Unoffically calling an end to the 2023 Season!

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Well it has been quite a dismal ‘Whale Sighting’ season for us on The Big Duck this year…. With only four tours being lucky enough to have Whale sightings in late July & through August.

We didn’t have any Southern Right mothers settle into Encounter Bay to calf this year, with only a few sporadic sightings. So, we are now unofficially calling the end to the 2023 season & have our fingers, arms, legs, toes crossed for an exceptional 2024 season. We may, hopefully still catch an occasional sighting from a Humpback making their way back south on there return migration the the Antarctic

While the entire Southern Coast of Australia (WA, SA & VIC) has had a reduction in visiting Southern Right Whales this year, South Africa has had a bumper season!

Even though we have had a poor Whale sighting season, we have had amazing weather and a great winter tour season. We are now looking forward to some great Spring & Summer weather. And are looking forward to bringing back our new seasonal tours along the western Fleurieu from October.

Looking forward to catching you out on the water with us.

Still Big DONUT's

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Our last Whale sighting was a fortnight ago on the 16th August - this year is looking to be quite a disapointing season for Whale sightings, not only here in Encounter Bay, but along the entire Southern Coast of Australia.

So while its a big “Donut/Zero” for Whale sightings lately, we still hold a little bit of optimism that a few late arrivals might pop their heads up along the coast?

We are starting to get some warmer weather, with some stunning winter weather in the past week. So, while we haven’t seen any marine mega-fauna - the tours on the Southern Ocena have been spectacular with great sightings of Dolphins, Fur Seals & Sea-Lions.

Past late whale seasons

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Last week we did get a small surprise with a hope to a start of the whale season however there hasn’t been a sightings since… We are most likely looking at a late start to the whale season.

In the past this has been the case for multiple mum’s staying in Encounter Bay. Thanks to past whale logs we can see that in 2015 sightings of CC (Cow & Calf) pairs weren’t seen until early August. Last year we were really lucky to have early sightings of mother Buttons and calf Bobby in early June.

We will still be keeping an eye out and looking for the first CC pair of the season.

First Sighting for 2023

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Yesterday on our 2pm Southern Ocean Adventure cruise two Southern Wright Whales were spotted in Petrel Cove. This is our first sighting for 2023! It has been a very slow start to the season but fingers crossed we will gradually be seeing more and more Southern Wright Whales on our tours!

Our Southern Ocean Adventure cruise runs from Saturday - Thursday at 11am (additional times may be added). We are still keeping a close eye on whale sightings however sightings are never guaranteed on our cruises.

Thanks to our skipper, Kirk, for capturing this video.

Where are the whales?

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We are still waiting on more whale sightings in Encounter bay with the first southern wright whale confirmed on the 14th of June.

Unfortunately we haven’t had any sightings since. To keep updated check out the SA whale centre’s website: https://www.sawhalecentre.com.au/whale-sightings/whale-sighting-log/ you can also see whale sighting log from 2020 to 1997!

Fingers crossed they are not too far away and that we will start seeing them on our cruises!

Whale season is not too far away!

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We at Big Duck are getting very excited for the upcoming whale season!

We had plenty of activity and sightings on our tours last year from mid-July through to early September and are hoping for another great season in 2023.

If you are wanting to get a glimpse of these beautiful animals this year, keep a look out for our whale log and we will keep you updated on our sightings. Additionally make your booking ahead and come join the ‘Southern Ocean Adventure’ cruise.

Otherwise, the winter whale festival at Victor Harbor is starting this weekend and the program looks amazing. Lots of activities are planned from 26th May - 25th June, check out the program here: https://winterwhalefest.com.au/events

WHALES IN AUGUST

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The best month for whale watching is here!!!!

We are well into the month of August and we’ve had amazing sightings of southern wright whales on our Southern Ocean Adventure tours. On Monday the 15th August our crew captured on video, two southern wright whales breaching about 3 to 4kms out at sea…

There’s only two more weeks left of August, so get in quick to witness a busy whale season before they start to head back to Antarctica.

WHALES, WHALES, WHALES

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Despite the challenging weather lately! We have been seeing loads of Southern Right Whales, Mothers & calves on our Southern Ocean Adventure Tours.

