Now is a good time of the year for whale sightings. A number of people have reported their good fortune to see whales along our coast.
- a pod of Orcas (or Killer Whales) spotted just off the Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet.
- a large pod of Dolphins, with young ones, swimming in the ocean off the Anglesea River.
- a person paddling a board, in water near Jan Juc, experienced a close encounter with a Southern Right Whale, which appeared just a few metres away.
The easterly storms have caused deaths among some of our small marine animals. A larger number of dead birds and cuttle-fish than usual have been washed up along the local beaches, including eight Little Penguins, which were found on the beach at the mouth of the Anglesea River.
GORCC Conservation Team members have seen tracks, which they think are those of Southern Brown Bandicoots, in the dunes at Point Roadknight, and between Fairhaven Surf Life Saving Club and Moggs Creek. They intend to follow up with spotlighting later, when the weather is finer. Another Southern Brown Bandicoot roadkill was found at Aireys Inlet.
A White Goshawk was observed at Coogoorah Park.
Several albatrosses were seen at Point Addis, including one Yellow-nosed, three Black-browed and about twenty Shy Albatrosses. A small group of about thirty Fluttering and Hutton’s Shearwaters were seen nearby.
A young Southern Giant Petrel spent a day or so on the water at the edge of Lorne Pier, enjoying fish scraps as the fishermen were reeling in their catches.
Although it is still mid-Winter, there are signs of some bird-nesting activity, with Ravens and Magpies flying with nesting material, and Raptors involved in aerial courtship behaviour.
Mike and Kaye Traynor