Whale watch update

Dear whale watchers,

It’s been another eventful fortnight of whale watching in Victoria with multiple Southern Right Whale cow: calf pairs sightings , a close-up view of an adult and sub-adult in Port Campbell Bay and an encounter between a Killer Whale and a pair of Southern Right Whales near Portland.

A new Southern Right Whale cow: calf pair was first spotted at Logans Beach on 10th August, named by locals as ‘Black Bonnet’ for her unique callosity pattern and almost completely black bonnet on her upper jaw. Another cow: calf pair has also been sighted in Portland, temporarily named ‘Continuous Coaming’ as her coaming callosity continues along her top jaw all the way to her bonnet (refer to image below for description of callosities). 

Thanks to our local photographers we have now confirmed a total of five different cow: calf pairs have been sighted in South-west Victorian waters this whale season: 
1.    Tripod and her calf (since lost)
2.    Big Coaming, residing at Logans Beach
3.    ‘Split Coaming’ and calf sighted in Portland last fortnight
4.    ‘Black Bonnet’ and calf, sighted at Logans Beach this fortnight
5.    ‘Continuous Coaming’ and calf sighted in Portland last week

On 14th August a Killer Whale was observed by Portland fishermen harassing a pair of Southern Right Whales north of Lawrence Rocks. This encounter lasted well over 7 minutes. It appears that the Killer Whale was intent on attacking the pair which consisted of a large adult and a sub-adult. It is unlikely that the Killer Whale would have caused any serious harm to these whales, but we have since noticed several whales in the area showing Killer whale teeth ‘rake marks’ and bite marks.

Whilst sightings over the last few weeks have been fleeting, it is very exciting to see new calves for this Critically Endangered species. Continue to keep your eyes peeled, the last fortnight has shown that you can never predict when and where a new Southern Right Whale and calf might appear!

All reports of whale sightings are welcome! If you would like to register and contribute sightings, please visit: www.swifft.net.au/srwsmp. 
Once registered you can also view images and news updates for the season. 

Images of Southern Right Whales submitted through the SWIFFT portal are used to support DELWP’s photo-identification research project. Identifying images will be included in the South-east Australian Southern Right Whale Photo-Identification Research Program, and sightings records will be added to the department's Victorian Biodiversity Atlas.

We will continue to post regular news updates on the whale season on the News tab of this page.

To bring you up to date, below is a summary of the confirmed sightings received by DELWP from 8th August to the 23rd August:

• 8 August Cape Nelson 1 x HBW      
• 8 August Logans Beach 3 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair, and Tripod)      
• 9 August Logans Beach 3 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair, and Tripod)      
• 10 August Logans Beach 4 x SRW (cow (Black Bonnet): calf pair and cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 
• 11 August Portland 3 x SRW 
• 12 August Logans Beach 4 x SRW (cow (Black Bonnet): calf pair and cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 
• 13 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair)
• 14 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair)
• 14 August Portland 2 x SRW (cow (Continuous Coaming): calf pair) 
• 14 August Portland 2 x SRW (harassed by Killer Whale) 
• 14 August Portland 1 x KW
• 14 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair)
• 15 August Port Campbell 2 x SRW 
• 16 August Logans Beach 3 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair and single adult) 
• 17 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW  
• 17 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 
• 18 August Portland 1 x SRW 
• 18 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 
• 21 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 
• 22 August Logans Beach 2 x SRW (cow (Big Coaming): calf pair) 

SRW = Southern Right Whale
HBW= Humpback Whale
KW= Killer Whale

I am interested in hearing about your experience with the SWIFFT portal so far this whale season.  Send me your feedback and if you are having any difficulties with the portal, please get in touch so we can resolve it as quickly as possible. 

Regards,
Mandy