Gold Coast photographer given rare birthday treat with two whales putting on a show and a double breach right in front of his lens
A PHOTOGRAPHER was given a rare birthday treat when two whales put on a show of double breaches right in front of his lens.
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A PHOTOGRAPHER was given a rare birthday treat when two whales put on a show of double breaches right in front of his lens.
Sea Pix Photographics photographer Jason Morgan captured the fully grown humpback whales off South Stradbroke Island on Tuesday, his birthday.
Mr. Morgan said a combination of birthday luck and quick reflexes ensured he captured the whales, who were presumably courting.
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“They were in a courting manner and they had a bit of down time for four or five minutes which when they do a decent size breach they go quite deep, so we were waiting for it,” he said.
“I was lucky enough that I was in the right spot looking at the right direction and they both came up.
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“It’s just a matter of having quick reflexes, knowing where to look and a bit of birthday luck maybe.”
Whales in Paradise owner Anthony Ardern said whales double breached to communicate, see and show off but the photographed pair could definitely of been preparing for mating season earlier than usual.
“It is fairly rare to get the whales to come out of the water at exactly the same time and especially to be able to capture that on film is very special for the photographer,” Mr. Ardern said.
“They do happen time to time when the whale numbers start increasing like now right and through to the end of September we will see more of it.
“When it becomes mating season, which is usually August or September, we do see a higher activity of double breaching and mugging the boat but they do start mating at this time and they definitely could have been doing that in the picture.”
Sea Pix Photographics owner and photographer Glenn Carter said he had noticed a lot of show-off males. “We have been seeing a lot of the males huffing and puffing over the girls as that mating season goes on,” Mr. Carter said.
Mr. Ardern said the whale season had been very strong and between 250-300 whales were seen off the Gold Coast each day.
“Most of the pods that we see are in pods of two but Tuesday we actually had a pod of six whales side by side with dolphins actually surfing the pressure wave (of the boat),” Mr. Ardern said.
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