Warrnambool whale watchers are getting excited after a Southern Right Whale was seen cruising offshore from Warrnambool on Monday.
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Veteran whale watcher Peter Read said he tracked the whale for about seven hours on Monday but had not been able to find it today.
Mr Read said he first saw the whale at Logans Beach about 7.30am on Monday.
It then went west to Thunder Point and further west to Armstrong Bay, which extends to near Killarney.
It spent time offshore from Rutledge Cutting before returning to Thunder Point, Mr Read said.
He last saw it about 3.30pm on Monday when it was heading south-west.
Another person later reported seeing a whale in Lady Bay on Monday afternoon.
Mr Read said he hoped the whale was one of the cows that had given birth to calves locally but he had not yet been able to identify it.
Monday’s sighting of a whale is slightly earlier than has happened in other whale seasons.
Mr Read said there had been about half a dozen other whale sightings this month at places as widespread as in Bridgewater Bay, off Portland and Peterborough.
Whales have also been sighted this month off Port Fairy and in Corio Bay.
Whale watchers are hoping this season will be better than last year when there were no resident whale cows and calves off Logans Beach, which has been a whale nursery area for many years.
Mr Read said while there were no resident cows and calves last year, about nine different Southern Right Whales had visited Logans Beach and other local waters.
The whale season usually runs from May to October.
Department of Environment Land Water and Planning senior biodiversity officer Mandy Watson said it was always encouraging to have a good start to the whale season because Southern Right Whales were critically endangered in Victorian waters.
“We’re hoping to see an increase in whale activity off Portland, as last year a mother and calf stayed in waters off Portland for the entire season,” Ms Watson said.
“This could be a sign of population recovery in the area, as the whales historically frequented this area in large numbers before being decimated during commercial whaling in the early 1900s.
“This is always an exciting time of the year, and whale watchers will no doubt have eyes fixed on Logan’s Beach Nursery at Warrnambool, hoping to see the first mother and calf for the season,” Ms Watson said.
“Local viewing platforms and cliffs are great spots to safely observe these majestic animals, as the whales can come close to shore and are often seen rolling and waving their fins in the air.
“Disappointingly, we’ve already had reports of boats moving too close to whales, and we are investigating those reports,” she said.
The Logan’s Beach Exclusion Zone will come into force on June 1, preventing all powered vessels from entering the area.
“The Logan’s Beach exclusion zone helps protect the nursery area of the Southern Right Whale and limits disturbance to the mothers and their calves,” Ms Watson said.
"We know that whales react to the presence of boats, and mothers will move between their calves and boats or move calves away from boats, so this zone is for everyone's protection," she said.
Outside the Logan’s Beach Exclusion Zone, minimum approach distances apply for all marine mammals. Boats are required to stay at least 200 metres from a whale and jetskis must stay 300m away.