 My wife Jill and I started the whale watching industry here in Hervey Bay, Australia in 1987 and have operated up to four vessels over the years. We now have great pleasure in introducing our brand new state of the art whale watching vessel Quick Cat II.
Since 1987 we have introduced and run full day, dawn and half whale watching trips. It is no secret that the half day whale watching trip is the most popular trip as the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife statistics show. With low to the water, fast vessel like Quick Cat II, we are way out in front carrying over 50% of the total passengers carried in past seasons.
Choose your Whale Watching Trip
Quick Cat II offers the most popular whale watching trip in Australia, the half day trip.
Departing 8.00am till 12 noon and again at 1.00pm till 5pm daily from mid July till early November.
We were the first in Australia to guarantee whale sightings and are still the only company that has its own whale spotter aircraft.
Over the years we have tried whale watching in big boats with hundreds of people, but decided to stay in the small to mid range. We have found that we are able to offer very personal, face to face and educational whale watching trips, while adding a few stories of past years from the very beginning of the industry of experiences we have gained.
Even though we can offer information and give a very informative service on each vessel we like to see our whale watching passengers becoming involved. We are not just a voice on the microphone. We like you to ask the questions, and if on the very rare occasions that we can’t answer your questions, we will find out.
Family owned and operated whale watching in every aspect.
 Brian and Jill have been at the forefront of the whale watching industry since they invented it in 1987, having been involved in the whale watching industry development over the years.
Brian is a member of the Permit Advisory Committee which help set up the Hervey Bay Marine Park in 1990. He also served as the president of the Whale Watch Industry Association. Currently he is the Vice President of Whale and Dolphin Watch Australia Association.
Jill spends her time marketing with agents and organizing all the mundane things. Like crew, training them and making sure everything happens the way it should. You may even have the pleasure of Jill picking you up in our whale watching bus from your accommodation.
Sarah spends her spare time during whale watching season making dozens upon dozens of home made muffins and working on the boat when she is not at her full time position as Duty Manager at Kondari Hotel. Sarah has obtained her boat license and dive ticket through marine studies at school and hopes to gain her skippers certificate in the next year so she can skipper the new Quick Cat II.
Whale Watching Upgrading and Innovations
Apart from inventing the industry in Hervey Bay, Brian and Jill Perry were the first people to offer whale watching from vessels anywhere in Australia and the South Pacific. This opened up a whole new experience that people sitting on headlands trying to get a glimpse of a whale in the distance only dreamed about.
Innovations such as being the first to fit hydrophones (underwater microphones) to their vessels so passengers can experience the sounds of the underwater world from listening to prawns (shrimps) clicking their way across the ocean bed or a listening to a humpback whale singing to its mates, a sound that is very eerie and exciting at the same time. These whale songs can be heard for many miles.
Did you know that the humpbacks whale's song has been even sent into space?
 Underwater Whale Watching
While humpback whales spend a lot of time on the surface they also spend most of their time under the water. Being able to watch whales under the surface is an awe inspiring sight.
Over the years we have developed underwater cameras that are not restricted to an area around the vessel, but can track the whale right to the ocean floor.
Live to air vision is beamed direct to on board monitors that allow passengers to view the action both on the surface and below the vessel at the same time. This vision is recorded live and available on video and CD for purchase.
This system that Brian and Jill have developed is now being taken up by other whale watching and marine charter/research companies both in Australia and overseas.
Prices for our half day whale watching trip this year (2008) are:
Adult: $100
Child (4-14): $60
Student / Senior: $95
Family (2+2): $265
Family (2+3): $290
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