MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

It has been a privilege to celebrate NAIDOC Week with our College. It is a wonderful opportunity for our community to learn, connect and grow together. I thank Paije Kulbicki, the College Community Education Counsellor along with Flora Nona, the College Cultural Engagement Prefect and many other student volunteers, who have worked hard to plan and lead activities during this very special week of celebrations. I know that she and her team of dedicated students will deliver a wonderful array of activities.

I am always so impressed with the level of student engagement across a wide range of extracurricular activities in our College. In the last few weeks’ alone, we’ve celebrated success with our:

· Rowing squad at the Head of the River Regatta where they placed 2nd in the girls’ aggregate.

· College Choir was awarded gold at the Queensland Catholic Music Festival.

· Opti-MINDS team who were the Regional winners in the “Language and Literature” section and will travel to Brisbane to compete in the finals.

· Readers’ Cup Team – the “One Book Wonders” who are off to Brisbane tomorrow, to compete against the best in the Queensland.

· Year 9 Design Thinking Class who won the Big Ideas Youth Challenge “Emerging Innovators Award”.

I am always very grateful for the wonderful work our teachers, coaches and support staff who continually work to ensure our girls have extracurricular opportunities to grow and flourish.

It is also National Teacher Aide Appreciation Week and I would to acknowledge and thank our Teacher Aides who work tirelessly to support our students and teachers, week in and week out. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated group of professionals who are committed to enriching our students’ learning growth.

We are looking forward to welcoming parents and friends of the College this Friday evening for the Twilight Drinks event.

Amber Hauff

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNSELLOR

Wadda mooli, everyone.

This week, we celebrate NAIDOC week!

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are traditionally held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, as this date falls in the June/July holiday period, the College holds its celebrations in Week 7 of Term 3.

NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. With over 145 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at the College, this week means a great deal to our students, staff and families. 

This year’s theme has been Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and reflects a proud history of getting up, standing up and showing up, from the frontier wars and the earliest resistance fighters, to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today. Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism—we must do it together.

NAIDOC lunchtime activities 2022

Ms Paije Kulbicki

COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNSELLOR

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

INTRODUCTION OF EI PULSE

Research into student wellbeing confirms the importance of early intervention to support students. As a College, we are always striving to improve our approach to student wellbeing. We are pleased to inform you that we have engaged with Educator Impact to rollout a new wellbeing tool, EI Pulse. EI Pulse is a system that lets schools collect data that is frequent, familiar and formative. It works by asking a small number of questions regularly so schools can quickly build and maintain an up-to-date picture of wellbeing and engagement. The purpose of the tool is to provide students with a safe and easy way to ask for help and to ensure that staff get a clearer understanding of how individual students are feeling so they know who needs their support. There is a strong correlation between wellbeing and educational achievement and EI Pulse will provide the College with deep insight into wellbeing data to improve the student experience.

Students access the tool, in the form of an app, via their laptop. They will be sent a prompt once a week to fill out a short survey, which will take an average time of 1 minute to complete. Participation is voluntary. The first question, which will be the same each week, is ‘How are you feeling today?’ The response to this will be the only one that is not anonymous, and if a student indicates they are not feeling great, their response will be sent to a member of the pastoral team, prompting the team member to check in with the student. There are then a further five questions, which will vary each week, being pulled from a bank of 130. Responses to these questions are anonymous and the data will be collated for staff at cohort, house and school level.

This information will provide staff real-time insight into the wellbeing of students and help identify school trends, plan interventions and assess College programs and initiatives to holistically support student wellbeing.

Click on this link for Parent/Guardian FAQs.

TRI_ParentGuardian FAQ

Mr Cameran Triffett

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – ACADEMIC

In Week 3, we held our Academic and Diligence Assembly based on the Semester One results for Year 7 to 10, Unit One results for Year 11 and Unit Three Provisional Results for Year 12. This assembly acknowledged those students who achieved academic success, as well as recognising students who displayed diligence through a strong work ethic. This was the first time we held two separate assemblies, one for Year 7 to 9 and one for Year 10 to 12, allowing for our whole College community to celebrate these achievements. 

