The Portland Visitor Information Centre has launched the 'Name that Whale' competition via the Whalemail Facebook page, inviting community members during the month of July to pull out all creative stops to name a new whale for the region.

Glenelg Shire Mayor Cr Anita Rank described the competition as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to name one of the shire's most iconic visitors.

"From Thursday 11 July until 5pm, Thursday 1 August, community members will be able to submit their inventive name suggestions via the Whalemail Facebook page and go into the running to claim the naming rights for our shire's newest whale," she said.

"The whale in question was picked from the South East Australian Southern Right Whale Photo Identification Catalogue curated by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and has not yet been named, giving locals a chance to participate in the naming process.

"The whale has some very distinguishing features so it can be easily identified, is has large white patches on its neck and belly and it is missing the tips of both tail flukes.

"This a huge honour and lifetime bragging rights for the selected winner who will be able to be one of the very few people who can claim the title of officially naming one of the ocean's most majestic creatures."

Cr Rank said entrants would be competing not only for naming rights, but also for a grand prize.

"The winner of the selected entry will also receive a Portland Harbour Tours voucher, offering four free places to complete a tour of the world's largest export facility of woodchip with exclusive access to shipping berths and the commercial fishing fleet," she said.

"Previous whale naming competitions have seen regular visitors 'Kisme' and most recently 'Badu' added to the official identification register as Portland Whales. I look forward to seeing what creative name will be given to our newest whale."

The successful entrant will be announced via the Whalemail Facebook page.

The winning name will be selected by the Portland Visitor Information Centre team in conjunction with DELWP to ensure the winning name is appropriate and not previously allocated to any other identified and recorded whale.

Entrants may enter as many times as they like but must use a separate comment for each additional name suggestion.

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