Reply With QuoteMate, I`d have to change me undies after that!!!
Was out north of Moreton on Sunday with a mate trying to raise a feed.
We were drifting along gently, the wind had dropped and it was very quiet. The quiet was shattered suddenly as an explosion of air from a massive whale that surfaced about 20m behind us coming from the left. WOW awesome Huge, it slowly headed down in a kind of rolling motion. A minute later a slightly smaller whale surfaced less than 15m behind us and waved a fluke at us before diving. about then my rod gave a shake and i grabbed it and hooked...... nothing, so I fed out more line and put it back in the holder. Another whale surfaced about 5m behind us.... just lifted his head and eyeballed us before slowly diving. Then i looked as another whale appeared beside the middle of my boat it stayed a metre or so underwater untill it was clear of my boat before popping up for a breath and a bit of a roll and wave at us. I then saw the first whale (I think) turning around 30m away to the right and heading for us, diving. That was when I noticed my bottom bashing rod with pink 80lb braid going wild and peeling line. As I reached for it I saw my rod with green 50lb braid and the drifting Livie peeling line as well. I thought oh shit I've got a whale or a good school under us in 70m water. As i grabbed the bottom basher another whale bobbed up 20 to 25m behind me to the left with the pink and green braid streaming off it. It stayed a while and just sort of eyeballed me. I was wondering where the other big fella whale was going, and was a bit concerned for this whale with my two lines across it. I grabbed a knife and cut both the lines hoping the weights would pull the lines and be free of the whale without setting the hooks. The hooks should have been a long way from the whale still close to the bottom. The whale just slowly drifted down into the water and seemed to head south away from us. I saw the blows, but I don't know where the rest of the whales went. All of this took only a few minutes. I was just stunned, I could hardly talk and I was trying to absorb what happened in such a short period of time. I was hardly bothered to rig up and drop another livie down.
We are living in a fantastic part of the world, to have this happening in our own back yard.
My friend with me on the boat is from Japan and had never seen a whale before... he was very worried, but somehow i wasnt very worried, I seemed to trust them as they were totally aware of their own size and space and the space around them, and we were no threat to them.
Mate, I`d have to change me undies after that!!!
Cheers
Kerrod
wow great story, thanks for sharing. sounds like your instincts kicked in when you decided in a flurry to cut those lines - well done.
As said by others - you did the right thing.
Good story thanks for sharing.
Cheers
Trev
What is the legal size of whales
Is there a chinaman on the here???
Muddy toes whats the legal size of whale and how many can 1 keep???
X2 there has been some very close encounters this year that is for sure.Originally Posted by Kdog
Under the QLD fisheries act 2012What is the legal size of whales
"A limit of one fin whale per person, provided that the catch is stored in an enclosed esky and no part of the whale is to be visible by general member of the public.
Consumption of the whale is only permissible by the angler and portions cannot be either donate or gifted to friends and family."
I hope that clears up the question.
Humility is not a weather condition.
And remember only one harpoon per fisher in a yellow zone....
a really good mate of mine a few years ago was fishing in his little tinny a few k's offshore and had a similar experience, they hung around for a bit longer.. heres the link its well worth watching..
Ps if was off a spot called Turross NSW south coast
dont knock on deaths door... ring the doorbell and run... death hates that!!
Have had a few close encounters like you explained off Moreton over the years and It never ceases to amaze me how intelligent these creatures are. I have had calves swimming around the boat eyeballing us in glassed out conditions whilst mum whale just swims close by keeping an eye on junior. It really is amazing, especially when you can share such an experience with someone who doesn't get this opportunity elsewhere. We do live in paradise. Thanks for the story.
Whales freak me out, big dopey bastards I rekon.......I know people say they are intelligent but jumping out of the water weighing Tonnes doesnt make sense when your dinner consists of tiny little plankton???
Living the dream, Barry
They're wankers (can we say that on ausfish?) I took my first trip out to the cape on Saturday, wanted to have a sound around Brennan's & Roberts....ok the wind picked up just as I got there, that's ok still doable, then Im 200 meters from the shoal and whales start leaping out of the water right on the spot im heading to.....after reading about the 10m cat that got flipped, SK losing his prop, VMR last year....and lots of other stories I thought nup, they win I'm heading back.....
I am with you..I don't think they are all that smart..and that supposed link to humans..nope.
Yeah I am somewhat sceptical of the 'they know exactly how close they can come without disturbing the boat' idea.
I've seen the utube video of the whale leaping out and landing on a yacht. I reckon they could easily tip the boat over with a mis-timed move. I am pretty sure that something that lives with barnacles on its hide isn't too worried about my gel coat.
That said.... I would very much like to see them reasonably close up. But not too close!
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