Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay, QLD

Urangan Pier is a historic pier in Urangan, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the longest in Australia and stretches for almost one kilometre into the ocean.

It is a former deep-water, cargo-handling facility originally built to facilitate the export of sugar, timber and coal. The pier, served by the extension of the railway line from Pialba, was used for the transfer of cargo between rail and ships. It was built between 1913 and 1917, originally to a length of 1107 metres (1.1 kilometres).

The pier was closed in 1985, and 239 metres of it was demolished. However, due to public outcry, 868 metres of the pier was left, and the land was handed to the Hervey Bay City Council.

By 2009 the last 220-metre section of the pier had been fully restored, and the original timber pylons had been replaced with steel pylons with a plastic covering.

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Orcas in the Bay

A couple of months ago, my husband & I drove up to Maryborough, QLD. For Michael, it was a work conference but for me, the opportunity for a change of scenery.

As we were only a 40 minute drive from Hervey Bay, I decided to check if the Humpback Whales had made their way that far north on their northern migration. Unfortunately it was too early, BUT I discovered there was a pod of Orcas (Killer Whales) that had managed to get themselves stranded in the "Great Sandy Straits" -  the body of water between Fraser Island and the Mainland. This is the first time this has happened.

So, I organised to go on one of the Dolphin Watching Cruises in the bay, hoping to get a sighting of the Orcas. When I called to book, I was assured that there would be Orca sightings! We left at 8am and returned around 2:30pm.

Here are some of the first images I took...

The Department of Marine Parks and the Seaworld Research & Rescue Foundation were out on the bay observing the Orca pod, checking on their health status (3 of the pod of 12 died) and hoping the Orcas would return to the open sea...

No boats, other than the Department of Marine Parks and the Seaworld Research & Rescue Foundation. were allowed within 300m of the pod so we were ordered to cut the engines when we approached that vicinity. However the inquisitive Orcas decided to take a closer look and came right up to our boat...

It was a wonderful experience to see these incredible creatures in the wild...

I had such a wonderful time, so I booked another cruise for the following day (at a 20% discount). The weather was dry but extremely foggy the next day. Visibility was difficult...

But I still managed some great shots as the Orcas came right up to our boat again...

About a week or so after this, the Orca pod made their way back out into the ocean.
It is thought the reason they came into the bay was because the 3 that died were unwell. It appeared that the pod would not leave due to mourning the loss of their family members.

It certainly was the experience of a lifetime!!

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