Incredible scenes after whale watchers "mugged" by humpback
A group of tourists were "literally held hostage" by a humpback whale on Friday morning after the curious mammal circled a boat off the east coast.
For almost an hour, captain and marine biologist Cassie Murray, had to cut the boats power supply and watched in aw as the whale "hung around" in an incredibly rare and beautiful moment.
"We don't use any kind of technology to find the whales, we're just looking with our eyes," the captain from the whale watching company Ocean Extreme told Yahoo News.
"We're always looking for the blow, which is the breath of the whale. That's typically how we spot them... then this whale made a turn towards the boat.
"It just kind of hung around and circled the boat and spy-hopped, which is when they lift their head up out of the water to take a look around," she explained.
Many of the tourists were excited to see the majestic mammal up close, with Murray admitting that it was one of her best-ever whale-watching experiences after over 10 years in the industry.
"It was very, very special," she said. "It was just watching us watch it, basically."
The tourists were "mugged" by the whale but not in the way you'd think.
Mugging refers to the situation where, due to wildlife protection laws, you are legally required to cut the boats power to prevent its propellers from hitting the whale.
"The [whale] behaviour we experienced, it's called a mugging because, essentially, the boats are being held hostage by the whales, we can't move," she said.
"You're being held hostage by the whale. But it's like, the best kind of hostage situation possible."
Murray added that having this experience in Sydney is rare as it is part of the migration path, "So 95 per cent of our trips, we just see the whales cruising past," she said.
"This whale took the time to stop and just kind of mill about in one spot."
Images: Instagram/Oceanextreme