Photo: Supplied.
RANGER STACEY THOMSON IS PRINCIPAL ADVISER – COMMUNITY EDUCATION (REDLAND CITY COUNCIL)
Spring has sprung! This is the season when Mother Nature embraces the warmer weather and longer daylight hours. For many native species, spring sparks courtship and mating behaviours across a range of wild habitats, both terrestrial and aquatic.
On land and in trees, birds are creating cosy nests and marsupials like koalas are busy attracting a mate in preparation for the arrival of tiny offspring.
Redlands Coast is the gateway to magnificent Moreton Bay – pure paradise – and permanent home to schools of fish, pods of dolphins, herds of dugong, and turtles (which are mostly solitary).
At this time of year, the ocean beyond our naturally wonderful coastline transforms into Humpback Highway.
If you haven’t watched whales frolicking off our coast this year, let me remind you, there’s still time!
Magnificent southern humpback whales are currently cruising past, on their annual migration up and down Australia’s east coast. From June until around November, an estimated 40,000 whales will make the mammoth journey all the way from their feeding grounds in Antarctica to Queensland…and back again.
The Great Barrier Reef is the ultimate destination for breeding and calving, its warm tropical waters providing shelter for the whales. Mothers make the long journey back to where they were once born, to welcome a single calf.
Right on our doorstep, you’ll find the ideal vantage point to watch whales breach, tail slap, and spyhop … North Stradbroke Island, aka Straddie, aka Minjerribah.
High above the vivid blue ocean, Point Lookout is the perfect place on dry land to spot this natural phenomenon – forget about any risk of getting seasick!
Humpback whales are humongous, yet graceful. I’m constantly in awe of their aquatic acrobatics, tail flukes so unique that researchers use them to identify individuals, innate sense of navigation, as well as the use of complex underwater songs to communicate over long distances.
Aren’t we lucky to be able to enjoy one of the best land-based whale watching locations in the country? If you’re yet to experience this natural wonder, go for it… and if you’ve done it before, do it again. It’s always a giant thrill!
Until next time … Stay Wild!
