Whale Watching at
Warrnambool
By Richard Moore
One of the wonderful surprises of our
journey down the Great Ocean Road into the far south-west of Victoria
was the pod of Southern Right Whales we were able to watch at
Warrnambool.
Logan's Beach is the place to go and the
authorities at Warrnambool have done the right thing by visitors and
locals alike by building excellent viewing platforms along the heights
of what really is a lovely beach.
Even in the wintry sunshine the water looked
inviting - and it certainly seemed so for the Southern Right Whales,
who were just swimming around with their young.
On the Sunday we went to see the whales at
Logan's Beach there were four of the wonderful creatures swimming about
several hundred metres off the shore. You could see them with the naked
eye, however, binoculars, telescopes or long lenses would make for
better viewing.
The photo (pictured top) of the whale was
taken with a 400mm lens while standing on the main viewing platform at
Logan's Beach, Warrnambool.
Southern Right Whales are not the biggest
mammals in the oceans, but are still fairly large beasts. Adults are on
average 15 metres long and weigh in at a gentle 50 tonnes, although
they can grow to 18 metres and 96 tonnes.
They are social creatures and like to
associate with others of their kind. They are warm blooded, give birth
to live young (five to six metres long) that breathe air and they also
feed milk to their calves.
Southern Right Whales calve every three
years and have an 11-month pregnancy. They get their name from having
been the best whales to hunt by whalers as when speared they would
float to the surface making them easier to take advantage of their
plentiful oil and bone.
Like other whales they communicate using
sound, or physical displays such as leaping out of the water
(breaching), or hitting their tail on the sea (tail lobbing).
Southern Rights appear off the southern
Australian coast between June and September when the females, known as
cows, return to calve in their preferred nursery areas.
They choose the waters off Warrnambool so
the young can build up their strength before leaving for sub-Antarctic
waters.
While the mothers and young are close to
shore, yearling whales and young adults stay further out to sea with
the pod's males.
Now it has to be said that viewing these
creatures is a hit and miss thing. They could be there, they may not
be.
You should always check with the Warrnambool
Visitors Centre on (03) 5561 2133 or 1800 637 725 before setting out on
a journey.
And it should be remembered that these
giants of the sea are wild creatures and do not act according to our
wishes. Therefore you may get a day where they are content to just swim
around, as we did, or other occasions when lucky visitors get to see
them breaching or tail lobbing.
Personally I think it is worth taking a bit
of a risk and if you are in the area then head on down to Logan's
Beach. You could be in for a whale of a time.
Now while in Warrnambool you should also
check out Flagstaff Hill, a historical maritime museum built around an
early Australian sea port.
Flagstaff Hill is in Merri St and is centred
on Warrnambool's original fort and lighthouse, which date from 1859,
and includes a recreated maritime village. At night there is a sound
and laser show entitled Shipwrecked that takes visitors through the
history of the legendary Shipwreck Coast.
Flagstaff Hill's Open Hours: 9.00am to
5.00pm everyday other than Christmas Day.
Flagstaff Hill website: FlagStaffHill.info
Links:
warrnamboolinfo.com.au
cetacea.org/sright.htm
questconnect.org/africa_so_right_whale_links.htm
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