Coronavirus: life’s a breach after tourism rules eased

The sight of a mighty humpback breaching has rarely seemed so spectacular after the lifting of NSW’s COVID-19 lockdown.

A juvenile humpback breaches in front of a Maritime boat at Port Stephens. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The sight of a mighty humpback breaching has rarely seemed so spectacular, with NSW’s COVID-19 lockdown lifted just in time for Port Stephens’s whale watching fleet to embark on its maiden voyage as the beasts make their annual migration up Australia’s east coast.

The encouraging sign of ­regional travel rebooting in NSW has been enjoyed by elated locals nabbing themselves one of 10 available spots on the first cruise of the year, which disembarked on Wednesday.

This week, up to 50 passengers can board the vessels, which host from 30,000 to 40,000 visitors ­annually.

Daniel Aldrich, a skipper for Moonshadow TQC Cruises, said he had anxiously awaited the ­moment he could get back to his ­“office” on the water.

“There’s really nothing like it,” he said. “The actual game itself, having the whales encounter the boat, it’s exciting every time. It’s different, it’s unique, even just the size of them is incredible — I could watch them all day.”

About 35,000 whales, mainly humpbacks, are expected to swim by the Port Stephens coast during the migration, which takes place between May and November.

Mr Aldrich, who has worked with the company for 26 years, said the team at Moonshadow TQC Cruises had equipped the boats with hand sanitiser and ­social distancing markers to comply with the government’s restrictions.

“It’s a completely different ball game now, and it could be months before we get back to normal,” he said.

Port Stephens’s cruise companies work closely together in joint campaigns during the off-season aimed at attracting leisure travellers, both national and international, to the town. However, Mr Aldrich said it was hard to predict how this year would compare with last. “It’s a very close community and we work very well together, in particular with Destination Port Stephens,” he said. “Up until COVID, we had a lot of domestic and international visitors, but now it’s hard to say with everything changing so quickly during the pandemic.”

Lisa Skelton, a marine photographer who works with ­Imagine Cruises and Aquamarine Adventures, said two populations of whales they watch had been ­increasing by 10 per cent each year, a pleasing result following years of poaching.

“The feeling of seeing a whale never fades,” she said. “Everyday is so exciting. You never know what you’re going to see and it’s really humbling being able to see them.”

Originally a teacher, Ms Skelton spent her Monday to Friday in a classroom looking forward to a weekend of whale watching before starting work at the cruise companies seven years ago.

“I’m simply an observer,” she said. “I take the photos to try and preserve the memories. And ­already having the knowledge of the humpbacks means I can really focus on the photography.”