Exciting matches in South Pacific catalog
We have been busy in the research department adding humpback whales from the 2016 Hervey Bay field season into our South Pacific humpback whale catalog. Along with adding some new animals, we have already made two matches, which is quite a feat considering that each new photo has to be checked against over 6000 others….
Read More »Pod types in Hervey Bay
In an earlier post, we mentioned the recent appearance of mothers with calves in Hervey Bay. Humpback whales do not all migrate at the same time; rather, multiple group types will be predominantly seen at different points throughout the migration.
Are the whales jumping for joy in Hervey Bay?
Breaching, or jumping out of the water, is a behavior that the PWF researchers in Hervey Bay and in Maui observe frequently. A commonly asked question is “Why do whales breach”? The short answer is that no one knows a single cause for this behavior; however, there are a number of theories about what drives such impressive whale…
Read More »Paddle Out For The Whales makes a splash in Australia
As part of the Hervey Bay Oceans Festival, our researchers had the opportunity to be involved in Paddle Out for the Whales–an event to help raise awareness of the threats whales face today.
Field season in Australia is underway
Pacific Whale Foundation’s Australia research program is off to a great start this year. Based out of the town of Hervey Bay, we observe the whales as they migrate along the east coast of Australia, traveling south to their Antarctic feeding grounds. We have had some amazing whale encounters, and we are already starting to…
Read More »Fluke-Up Feeding in Hawaiian Waters
In the past few weeks our office has received numerous calls from concerned citizens about seeing a whale in distress. The whale observed is spending long periods of time at the surface with its flukes extended above the water’s surface. Some have conjectured that it is a whale using its tail flukes to sail; others have…
Read More »A long journey home
Another terrific whale season is almost complete in Hervey Bay, Australia, as Pacific Whale Foundation’s research team come to the tail end of collecting fluke identification and distribution data that will be compiled with 30 years of research in the area.
2014 Australian whale season completed
While Halloween was celebrated in the Northern America, the Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) research team stationed in Australia had their last day in the field in Eden, New South Wales. The day was made even more special by the presence of the replica of the HMS Endeavour, a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James…
Read More »2014 whale season completed
While Halloween was celebrated in the Northern America, the Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) research team stationed in Australia had their last day in the field in Eden, New South Wales. The day was made even more special by the presence of the replica of the HMS Endeavour, a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771.
After spending 9 weeks in Hervey Bay, two of our Research Assistants drove the 1,700 km (1,055 miles) south to Eden for an additional 3 weeks to collect more data on the humpback whales as they migrate south to their Antarctic feeding grounds. It was with great pleasure that we met Cat Balou owners, Rosalind and Gordon Butt, and their crew, who have been supporting the PWF research team for decades.
Mother-calf pairs in Hervey Bay
There has been a change in the size and composition of humpback whale groups sighted within Hervey Bay as the season progresses. In the first weeks of August, yearlings (one-year old whales) and sub-adults (immature individuals of both gender) were mainly found in the bay. This is the time where you are more likely to…
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