It comes after average whale-watching seasons in 2021 and 2020, with less whales than usual appearing in the region's waters.

Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research's Kasey Stamation said seven mother-and-calf sets were recorded along the southern coast with three pairs settling at Warrnambool.

"They've been there for the last few weeks and really entertaining everyone," she said.

"We've got others that have been elusive and had a couple of sightings here and there."

She said some whales had been breaching the surface more than 40 times, entertaining tourists and residents at the viewing platform.

Ms Stamation said two pairs moved between Port Campbell and Port Fairy, with others spotted in Portland.

She said calves were identified by hardened tissue markings on their skin known as callosities.

"There's two that have got some white marks underneath them - one has a big white splash on its chin and another has a squiggle on its underside and belly patch," she said.

"You'd only really see them if they were breaching but they've been active this season so we've been able to see the markings."

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Ms Stamation said the markings helped identify the whales.

"With the adults they're really quite distinctive, but with the calves it takes a while for the callosities to develop," she said.

She said identifying the whales was done by recording drone footage.

"We're really keen to get the calves catalogued so we can track to see if they come back to calf themselves," Ms Stamation said.

She said it was rare to see non-breeding mothers and the fathers.

"You occasionally get males hanging around - sometimes you will get them in at Logans Beach - they're generally wandering and passing through and we are not seeing much of them," she said.

She said this year Big Lips returned to give birth to her eighth calf.

"The first one was way back in 1995," Ms Stamation said.

Another whale mother at Logans Beach was Emm - who was identified by the M-shaped callosities on her head.

The final mother was Bonnet - who was named for its 'big bonnet' that stands out."

Photographers have unofficially named Big Lips' offspring Loopy and Emm's calf Squiggle.

Ms Stamation said the whales were expected to leave Logans Beach next month at the earliest.

She said no more calves were expected to be born.

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