Southern Right Whales are commonly sighted between June and October.
They quite often spend days at a time in sheltered coves and bays providing ideal vantage points (including the Port Campbell Pier). Their movements however are less predictable than in known calving areas like Logans Beach at nearby Warrnambool.
FREE Binocular hire at the Visitor Information Centre in Port Campbell for enhanced viewing.
They have what looks like barnacles on their head which are called callosities and are a great way to identify them, think of it as a finger print!
They don’t eat for up to 6 months over winter and spring and when they do eat, they have no teeth! That’s right, Southern Right Whales have Baleen Plates that act as filters, letting water pass through and only food remains to be eaten.
Adults can weigh up to 80 tonnes and grow to more than 18 metres long, that’s the length of 4 cars! Their life span is as long as ours, an estimated 80 years!
The whales spend the summer months feeding in sub-Antarctic waters in the Southern Ocean and venture to warmer waters around Australia’s southern coast as well as South America, South Africa and New Zealand during winter and spring.
Southern Right Whales are a threatened species although their numbers are recovering since the 1930’s.
To report injured wildlife call 03 8400 7300.
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Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Great Ocean Road region the Wadawurrung, Eastern Maar & Gunditjmara. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We recognise and respect their unique cultural heritage and the connection to their traditional lands. We commit to building genuine and lasting partnerships that recognise, embrace and support the spirit of reconciliation, working towards self-determination, equity of outcomes and an equal voice for Australia’s first people.
