Commercial whale watching as an industry of Hervey Bay
Commercial whale watching started in Hervey Bay in 1987. Why not before? The fact that Humpback whales entered the waters of Hervey Bay every year was no secret. Often a radio call to the Air Sea Rescue was overheard, reporting the position of whales and a warning of danger for the faster small vessels on the water. Occasionally people would stop for a quick look, but generally the whales were regarded as part of the environment as were dolphins and thousands of dugongs.
Commercial vessels, taking tourists on fishing trips, had many encounters, sometimes with mixed reactions: "no sooner did we put the anchor out and lines overboard, a whale would swim under the boat, spoiling our chances of catching fish. If the whale didn't shift, we would pull the anchor up and move to another spot, sometimes followed by the whale. They were nice to look at for a few minutes, but people came to fish".
Or: "we were anchored in Platypus Bay one dark and windy night. Only one die-hard was still sitting at the back, rod in one hand and a stubbie in the other. Suddenly a Humpback whale did a spyhop, no more than twenty feet from the boat. When the poor fellow saw about ten feet of the massive head and body rise out of the water, lit up by the glitter of the moon, he let out an animal-like screech, threw his rod down and his stubbie overboard, raced in the wheelhouse, unable to speak. After a while we calmed him down, but he didn't fish or drink for the remainder of the night".
The crew of the fishing charter vessel FRASER PRINCESS had another interesting encounter with a Humpback whale: "we were with 22 passengers off Arch Cliffs, when we noticed what first appeared to be a log, but in fact turned out to be a whale, totally entangled in a shark-net, the massive pectoral fins tight against her body and a thick line around her head and tail, bending the whale like a banana, still breathing, but unable to move. We had no idea what to do in this situation, but knew, unless we tried something, the whale would die. After a few futile attempts to get hold of the line, using of all things a casting rod and a gaff, we drove the vessel against the whale and threw the reef anchor over its body. With the anchor-winch we pulled it back and were able to cut the rope. We then started on the head and bit by bit we began removing the net. When we freed the large pectoral fins and the whale stretched them, we expected her to become aggressive perhaps, or at least try to swim away. But no, she stayed in one position, gently moving the big fins backwards and forwards, as to stretch her muscles. When we finally came to the last bit of net around her tail and drove the FRASER PRINCESS hard into the fluke, she actually assisted by lifting her tail to create a slide, along which the anchor would be guided!
One and a half hours later we once more circled the now freed whale and continued our fishing trip. We radioed the Air Sea Rescue of what happened and, they advised the QNPWS, who chartered an aircraft to check on our whale. They found her WITH her little calf, quietly swimming towards the direction we had also gone. The calf had kept its distance, while the rescue took place.
Everyone on board had a tremendous feeling of satisfaction, but being typical fishermen, they demanded we give them extra time for fishing. Later we were told, that this was the first time a full adult Humpback whale was rescued from a net.
A year later the FRASER PRINCESS was again fishing in the same area, when a large whale came straight for the boat, tried to bring its massive head out of the water, alongside the bow. It succeeded on the third attempt and was petted on the head by Paul McVeigh, one of our crew. Rob May, skipper of the boat swears, that it was the same whale, we rescued. I am not sure. Could it have been trying to thank us?"
The possibility of conducting whale watch tours was discussed by a number of operators, in particular Rex Bacon, owner of the "Crab". But there was always a concern, that whales may not be sighted every day. Rex never saw commercial whale watching in Hervey Bay, but ironically the day after his funeral, the "Crab" went on its first whale watching `trip, fully booked.
Brian Perry was the first to advertise whale watching trips in the Bay, early September 1987 and his TASMAN VENTURE was soon followed by the CRAB, PRINCESS II and the ISLANDER. The FRASER PRINCESS continued "Fishing with the Whales" in the Wathumba area for another couple of years, but no longer trying to avoid the Humpbacks.
Two amazing factors took us, operators, by surprise: first there was this tremendous interest from people and the media wanting to see the whales and secondly, there were always whales in the Bay, during the now established season. Only during the 1991 season, the year of "El Nino", did we fail to see whales every day, yet even then there were only five days without any whales in Hervey Bay. A fantastic record for seven seasons!
There was one other element to whale watching that took me by surprise: the idea of taking people to see these majestic creatures seemed a great way of earning a living,
perhaps a bit of exploitation, but in a humane and sustainable manner. Little did I realize that whale watching for me gradually changed from just "earning a crust" to something intangible, almost a passion. It is rather difficult to describe one's feeling. To take thousands of passengers out to see them enjoying themselves is very satisfying, but then other emotions take over. You learn to appreciate, that we are in the whales' environment, not the other way around. You become protective and tell people not to throw rubbish overboard. And you become annoyed, when you see, that not everybody behaves, as you feel they should. You develop a respect for the animals first and then nature as a whole. Am I turning into a "greenie?" Heaven forbid! I don't even like the colour.
"I remember, that on 18 November 1990 I went out to watch a little calf breach, just off Round Island, clearly visible from the boat harbour. This was almost a month after the last whales left the Bay. To me it was obvious what was happening: the mother, had decided to abandon the calf, perhaps it was sick, too weak, maybe mother was unable to feed it. But nature called her to go to her feeding grounds and the instinct for survival is strong, obviously stronger than the bond between mother and calf. It also happens in the elephant world. Anyway, this tiny little calf, awfully skinny, was constantly breaching, perhaps looking for a way out of the area and in water with almost zero visibility. It came past the small boat I was in, very close and looked me straight in the eyes. I had this feeling of helplessness, what can you do with a 5 metre, 1.500 kg baby, requiring a 44 gallon drum of whale milk every 8 hours? I stayed with it, until almost to the pier and, after wiping the salt-spray out of my eyes, headed for the harbour. Even driving home along the Esplanade I could see an occasional breach as the calf headed out in the direction of the Fairway buoy and towards certain death. I felt strange, because I realized, that I cared".
With the establishment of the Hervey Bay Marine Park in 1989 the Guidelines to Whale Watching became Regulations, but to enforce this is a major task, considering that there could be 21 commercial vessels and a much larger flotilla of private vessels on a wide expanse of water as Hervey Bay. To treat whales with respect, in their environment and to avoid potential harassment, must come from within a person, wanting to do the right thing.
For skippers it is difficult to judge 100 or 300 metres across the water, particularly during windy conditions and at all times the safety and comfort of passengers must remain paramount.
The 1990 season saw the introduction of 21 commercial whale watch permits, which were mostly issued to operators, who had created the industry. Initially there were 7 classes within the permit structure, later reduced to 6, small, medium and large vessels, under or over 15 knots cruising speed. And there was a gradual upgrading in the vessels, from dual purpose such as fishing or ferry to more luxurious, more suited and only used for whale watching. There was also an introduction of a levy per passenger, from which the Marine Park management is paid.