Sydney Harbour and Environment Sydney Harbour is one of over 600 parks and reserves in NSW.  It begins at the passage between North and South Head and continues inland for about 20km.  While the scenery is picturesque from land, it is even more breathtaking from the water.  Small coves and beaches nestle along the foreshore.  Some are home to native creatures and others house restaurants, marinas and favourite swimming beaches. Sydney is one of the world's greatest and friendliest places to sail. Taking the opportunity of learning to sail this beautiful waterway and the enjoyment you will get from it can only be labelled as priceless. - Greg Dixon, Sailing Instructor Imagine sailing in front of the Opera House or under the Harbour Bridge.  Circumnavigate any of the Harbour's eight islands.  Moor on the north side of the Harbour and wake up to the screeching of Taronga Zoo's monkeys.  Or just delight in racing beside well-known Sydney to Hobart contenders. At night, the Harbour blinks with thousands of lights.  To the layperson looking on from the shore, these tiny stars create a magical world, but to sailors they are a language that guides and protects them. Sharing the Harbour Sydney Harbour is an amazing natural wonder and people are not the only creatures that want to enjoy all that it offers.  A wealth of marine life lives in the harbour and its foreshores.  Sydney sailors can experience the thrill of seeing Little Penguins up close, of racing with dolphins and if they're extremely lucky, of spotting a visiting Southern Right Whale.  We are privileged to share this environment with such beautiful and elegant creatures.  Please respect and protect the Harbour and its wildlife. Little Penguins If you're out sailing and you hear what you think are dogs barking, look around the water.  Chances are that little penguins will be enjoying a harbour swim.  Little penguins (formerly known as fairy penguins) are the smallest of all penguins, measuring 30 to 35cm in height and weighing only about 1kg when fully grown.  They are slate blue or blue-grey with a white underbelly and throat, a black bill and pink feet.  Little penguins are the only penguins known to have breeding colonies on mainland Australia.  Sydney's colony, which breeds in Manly, is endangered.  Please ensure that you help protect these beautiful creatures by giving them their space on the harbour. Whales In Sydney's early years, whales would have been a common sight in the harbour.  Unfortunately whaling severely decreased the numbers of Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales.  But it was banned in 1970 and since that time, whale populations have increased.  Each year over 100 Humpback whales pass along the Sydney coastline on their annual winter migration. Sailing is a great opportunity to develop your senses; it works hand in hand with Mother Nature  ...become sensitive to your surrounding environment, respect it and enjoy what it gives you... Bon Veut! - Gig Chaillot, Sailing Instructor They travel north in June / July and return to the southern feeding grounds during the summer.  Sightings of whales within the harbour are not unknown.  But their visits are increasing.  In 2003, in an extremely unusual event, a family of Humpback whales, two adults and a baby, ventured as far as Garden Island and Rushcutters Bay.  Southern Right Whales are more common.  In 1999 a female Southern Right Whale paid a 21-day visit to Sydney Harbour.  Four years before, another single Right Whale was sited around North Habour, Middle Harbour and Manly Beach. Whales are protected and it is illegal for you to be in a boat within 100m of any sighted whale. Dolphins Dolphins are also regular visitors to Sydney Harbour, although, if you sail through the Heads there is a greater chance of these playful animals racing your boat.  The dolphins will probably be one of the two species - Tursiops truncates, the Bottlenose Dolphin or Tursiops aduncus, the Long-beaked Bottlenose Dolphin.   Links    National Parks    Ask a question or reserve your place by:    Emailing     or call us during business hours, 7 days on  02 9326 2399