During my speech, I discussed our 2022 College focus on the Finnish concept of Sisu; the extraordinary endurance shown in the face of adversity. Sisu is persistence, determination, tenacity, courage and willpower. In particular, I discussed a 7.30 report on Caitlin Parker, an Australian boxing champion who has set her sights on winning Australia’s first ever Olympic boxing gold. Caitlin’s attitude is a true reflection of Sisu. Many of her challenges are things we face daily – you get yourself up, even when you don’t want to, even on those hard days, where you wake up and you don’t feel great. Caitlin’s determination and positive attitude rests on her goals and her determination to succeed. Every one of us needs to display the same determination in our own lives. Each of us must have our own goals to strive for, to get you out of bed and excited for each day, and to allow you to make personal progress. As Caitlin says, you set those goals and you know what you want. You get up and you do the work, no matter what. 

I congratulate each of our award recipients and I encourage all students to strive for the next academic awards presentation at Speech Night.

(Further information regarding the criterion for Academic and Diligence Awards can be found on the College Website and the video of the assembly can be found on the Learning Hub.)

TUTORING SCHEDULE

Teachers at the College provide a range of tutoring opportunities for students, including before and after school and during lunch breaks. The tutoring schedule for Semester 2, 2022 can be found on the Academic tile on the Learning Hub. As well as this document, students are encouraged to speak to their teachers for alternative tutoring times.

YEAR 12 EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT

As many of our Year 12 students are in the midst of submitting their final internal pieces of assessment for general subjects, it is timely to look at resources available on the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority website that relate to External Assessments. This includes a suite of external assessment preparation videos for a range of subject areas. Further resources are also available on our College Learning Hub.

Amy Byrnes

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – ACADEMIC

DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS

E-CIGARETTES OR VAPING

The take up of vaping by young people is increasing. Research shows that 1 in 5 young people have vaped and nearly 80% of them say it is easy to get a vape illegally at a shop or online. 

Vapes may expose young people to chemicals and toxins at levels that have the potential to cause negative health effects. Vaping has been linked to serious lung disease. Importantly, many of the long-term harms of vaping are still unknown. The liquid in vapes and the vapour is not water. Vapes can expose young people to:

• the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray
• toxins such as formaldehyde and heavy metals
• ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
• flavouring chemicals such as diacetyl (a chemical linked to serious lung disease)
• the nicotine in 1 vape can = 50 cigarettes. Depending on the size of the vape and nicotine strength, it can be much higher.

Young people often think that vaping is a normal or safe thing to do, but that is not the case. Parent/Guardian information and education opportunities can be found at health.nsw.gov.au/vaping which may assist you to start a conversation about Vaping with your daughter.

The College has organised Thomas Reynolds from Independent Drug Education Australia an expert in drug education to present a session on Vaping to all students next term as part of our Personal Development Education program.

MICROWAVE OVEN FOR STUDENT USE

Due to a WHS issue, students can no longer use the microwave in the Café by the Sea to heat their lunch. The microwave will be taken away at the end of this week, Thursday 2 September. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

STUDENT FREE DAY

This Friday, 2 September is a Student Free Day. 

Maria Franettovich

DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS

DIRECTOR OF BOARDING

Ms Katie de Carteret

DIRECTOR OF BOARDING

FAITH AND MISSION

This week at St Patrick’s College Townsville, we celebrate NAIDOC week.

GOSPEL

Isaiah 40 :28 – 31

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.”

REFLECTION

This Gospel reading from Isaiah shows the great strength we have when we have hope in our God. During this week of celebrations of our First Nations people, let’s take a moment to stop, reflect and think about those who have paved the way for us in the past.

