Whale cruises are set to reopen, just in time for the peak of the migration season in Jervis Bay, according to the "roadmap to recovery" unveiled this week by the NSW government.
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For the last 30 years, local whale tour company Dolphin Watch Cruises has had their most frequent and intimate encounters with the gentle giants inside Jervis Bay in October.
"Whale season is May to November in Jervis Bay, but October is the crew-favourite for sure," according to Dolphin Watch Cruises manager Jet Jones.
"We get the biggest whales of all, the gigantic mother humpbacks, and the smallest travelling with them, their new babies.
"Jervis Bay is a sheltered rest-stop for the mums to feed and teach their new babies, getting them fat and strong for the long swim and cold water to come between here and Antarctica.
"October is whale rush-hour here at the Jervis Bay rest-stop, so the easing of COVID restrictions has come just in time for us to start back cruising with them 'til mid-November."
October is whale rush-hour here at the Jervis Bay rest-stop, so the easing of COVID restrictions has come just in time for us to start back cruising with them 'til mid-November.
- Dolphin Watch Cruises manager Jet Jones.
Local tour operators are hoping to safely reopen with reduced boat capacity around October 11 for those in the local area and regional NSW, with Greater Sydney due back around the October 25.
After being off the water for the last few months of whale season, operators are hopeful this will boost the struggling tourism industry in and around Jervis Bay.
Dolphin Watch Cruises has even gone to the lengths of adding another 100-passenger specialised whale cruising vessel "Explorer II" to their fleet, in the hopes of getting even more domestic tourists out to meet these gentle giants.
"We've been cruising the sheltered waters of Jervis Bay for over 30 years, and we have never seen so many whales in all those years as we do now," said Mr Jones.
"In the early days we'd be lucky to see a dozen humpbacks a year. Now we often see that amount and more every day."
