What we have learned from our time Swimming with Whales on the Sunshine Coast!
For years The Pressure Project had been travelling the world running Freediving retreats with many of these locations being rich in Marine life. The birth of our very own vessel Ocean-Rose in 2023 started the journey of more Freedom to explore the depths of the Sunshine Coast and offer opportunities for our local Freedivers to really explore their capabilites and not be governed by where Scuba diving boats travelled to.
After years of exploring oversea’s marine life interactions we realised that year on year we witnessed one of the largest migrations on the planet right here on the Sunshine Coast. The Humpback Whales each year make their journey from the waters of Antartica right up the East Coast to the warmer waters of Queensland to give birth before making their way back south. So after careful consideration we started Swim with Whales on the Sunshine Coast.
Key Learning’s:
Time and Space:
Giving the Whales space first to make a decision on whether they are ok with the boat in their space. Humpbacks are mammals and like human’s are constantly making decisions as to whether a foreign vessel/animal is safe. So we firstly see if they are curious or evasive. So our skippers are trained to give space, move slowly, and let Whales bridge the gap. Only if they show calm, curious behaviour will the guide start to consider entering the water.
Preparation of Swimmers:
We spend more time than other operators on education around what we as guests in their waters can do to make them feel calm and safe. Firstly we use high quality Freediving gear which is much more user friendly gear, more comfortable, and we start with how to use the gear effectively. Secondly we do some breath work on the way out and stress that breathing slowly, moving slowly, means a low heart rate which the Whales can pick up on meaning a higher chance of them being curious. teaching them to enter the water slowly with as little splash as possible. Once in the water we gather as a tight group and move slowly. Whales a re making a decision as to whether we are a threat, as we only do small group’s a slow moving relaxed group that is still means we don’t present behaviour that could be perceived as predator behaviour. Fining technique keeping fins under the water without splashing. We have found by spending the time on education it means we display a safe space for the Whales to come in and say hi.
Sound:
Some Whales quite enjoy sound. Our guides (even though it sounds ridiculous), have reported they believe talking and or singing under water through their snorkel has brought curiosity. Motors in neutral as opposed to running seem’s to help with some research reporting that these Whales recognise the sounds of boats where they have enjoyed the interaction so are likely to return back for some fun. We have inflatable tubes so tapping the tubes has seen some come in to investigate and Music from the boat also seemingly being to their taste, (we find the Moana sound track to be the winner). It’s well documented that our Antarctic whales actually set the language and song’s that are different each year and then passed up to Northern hemisphere migrations with the Males usually being the ones that sing.
These are just a few observations from our time swimming with the Whales. We will Publish more of our finding’s in future blogs. The Humpback Migration on the Sunshine Coast is best witnessed from late June to Early October. See video below to see some of the fun we have.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/bwTRgaaNECU/edit
