Whales have long known what we humans are just coming to realise – the Great Ocean Road is a wonderful spot for a winter break.

Sightings are most common during June, July and August, though whales have been spotted as early as February and as late as November.

On the migration from Antarctica – humpback whales pass Lorne en route to Queensland and southern right whales spend time on the sheltered Victorian coast to breed and raise calves.

To help land-based visitors make the most of this special time, a range of ‘Whale Watch’ initiatives are in place to provide notifications when whales have been spotted off the coast.

At Lorne, Wye River, Onion Bay and Apollo Bay, dedicated whale-sighting flags will be hoisted when a verified spotting of one or more of the massive creatures has been spotted nearby, letting people know to cast their eyes to sea for a chance at seeing them too.

The ‘Whale Watch’ blog on this site has a diary of confirmed sightings with times, locations, numbers and, where possible, breed of whale. Members of the public can use the blog to report a sighting in the region.

‘Whale Watch’ has hundreds of separate whale sightings reported each year, sometimes with up to six whales in a pod.