A new whale watching venture - the first of its kind in the Illawarra area - has set sail on its maiden voyage from the new Shellharbour Marina.
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Shellharbour Wild now operates from the marina located at The Waterfront, Shell Cove, and held ts first 90-minute whale watching cruise on Saturday.
Shellharbour Wild is operated by Jervis Bay Wild, which run cruises from Huskisson.
It has refurbished one of its Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) Adventure to be based at Shellharbour Marina.
Spokesman Sam Tooley said the company was excited to offer the first water-based tourism venture at Shellharbour Marina, which was completed last year.
He said the business had received a great deal of support from the developer of the new marina and community, Frasers Property, and Shellharbour Council.
"With the development of Shell Cove area, there is an ideal opportunity for a tourism operator to go in there," he said.
Mr Tooley said the area was perfect for whale watching and the Adventure, with its four 350 horsepower engines, was the perfect vessel.
"It's the absolutely ideal adventure-style boat. It's got 48 seats, so it is quite a large boat, but perfect for this type of thing," he said.
He said the company planned to run whale watching cruises from Shell Cove up until November, and then look at offering other cruises over summer.
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"We are dipping our toe in with the whale watching season to make sure it works commercially and will then look at other [cruises] as well," he said.
He said Shell Cove was perfectly located near an abundance of wildlife, with the Five Islands seal colony less than half an hour away by boat.
"All around there is where the seals live. It is also a very picturesque area with lots of other marine life, including oceanic dolphins," he said.
Whale watching cruises will run from this month until mid-November during the migration of whales along the east coast of Australia.
According to the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, eastern humpback whales follow a migration pattern along Australia's eastern coastline each year between April and November.
After a summer of feeding in the Antarctic water, they first head north to mate and give birth in the warmer sub-tropical waters off Australia's north-east coast, with the majority of humpbacks making the trip between June and August.
They can then be spotted again even closer to the coast as they make their way back towards the Southern Ocean from September to November.
The recovery of the humpback population after years of whaling led to the rapid growth of Australia's whale watching industry, which was dealt a major blow over the past two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Merryn Porter
Journalist with more than 25 years' experience in print and digital media who has covered most news rounds, including health, education, politics (local, state and federal), police and courts, with a special interest in women's and family matters. Highly-skilled interviewer and storyteller.
Journalist with more than 25 years' experience in print and digital media who has covered most news rounds, including health, education, politics (local, state and federal), police and courts, with a special interest in women's and family matters. Highly-skilled interviewer and storyteller.