Lately the Southern Ocean has been living up to its reputation, with strong swell & wind waves forcing us to cancel a number of tour departures. While we certainly don’t like cancelling tours, safety is our first priority & we will cancel tours if the ocean conditions are too rough….

The tours we have been able to operate have been met with high frequency of Whale sightings. Yesterday 24th July we saw 7x Whales on both our 11am & 2pm Southern Ocean Adventure Tours. Its so great to be able to head out to sea and show passengers these amazing marine mega-fauna…..

August tends to be the most reliable month for sightings, so if you are keen tick-off Whale watching from your Bucket List? Book on one of our upcoming tours.

BOOK HERE - Southern Ocean Adventure

The Whales Return

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Whales have been spotted along our coast since mid-May, but since the official opening of the 2022 whale season on the 11th of June, numbers have been sky rocketing. Yesterday (28/06) a whopping 10 Southern Right Whales were spotted putting on a magnificent show including breaching and fin slapping. A mother known as Buttons and her calf who have been occupying the Encounter Bay nursery for some weeks now, took refuge from the commotion along the coast at Middleton. Today (29/06) we have seen 3 Southern Right Whales on our Southern Ocean Adventure Cruise and look forward to seeing many more as the season continues.

Working with Marine Scientists

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Today we are out on the water with an internationally recognised Whale Scientist - Our skipper Rupert can be seen rigging up an acoustic device to test ocean noise in our Encounter Bay.

The survey involves placing a sound trap acoustic recorder in the ocean (see diagram). This listens to ambient ocean noise and gets a reading of our coast, the waves and the crashing noise of our rugged coastal landscape.

We then return with our vessel and do a series of 'drive-by's' at various distances from the sound trap - this provides an acoustic signature of our vessels and an indication of the engine noise heard by marine mammals at various distances.

We are so proud to be working so closely with Marine Scientists & the Department of Environment & Water.

Reliable Mums!

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We have 2x regular Cow & Calf pairs hanging about in the Encounter Bay area, and we’ve been seeing them with a degree of regularity.

Monday 9th August - we had our staff sight a Mother & Calf from the shore only 20-minutes before a tour, so we ventured over into the Whale Sanctuary but unfortunately the Whales were a bit allusive and we didn’t manage to see them……. They then moved eastwards towards Goolwa in the afternoon.

Today - 10th August we had similar reports & knew where the whales were… And saw to see them on both tours….. Just goes to show you we can have up-to-date sighting reports, know exactly where Whales & even then sometime we see them, sometimes we don’t……

However its great to see the Mum & their lil’ bubs hanging about for the winter season

PENGUINS!

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Since resuming our tours after our little SA Lock Down, we have been seeing several Mother & Calf pairs over in the Whale Sanctuary area off Middleton Beach….

Recently, we have also seen a dozen or more penguins out on the water! - A “RAFT” of penguins

The Granite Island Penguin Colony is not overly large, being decimated in recent years by foxes and recent surveys of the more remote West Island has seen only a few active penguin burrows - Which means this raft of 12-15x Little Penguins seen on our recent tour were likely to have swum from Kangaroo Islands’ penguin colonies.

The area around the Murray Mouth is known to be a feeding ground for Little Penguins and they travel vast distances (for their size) to feed.

The Iphone video you can see, isn’t the greatest quality! However you can see a penguin….We absolutely love being out on the ocean, you never know what each day holds in store….

SA Siesta

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South Australia has had a brief 7-day statewide Covid Lock-Down and we temporarily postponed tours. But we are now back operational, up & running tours once again - however face-masks are now mandatory for the time being on all tours.

While we have been away! Southern Right mother and Calf pairs have still been seen with excellent frequency along our coastline, so fingers crossed for some awesome whale watching this weekend.

2021 WHALE SEASON BEGINS

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We have already had several sightings onboard tours this Whale Season with numerous sighting over the past weekend (19-20th June 2021).

An individual Female Southern Right ‘Broderie’ has been identified from the distinctive fingerprint callosity patterns on their heads. This is the 3rd time ‘Broderie’ has been identified returning to our Encounter Bay shores.

The image below was taken onboard Sunday 20th June. Sent in with thanks from Daniel Swalling.

Mini Whales (Dolphins) having a chat to their big cousin! Photo Credit: Daniel Swalling

Mini Whales (Dolphins) having a chat to their big cousin!

Photo Credit: Daniel Swalling