Whitsundays

The Australian spring, from September through November, is the peak for comfortable weather conditions and sailing excursions to spot marine life in the Whitsundays.

But following a forced ditching in Jervis Bay in March 2023 and the subsequent fatal crash in the Whitsundays, the current government ordered the aircraft to be grounded and permanently withdrawn from service and for the Black Hawk order to be expedited.

Three women have died in that accident mentioned earlier in the Whitsundays, a collision between a caravan and a bus with 33 people on board.

A supplied image obtained on Tuesday of a man described as Caucasian, 24, approximately 178cm tall with a thin build and shoulder-length dark hair who, with a female accomplice, have gone a crime spree across the Whitsundays.

He returned to Australia as a young GP, where family took him to the Whitsundays.

Since arriving on the shores of the Whitsundays in 1980, diver Tony Fontes has watched the Great Barrier Reef's health decline.

He said a marine biologist and a master reef guide form part of the staff, helping to educate guests about the reef, its history and its future and that Cruise Whitsundays had worked closely with the marine park authority during the rebuild.

Tourism Whitsundays has called on governments to provide funding for air surveillance of the area.