Sarah Gower Photography

Sarah Gower Photography Lover of whales & landscapes
Travel addict & wannabe island hopper
Happiest with a camera in hand

02/09/2026

What a start to the morning, indeed! 🤩 And it only got better from there!

We had incredible conditions on the water today plus some active, curious whales to give us a good mugging for a while. 😍

Wonderful to catch up with Tracy Farr too before she had to head home. Thanks to the Tassie Venture crew for a wonderful day!

🛥️ Onboard tasmanventure
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

15/08/2026

Nice big peduncle roll/throw from this whale before it started in on some tail lobbing. 🐋

The peduncle roll is one of the only moves/behaviours where they 'telegraph' before they do it (granted, it's only about a fraction of a second, but it's there!). There's usually just a small downward bob/duckof the head, which allows them to throw the whole lower half of their body up and sideways.

Given these animals are around 30 tonnes(ish), it's a pretty impressive sight to see.

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

11/08/2026

Awesome tail lobbing from this whale on Saturday's trip!

To do this, the whale is actually on its back and slamming the topside of its fluke (tail) into the surface of the water. All the power comes from the peduncle - the muscle leading from their dorsal fin to the tail. It's the most powerful muscle in the animal kingdom and when you see them carrying out moves like this, you can understand why! 💪

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

10/08/2026

A DOUBLE spyhop from Saturday! 😍😍

Sadly, I missed out on our annual Whale Weirdo Day trip today 😭😭 as I went to bed last night with a scratchy sore throat, slept terribly, and then woke up with a banger of a headache to boot. 🥴 I am an incredibly devoted whale watcher but there's a point even my body goes "Dude. No." 😮‍💨

But I hope all my fellow whale tragics had an awesome day and that the conditions were nowhere near as bad as forecast! 🐋🐋

In the meantime, I'm still trawling through all the footage (and photos) from Saturday's trip out. I seem to have switched one problem (taking too many photos) for another (taking too much video). 😵‍💫😅 Past!Sez was not thinking about all the editing Future!Sez would need to do. Rude. 😂

⛵️Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

Photos from Saturday's trip - lots of tails (BIG peduncle throws, tail slaps + diving), some epic spyhopping, and a nice...
09/08/2026

Photos from Saturday's trip - lots of tails (BIG peduncle throws, tail slaps + diving), some epic spyhopping, and a nice close pass off the back of the boat. 😍

Plus, water sparkles and a humpback's hump. 😊

It's our annual Whale Weirdo Day trip tomorrow but the weather gods have not been kind... the forecast is looking, er, decidedly not great. 😅 Keeping fingers crossed the awful winds forecats for tomorrow arrive tonight instead and blow themselves out before we leave in 8 hours (or hold off for 24 hours). 🙏🤞 We'll make the decision in the morning whether or not we head out. (Most other tours have cancelled their trips tomorrow, in case you were wondering... 😂)

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
📸 Shot with Sony | Alpha AU & NZ A7RIII + 70-300mm or 24-105mm

09/08/2026

They needed a place on the grid. 😍 These bottlenose dolphins hijacked our whale watching trip yesterday, following the boat and coming in several times to the back step (at water level).

We stuck the GoPros in to get the footage - the dolphins don't normally do this! Bow ride, yes, but this? Nope. Absolutely one of the highlights of yesterday. 😍

One of my FAVOURITE things about this clip? Turn the sound up. You can hear both the dolphins with their echo location AND whale song in the background!! 💙 We had singers in the Bay somewhere yesterday.

Two different types of cetacean and we can hear them both at the same time. SO freakin' cool. 😁

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on GoPro ANZ

08/08/2026

Just some of the awesomeness from today's MAGIC day on the water. 😍😍😍

We had lots of peduncl-ing (it's a word now 😂) and tail slapping earlier in the day, followed by some muggings and several spyhops... even a few double spyhops and (I think?!) a TRIPLE near the end of the day! 😱 (I'm still reviewing the footage. There's... a LOT. 🥴)

Let's not even get started on the bottlenose dolphins that managed to hijack the tour with some rather unexpected and curious behaviour! Check my stories for just one of the vids!

SPOILT and BLESSED doesn't even begin to cover it! 🥰 If you want the best whale watching experience, the time is NOW and the place is Hervey Bay.

Thank you to above & below for organising and to Pete and Cassandra Smith for looking after us today. 🙏

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

A selection of photos from Monday's whale watching trip. I think we were able to tick just about every behaviour off the...
06/08/2026

A selection of photos from Monday's whale watching trip. I think we were able to tick just about every behaviour off the list, including one we weren't expecting! 👇

(Second image in the carousel: you're looking at the top jaw and baleen plates of the humpback! It was far enough away I didn't realise what I was actually shooting until I reviewed the photos! 😱)

We had some super splashy whales earlier in the day with lots of tail slaps, reverse tail slaps and peduncle throws, and then finished off with a pair that got into a pattern of pec fin slapping and breaching!

Every day is different with these animals, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 😍

I'm back out this Saturday - can't wait!

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
📸 Shot on Sony | Alpha AU & NZ A7RIII + 70-300mm

02/08/2026

Continuation from yesterday's reel where this whale turned back in towards the boat... and then proceeded to half roll on its side to eyeball us and check us out! 👁️

(I am dying to know what they're thinking when they lookup at us like that!)

Also, I lost count of the number of times we copped fishy whale breath to the face and/or camera lens. 😆 It was just unfortunate the wind was blowing that way last weekend. 😅 (Michelle Diggins knows what I'm talking about! The lens cleaning cloth got a workout that day! 😂)

I'm back out on the boat tomorrow with Tiffany Warner🌴Through my eyes! AUS and Sharyn Coffee Photography! Always fun catching up with fellow whale tragics. 😁

⛵️ Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

01/08/2026

See how he angles back in to approach us again? 🥹😍

These encounters are on the whale's terms. If they want to leave, they can absolutely do that. But then you get whales like the ones we had last Sunday who stay close to the boat and choose to keep coming back.

It's their choice. Always.

And it's damn humbling and warm-fuzzy inducing that they DO choose to spend so much time with us and interact with us. 🥰🥰

🐋 Onboard Blue Dolphin Tours
🎥 Shot on iPhone 16 Pro + DJI OSMO Mobile

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Hervey Bay, QLD
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