Tag Archives: oceania

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Gold Coast fisherman's encounter with playful pod of killer whales

A Gold Coast fisherman has had a close encounter with one of the world's most powerful marine predators.

A pod of killer whales put on a show for more than four hours, as Bill Bain captured the encounter on his GoPro.

"I was a little bit to flustered to do anything at first, I just slowed the boat down," Bain said.

READ MORE: 'It looks like the Queensland floods': Festival goers slam Splendour In The Grass organisers

A Gold Coast fisherman has had a once in a lifetime encounter with one of the world's most powerful predators.

"Then they came over to me and pretty much straight away the males were playing with the boat, having a look and sussing me out.

"Eventually they brought the baby over to me and introduced me to the baby.

The fisherman then attempted to hand feed one of the whales before dropping the fish into the water.

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"It's something that you don't see ever so I didn't want to ruin the opportunity," Bain said.

Lauren Horner from Seaworld Cruises said the whales were simply interacting with an object in their environment.

"They're not necessarily feeding but playing with the fish," she said.

"They're also blowing bubble rings, which is a sign of killer whales either being curious, surprised or excited."

Experts believe these particular whales are in a transitory pod, migrating with humpback whales.

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'So angry': Splendour In The Grass chaos as day one cancelled

Day one of Splendour In The Grass has been cancelled after extreme weather hit the New South Wales town of Byron Bay.

Organisers of Splendour have been forced to backflip on a notification sent to users about 11am saying the show would go on "rain, hail or shine" after the worst weather in the festival's 20-year history struck.

Some festival attendees have expressed their disappointment in the cancellation, with one music lover describing the move as "pretty disgusting".

"There's been no rain for two hours," festivalgoer Coen told 9news.com.au.

"But if the sound gear is an issue, I can understand."

READ MORE: Festival goers slam Splendour In The Grass organisers over flooding

An app alert from Splendour in the Grass on Friday, just hours before day one was cancelled.Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay, Friday 22 July

For Maggie and her friends, who were flooded at the North Byron Parklands campsite before access was cut off, the day one cancellation is a massive blow.

"I'm so angry," she said.

"The only thing we were looking forward to and they cancelled it.

"It was the only thing keeping our spirits up."

Kiarah said "the party still goes on" but added the organisation has been "poor" this year and wants a partial refund, describing this morning's notification a "lie".

Jessica Ducrou, co-founder of the festival, reassured attendees that refunds would be given due to the cancellation.

"Don't stress, we will be refunding the proportionate amount of ticketing for missing out on a day's worth of events," she said.

Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay, Friday July 22Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay, Friday 22 JulyJessica Ducrou cofounder of Splendour In The Grass

She acknowledged this year's weather is the worst the festival has experienced in its 20-year history.

Festival organisers issued a statement about the decision to cancel performances on the main stages today.

"A significant weather system is currently sitting off the east coast and may reach land later today bringing more rainfall," the statement said.

"We have decided to err on the side of caution and cancel performances on the main stages today only – Amphitheatre, Mix Up, GW McLennan and Park(lands) Stages.

"Day patrons are asked not to attend the festival today while we work on repairs.

"In the coming week Moshtix will be in contact with the ticket holders affected directly, via the email address used to purchase their ticket, for further information on refunds.

"We look forward to Saturday and Sunday programming moving ahead as planned."

https://twitter.com/SITG/status/1550326150152728578

After organisers posted the statement on Facebook, commenters quickly began condemning the message.

Some expressed concerns about how much money they'd spent on flights and accommodation, while others queried refunds.

Many music lovers had already arrived at the festival for the first day of the three-day event.

Festivalgoers have described the campsite and festival like the "Queensland floods" after heavy rain flooded the area and caused knee-high mud.

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Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay, Friday July 22

Many people had bought camping tickets to stay at North Byron Parklands however this was closed and attendees were redirected to Byron Events Farm.

Headliners like the Gorillaz, DMA's, Yungblud and the Avalanches were set to perform this evening at the festival.