NATURE put on a show over the weekend, with a pod of killer whales, humpback whales and dolphins spotted off the Glenelg Shire coast.
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They were snapped by local photographer Allen McCauley around 12.30pm on Sunday at the Cape Nelson Lighthouse, Portland.
He said they were heading towards Cape Bridgewater.
"There were five that we think we've seen already this year, having sighted the two male killer whales before," he said.
"The killer whales aren't as prolific as the humpbacks."
Mr McCauley sends his photos to Killer Whales Australia curator David Donnelly, who said the two males photographed are 'Groovey' and 'Ripple' who have been in their catalogue for over 13 years.
KWA had been tracking the pod across the west coast of Victoria and thanked the "dedicated citizen scientists at Cape Nelson" for their "three days of observer effort."
Mr McCauley has been photographing whales for six years since he retired as a carpenter. He spends most days whale watching.
"A friend got us interested in it and it's just grown from there in the six years since I retired," he said.
"We like the humpbacks, we try to capture the underside of the tail and David can see if they've been in the catalogue, and the Southern Rights' head patterns which we send to Mandy Watson in Warrnambool. So far we've given David about 10 new whales to identify that he didn't have on the list
"They were quiet this year, the southern rights, but the humpbacks have been incredible. They're all feeding at the moment.
"Over the whole season I've only had about 13 days since March where we didn't sight a whale.
"There's about five photographers who are out there all the time, I just take my camera, a seat and occasionally a thermos and a Vegemite sandwich, it's true Aussie stuff."
There have already been eight reported whale sightings in the area this month, Glenelg Shire Council records show.
They include on Monday when there were eight to 10 humpback whales spotted feeding in the same area, two on Sunday, at least six on Saturday, and two just 300 metres offshore at the lighthouse.
Killer whales were also spotted between the seal colonies in Bridgewater Bay on July 20 and several small groups were seen made their way from the blowhole area around the headland towards the seal colony in Bridgewater Bay on July 15.
No whale calves at Warrnambool so far this year
There have been no whale calves at Warrnambool's Logans Beach nursery so far this year, an unusual sign for researchers.
People have sighted whales temporarily at Logans Beach, and whale calves on the Victorian coast generally, but so far no female whales have stayed in the nursery.
The southern right whales are usually born off Warrnambool in June and leave in September and October.
Department of Environment Land Water and Planning Natural Environment Program Officer Mandy Watson said whales had "fidelity" to certain calving grounds that they visited every three years.
Researchers had been expecting females that calved at the nursery in 2017 to arrive off Warrnambool this year.
"But we haven't seen them," Ms Watson said.
"We expected to see some of our regular favourites like Big Lips and Long Coaming.
"We would assume they just haven't migrated this year, which means they weren't going to calve for some reason."
She said it was a worrying sign for the critically endangered species.
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