The first whales of the season were seen near Southend on Sunday afternoon according to social media reports.
At least two whales were sighted from the shore in the vicinity of McIntyre’s Beach and they may have been a mother and calf.
In all likelihood, they were Southern Right Whales as this species migrates each winter from the sub-Antarctic waters to the warmer waters off the southern Australian coast.
Overall, 2023 has been a disappointing time for whale watchers in SA waters as numbers have been well down.
There were enough whales in Rivoli Bay in colonial times that a whaling station was established in the 1830s at the site of the modern-day Beachport.
The Beachport National Trust Museum has some relics from the whaling era.
