Humpbacks make a splash double breaching about 4km off South Stradbroke Island this morning
HUMPBACKS are putting on an incredible show with two double breaching off South Straddie while a baby whale earlier frolicked with its mum.
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TWO whales put on a spectacular show just off the Seaway this morning in a rare display of double breaching.
The humpbacks entertained about 70 people aboard a Sea World Whale Watch tour boat around 11am.
Tour manager Grace Robertson has been taking whale watching tours for about four years but said this was only the second time she had seen such a sight.
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“One was in mid-air and the other came out of the water. It was a big shock,” Ms Robertson said.
“You don’t see that every time. To see one breach on its own is amazing and what everybody wants to see when they go on a trip. So to see two breaching at once ... it’s pretty amazing.”
She said the two adult whales had been travelling north ‘quite slowly’ about 4km off South Stradbroke Island, slightly north of the Seaway.
The Gold Coast is a known resting and meeting place for the creatures.
“Double breaching is a random behaviour and done for a number of different reasons. In this instance they would have been communicating with each other. Breaching is a good way to let other whales know where you are,” she said.
“Communication goes for miles and sound travels four times further and faster under water ... we’re talking a four to five nautical miles radius.”
Ms Robertson said this year about 20,000 whales were expected to pass through Gold Coast waters with the height of season running from now until August.
Earlier this week, a baby whale put on a show for whale watchers by frolicking in the waters off the Gold Coast with mum nearby. It’s gorgeous behaviour was captured on film.
The season finishes around November.
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