Boat full of tourists 'in tears' after once-in-a-lifetime encounter off Aussie coast

Yahoo

10-07-2025

A tour operator has shared the remarkable moment a boat full of tourists ticked an incredible encounter off their bucket lists off the coast of Australia.
The video, taken in Queensland's Hervey Bay, shows two curious humpback whales coming up to say hello to a group of swimmers in the water and getting within inches of the group.
Blue Dolphin Marine Tours owner Peter Lynch told Yahoo News the visitors in the water, as well as those on the boat, were left with "tears in their eyes" directly after the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"They were blown away," he recalled of the exciting moment in August last year, which was reshared online ahead of the start of the season this Saturday, July 12.
In recent weeks, whales have been spotted making their way up both the east and west coasts of Australia as part of their annual migration from the cooler feeding waters of Antarctica to tropical regions of the Great Barrier Reef, where they mate and give birth.
Queensland is one of the top spots to see the humpback whales up close, with Hervey Bay particularly special, according to Peter.
Unlike parts of the east coast in Victoria and New South Wales, the bay's sheltered waters between Queensland's coastline and K'gari, make it a place for resting, nursing their young and socialising. It's a common rest stop, where the animals may stay for up to a few weeks before continuing their migration.
The video, he said, "Shows you why Hervey Bay is Australia's premier whale watching destination."
Getting in the water with one of the gentle giants, Peter believes, is a humbling experience for his customers. "It fills their soul," he said.
Whale boat operators in the area have licences to conduct commercial activity, and part of that licence is the ability to swim with the whales, so long as a code of conduct is adhered to.
"We don't swim with mums and calves, or aggressive animals. If a shark's inside the area, we don't swim. So we only swim with those curious, friendly whales that tend to come to the boats and look at people anyway," he explained.
Peter said that it's "not overly common" to get quite so close to the whales, like the lucky tourists in the video, because several factors are at play.
"You're relying on nice weather, calm seas, the clear water visibility and then the friendly whales wanting to check you out," he said.
Peter said that his company doesn't charge extra to tourists who want to get in the water, so as not to put pressure on the experience. "We do it on the whale's terms, we don't charge extra because it's opportunistic. It happens when it happens," he explained.
But even if the opportunity doesn't arise to get in the water, he believes that visitors can still witness "a great mugging" or incredible breaches.
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Peter has worked with whales and dolphins for over 40 years and even met his wife Jodie when she was a customer on the boat. But for him, the biggest thrill is "seeing the joy on people's faces".
"We don't do this as a job, this is a passion and a lifestyle choice. We feel really honoured to take people out and give them an experience of a lifetime."
He says he still gets contacted by former guests who tell him it was one of the "best days of their lives".
"We take what we do seriously in the sense it's people's discretionary spending. They've entrusted us to give them the best possible experience," he said. "It's a real privilege to take people out who want to be there."
This season, he's looking forward to supporting the citizen science project Happy Whale, where everyday Aussies and tourists get the opportunity to document and photograph the whales.
"A humpback whale's tail is like a fingerprint," he said. Each individual's tail is unique, which makes it easy to identify them.
Anybody can upload a photograph and then be contacted whenever that whale is spotted again.
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