Whale watching
Akama Resort, Harvey Bay – a whale of a community fundraising idea
Hervey Bay is the whale watching capital of the world. Thousands flock each year to be thrilled and inspired by the whales in the beautiful waters of the bay. Hervey Bay couple and managers of Akama Resort at Hervey Bay, Matt and Pia Bysher, have used the inspiration that whales give them to get involved in the campaign to save them.
Pia and Matt are giving guests staying at Akama during the whale watching season the opportunity to donate to Greenpeace, supporting their efforts to end Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. And that’s not all. Akama itself has been transformed into giant billboard in support of whale conservation, with the roof of the resort featuring a life size humpback mother and calf displaying the message “Help Us Save Them” (see image).
Keen whale watchers that fly into Hervey Bay will see their first
whales as they land. The sky-high
statement aims to increase awareness of Japan’s JARPA II whaling program that now not only includes the hunting of Minke
whales but also endangered Fin and threatened Humpback whales.
The artwork signifies the beginning
of Akama’s long-term fundraising commitment that enables guests to donate to Greenpeace when making a reservation.
Matt and Pia said the initiative was born from a fascination with whales and a dread that their 3 year-old
son Finn would not be able to give
his children the same whale watching experience available today.
“Our resort Akama is named with the Aboriginal word for whale. So when we first arrived in Hervey Bay in April 2007 we could not wait to finally indulge our love of whales and go whale watching,” Pia said.
“The first time we took our son Finn whale watching he loved seeing their tummies, but I think he was just as interested in watching his mum running from side to side waving her arms in excitement. At one stage one of these beautiful mammals came right out of the water, centimetres from my hand and just stared right at me. It was incredibly humbling.”
“We were just sick of feeling small, like we couldn’t make any kind of positive impact to conservation efforts,” Pia said.
“As a tourism operator in Australia’s whale watching capital, I see masses of visitors go whale watching each year and thought we just had to something to help,” Matt said.
Once Matt and Pia had created a message that could capture attention the determined couple wanted to do more and decided to contact Greenpeace.
“Greenpeace has been at the forefront of whale conservation for many years and we were inspired by its ability to get real positive results. In this year’s whaling session alone, Greenpeace was able to save an estimated 200 whales,” Matt said. “Our fundraising initiative gives our guests the opportunity to give a small donation when they make their booking. While each individual donation may be small they will add up very quickly.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific whales campaigner Rob Nicoll said the couple’s efforts were inspiring: “Matt and Pia had a great idea and simply went for it. We’re proud to have Matt and Pia’s support.”
“As long as whaling continues, we will continue to raise awareness and funds for the people at the cutting-edge of whale conservation,” Matt said.
