Close encounter with Minke Whales
|
We were in fact a bit concerned when we began our trip. First, our trip was a bit early, at the beginning of June instead of mid June. The water was still very warm and only a few Minkes has been spotted at distance so far. Second, we always wonder how close we can get to the Minkes as we are required to "hold on to the ropes". If we dive, we have to hold on to either the down line or the anchor line. If we snorkel, we have to hold on to the floating line at the back and no duck divings are allowed.
After this first ecounter, the crew appeared to be quite confidence for more Minkes. They said that the spot was not a usual place of seeing Minkes so it means that the normal Minke site should have very good chance. The trick is also simple: park your boat there overnight and the engine noise will attractk the Minkes to come. Once they arrived and get "familiar" with the divers, they will swim really close to look at you.
I considered this is a "must go" experience for all divers. Althought Minkes are the smallest whale species, most of them are still over 20 feet. The interaction of seeing such a huge ocean mammal swim pass you within just a few feet is fasinating and unforgetable. The trip is also relaxing as it is just a short trip for Cairns, the water is warm at 25C (may drop to 21C at end June but still warm by the standard of seeing whales), and there is no hard finnings required! |
In my previous cruise with Mike Ball, I was told that from mid-June to mid-July is the "Minke Season" at the Great Barrier Reef. They say that the chance is practically 100% and they will come really close. I then decided to try my luck, as seeing whales is robably the dream of all divers. The trip is actually quite relaxing, as it is just the same as the standard 4 day 3 night Cod Hole trip on their M.V. Super Sport that departs from Cairns, except that you have very good chances of seeing Minke Whales on some of the dive sites.
However, luck seems to be with us! While I was doing my safty stop after the second dive on the second day, a Minke suddenly appeared from my back and passed me at less than 20 feet away! Everyone jumped into the water snorkeling when they knew about this. Most interesting to us is that the Minke just keep swam closer and closer to us, and passed within 10 feet from us on some occassions. It just seems that he is interested in seeing us as well. We ended up spend more than an hour with this solo Minke.
That evening, we arrived and anchored at the site that is the best for seeing Minkes. On the next morning, we already saw a Minke before our first dive. More and more Minkes arrived later and some of us counted a total of 10. It looks like they are having a party of their own! Exactly as the Mike Ball crew described: just hang on to the rope and they will come very close to you, so close that you feel you can touch them. It looks like they are very curious on divers / snorkelers as well and would like to take a close look once they feel that you are of no threat to them.