It’s been a big couple of weeks in whale news! Everything from rare behaviours to rare sightings and plenty of the bog standard ‘oh look, it’s just one of largest marine mammals breaching before my eyes’ observations.

Here’s what’s been happening and how you can get involved with this weekend's ORRCA Whale Census.

Shellharbour again proved to be a hotspot for whale watchers and has already offered two incredible observations, with the northern migration expected to run until early August.

June 14th saw a sighting of an endangered Southern Right Whale. ORRCA has asked that any Southern Right sightings are reported ASAP to their 24/7 hotline on 9415 3333 as there are only about 380 uniquely identified individuals along the coast and more data is urgently needed. The more the experts learn about these endangered animals, the better they can prepare conservation efforts.

A couple of days later and some very lucky whale watchers witnessed a heat run – where multiple males will chase a lone female for mating rights. This is a spectacular sight with lots of surface activity as the males essentially duke it out amongst themselves, and you’ll often see a bit of tail slapping, loads of splashes and even breaching. But on Monday 16th, the female, who was with a juvenile, turned into Bushrangers Bay and the six males all followed her in.

If you’ve ever swum, snorkelled or dived in the bay, you’ll understand what a wild sighting this was! The rock-lined bay very quickly narrows and becomes much too shallow for animals as large as humpbacks and as a result they very rarely enter the bay. After a loud trumpeting call, the whales realised their mistake, turned and headed back out and continued in hot pursuit up the coast. 

Of course, not every whale sighting is going to be that action-packed.

In fact, many an hour is spent looking at empty oceans or the occasional puff, or blow, from whales as they cruise past. You might see an occasional back, the sun glinting off of the whale’s skin and while not newsworthy, these sightings are still special.

Using binoculars you may even be lucky enough to see the unique markings and colouration of individuals as they pass and sometimes they are even close enough to hear their powerful blows and elephant-like calls. It's easy to tell by the collective 'wows' and cheers from assembled spectators when a breach or a tail slap is well worth the long wait.

If you want to experience this yourself, while also helping to provide valuable data, this Sunday, June 29 is ORRCA’s 26th annual Whale Census day. Anyone can join in by registering for the event, and heading to their nearest headland. A week prior you’ll be emailed a kit and details on how to log your sightings. Easy. If you’d like to participate at an official site with ORRCA volunteers, head to Hill 60 at Port Kembla and join in the fun. 

Spending a few hours watching the changing mood of the ocean and looking for whales – sounds like a perfect Sunday to me!

To help ‘Make every whale count’ head to the ORRCA website for more details about joining the census