Cat Balou Cruises kindly invited Magnet journalist Blake Foden on a cruise of Twofold Bay on Thursday.
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Ros and Gordon Butt, and Judi Liddell certainly didn’t disappoint, treating those on board to views of whales, dolphins, birds and even seals over the course of a three-hour trip around the stunningly scenic Twofold Bay.
“No one knows for sure why whales breach, but there are a few theories that have been tossed around,” Cat Balou’s Ros Butt tells the lucky crowd on board Thursday’s cruise of Twofold Bay.
“One is that they’re trying to dislodge barnacles, another is that they just like to feel the wind on their bodies.”
We had to wait to find out the rest, as gasps of amazement from passengers distracted Ros from her commentary.
“Whale at 2 o’clock!”
Sure enough, a small humpback had just breached, only metres from the boat.
If you haven’t seen it for yourself, you wouldn’t know just what an incredible sight it is.
Eden resident Jenny Drenkhahn summed it up perfectly.
“What an amazing morning for it,” she said.
Jenny has grown up in the area and seen many a whale in her time, but her reaction makes it clear that no matter how many times you’ve been there and done that, it still gets the juices flowing.
Nine-year-old Jesse Dalton hasn’t seen as many, but he’s still seen his fair share.
“I go a fair bit, but not as much as I used to,” he said.
“I used to go all the time with my dad, [whales] are awesome.”
But not everybody here is a veteran of the ocean.
German couple Tabea Stevens and Jonas Nobis had never seen a whale, dolphin or a seal before today.
They’re on holidays in Australia for four weeks, staying with their friends, Marlo resident Alice Hesse.
Alice couldn’t think of a better place to show the pair the wonders of our country.
“It’s so cool, I just love it,” Tabea said.
“And I love Australia.
“We wanted to go to Sydney, but it was too hard to organise with all the trains and buses, and this is a beautiful place.”
For a fellow first-time whale watcher and former Sydney-sider, this reporter would have to agree.
Why would you want to live anywhere else when you could have this?