The Dunsborough whale watching season has started two weeks earlier than last year!
The annual whale migration started early this year, as the whales moved north from their Antarctic feeding grounds in Feb/March as apposed to April/May. Historically the season didn’t start until June! Seeing a 2.5-month shift over the past 20 years. WHY? Food availability and ocean temperatures play a significant roll in determining when the whales commence their migration for the winter. The humpback whales hit the Kimberly coastline where they breed, calve, and nurse their young much earlier than usual. The whales reside in the calm, warm waters for three months before the calves are strong enough to battle their first southern migration.
Usually, we would still be in Augusta watching the whales travel north at this time of year but the numbers have tapered off drastically. However, there have been significant numbers of happy humpbacks sighted in Geographe Bay over the past two weeks so we’ve decided to relocate the boat and commence tours out of Dunsborough early this season!
On the 6 hour transfer from Augusta back to Dunsborough we had whales traveling both north and south with plenty of eager animals breaching and playing in the calm, crystal clear waters of Geographe Bay!
Bring on the 2020 Dunsborough season and stay tuned for daily whale updates of our incredible encounters 😀
