First Minke Whale of the Year Sighted

Minke Whales

Minke Whales

Minke whales on the Ribbon Reefs

On Thursday 14th April at 8.50am, the first minke whale of the season was spotted.

Spoilsport crew recorded the sighting at Steve’s Bommie on the Ribbon Reef section of the Great Barrier Reef and researchers from James Cook University’s Minke Whale Project were informed. While it is regarded as an early sighting, researchers’ earliest recorded spotting occurred on April 9, 2003.

With the whales known to be in waters from March to October, most sightings occur in June and July when Mike Ball Dive Expeditions run dedicated minke whale expeditions with onboard whale researchers from James Cook University.  This year we are also running a very special weeklong expedition in conjunction with Eye to Eye Marine Encounters and Australian Geographic on the 17th-24th June 2010.

This will be the 15th year we have assisted James Cook Univerity researchers and we are looking forward to having them onboard again this year. 

For more information please follow these links:

Minke whale expeditions

Minke whale photo gallery 2009

Australian Geographic Minke Whale Expedition