Photos by Lisa Schonberg
One perfect day
June 17, 2017 - Passengers on today's whale cruise from Cowes had a day to remember with a humpback frolicking around the boat and sporting with dolphins, plus a sighting of the endangered southern right whale. Photographer Lisa Schonberg was there to capture the action.
Thar she blows!
August 1, 2015
After five years of taking photos in the waters around Phillip Island, photographer Lisa Schonberg was rewarded with the astonishing sight of two humpback whales breaching within metres of her.
“I finally got the shots I have been wishing for,” she writes to the Bass Coast Post. “It was a truly emotional experience and I hope you enjoy them.
“Our backyard in the depths of winter should be cherished and protected at all costs.”
These photos were taken just off Cape Woolamai on July 19. The big whale was about 12 metres long and the whales were heading east.
It has been a mammoth whale season for local whale watchers with Whalewatch Gippsland recording dozens of sightings from Ventnor to Venus Bay.
Wildlife Coast Cruises’ whale cruises have notched up more than 100 sightings around Phillip Island since early June.
For the latest local sightings, head for the Whalewatch Gippsland Facebook page.
After five years of taking photos in the waters around Phillip Island, photographer Lisa Schonberg was rewarded with the astonishing sight of two humpback whales breaching within metres of her.
“I finally got the shots I have been wishing for,” she writes to the Bass Coast Post. “It was a truly emotional experience and I hope you enjoy them.
“Our backyard in the depths of winter should be cherished and protected at all costs.”
These photos were taken just off Cape Woolamai on July 19. The big whale was about 12 metres long and the whales were heading east.
It has been a mammoth whale season for local whale watchers with Whalewatch Gippsland recording dozens of sightings from Ventnor to Venus Bay.
Wildlife Coast Cruises’ whale cruises have notched up more than 100 sightings around Phillip Island since early June.
For the latest local sightings, head for the Whalewatch Gippsland Facebook page.
Double take
June 27, 2015
Phillip Island wildlife photographer Lisa Schonberg has scored a rare double, photographing a seal and a whale in a single shot.
It's been a bountiful year already for Lisa with 26 whales spotted at various locations off Phillip Island, Inverloch and Kilcunda in the past few weeks.
For several years, she has spent most winter weekends on Western Port searching out her favourite subjects: whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds.
She said it wasn’t until she looked at her photograph later that she saw the whale tail in the distance of her photo of a fur seal.
Phillip Island wildlife photographer Lisa Schonberg has scored a rare double, photographing a seal and a whale in a single shot.
It's been a bountiful year already for Lisa with 26 whales spotted at various locations off Phillip Island, Inverloch and Kilcunda in the past few weeks.
For several years, she has spent most winter weekends on Western Port searching out her favourite subjects: whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds.
She said it wasn’t until she looked at her photograph later that she saw the whale tail in the distance of her photo of a fur seal.
*****
The gatekeeper to Western Port
June 28, 2014
Cowes photographers Lisa and Alia Schonberg share recent sightings of whales, dolphins, albatrosses and their favourite seal, “the gatekeeper to Western Port”.
Cowes photographers Lisa and Alia Schonberg share recent sightings of whales, dolphins, albatrosses and their favourite seal, “the gatekeeper to Western Port”.
Giants of the bay
April 20, 2013
LISA Schonberg's photographs of whales in Western Port could provide vital evidence now that the Napthine Government has backed the Port of Hastings redevelopment.
“Western Port is an extremely fragile ecosystem, as proved by the Ramsar Report,” Lisa says. “If the port goes ahead, it will mean the end of whales entering Western Port and could possibly kill many with tanker strikes.”
She is doing her best to ensure that doesn’t happen by sending all her whale photos and sightings to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) for its environmental study of Western Port.
This year’s migration has already begun, unusually early, with a humpback seen off the Cowes pier, Somers and The Prom about three weeks ago. Anyone sighting migrating humpback or southern right whales can call DSE on 136 186.
“Western Port is an extremely fragile ecosystem, as proved by the Ramsar Report,” Lisa says. “If the port goes ahead, it will mean the end of whales entering Western Port and could possibly kill many with tanker strikes.”
She is doing her best to ensure that doesn’t happen by sending all her whale photos and sightings to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) for its environmental study of Western Port.
This year’s migration has already begun, unusually early, with a humpback seen off the Cowes pier, Somers and The Prom about three weeks ago. Anyone sighting migrating humpback or southern right whales can call DSE on 136 186.
