The Ivanhoe Pledge

Our goal is to provide the best whale viewing experience to all our passengers, making the day a memorable and fun experience and above all, savor the time they spend with us.  We aim to provide interesting and educational information about our bay and its inhabitants.  While every effort is made to ensure memorable encounters with the animals, the unpredictability of wildlife makes it impossible to guarantee sightings and interactions with 100% certainty.

We have a select license which allows us to approach the Southern Right Whales up to a distance of 50m at no wake speed.  We then stop the boat and allow the whales to control the nature and propinquity of the encounter.  Fortunately, whales are curious by nature and most times will swim up to and all around the boat.  The welfare of the animals is of utmost importance and while we want our passengers to have the best whale viewing experience that is truly unforgettable, we will not endanger the well-being of these majestic sea creatures in any way.

However, on trips where no animals that we were targeting are seen, we will issue our passengers a “RETRIP VOUCHER”. These vouchers have NO EXPIRY DATE and will be reissued as many times as it takes for you to sight the animal you were looking for.

Southern Right Whale Facts

It has very dark grey or black skin, with occasional white patches on the belly. Its two separate blow holes produce a distinguishing V-shaped blow. Southern rights have an enormous head which is up to one quarter of total body length. The callosities on the head are made of hard material, similar to human finger-nails, which appear white due to large colonies of whale lice called cyamids. The number, shape and position of the callosities are unique to each individual whale, and allow us to tell them apart. Southern right whales tend to have a large callosity at the front of the head, called a ‘bonnet’.