A Bunbury Fishing Expedition Turns into Whale Watching

Planning to go whale watching is exciting. Nothing brings the thrill of seeing the sea’s biggest mammals up close and personal.

Planning to go fishing and having it turn into a whale watching expedition for free is even more thrilling. That’s what happened to two fishermen in Bunbury last Sunday. Setting off at 5am and travelling 13kms from Bunbury Coastline, Aden Webb and Simon Golum were soon joined by a 15 metre humpback whale and its calf, both putting on a spectacular show for the two Bunbury fishermen.

Luckily for Aden and Simon, and for us, they had their camera and snapped away while the whales performed in front of them.

“We heard them slapping the water and saw the spray off in the distance and got a bit closer to have a look,” Mr Webb said.

The whales entertained the men for 15 minutes as the adult whale hurled its massive body in the air only 60 metres from the boat.

“The photo only catches the whale on its way back down, at one point it was almost vertical and it was almost entirely out of the water.”

Dolphin Discovery Centre marine biologist Phil Coulthard said humpbacks were becoming more common off the Bunbury coast and were travelling past earlier than normal this year.