Significance of Whales in Hervey Bay and Queensland

In Hervey Bay, nothing can be more exhilarating than watching giant humpback whales frolicking in the deep, turquoise waters. The playful activities of these magnificent mammals attract tourists from far and wide every year to the natural bay. In fact, the locals are so crazed about the exquisite aquatic creatures that they have even nicknamed one of the regularly visiting whales as ‘Nala’. In general, the humpbacks migrate from Antarctica every year during the whale season and come to breed in the warm waters along the coast of Queensland, where their calves are actually born.

Tourism Queensland, the main representative body for the state’s tourism, has been supporting a campaign called the ‘Humpback Icon Project’ for protecting the intelligent humpbacks. The project was collectively launched by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Oceania Project and Surfers for Cetaceans, and is aimed at encouraging the coastal councils of Australia to celebrate the migration of humpbacks annually. Apart from that, various local tour operators are also working cooperatively with the regional council for promoting Queensland as one of the best places to watch humpbacks in their natural habitat.

The season of the whales in Hervey Bay, which starts from July and extends till November, also witnesses celebration of the Hervey Bay Whale Festival - an event lasting for 12 hours and including fun-filled activities for children such as rides, games, street performances, sand sculpting and handicrafts, an illuminated street parade with a strong theme of conservation in the evening, and a concert featuring Australian bands to raise funds for the conservation of whales. The festival ends with a brilliant display of fireworks.

Every year, a group of whale conservationists and locals paddle out into the waters with surf boards, canoes and boogie boards and form a giant circle to release flowers in the memory of whales that have to face man-made threats everyday. These people also pray that the humpbacks remain safe while journeying between Antarctica and Queensland coast.

There are many lodging facilities providing apartments accommodation in Hervey Bay that organise whale watching tours for enthusiastic tourists who flock to the region during the months of July, August, September, October and November. Besides that, some of these facilities even provide Fraser Island tour packages for those who want to witness the largest sand island in the world. Fraser Island is also a World Heritage listed site, and features more than 100 dune pristine and freshwater lakes.

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