bay.
The town is only 290 kilometres north of Brisbane, and is a thriving, busy, place, with a real feel of the holiday destination, that it is!! The Bay has 14 kilometres of sandy beaches and sheltered waters, an ideal place for water sports, fishing, and of course whale watching. Plenty of accommodation, from backpackers to 5 star available, loads of food outlets and shops to visit. There are many options to use to see the whales, they arrive in the Bay in late June, and remain until November. Some people say best times to see them, are really from between August and October, at least that way you have the greater number of whales in the area. When the Humpback Whales arrive, so do hundreds of Bottle Nosed Dolphins. So if you are out on the water, keep your eyes peeled for them, plus the occasional Dugong and large Turtles.
A few facts.
Humpback Whales are the third most endangered species of whale in the world. Numbers are growing, luckily.
There are an estimated 5000 Humpbacks in southern waters, fortunately more in northern waters. An estimated 3000 travel to the tropical calving waters in the southern regions of the Whitsunday Islands each year. All major oceans of the world have Humpbacks, and they fall into three major groups. One, in the northern regions of the Pacific, secondly, in the northern regions of the Atlantic, and thirdly, around the Antarctic ice cap. These groups do not intermingle.
Southern Humpbacks can grow up to 18 metres, and weigh over 45,000 kilograms, which makes them the fifth largest animal on earth. Their flippers are usually one third of their length, or up to 5 metres long. They are Baleen whales, which means, they live on krill. They feed mainly in the southern regions, in colder waters, and travel north each year to give birth in tropical waters. Their calves do not have a blubber layer, and must suckle their mother to build this layer up, before they can travel south, where the water is colder. Mothers can produce 600 litres of milk a day for their calves.
Females Humpbacks are larger than the males. Male Humpbacks are the only ones that sing, mainly during breeding season only.
Humpbacks are the most acrobatic of all whales, and they can be seen slapping their flippers on the surface of the water, or breaching, jumping out of the water as high as they can, and making a huge splash. Usually, the first sign of a whale is the spray from its exhalation, which shoots high into the air, or maybe, seeing a large black shining back, reflecting the sun!! If you can remember take some Polarised sunglasses, it really helps to see whales and dolphins. Happy hunting, it’s really exciting to go whale watching!!
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