Fed: Smorgasboard of whales off Hervey Bay

00-00-0000
Fed: Smorgasboard of whales off Hervey Bay

By Chris Herde

HERVEY BAY, Qld, Aug 8 AAP - They have a new name for the calm waters between FraserIsland and Hervey Bay - whale soup.

The huge mammals have been sighted in record numbers up and down the east coast ofAustralia this year and off Hervey Bay locals are anticipating a best ever whale-watchingseason.

Around 1,000 of the 3,000 humpback whales, which will make their annual trek from theAntarctic to the Great Barrier Reef and back, are expected to frolic in the waters offHervey Bay, 300km north of Brisbane.

John Webster, who skippers the whale watching catamaran Kingfisher I, said earlierthis week around 70 humpbacks were counted.

Long gone are the days when whale watchers returned to shore without sighting the huge creatures.

The large numbers have prompted skippers of the 16 vessels which leave Hervey Bay dailyto search for the humpbacks to dub the waters "whale soup".

"You can put your life on the line this time of year and bring people out here andfind them a whale - no worries," Capt Webster said.

"That will be the case for the next two and half to three months."

Naturally curious, the humpbacks seem to want to interact with the thousands of Australianand international visitors who flock to the waters to see them.

From spy hopping - when they put their heads above the water for a look - to lazilyrolling on their backs and flapping their giant fins, to spectacularly leaping out ofthe water, the whales know how to put on a good show.

Capt Webster said in his 15 years of whale watching he has seen a range of reactionsto the giant mammals.

"I've seen them laugh, cry or just look with stunned expressions - it's great," he said.

The whales also have had a great impact on the city of Hervey Bay which is in one ofAustralia's fastest growing regions.

Fraser Coast and South Burnett Tourism Board general manager Larry Monk said the whaleswere directly responsible for injecting between $10 and $12 million into the local economy.

He said last year there were more than 60,000 whale watching passengers during thethree-month season - up six per cent on 2000.

Mr Monk said he hoped the 2002 season would continue the upward trend.

"When you say you're from Hervey Bay people now say that's where the whales are," he said.

"Other regions pretend to have what we have but don't.

"There's a big difference of having the experience of being with whales in Hervey Baythan seeing them in the open seas or from the mainland."

AAP ch/sc/mg/sb

KEYWORD: WHALES QLD (PIX AVAILABLE)