Whale News - July 2021
The WhaleFace Community is growing
We are excited to report that we now have over 230 registered WhaleFace users. Such a good start to the season. So far we have received 110 reports from 52 people and we look forward to more to come!
First calf for the season
Victoria’s first Southern Right Whale calf sighting for 2021 has been confirmed at Portland. The female and her calf were spotted and photographed by locals at the Wade Street lookout on the 19th of June. Another cow:calf pair has been regularly observed in the Narrawong area since 27 June. We have examined photos of both pairs and are confident they are different. We believe the Narrawong female is one that was first identified in 2018 in the same area. This is a fantastic development which hopefully signals the beginnings of recovery of the historic Portland aggregation.
Big Coaming returns
Logans Beach regular Big Coaming has returned!
Big Coaming sadly lost a calf at Logans Beach in 2019. While her return this year is a surprise, it’s fantastic news as it means she became pregnant again in 2020 and is returning to calve this year, breaking the three-year calving cycle that’s typical of Southern Right Whales.
It’s not unusual for whales to return earlier, as we’ve seen this in previous years with other Logans Beach regulars including Wilma and Tripod and it is assumed that this means that these females also lost calves.
Big Coaming was first spotted (this season) at Logans Beach on the 16th of June. So far this season. She has spent most of her time in the Logans Beach area but did disappear briefly before returning with a calf on the 29th of June
We will be keeping a close eye on Big Coaming and her calf this season.
Sighting summary
Below is a list of sightings we have received so far this season 24 April – 12 July 2021.
Please note that these sightings are preliminary and will be finalised at the end of the season when our validating and photo matching/cataloguing takes place.
|
Date |
Locality |
Sighting |
Notes |
|
24/04/2021 |
Portland |
1 X SRW |
|
|
30/05/2021 |
Port Campbell |
1 X SRW |
|
|
31/05/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW |
|
|
31/05/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
|
|
01/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
|
|
11/06/2021 |
Phillip Island |
1 X SRW |
|
|
14/06/2021 |
Cape Nelson |
1 X SRW |
|
|
16/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC id confirmed |
|
17/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
18/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
19/06/2021 |
Portland |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
First CC of season |
|
19/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
3 X SRW |
BC +2 |
|
19/06/2021 |
Phillip Island |
2 X SRW |
|
|
20/06/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
2 X SRW |
|
|
20/06/2021 |
Logans beach |
2 X SRW |
BC +1 |
|
20/06/2021 |
Jan Juc |
1 X SRW |
|
|
21/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
21/06/2021 |
Barwon Heads |
2 X SRW |
|
|
21/06/2021 |
Cape Schank |
2 X SRW |
|
|
22/06/2021 |
Port Fairy |
2 X SRW |
|
|
22/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
22/06/2021 |
Barwon Heads |
1 X SRW |
|
|
23/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
24/06/2021 |
Cape Bridgewater |
1 X SRW |
|
|
24/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
3 X SRW |
BC + 2 |
|
24/06/2021 |
Point Addis |
5 X SRW |
|
|
24/06/2021 |
Bells Beach |
3 X SRW |
|
|
24/06/2021 |
Torquay |
3 X SRW |
|
|
26/06/2021 |
Logans beach |
1 X SRW |
BC |
|
27/06/2021 |
Narrawong |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
27/06/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW |
|
|
27/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
2 X SRW |
BC +1 |
|
27/06/2021 |
Cape Patten |
1 X SRW |
|
|
27/06/2021 |
Lorne |
1X SRW |
|
|
28/06/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW |
|
|
29/06/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC has calf |
|
29/06/2021 |
Phillip Island |
2 X SRW |
|
|
30/06/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
01/07/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
01/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
01/07/2021 |
Phillip Island |
2 X SRW |
|
|
02/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
03/07/2021 |
Narrawong |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
03/07/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
03/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
04/07/2021 |
Narrawong |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
04/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
04/07/2021 |
Fairhaven |
1X SRW |
|
|
05/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
06/07/2021 |
Port Fairy |
2 X SRW |
|
|
06/07/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
07/07/2021 |
Portland |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
07/07/2021 |
Portland |
2X SRW |
|
|
07/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
08/07/2021 |
Warrnambool (other) |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
|
08/07/2021 |
Phillip Island |
3 X SRW |
|
|
08/07/2021 |
Wilsons Prom |
1XSRW |
|
|
09/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
10/07/2021 |
Port Fairy |
1 X SRW |
|
|
10/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
11/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
BC |
|
11/07/2021 |
Yambuck |
3 X SRW |
|
|
12/07/2021 |
Port Fairy |
2 X SRW |
|
|
12/07/2021 |
Logans Beach |
1 X SRW (Cow:Calf Pair) |
|
Happy whale watching!
Mandy and Kasey