On July 26th and 27th 2009, my wife Maja and myself spent two fantastic days onboard Freedom III based in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia.
What made these two trips so unique was the amazing crew (and owners!) that was onboard the boat. It really sets it apart from the other commercial operators, giving your day out in the bay a great intimate feeling. There is no stress what-so-ever, as you are out from 09:30 in the morning to around 4 in the afternoon, with morning tea with warm scones and a full buffet lunch later in the day, prepared by Keith (owner, master-chef, master-diver, long time whale-watching veteran in the bay). There is no alcohol license yet, so byo is accepted.
Needless to say, skipper Barry found us whales galore! At this time of the year only young humpback whales were found in the bay; 3-5 year olds. The adults will be arriving around a week later.
As the youngsters rarely breach (jump out of the water), we were all extremely excited on the afternoon of day 2 as a young male breached repeatedly near the boat. What a sight!
A warm thanks to Barry the skipper, Keith & Suzy the owners and the other guests onboard Freedom III – what a superb experience 
Day 1:
An Australian Darter on the jetty as we headed out in the overcast morning
Brown Boobies as we left the harbour
A cold and hopeful whale-watcher
Our first Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
They often came close to the boat, exhaling loudly!
Exhaling loudly
Happy but cold cetacean-watcher
A young female close to Fraser Island, here showing her belly
This one came close and looked at us
At the end of day 1 our skipper found a pod of Common Bottlenose Dolphins with a few Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins
Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus
Day 2:
A Pied Cormorant enjoying the morning sun on the jetty
Little Black Cormorant on the jetty
A bit of morning fun in the lifting fog
Barry the famous whale whispering skipper
Myself, taking a moment away from photographing the beautiful animals
They often sank back into the water vertically
The breaching male seen on day 2
What a sight!
A fantastic experience!
The splashdown phase. It breached on more time closer to the boat, and we were completely taken by surprise!
This whale had a few crab-like parasites living on him. Any idea what they are?
Maja greeting the tiny, 8 meter long whale-baby
Enjoying the sunny weather on day 2
To end this blog-post, a few seabird photos:
Australian Gannet, Morus serrator
Australian Gannet, Morus serrator, taking off
Australian Gannet, Morus serrator
The end of a great trip approaching
