FANTASTIC BEASTS

SOUTHERN R IGHT WHALE NURSERY, WARRNAMBOOL, VIC

Humpbacks tend to steal all the limelight up and down the east coast when it comes to whale watching, but head to Logan’s Beach from June to September in the pretty Victorian coastal town of Warrnambool, and you’ll find a southern right whale nursery. They come here from the waters of the Antarctic every year to give birth, and you can observe their hulking, 80 to 90-tonne, barnacled bodies frolicking just a hundred metres off the beach from a dedicated viewing platform. If you’re really lucky you may see a rare blue whale, too, the largest animal to have ever existed on the planet. To get even closer to the whales try Southern Coast Charters. southerncoastcharters.com.au