Low SRW numbers

2026, September 28. Victoria, Warrnambool. Whale Watching Season. “worst season” for whale sightings at Logans Beach, with a 25-year low in whale numbers reported by a long-time whale-watching veteran. Past behaviour and the missing whales: Logans Beach has experienced several notable low-sighting years over the past few decades. Because the South-Eastern Australian Southern Right Whale population is small (around 250–300 individuals) and averages only 2 to 3 mother-and-calf pairs per year, multi-year lulls are a recognised feature of the location's historical record. There is a strong physical mechanism that links a multi-kiloton marine airburst—like the May 21, 2019 event off South Australia—to localised disturbance in baleen whale behaviour, particularly regarding pregnant females or mother-calf pairs. Southern Right Whales/Humpbacks could be picking up on something brewing in the atmosphere. It has been quiet in the Southern Ocean for meteor airbursts this year. Commercial krill take is still high and is a major drawback to growing a population starved of food. The good news is that baleen whales can and will have their calves at sea/deep ocean, so not all is lost. Only time will tell.