Minke Magic!

Diving with Minke Whales, in a place that media reporters have dubbed the “Serengeti of the Seas,” has never been easier.

May 12, 2023
With relaxed laws on the outer rim of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, you can swim with these enigmatic whales, eye-to-eye.
With relaxed laws on the outer rim of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, you can swim with these enigmatic whales, eye-to-eye.
Photographer:
Images by Samuel Medland

With current laws outer rim of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, you can swim with these enigmatic Minke whales, eye-to-eye.

It’s pure adrenaline and fantasy for divers of every persuasion. From the moment we set foot on board the cruiser in Cairns, the friendly staff had us at ease and laughing like millionaires. Steaming northward – hard - dropping anchor at a notorious Minke ‘hot spot,’ just offshore from Port Douglas (over Norman’s Reef), we were in the water fast. Sadly, only a single teasing glimpse. However, the reef dive did not disappoint with dense coral gardens, bommies and a 30m drop-off. With an equal 30m visibility, balmy tropical 24ºC waters and an abundance of marine life, it was akin to swimming through an over-stocked aquarium and surfacing just a little past sunset.

Night-time on any reef is pure science fiction, full of aliens as the uprise of hunter and prey plankton triggers a chain reaction, across the reef. Venturing in from deeper waters, plankton number in their billions. So many, that often the water changes colour – the true nocturnal animal nature of the reef is bare - every coral polyp a predator, gulping up greedy mouthfuls. When the sun sets, new sentinels take up their posts and the neon night-shift begins.

Nothing can prepare you for the action-packed predatory nature of The Great Barrier Reef at night. A world; where eels, pelagic fish, polyps and reef sharks hunt. I switched off my light, plunging us into another world with a full moon, and got glimpses of passing reef sharks and pelagic’s out hunting

The Great Barrier Reef from Cairns to north of Lizard Island
The Great Barrier Reef from Cairns to north of Lizard Island

After the rather spooky night dive we steamed through the night to reach one of Queensland’s most northerly reefs. It is here, 50km offshore from Cooktown on Ribbon Reef No: 10, we finally had our first encounter, but not before a distraction with some giant, prehistoric Cod.

Our days had taken on the demeanour of divers’ boot camp. Not a trip for the faint, or half-hearted, our Director Jack had really meant it when he said that if we were not eating or sleeping, we would be in the water! We eagerly geared up to swim with the legendary Giant - man-sized, puppy-curious - Potato Cod of Cod Hole. Dive masters here were exemplary in allowing time to take photographs.

Feeding Cod in this world-famous fishy activity was almost as thrilling as swimming with the Minke’s themselves. Kneeling in a huge semi-circle (on a beautiful sandy bottom at 12m), the gargantuan fish brush past in mesmerising slow motion, with their huge lippy-pouts and inquisitive comical eyes. However, I soon noticed that Cod Hole would be captivating even without Mr Potato Cod as its populated by a diverse range of reef fish and invertebrates. With huge bait balls of trevally and mackerel, moray eels, blue spotted sting-rays and a host of wrasse swim everywhere. The overhangs are dotted with reef sharks, and the sheer beauty of live coral is breathtaking.

Huge bait balls of trevally and mackerel
Huge bait balls of trevally and mackerel

Our days continue submerged in an adrenaline-charged world. With names like Snake Pit, Temple of Doom and Dynamite Pass, amongst an array of sea snakes poking around the sandy bottom, turtles, sharks, rays and fishes of every kind, we even take a drift dive in a four-knot current along a 20m wall, almost forgetting what we came for. But, after surfacing from one of the ‘fishiest’ dives of the trip around a 30m pinnacle known as Lighthouse Bommie, we notice that ‘the Minke line’ had been let out from the back of the boat. We have whale sign! There be Minke’s about.

In perfect conditions we re-enter the water to wait. As curious as the small humans dangling off the line, they come, one juvenile male practically adopting my partner (luckily the one with the camera).

Mr Potato cod at cod hole
Mr Potato cod at cod hole

When it comes to the Australian Dwarf Minke Whale, scientists are unsure of their numbers, but know that each year all make an annual 6,000km migration from the Antarctic waters - to this one place on the planet - to socialise, mate and seek out human contact. Scientist Isabel Ender, has been studying and recording Minke Whale behaviour in depth and has discovered many social signs of flirting (in adolescent whales) displaying all the mating antics of the ‘belly show,’ ‘spy hole’ and ‘pirouettes.’ Some mating encounters lasting up to 12 hours.

We spent the following half hour with our new Minke friend, who showed obvious intelligence and a deep playful curiosity of us with his behaviour. It went like this for the next three dives, in which time the Minke’s followed us around like puppy’s, ever curious and ever closer, eventually eye-to-eye. There really are few words to describe such encounters. Easy to see how this dive experience has acquired its recent rating amongst the top five dives on the planet.

Dive gear already for the diver.
Dive gear already for the diver.

The ‘swim-with-whales’ tourism industry has only recently been developed based around this June/July migration. A limited number of liveaboards have permits by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to conduct these swims, along with a strict adherence to a code of practice. Each records and reports the details of all sightings. Scientists from James Cook University and the Museum of Tropical Queensland work closely with participating tours, monitoring the impacts of this tourism, managing protocols for the safety of the species. Touching them is not permitted unless they instigate the contact.

Cheeky turtles can be seen on most dives.
Cheeky turtles can be seen on most dives.

Sadly, our journey ended here, as the boat sailed on to Osprey Reef for shark feeding. We finish with a tender ride to secluded, tropical Lizard Island - walk to the point - followed by breakfast on the beach. Our one last delight? A two-hour, low-level flight in a Cessna Caravan, along the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef.

We spent the following half hour with our new Minke friend, who showed obvious intelligence and a deep playful curiosity.
We spent the following half hour with our new Minke friend, who showed obvious intelligence and a deep playful curiosity.

Icing on the cake of a truly extraordinary experience, I am envious of those who are staying on board for the Shark Feeding … next time perhaps.
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Lilla Clarke

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