David Unaipon was an indigenous author, inventor & preacher. David preached in many different churches. He faced many challenges as an indigenous man in the early 1900’s. He influenced Aboriginal government policy in the 1920’s and 1930’s. His love of God gave him the strength to be able to GET UP, STAND UP & SHOW UP and to be a valued member of his community. Another place you can find his face these days is on the back of the $50 note.

Eddie Koiki Mabo fought for the rights of indigenous people. He was a strong community leader and land rights campaigner. Throughout his life, Mabo demonstrated initiative, originality, determination, intelligence, and commitment to obtaining justice for Indigenous Australians and recognition of the traditional land rights of his family and people. Eddie was filled with God’s spirit and this gave him the strength to GET UP, STAND UP and SHOW UP for his Torres Strait Islander community.

Both men were weary at times but were given strength by God to carry on. They soared like eagles and walked proudly with their Lord to be an inspiration to all their people.

As a College, when we reflect this NAIDOC week we focus on “Community” and our Mercy values – let us remember to show compassion, respect, hope, justice and joy to all we meet and continue to be inclusive of all people no matter their race and culture.

PASSING OF THE LIGHT MASS

Each year the College holds a Passing of the Light Mass, a ritual signifying the passing of leadership from the graduating Year 12 students to the Year 11 cohort. Our Year 11 and 12 families are warmly invited to join their daughter/s at this evening celebration. This celebration will be held on Wednesday, 14 September, beginning at 6.00pm.

MERCY DAY

In just under three weeks we will be celebrating Mercy Day, beginning the day with Mass led by Bishop Tim. After this, all students will be involved in a range of Mercy Works activities in the middle session and we will conclude this amazing day with our annual St Patrick’s College Townsville Talent Show! Ms. Veuksio, myself and the Mercy Girls are very busy planning for this special day. Thank you also to Sister Catherine Cuddihy for assisting the Mercy Girls with making the 650 yellow roses to be given out and shared with our College Community during Mass.

Elissa Andrews

DEAN OF FAITH & MISSION

DEAN OF ACADEMIC OPERATIONS

YEAR 11 SUBJECT CHANGES

Year 11 students will finish Unit 2 at the end of Term 3, 2022. Unit 3 content will then begin on Wednesday, 5 October (Week 1, Term 4). Students wishing to change subjects for Unit 3 and 4 can book a meeting with the Academic Office. Subject changes for Unit 3 and 4 must be finalised by Friday, 14 October (Week 2, Term 4). Any student that wishes to change subjects, must do so at the beginning of Unit 3, as any student that changes throughout either Unit 3 or Unit 4 will not receive credit for these paired units.

To assist in these subject changes, Year 11 students will be issued with a summary of their Unit 2 Results in the September school holidays via email.

YEAR 12 MOCK AND APPLIED SUBJECT EXAMS

Last week, Year 12 students were emailed a copy of the Year 12 Mock and Applied Subject Exam Block. It is important that students are prepared for this exam block by ensuring they have the correct equipment and understand the conditions of these exams. By following these guidelines, students will experience the same conditions that they will during the External Assessment Exams in Term 4.

YEAR 10 AND 11 EXAM BLOCKS

Year 10 and 11 students have an Exam Block at the end of Term 3. This exam timetable was distributed to students last week. A reminder that students must attend all exams in their full Academic College uniform. Only Year 11 students are permitted to complete individual study at home or in the Boarding School during Exam Block. If a Year 11 student does not have exams during Exam Block or only one exam on a particular day, they are permitted to complete individual study at home; however, the parent must advise the College by 9.00am on the day of these arrangements. Year 11 Boarding students will be permitted to return to the Boarding School for individual study,

Year 10 students must complete study in the assigned classrooms. If students are absent for any exams, they are reminded that they must request special provisions and if it is for medical purposes, provide a medical certificate.

Mr Chris Pacey

DEAN OF ACADEMIC OPERATIONS

CAREERS

QTAC: TERTIARY APPLICATION PROCESS

QTAC Applications opened Tuesday, 2 August 2022. Students should have opened their QTAC account, enter their tertiary preferences and complete additional documentation supporting their application. It is recommended that students order their preferences as follows:

Additionally, students will also need to sign-up to the ATAR Portal through QTAC to access their ATAR once released.

