Every year between the months of May and September, thousands of Giant Australian Cuttlefish (Sepia apama) descend on the rocky coastline between Fitzgerald Bay and False Bay. These amazing ‘chameleons of the sea’ are one of the largest species of cuttlefish found in the world; and can reach up to 60 cm in length and can weigh up to 5kg.
The migration by these majestic creatures to these waters is for the sole purpose of spawning. During these months, the female attaches her eggs to the underside of the rocky ledges around the area. The male then fertilises these eggs, which hatch a couple of months later. The males can only reproduce once, and as with the females die not long after.
Each year several southern humpback whale groups leave their feeding grounds in the Antarctic to begin their epic voyage of approximately 10,000 Kilometres. One of the groups travel up along the eastern seaboard of Australia, passing Cape Byron on their way to their birthing and mating grounds in the sub tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef beyond Hervey Bay.
The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias.
The great white shark is the world's largest known predatory fish. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.
There are two prime seasons for viewing Great White Sharks at the Neptune Islands in South Australia.
The first of these is the summer season where thousands of fur seals congregate for their annual pupping and breeding season. Peak shark activity starts in December and usually lasts well into the month of February.
The main viewing season however, is from May through to October. This is a time when the growing seal pups that were born in the summer start to venture out further from the safety of the shore and hunt for themselves. This provides a natural food source for the sharks to target and as a result this time of year we witness more natural predation events.
The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea – they grow up to 18 metres long. Despite the name, they’re not whales at all. The move slowly and are filter-feeders, so they are totally harmless.
Whale sharks can have mouths over a metre in width, and weigh up to 15 tonnes. They have 2 dorsal fins and an anal fin, 5 gill slits, a very wide mouth, small eyes and a spiracle (a round hole behind the eyes). Whale sharks are closely related to the wobbegong shark, a bottom-dwelling shark.
The whale sharks come to Ningaloo Marine Park between April and July each year.
The seasonal aggregation of whale sharks in the Ningaloo Marine Park is linked with an increase in the productivity of the ocean around the time of the mass coral spawning in March/April each year. Ningaloo Reef is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks appear regularly in numbers.
Dwarf Minke Whales were only recently noticed and described as a unique species of whale in the 1980’s. These whales are very similar to minke whales; with their smaller size, distinct color pattern, and exclusive distribution in Southern oceans distinguishing them from their larger cousins. “Dwarf” might still be considered a misnomer, as these whales can still reach nearly 8 meters in length and weigh up to five tons!
A population of 100 or more Dwarf Minke whales can be found on the Ribbon Reefs during the months of May-July.
Starts: 4th Jul, 12:00AM 
Starts: 5th Jul, 12:00AM 
Starts: 6th Jul, 12:00AM 
Starts: 30th Jul, 12:00AM 
Starts: 31st Jul, 12:00AM