Mike_Ball_Dive_Expeditions_Hotnews_Minke_Whale_Season

STOP PRESS!!! The Minke Whale season was a huge success with sightings on all departures. The fantastic Minke Whale images taken by Warwick O'Brien and Carlo Rosa are what you can see if you join one of our 2005 Minke Whale Expeditions.

MIKE BALL DIVE EXPEDITIONS have in the past 7 years run specialized Minke Trips with 98% success rate. The highest number of whales found were pods of up to 28 whales with encounters lasting up to 10 hours. It has also been very recently discovered that they make quite a large range of sounds. James Cook University, together with The Museum of Tropical Queensland has an ongoing research project studying the whales and all our passengers on our Special Minke Whale Expeditions are encouraged to participate and assist by recording their observations on the forms provided.

Dwarf Minke Whales are commonly seen along the Ribbon Reefs north of Cairns between May and August. June and July provide the peak of the Ribbon Reef Minke Whale season. During the peak, the second day of our Cod Hole expeditions are devoted almost entirely to seek out, observe, dive and snorkel with Dwarf Minke Whales. Mike Ball Dive Expeditions have 14 years of experience in the area and so have been able to locate the most successful areas where the whales can be found. In this time we have been able to evolve a diving and snorkeling protocol that has minimal impact on the whales and allows them to approach our divers within their own comfort zone. This protocol combined with their natural curiosity provides you with some very close encounters making spectacular opportunities for close up videos and photography. A wide-angle lens is highly recommended.

Everyday has a high probability of Dwarf Minke Whale encounters. Day 2 is specifically dedicated to locating and observing Minkes at close range under water.