Moreton Bay Whale Watching

Wednesday was Ekka day in Brisbane.  I compare Ekka to a state fair.  There is a carnival, animal competitions, exhibits, style shows, entertainment and lots of food.  The one difference between Ekka and a state fair is Ekka day is an Australian holiday, giving people the opportunity to go to Ekka.

We decided to go whale watching from the Tangalooma Dolphin Resort in Moreton Bay. If you look at Moreton Island, we sailed around the north tip (in the Coral Sea?) and found 2 pods of southern humpback whales (7 total I think) swimming south towards Antarctica. 

It was a GREAT day for whale watching.  One of the pods spent approximately 30 minutes "playing" with our boat.  Diving under, swimming by, spyhopping (lifting their head vertically out of the water and turning around), blowing along with some tail and fluke slapping.  Very entertaining. 

There appears to be a lot of birds on the island to watch also.  They feed the pelicans and the cormorants daily.  One cheeky cormorant helped himself to the cooler of fish when the biologist wasn't watching.  :)

An Australian Pelican

 One Pied Cormorant

Beautiful Galah Cockatoos eating the freshly sown grass seed in the re-vegetation area.  (Apparently they misunderstood the keep out sign)

  Humpback waiting for a belly scratch

 Humpback just under the boat

Two humpbacks (the second one is just by the "14" in the date under water

 A dynamic duo

As always, wildlife pictures can be challenging.  Especially when others want the same picture.  I missed the spyhopping shot but did get to see them perform.  Maybe next time.