For students who have experienced disruption to their recent studies by financial or personal challenges, they are encouraged to apply through QTAC’s Educational Access Scheme (EAS). Through the EAS, students may receive adjustments to their QTAC selection rank. This can help students compete for tertiary study on a more equal basis. If students are eligible for the Financial Hardship category, they may also get financial assistance from institutions, such as scholarships or bursaries. QTAC will assess a student’s application for eligibility for EAS.

QTAC will shortly release the key dates for 2023 applications.

TERTIARY, SCHOLARSHIP & ACCOMMODATION APPLICATIONS – SCHOOL DOCUMENTATION

Where students are requiring school documentation to support their application, students are directed to contact me.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING

The 2023 TAFE at Schools course offerings are now available. Students entering Year 11 or 12 next year may elect to study a Certificate II course on Wednesdays, as part of their senior education and training plan. These courses are very popular and fill quickly, therefore early applications are highly advised to avoid missing out on an offer. Applications opened Monday 15 August 2022. A copy of the 2023 TAFE at School course guide can be obtained from me – just pop up to the library and ask to see me. 

To apply for a TAFE course, go to tafeapply.com and use the application code TQN2301. Students will need a USI when applying. 

Students interested in applying for the Electrotechnology course will need to sit a short pre-vocational assessment at school, and will need to see me to arrange this as soon as possible. Additionally, all current Year 10 and Year 11 students considering a TAFE course next year should see me regarding courses and the application process.

Ms Catherine Rentoule

HEAD OF CAREERS & VET | E: crentoule@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

COLLEGE NEWS

QATSIF ART ENTRIES

The College has entered a number of stunning student artworks into this year’s QATSIF Creative Arts Competition. The girls spent may hours developing an original design and then cutting lino to leave the negative image. They then printed the first layer of the image before cutting the second element of their design and printing again. For some, this process was repeated again and again. The lino print process is very time-consuming, requiring skill and patience. The goal was to replicated the integrity of the original design regardless of how many times the tile was cut and printed. Mrs Walsh, Head of Arts & Exhibitions, was thrilled with the quality of these pieces, all of which are currently proudly on display in various offices in the Administration building. 

(artworks by: Jmelliah Barrett, Mackenzie Chong, Lorianna Eseli)

(artworks by: Tooya Gorringe, Osaelma Tabuai and Tyreisha Major)

SPORT & FITNESS NEWS | With Ms Angela Cooper, Head of Sport & Fitness

“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you, and you don’t have to listen.” Jessica Ennis-Hill

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL RECAP

Our Interhouse Athletics Carnival for 2022 was a brilliant day filled with energy, talent, speed, and teamwork. It was great to see everyone come out dressed from head to toe in blue, yellow, purple and green. Whether you were a serious competitor or just there to have a go, every girl gave it their best effort and that was amazing to see. The carnival spanned across two days this year, with the long-distance track events on Thursday and the rest on the Friday.

Walking around to all of the events throughout both days, it was great to see so many girls trying something new and pushing themselves to the limit to see what they could achieve. Whether it was triple jump or running the 1500m on the Thursday, girls kept putting themselves out of their comfort zone to see how they would go.

The support shown throughout the day was also incredible, with everyone cheering on their friends and House to help them succeed no matter what colour they were wearing. This led to an awesome, spirit packed athletics carnival to finish off our three carnivals for the 2022.

Our Athletics Age Champions and Record Breakers this year reached incredible feats. 

