STOP PRESS!!   2012 Dates are still available – Check online or  FREECALL in Australia 1800 607 913 or email Info@diversiondivetravel.com.au for details

We have berths available on Mike Balls super livebaoard vessel, Spoilsport! This is a rare chance for an adventure of a life time in Australia. June and July each year is the season to encounter the Minke Whales. These excursions are for snorkelers and divers!

There are not many people in the world lucky enough to experience this but now this week you can be one of them!

The species that we will be observing is the Dwarf Minke Whale, which grows to a maximum length of about 8 metres. As soon as the whales get close to the boat, the skipper will disengage the engine and the boat will silently along with the current. Two ropes will be hanging from the back deck and you will be gliding in the water, wearing your mask fins and snorkel and a wetsuit. You just hang on to that rope, wait and see. The scene is set: Showtime!

Click to watch video

The whales  are very curious by nature and will continue to come closer to have a look at you.

For unknown reasons, they are interested in contact with people! They like to show of acrobatics like the belly loop for example, right in front of snorkelers!  If previous people’s whale encounter experience is any indication, there are no words for it. You’re going to be profoundly glad for the experience. Be quick, we have only a few berths to sell!

This is THE ultimate thrill for everyone who admires whales. The success rate of whale encounters is very high. Contact us: info@diversiondivetravel.com.au

FREECALL in Australia 1800 607 913

or email Info@diversiondivetravel.com.au for reservations

It sounds a bit like a fairytale, but this one is true:

Susan Sobtzick from Berlin, a former client of Diversion Dive Travel, now lives in Townsville, where she has finished her PhD about Minke Whales. Here in Australia many people call her “Susan, the Minke Girl”.   

It was the dream of Susan’s dad, to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. In 2000 the whole family wanted to travel together and Susan was the one who started to organise the trip. She found or website on the Internet and contacted us. We recommended her and excursions with the Undersea Explorer because we love their approach to combine tourism with research. At the time we did not know, that Susan had an interested in marine biology and that this trip would be very important for her future career.

In 2004 Dirk and I did our first Minke Whale trip with the Undersea Explorer (UE) and Susan was on board! She then worked at her thesis. Susan was always the first one in and last one out of the water. With her video camera, she spend hours in the water, when everybody else on board warmed up already with cup of tea, she was still in there. She did all this work to document the exact size of Minke Whales for her theses.

In 2006 when Dirk and I did our second Minke Whale trip, she was on board again. This time we met her together with her supervisor and team leader of the Minke Whale Research Project, Dr Alastair Birtles, who supported her in the water and together they worked till ‘late night at the Computer enter to enter and sort the data, which they collected during the day.
Seeing Susan in action, I got the idea to capture the story of her career and do an interview with her, which she agreed to.

C (Claudia): When you booked your first trip on Undersea Explorer with us, we did not know, that you where tossing the idea to specialise your studies in marine biology. Was that planned all along or did you get the idea during the excursion?

S (Susan): At the time I was still undecided between microbiology and marine biology. I studied at the university of Rostock/Germany because they offered marine biology as a major field of study. However I enjoyed both micro and marine biology and was undecided. I thought to do a trip with the UE is a good idea, as I can see in “real life”, how marine biologists work.

C: Susan, do you remember the research themes of the first trips you and your family did with UE, in 2000?

S: Yes, the first trip was an Osprey Reef Shark Research excursion. The second one was, “Cephalopod research”, with Mark Norman on board. It was very exciting, as he discovered a new species of octopus on this trip!

C: What fascinated you so much, that you decided to study marine biology at the end?

S: I was never in contact with marine biologist before and suddenly I saw all those exciting things happening while I was there, which I only knew from TV.
The researchers where very charismatic people, these 2 excursions with the UE showed me that marine biology is not only about counting herring and measuring nutrient gradients in the Baltic Sea, but really exciting stuff!

C: How did you go on from there?

S: I finished my basic studies and took a year time out to go to Australia. I travelled and worked for a few companies, amongst the Undersea Explorer. They offered me a job as videographer to film the Minke Whales. I enjoyed this job big time! In the following years I went regularly back for the season and worked on UE. In 2004/5 I worked on my thesis, which had the title:’ Underwater Videogrammetry and its Application to Estimate Body Lengths of Dwarf Minke Whales in Great Barrier Reef Waters’

C: Have you been interested in whales before you had seen them, or did this interest awaken during your trips as videographer?

S:I never wanted to major in marine mammals, I wanted to follow my fathers’ interests, which are sharks and rays. However, when I saw my first whale under water, it blew me away! It was love at first sight.

C: How did you get to stay in the project?

 S: I was very keen to continue to work in the project, so I applied for a scholarship and got it. I now live in Townsville and work at my PhD, which is about ‘Dwarf Minke Whale Biology and Implications for Tourism Management.” My supervisors are Dr Alastair Birtles and Prof Helene Marsh. It is amazing, what started as a holiday gave me undreamed-of possibilities changed my live completely!

C: Thank you very much, Susan! We are happy to be part of your story. We wish you and the Minke Whales a good future!