Two adults and one calf humpack whale were spotted and photographed yesterday making their way past Horseshoe, Balding and Radical Bays on Magnetic Island.

Eco-tour operator, Steve Rowland, from Magnetic Island Sea Kayaks, spotted the whales claiming it the first time he'd witnessed two adults and a calf together. "I've seen individual whales, a number of adults together, single adults with a calf but never two adults and a calf."

Spotting some activity in the water Steve paddled towards the commotion and discovered it to be whales. "I was about 100 metres away when I saw them" he said. "For about five minutes there was one whale which I think was the calf standing on its nose and slapping the surface of the water with its tail," said Steve.


The whales played in Radical bay as they passed
by about 50 metres from the coastline

Steve told Magnetict Times, "The whales followed the coastline past Horseshoe Bay then along the coast (East) towards Eagle Rock on the headland of Balding Bay about 50 metres from the shore". Steve observed the whales having a little play in Radical Bay where some years ago the Brizzi family, who were caretakers there, believed they witnessed the birth of a humpback whale.

Steve thinks the sighting to be fairly late for the whale spotting season which began this year in mid-June.

Last month world-wide attention was drawn to the sighting of a white (thought to be an albino) whale, given the name of Migaloo, in local waters between Magnetic and Palm Island.