Hervey Bay

An ocean picture of a shoreline with apartment blocks.

Visited: late winter/early spring

Recommendation: There is lots to see and do here even if the whales are not present. With lots of waterways and lagoons, it is a great place to explore.

We came to Harvey Bay for one purpose really and that was to go out onto the water and see Humpback Whales. There are some great charters running from here, and at this time of year, calves, mothers, juveniles, come into the lee side of Fraser Island, K'gari.

At the marina, there were plenty of waterbirds and the action centred on the Pelicans. They were fishing in the harbour and resting atop the light poles.

When they were in the water, they attracted the attention of Pied and Little Black Cormorants and surprisingly, a lone Darter.

I'm not sure who was doing the most fishing but it was wonderful to watch them altogether.

Later, at low tide a huge group of Little Black Cormorants gathered on the beach by the main jetty.

Large seabird with black back, white front and yellow facial skin.

Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius) in Australia

Jet black seabird with turquoise eye and black bill.

Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) in Australia

A large dark waterbird with a long neck and yellow bill.

Australasian Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)

A large group of jet black seabirds sitting on the beach.

Back to the main event.

It's only a short ride across to the edge of Fraser Island, and we skirted through some smaller offshore islands and the island itself to get to the Platypus Bay and we very quickly started seeing whales. I went on a dedicated whale watching trip and a swim with whales charter. They were quite different but both immensly rewarding.

The large fin of a whale. It is pale with a dark edge.

A very large sea mammal with a dark back and pale belly.

Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Australia

Humpback whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, traveling up to 10,000 kilometres from their feeding grounds in the icy waters of Antarctica to the warm, tropical waters of Queensland to breed and calve. Unlike other places along the "Humpback Highway" where the whales simply pass by, Hervey Bay is a protected, sheltered bay thanks to the presence of K'gari. This creates a calm, safe haven where the whales can rest, socialize, and nurture their young before continuing their journey. They may stay in the bay for several days, making it an ideal location for observation.

Late winter is considered the peak of the whale watching season in Hervey Bay, offering some of the most spectacular displays of whale behaviour. The calves, who are born without the thick layer of blubber needed for the journey south, use this time to grow stronger. This is a special time for whale watchers, as the calves are often incredibly curious and playful, practicing their own breaching, rolling, and spy-hopping behaviours.

The dorsal fins of 2 large dark sea mammals in the ocean.

Hervey Bay is particularly famous for a behaviour known as "mugging," where the whales show exceptional curiosity and often approach and interact with the whale watching vessels. These close encounters are a highlight for visitors and are a key reason why Hervey Bay is considered a premier whale-watching destination.

I saw breaching, tail and pec slapping. My favourite behaviour was when the whales lifted themselves vertically in the water and showed their head and eyes above the surface and looked around, including at us on the boat.

The large tail of a whale in the air above the water.

The head of a whale poking out of the water. The underside is white with black and yellow marks.

Notable sightings were of a mother and a calf who came right up to the boat. They had a male adult escort with them, and he was huge and showed us his fluke more than once. We also saw a pair of juvenile males together, and they were quite curious about us as well, coming up to the boat.

A group of people in the ocean with a large whale swimming past in the background.

3 whales in the ocean. The tail and backs are visible.

On the swim with whales trip, the highlight was seeing 3 whales which circled the boat and came very close to the swimmers on the mermaid line.

I waas quite surprised on the boat that we saw only a couple of seabirds. A shearwater flew by us but too far away and the only other bird I saw was an Australasian Gannet. As we headed back to the marina, we passed close to K'gari and saw Dingo on the beach.

A large white seabird with black wing tips and pale yellow head.

Australian Gannet (Morus serrator)

An orange brown wild dog walks along a shoreline.

Dingo (Canis lupus dingo)