AGE CHAMPIONS:

• 12 YEARS – Sylvia Gesa
• 13 YEARS – Olivia Koloi
• 14 YEARS – Sophie Hannay
• 15 YEARS – Ella Bensch and Keyara Geatches
• 16 YEARS – Sarah Bourke
• 17 YEARS – Charlize Barrett
• OPENS – Ellie Farrands

RECORD BREAKERS:

• 12 YEARS
  • Sylvia Gesa – 100m – 14.28 sec
  • Akara Gizu – Long Jump – 4.22m
  • Caitlin Edison – Triple Jump – 8.25m
• 13 YEARS
  • Alyssa Doyle – 100m – 13.56 sec
  • Charli Russell – 400m – 1.07.58 min
  • Gabriella Parenti – Triple Jump – 9.48m
• 14 YEARS
  • Sophie Hannay – 800m – 2.49.02 min
  • Sophie Hannay – 1500m – 6.05.17 min
• 16 YEARS
  • Sarah Bourke – 400m – 1.07.03 min
  • Sarah Bourke – 800m – 2.46.14 min
  • Sarah Bourke – 1500m – 5:53.25 min
• 17 YEARS
  • Pattigum Repu – 100m – 14.18 sec
  • Charlize Barrett – 200m – 29.35 sec
  • Charlize Barrett – 400m – 1.07.89 sec
  • Ruby Mitchell – Long Jump – 4.44m
  • Ruby Mitchell – Triple Jump – 8.88m
• OPENS
  • Brooke Davis-Goodall – 800m – 2.54.79 min
  • Brooke Davis-Goodall – 1500m – 6.22.45 min

Congratulations girls on all of your achievements.

The Spirit Award for the Athletics Carnival is based on many categories. These include, Cleanliness of House Areas, Most Helpful House, Best House War Cry, Best House Banner and Best Grade 12 Costume. The participation, noise and costumes were unmatched this year, with all of the students and teachers going all out to match their house themes. The winner of the Spirit Award for the 2022 Interhouse Athletics Carnival went to Thrones. Great effort to all the Thrones girls, very well deserved.

The winner of our Interhouse Athletics Carnival was very highly contested this year, with all Houses pushing themselves and supporting each other throughout both days. This year our placings for our 2022 Interhouse Athletics were, in 4^th Place was Princes. In 3^rd Place was Doms. In 2^nd Place is Thrones. In 1^st Place is Powers. Congratulations Powers, very well deserved and an amazing performance.

Overall, this year has been astounding in terms of carnival spirit, participation, and energy. All three carnivals for 2022 were so fun, spirited, and unforgettable.  A huge thank you to the girls, teachers and parents that made this possible for all three carnivals, it is greatly appreciated.

– by CLARA DEER – Sports Prefect

TSSS INTERSCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL RECAP

Two weeks after our Interhouse competition was the TSSS Interschool Athletics Carnival, which also spanned over two days. This year is the second year that we have been in the ‘A’ Schools division. Both days we had a huge turn out of girls come to compete in their events based on their performances at our House carnival. The support levels were again amazing, with our school helping out at different stations and helping students from other schools if they had been injured or gotten lost. It was a great carnival to be a part of and it was awesome to see all the girls performing at their best and pushing themselves and each other to be their best. This year we placed in a commendable third place for the girl’s division. This is an incredible accomplishment for our Interschool Athletics Team this year and deserves a huge congratulations.

The following student were selected in the TSSS Athletics Team to compete for a spot in the Northern Team at the trials to be held at the Townsville Sports Reserve on Thursday 1 September, 2022:

• Gabriella Parenti (13yrs – 100m, 200m, 400m, Long Jump, Triple Jump)
• Alyssa Doyle (13yrs- 100m)
• Olivia Koloi (13yrs – 200m, Triple Jump)
• Charlie Russell (13yrs – 1500m, 800m, 400m)
• Sophie Hannay (14yrs – 800m)
• Lorianna Eseli (15yrs – Javelin)
• Osaelma Tabuai (15yrs – Discus)
• Eryn Matters (15yrs – 3000m, 1500m, 800m)
• Kenya Mari (15yrs Shot Put)
• Lalita Kris (16yrs – Discus)
• Sarah Bourke (16yrs – 1500m, 400m)
• Charlize Barrett (17yrs – 200m, 400m)
• Brooke Davis-Goodall (Open – 1500m)
• Ellie Farrands (Open – 200m)

SCIENCE NEWS | With Mrs Shari Finlay, Head of Faculty – Science

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.” Marie Curie.

