{"id":2382,"date":"2016-10-13T02:42:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T02:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2016-10-13T05:07:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T05:07:56","slug":"day-tripping-to-port-stephens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/?p=2382","title":{"rendered":"Day Tripping to Port Stephens"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Humpback southern migration is in full swing down the NSW Coast and it’s definitely time to escape the big city! So off to beautiful Port \u00a0Stephens\u00a0a few\u00a0hours drive north of Sydney with some friends to join Moonshadow Cruises to go whale watching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Leaving d’Albora Marina, Nelson Bay<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

September and October are by far my favourite whale watching months of the year. Spring is here, days are warmer and longer, the whales are coming south. Everyones relaxed, far more than on their northward journey when there were babies to be made and had.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Whales putting on a show.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

There is nothing so beautiful as the joy of life in baby animals. Baby Humpbacks are no exception, its just on a much bigger scale!<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Baby Humpback Breaches<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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A Humpback Tail Slap<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

We have hardly left the entrance to Port Stephens when we spot a pod of whales playing. Its two mum’s with their calves and the calves are having a ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Humpback Breaches<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

We tag along south as the calves constantly play, breaching and tail slapping. It’s almost as if they need to try out every acrobatic manouver at once. The mum’s like mums the world over are just tagging along trying to make sure junior doesn’t get into too much trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Little Island<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

We follow the whales in-between the islands just off the coast, its a little choppy with the waves reflecting off the islands but the show is fantastic. I’ve not had the best of whale watching seasons so this is great!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Peck Slaps<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

On the way home we stop by to visit the New Zealand Fur Seals hanging out on Cabbage Tree Island. Its wild and rugged on the eastern ocean facing side giving way to beautiful clear waters, trees and\u00a0Cabbage Tree Palms on the protected shore facing side. The seals are in a little cove, hauled out on the rocks looking fat and happy as they lounge in the sun. It’s wonderful to see the seals returning to these areas having been completely wiped out by sealers in the 1800’s.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A New Zealand Fur Seal<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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The wild eastern side of Cabbage Tree Island<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Now we’re on the search for dolphins! Secretly I was hoping to see these guys more than the whales and there are lots that call\u00a0Port Stephens home. They are the\u00a0Indo-Pacific Bottlenose (Tursiops aduncus or inshore\u00a0Bottlenose) Dolphins who inhabit the costal waters and rivers around Australia. We spot them as we enter back into\u00a0Port Stephens, Yah!!<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The name Bottlenose Dolphin can be a little confusing as there are in fact\u00a0at lease four subspecies of Bottlenose Dolphins in Australian waters.
\n<\/span>Common bottlenose dolphin<\/strong>\u00a0(Tursiops truncatus), sometimes\u00a0referred\u00a0to as the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin.\u00a0They are found in the temperate and tropical parts of most oceans.
\n<\/span>Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin<\/strong>\u00a0(Tursiops aduncus)\u00a0also sometimes know as the\u00a0Southern Hemisphere Bottlenose Dolphin or Inshore Bottlenose\u00a0Dolphin. These are found in the waters around India, Australia, East Africa and the Red and South China Seas.
\n<\/span>Pacific bottlenose dolphin<\/strong>\u00a0(T. truncatus\u00a0gilli) which is found in the Pacific Ocean.
\n<\/span>Burranan dolphin<\/strong>\u00a0(Tursiops australis)\u00a0was only officially\u00a0recognised in 2011. They are found only in Port Phillip Bay and Gippsland Lakes areas of Victoria, Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about Bottlenose Dolphins check out the Whale Spotter Dolphin Information Page: Bottlenose Dolphins<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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A Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

All in all a grand day out and all too soon we are heading back to port. Its been a wonderful day and I’m sure to be back to this beautiful part of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What can be better than whale watching with friends?<\/p><\/div>\n

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d’Albora Marina, Nelson Bay<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Port Stephens<\/strong>
\nTo learn more about the\u00a0Port Stephens area and\u00a0Moonshadow\u00a0Cruises\u00a0please see these links:
\n<\/span>Port Stephens Visitors Information Centre PSVIC
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span>Moonshadow Cruises <\/span>MSC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Camera Kit<\/strong><\/span>
\nNikon D610 Digital Camera<\/span>
\nNikon D500\u00a0Digital Camera<\/span>
\nNikon AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f4G ED VR Lens<\/span>
\nNikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f\/5.6E ED VR Lens<\/span>
\nSirui W-2204 Waterproof Tripod with Sirui K-20X \u2028Ballhead
\nF-Stop Camera Bag
\n<\/span>
\nThanks!<\/strong><\/span>
\nMy great thanks to\u00a0Nikon Australia,\u00a0Mainline Photographics and Pixel One for your outstanding support, guidance and encouragement. Without it this trip would not have been possible!<\/span><\/p>\n

Nikon Australia \u2013\u00a0Nikon\u00a0Cameras<\/strong><\/a><\/span>
\nMainline Photographics \u2013\u00a0Siri Tripods<\/strong><\/a><\/span>
\nPixel One \u2013\u00a0F Stop Camera Bag<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Fingal Head from Barry Park<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Humpback southern migration is in full swing down the NSW Coast and it’s definitely time to escape the big city! So off to beautiful Port \u00a0Stephens\u00a0a few\u00a0hours drive north of Sydney with some friends to join Moonshadow Cruises to go whale watching.\u00a0 September and October are by far my favourite whale watching months of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-whale-watching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2382"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2413,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions\/2413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whalespotter.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}