Whale calf is wowing crowds off the coast of Victoria

WHALE hello there — this calf is making waves off Portland. The southern right whale calf and his mother are drawing hundreds of people with their playful performances.

A whale and her calf have been spotted near Portland. Picture: Bob McPherson

WHALE hello there — this calf is making waves off Portland.

The southern right whale calf and his mother are drawing hundreds of people in Victoria’s southwest with their playful performances.

Portland’s Bob McPherson said the calf was thought to be two to three weeks old.

“There is plenty of people looking at them because they are just a couple of hundred metres of the beach,” Mr McPherson said.

The whale and her calf near Portland. Picture: Bob McPherson

The whale surfaces. Picture: Bob McPherson

“Some people have never seen anything like it in their life. It is pretty spectacular.

“They all have personalities — they all jump and they will do some tail whacking. Seeing a mother and a calf is pretty special.”

This whale tale is likely to be repeated for up to three months, Mr McPherson said, before the pair head to Antarctica. “We have been watching these whales for about 30 years now,” he said.

“They always come back to the same spot. This mother will be a Portland whale.”