THE whales are on their annual migration to Antarctica and making their way through Geographe Bay as part of their epic journey.
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During the migration Busselton plays host to one of the largest population of humpback whales in the world, according to Legend Charters skipper Dean Jensen.
Mr Jensen is a second generation fisherman in the Capes region and has been taking people on charter tours around Geographe Bay for the last six years.
He recently sold his business to another South West charter operator Paul Cross and the pair continue to work together taking people out to see the whales and other deep sea experiences.
Mr Cross invited me onboard one of his Legend Charter Tours to see the whales in Geographe Bay which were splashing about in Wednesday’s perfect weather.
There will be around 34,000 humpback whales go through Geographe Bay this year as they make their way from the tropics to Antarctica, Mr Jensen said.
“We have blue whales, minke whales and had some southern right whales the other day, Busselton is one of the only places in the world where you can see the whales feeding,” he said.
“The blue whales weigh around 100 tonne and are nearly thirty metres long,” Mr Cross said.
“When they sing, their acoustics underwater are louder than two jumbo jets taking off.”
Mr Jensen said the blue whales were 1.5 times heavier then the vessel we were on.
“They are big animals, everything about them are massive,” Mr Jensen said.
“You can hear them through aluminium boats.”
Mr Jensen said people had told him they heard strange noises on still nights at Bunker Bay, while they did not say it was whales, they did say it was high pitched.
“It is a very good chance it was probably whales,” he said.
Mr Cross said it was likely the noise echoed off the limestone at Bunker Bay because it was close to the beach.
From Saturday, Legend Charters will start operating tours from the Busselton Jetty along with a 55 foot catamaran which operates out of Dunsborough.
Mr Cross said he merged his business with Legend Charters because it was the right opportunity to expand and have more scope in the region.
“I love what we do in this industry and I am really excited for the potential to move forward,” he said.
“We have whale and fishing charters, eco-wilderness tours, sunset tours and Bremmer Canyon expeditions happening where people can see the killer whales.”
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