Good chance you'll see a whale at Phillip Island, they say

THE burning question, if you’re considering booking on a whale spotting cruise at Phillip Island over the next few weeks, is ‘what are the chances of seeing a whale?’

Well, turns out they’re pretty good, according to one of Wildlife Coast Cruise’s new captains, Leigh Jackson, and some of the cruise regulars.

“Oh, yeah, very good. So, last season we had a 99% success rate seeing whales on our cruises. If you are coming down for the weekend, for the whale festival, there's a very high likelihood that you're going to see whales from any one of the headlands, because what we've seen is about a 10% increase in population for humpback whales since around the 1980s

“So, there are 1000s of whales migrating past Phillip Island from May right through until August. So, yeah, and especially if you come out one of our cruises, particularly if it's a day like this, you're almost guaranteed that you're going to see at least a few humpback whales, and if you're really, really lucky, you might even see a southern right whale, or even some orcas on occasion,” said Leigh.

And what about dolphins. Do you see dolphins out there too?

“Well, you would hope so, but that's not always a sure thing. I mean, these are wild animals, after all, so anything can happen out there,” he said.

“We have been seeing dolphins pretty regularly, actually, at the moment, particularly out off Cape Woolamai and anywhere east of Cape Woolamai but sometimes they're not around. It's just the luck of the draw.”

And what about seeing whales jumping out of the water?

“We say that our surface activity is about a one in 10 chance. However, last week we actually had a really big humpback whale breaching just inside the bay off Rhyll so like I said, anything can happen out there, it's just it's luck of the draw.

“But because we've got so many whales migrating, you’re almost guaranteed that you're going to see at least one,” he said.

Locals Peter and Leonie Zutenis have been out two or three times before and they’ve seen whales each time.

“We just love going out. There’s always something to see. We’ve done the Seal Rocks Cruise which is fantastic and whale cruises a couple of times but whether it’s seals, dolphins, whales, shearwaters or other birds, there’s always something of interest and the Wildlife Coast commentary is very good.”

Paul and Margie Robinson had grandson Will from Traralgon with them on Thursday, heading out on a whale cruise full of expectation.

“Hopefully we’ll see one, but what a day, it’ll be nice just to be out on the water.”

What’s happening

So, whether it’s in the days leading up to the Island Whale Festival, from Friday, July 3 to Sunday, July 5, or after, there’s lots of fun to be had whale watching on the Bass Coast and South Gippsland coasts, on a boat, a commercial cruise or from one of the prominent headlands between The Nobbies and Wilsons Promontory.

The Island Whale Festival kicks off on Friday, July 3 through to Sunday, with most activities centred at Berninneit in Cowes but with a sprinkling of art shows, music and whale watching activities between San Remo and Cowes.

See activity details online at Events & Activities Island Whale Festival Phillip Island HERE