Whale Watching
With the Logans Beach Whale Nursery a 5 minute walk from Logans Beach Apartments, we are an ideal location for land based whale watching from the Logans Beach Whale Watching Platform.
The whales can come within 150 metres of shore and can be very easily spotted when they are in residence. They spend their days cruising up and down the coast, and as the babies grow and become stronger they will take them on longer swims before heading back to southern waters.
Whale season
The whale season is from June to September. But there are no guarantees as to when they will arrive or how many will visit or how long they will stay.
The Southern Right Whales return to our waters most years to calve, they then spend up to 10 weeks feeding their babies for the return journey to southern waters. The cows and calves are the only whales to take up residence in the area, other Southern Right Whales (single males, mating pods, juveniles) will pass through but tend not to stay for an extended period. You may get lucky on your visit to see some of these.
Plan your visit
Plan to spend an extended amount of time at the whale platform, these whales can spend 15 minutes under water, to give yourself the best chance of a sighting allow at least 30 minutes. Take a drink and some snacks, be mindful that there are no toilet facilities at the the platform. Binoculars are suggested but often not necessary. Rug up, jackets, beanies, gloves are all recommended. There is no overhead shelter so an umbrella might be needed at times.
The viewing platform is designed in such a way that offers good viewing from all areas, there is a lower section for wheelchair users and small children. There is a steep set of steps to the beach which offers a different view of the whales at times, the beach can be quite rough so ensure that children are well supervised.
What to look for
Sometimes all that is visible of the whales is a long black line in the water, almost like a log floating, the important thing to remember is that whales need to come to the surface to breathe, this is when you will spot a large “blow” indicating you have indeed spotted a whale. To the right (town end) of the platform towards the mouth of the river is a reef, this can be mistaken for a whale, also there are often banks of kelp floating in the water which can appear to look like a moving whale, wait and watch for the distinctive blow. Often while the calves are young there may not be much activity from the whales, once they are bigger they will be more active. You may notice interactions between the cow and calf, there may be belly rolling, spy hopping, pec slapping, tail lobbing and if you are lucky then the cow or the calf may breach or lunge. If there is more than one cow calf pair you may see some interactions between calves.
At certain times of the year we are also lucky enough to have Humpback Whales pass by on their annual migration, heading north around June and then south around September, watch closer to the horizon for these as they very rarely venture in close.
Along with a sweeping views of our rugged coastline keep an eye out for seals, dolphins and bird life, there is always something to see even if the whales are not present.
Further information
Further information about the Southern Right Whales can be found at whaleface.swifft.net.au
While Warrnambool does not have a designated Whales Sighting log you may find information about daily sightings on the following Facebook pages
Warrnambool Whales
Great Ocean Road Whales
Also note that there is an enforced Exclusion Zone around the Whale Nursery, keeping boats and planes from disturbing the whales, this also applies to drones which are not permitted to be flown over the area.