Humpback whale breaches the water at Sydney’s Bondi Beach

Tourists were stunned as a 20-tonne humpback whale breached just metres away from their tiny boat in Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach. 

Wildlife photographer John Goodridge captured the moment while on a ‘Go Whale Watching’ cruise. 

Mr Goodridge, a UK expat, told Caters News that it was ‘one of the most spectacular’ breaches he had ever seen, given that the whale almost ‘swamped’ the tiny boat nearby. 

Mr Goodridge said it was ‘one of the most spectacular’ breaches he had ever seen, given that the whale almost ‘swamped’ the tiny boat nearby 

It was a good day for whale watching, as Mr Goodridge says that there were over 30 whale breaches in just a little over an hour. 

‘The whales were really playful. Sometimes you can sit out there and not even see one, so we were really lucky,’ he said. 

‘To see a whale breach is really amazing. They actually do it to clean their skin of all the barnacles and parasites that have built up’. 

Over 33,000 whales are expected to migrate from May to November along the New South Wales coastline.

At least 45 species of whales and porpoises are in Australia’s waters, but humpback whales and southern right whales are the ones most commonly spotted.

Other species include minke whales, orcas, pygmy sperm whales, Bryde’s whales and dolphins. 

Tourists were stunned as a 20-tonne humpback whale breached just metres away from their tiny boat in Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach

The annual migration takes the whales from Antarctica to Australia in order to mate and breed in warmer waters, where they have been found as far north as Queensland. 

The whale migration is often anticipated by Australian locals and tourists, with many businesses offering cruise services for whale-watching.