SCIENCE WEEK – 2022

In Week 5, St Patrick’s College Townsville celebrated Science Week with enthusiasm and excitement. This year’s theme, “Glass: More than meets the eye” allowed students to participate in activities relating to glass.

On Monday, students participated in a DIY terrarium workshop – over 80 terrariums were made. Tuesday’s activity saw lots of students make their own kaleidoscope and the senior girls had the opportunity to dissect an eye. On Wednesday at our ‘Science Week Assembly’ we welcomed local Scientist and Ninja Warrior, Keziah Furnell to speak to the students. Keziah gave an inspiration address and we are very grateful for her sharing her story with us. We also hosted Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife Scientist who works closely with whales on a live ZOOM chat. She gave students an insight to the collection of whale snot using drones – a very interesting scientific field, indeed! On Friday, we hosted Scientist, Tamille Brunt on a live ZOOM chat. Tamille works within North Queensland tracking the movements of platypus – she gave us an insight into the importance of collecting eDNA of these wonderful and curious organisms. She also gave us a website to log any platypus sightings in NQ.

Students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the many activities on offer during Science Week and are already checking the website to see what next year’s theme will be.

AQUATIC PRACTICES | With Ms Kate Tomerini

The Year 11 Aquatic Practices students received a masterclass is fish-filleting last week. A task which is very much harder than it looks, the girls have added this skill to their list of accomplishments.

JAPANESE NEWS | With Ms Anna Kendall 

Year 9 Japanese students went to GYO Japanese Restaurant as a part of their Healthy Food Unit. They were able to experience a variety of Japanese food and practice using cultural manners and use their language skills. Students were encouraged to try different foods, including karaage, gyoza, miso soup, vegetable tempura, teriyaki to name a few. They also enjoyed well known cuisine, such as, sushi and sashimi. To finish off students also tried ice-cream mochi. The excursion was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

HUMANITIES HAPPENINGS | With Ms Kelli Chapman, Head of Faculty – Humanities 

“The humanities help us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures. They foster social justice and equality. And they reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world. The humanities teach empathy.”

LEGAL STUDIES

Year 11 and 12 Legal Studies classes have been out and about recently. On Friday 19th August, Ms Hansen and the students attended the JCU Legal Studies Conference. At the conference, students gained unique insights into Native Title Law, Human Rights Law, Constitutional Law, Business Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law and Sports Law, touching on topics from all 4 units of the syllabus.

Both Year 11 and 12 Legal Studies classes also had the opportunity to see firsthand the court systems in action when visiting the Townsville Law Courts recently.

HUMANITIES

Year 7 Humanities are currently nearing the end of their Geography unit on Water In The World. Being such a valuable resource for all Australians, it has been an important and interesting unit of work to cover. In order to see the water cycle in action, students in Ms Hyne’s class recently made their own enclosed terrariums.

$5 FORMAL

Held in Week 6, the $5 Formal has become one of the highlights in the Seniors’ calendar. Not only does it provide an opportunity to meet with and mix with seniors from the other Colleges, but students get to play dress up in outfits from Formals long-gone or ensembles that just make us wonder, “What was I thinking?” With all monies raised going to support charities, this year’s event featured a full red carpet catwalk. Thank you to Mrs Hambly and all the Pastoral Care Team who supported this year’s event. 

WHALE WATCHING – REEF GUARDIANS | With Mr Chris Pacey

Last week, members of the Reef Guardian Club were invited to go Whale Watching for the day. With limited places, the excursion quickly filled. Supported by Ms Byrnes and myself

, the girls travelled off the coast in search of whales and were eventually rewarded for their patience when a medium-sized Humpback Whale breached and then proceeded to frolic a short distance from the boat. It was a wonderful, awe-inspiring moment that the girls will never forget.