WHALE watchers were in for a treat when a rare grey southern right whale was spotted on a trip along the Great Ocean Road.
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It was seen travelling from the Twelve Apostles to Loch Ard Gorge in Port Campbell on September 20.
Arthur Rylah Institute spokeswoman and wildlife ecology senior scientist Kasey Stamation said grey morphism occurred in less than four per cent of calves.
She said the cow-calf pair had travelled steadily along the Victorian coast since early September.
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"They were sighted in east Gippsland, San Remo, along the Great Ocean Road and were last seen travelling past Cape Nelson on September 23," Ms Stamation said.
She said the cross-matching of photographs from citizen scientist programs in New South Wales and Victoria have confirmed the same cow-calf pair were sighted on the southern NSW coast in August.
The mother was first sighted in 2017 without a calf near Eden in NSW.
Ms Stamation said there were examples of grey southern right whale adults in the south-eastern Australian catalogue but no grey morph calves were added to the catalogue to date.
"The eastern Australian southern right whale population is estimated at less than 300 meaning sightings of grey calves in this population are rare," she said.
Ms Stamation said the grey morphism was hereditary with the recessive trait believed to be passed down on the X chromosome.
"A grey morph calf is born predominately white but darkens as it ages," she said.
"Adult grey morphs appear grey or brownish grey."
The senior scientist said while it was possible for grey morphs to be female, they were more likely to be male.
The breeding season at Logans Beach is set to wind up soon with the last sightings in the region occurring between mid-September and mid-October.
There have been a number of reports of cow-calf pairs in the south-west over the last few days, including a new pair at Logans Beach on September 23 and 24 who were not previously sighted in western Victoria.
Warrnambool's remaining three mother-calf southern pairs have reportedly not been spotted at Logans Beach since September 7.
An exclusion zone at Logans Beach remains in place to protect the whales during breeding season.
READ MORE:
- Warrnambool photographer captures southern right whales frolicking at Logans Beach
- Exclusion zone rules at Logans Beach during whale season
- Southern Right Whale mother and calf catch a wave
- Southern right whales spotted at Logans Beach, Warrnambool, Cape Nelson and Princetown
- Whale season starts at Lee Breakwater
- Protect Whale Songline Country on World Environment Day
- Conservation Regulator warning whale watchers at Logans Beach to remain outside the exclusion zone
- A bumper season for the 2022 southern right whale breeding season at Logans Beach
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