You may recall us mentioning in our September blog that the turtles here on Thevenard Island had started to arrive for the mating season. We are pleased to announce that mating season is in full swing here on Thevenard Island. Turtles are in abundance with up to 50 + being sighted on parts of the beach here on Thevenard and surrounding Islands such as Bessiere’s Islands (also known as Anchor Island) and Long Island guests have been sighting plenty of turtle action in the water as well as on the beaches.
On Saturday we took a small group of guests on our back beach sunset tour. For me personally this was my first sunset back beach tour so I was very excite
d and hoping for interesting sights.
On our drive to the back beach one of the guests that had done the 11km nature trail walk earlier that day was explaining to us that she had seen a stranded turtle on its back that she had spent an hour trying to help by rolling it over but as the turtle was so big she was unsuccessful. We feared the worst for the turtle as the guests had explained that the flies were gathering and the turtle seemed very weak. The guest was fairly sure we were not heading in the same direction, where she had seen the turtle over 4 hours prior to the tour.
To everyone’s delight, especially the 2 children who joined us, on our arrival down to the beach we saw the stranded Green Turtle very tired but still alive upside down on the beach. The two other guests and I assisted the green turtle back onto all fours and it started to slowly make its way to the seas edge then back out to the shallow waters where it moved slowly back out to sea. I must say we were all very happy to have saved such a beautiful creature and what a great experience for us all especially the children. Being my first sunset tour of the back beach I was just as excited as everyone else to have had such an experience.
Whilst strolling and beach combing along the beach looking at all of the creatures and the different types of shells, we came across more turtles making their way up the beach to lay eggs. There were two species, the Green Turtle and the Loggerhead Turtle. There are many nests and tracks already along the beach. We look forward to the young ones hatching around Christmas time.
The
seasons are-a-changing as we say goodbye to the migratory Humpback Whales that have been passing within 500m of Thevenard Islands' Beach Front Cabins since July. These amazing giants have put on a special display of breaches and tail slaps as they make there way North to give birth before returning with calf in tow. Daily sightings of their activity will still be recorded right up until October, with some stragglers still passing by in mid October. Encounters with these whales are an added bonus to a day on the water, and is almost guaranteed during the August and September transfers to the island.
It has been a great week with good fishing and wonderful weather up on the Mackerel Islands. Top catches aboard our charter vessel Thevenard1 have been a nice 24gk Spanish Mackerel with similar fish also caught in the 15-20kg range. Big Rankin Cod are thick around the islands with some big specimens being boated along with some nice coral trout. One lucky angler had the fight of his life on a 10kg Chinaman Cod, with fresh bait being taken by the larger fish.
For every adult booking in our beach cabins or Club Thevenard, receive 1 child’s accommodation free.
Boat transfers available from Onslow, only 3 hours South of Karratha.
Big fish and great weather have been on offer for those lucky enough to be fishing around the Mackerel Islands lately. Ian McMahon (pictured) and the Cramer group headed out on the Island’s charter boat Thevenard 1, to some productive ground north of the island, with some big Red Emperor up to 8 kilos being boated. The boys also got stuck into a few good Wahoo with fish in the 6 – 8 kilo range taking deep-diving lures.
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Cheers
The Mackerel Islands Team
Winter fishing at the Mackerel Islands is really starting to heat up!! With the water temperature dropping to 20oC, pelagic action is at its best. The recent visit by the “OUR TOWN” crew showed Program Presenter, Gavin Pratt, why it’s called the Mackerel Islands! With a Laser Pro 190-2m Diver in the water for two minutes the results were indeed favourable with a 12kg Spaniard [pictured], a show Gav will never forget.
The weather and fishing has never been better at the Mackerel Islands. A week of perfect conditions greeted the annual Western Angler Celebrity Seafari which consisted of 19 boats and around 70 guests, all here for their chance to fish with a celebrity and enjoy the entertainment. Australian cricketing legend Merv Hughes cast a Halco Roosta Popper Haymaker into a Tuna frenzy and ended up with a sailfish fight on his hands…they have been prolific since the water temperature started to increase after the winter lows of close to 20 degrees C, with many being raised and hooked up out from Bessiere Island and west of Rosily Cay.
With the recent good weather, things are really hotting up at the Mackerel Islands, WA. A number of boats have taken advantage of this great weather and headed out further than usual, producing some great fishing action. The contours are literally teaming with schools of baitfish with the usual Pelagic (tuna, mackerel and GT's) out hunting in large numbers. A monster 40kg Mackerel was taken on a Halco diving lure, by one lucky angler.
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