Tasman Venture Blog

Swains Fishing Charter from Hervey Bay

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:56:19 +0000

6 Day Swains Fishing Charter.

Fisherman from Northern NSW. Great catch of: Coral Troat, Sweet Lip, Pearl Pearch, Gold Band Jobfish and Cod.[http://youtu.be/V74kpPn3ocI]

Fishing Charters

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:10:16 +0000

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Remote Fraser Island Tour

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:09:01 +0000

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Whale watching at it’s best

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:05:51 +0000

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Amazing Whale Watching

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:43:15 +0000

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Remote Fraser Island Tour

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:24:29 +0000

Looks like it is going to be beautiful day for our Remote Fraser Island Tour.

Wathumba Creek has just been amazing with great turtle and sting ray sightings the last month. At the Sandy Cape we have spotted some turtle nest and they are catching some Darts of the beach.

Best day out on Fraser Island!

15th November

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:09:43 +0000

Today was our first Remote Fraser Island tour for the season, which is an unique tour up the western side of the island where we visit Wathumba Creek for some exploring, kayaking and snorkelling. We also venture up to the northern end of Fraser Island up to the Sandy Cape Lighthouse, where we walk up the hill to the lighthouse, enjoying the amazing views over the Breaksea Spit and Flinders Sandblow.

We were not far from the lighthouse when LLoyd spotted some blows and came across a mother and calf humpback. These whales were hanging around and obviously fairly late heading south to Antartica. What an extra bonus for our passengers today! Also spotted on the trip were dugongs, turtles, dolphins, lot’s of sea birds and stingrays.

2nd November

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:00:11 +0000

LAST TRIP: Well we missed writing the report yesterday, but we knew that the season was coming to an end. 4 pods were sighted through the day, mainly mothers feeding their calves so all in all it was a very quiet day. We decided to go out today for one last trip and to start with, it was looking like much of the same sort of day to the previous. A very elusive mum and calf sighted first and then a singer who was staying down for extended times, sounding very lonely and calling to any females that wanted to join him for the long journey to Antartica. We headed up to the northern part of the bay and picked up a splash at Rooney’s Point. It turned out to be 2 mums and calves and an escort leaving the bay, but were on the surface the whole time, giving our passengers a great look.

We then decided to head for home and noticed some splashing off Bikini Cliffs which turned out to be a mother and calf who had been around for at least a week. They gave us a grand finale which was awesome to finish the 2011 season, pec slapping, peduncle rolling, breaching and tail slapping. It’s always sad to watch the last pod and as i waved goodbye and wished them luck for their journey, we headed for home, the mother then jumped out of the water with a huge breach to say goodbye. It’s been an amazing season, lot’s of whales and some real well known regulars, with plenty of great weather and we can’t wait to see these magnificent humpbacks return next year to do it all over again for Tasman Venture’s 22nd year. Hope to see you then.

31st October

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:49:11 +0000

AM trip: Glassy conditions prevailed this morning which made spotting fairly easy up in the northern end of the bay. There were about 10 pods scattered around and we visited quite a few of them, with mainly mum/calf pods encountered, including a new one entering the bay. One had an escort with it and we dropped the hydrophone and had some of the most beautiful singing we have heard all season. It was so loud and we could hear the changes in verse as the male serenaded his female companion. Most of the whales were having a rest, lapping up the rays and the beautiful conditions.

PM trip: It was quite a differnt afternoon with a strong south easter hitting the area, which made for windy conditions. We travelled in nice and close to Fraser Island to stay in the protected waters and luckily came across 2 mums and calves hanging out together. They put on an amazing show for us, the calves playful the entire time we were with them and the mums occasionally bringing them in close to the boat for a good look. One of them was the young calf we had been seeing for a few days, but it surely knows how to breach! We had spotted some splashing out wider but decided not to go out into the messy conditions, and had more activity with this pod than we had all morning with several.

30th October

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:14:00 +0000

AM trip: We did some miles looking for our first pods, but they were a couple of mums feeding their calves. It sort of looked like the bay was starting to thin out, but then we spotted some splashing a couple of miles south so we went to investigate. It was a mum pec slapping and a calf breaching who put on quite a show. And then all of a sudden, quite a few pods started showing themselves around the area and another mum and calf became active. Singing was also heard through the hydrophine and then the tail up feeder who has been around for nearly 2 weeks went into her feeding postion and gave our passengers the perfect photo opportunity for a tail shot.

PM trip: 6 pods were viewed this afternoon, with a bit of a mixture of everything. The first mum and calf were resting on the surface, then we noticed another one breaching in the distance. Upon arrival the mother stopped but the calf showed us a few. We also watched our tail up feeder in her usual postion, who was joined by another mum and calf. She seemed to be a bit aggitated by her arrival and was showing some unusual behaviour and them all of a sudden she did a few huge head lunges which also set off the calf. Amazing sight as she is a fairly decent size whale. She settled back down eventually and whilst watching another pod, i heard some singing standing on the front deck, so over the side the hydrophone went, to pick up the very loud song from a male somewhere around us. Still good numbers for this time of the season!