And Whale Song Whale Song by name Whale Song it came By day Seeing the whales play By night Still in our sight Screens of unreal sound In ocean depths abound Real time tunes accompany our work Records of those beneath that lurk Smooth tones fill the wheelhouse Rather […]
Whale Song Our beloved Whale Song Purrs along Waves break gently at her side Through darkness glide Quiet as a church mouse And awfully nice house Listens on our world below While western waters flow Built for a hydrophone […]
For many years fishermen and charter boat operators have seen Bottlenose dolphins Tursiops aduncus (also commonly known as bottlenose dolphins) hunting and fishing inside the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour seeking small fish that congregate along the rock walls and near the jetty pilings. It is encouraging that such successful co-habitation by marine mammals and humans […]
Just wanted to fill you in on yet another amazing project, in which we were able to participate recently. The good ship Whale Song left Fremantle Harbour on August 13 at 1315, bound for Darwin. With rousing hoots and hollers from Sam, our deckhands’, family excitedly waving from the groin of the Fremantle Fishing Boat […]
We recently travelled from Fremantle to Darwin and while en route experienced an incredible sunset feeding frenzy with several species of marine animals. After a long day of searching for whales, at 5:20 pm I was relieved to see a large cetacean-sized splash two nautical miles away on a bearing of 045 degrees. Calling the […]
Manta Magic A splash from afar Soon we’ll see what you are… Brydes whales feeding At the surface leading Surging side-ways Near oceanic manta rays Pink krill leaping Ocean mantas seeking Tropical ocean treats At the line where water and air meets! White bellies upward Krill jumping skyward Barrell-rolling fun Within setting sun Graceful flight […]
While en route to the East Coast of Australia via the “Top End” to take part in a collaborative research program on humpback whales, Whale Song and her crew had an opportunity to once again wind our way north through the nooks and crannies of the exquisite Kimberley coast. We visited well-travelled places and some, […]
The power and spectacle of a 40 ton humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching clear out of the water is truly unforgettable. Humpback whales are the acrobats of the ocean and the minstrels of the sea! Breaching can be used in many ways by a whale depending on the situation. Male whales competing for available females […]
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are a cosmopolitan rorqual whale, one of the eight or nine extant species of whale (there are 5 extinct species) recognised for their unique filter feeding mouth parts, their baleen plates. Most of these species are migratory, travelling huge distances between summer polar feeding regions and winter tropical breeding grounds. Fin […]
Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) raise their huge strong flukes in a deep sounding dive reaching depths of 3 km for up to 2 hours. At depth, they feed on squid which they stun with powerful blasts of focused echolocation clicks, before crushing them with their peg-like teeth. Sometimes white, ring-shaped, scars from the suckers on […]
