IT comes at the height of their northerly migration and each year whale numbers are on the rise.
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The annual community whale census is organised by ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) and it takes place on Sunday (June 25).
ORRCA vice president Shona Lorigan says the community count has been running for 18 years.
Lighthouse locations including Seal Rocks and the Tacking Point Lighthouse at Port Macquarie are popular locations for community counters who gather in a kind of celebration of the whale’s recovery following the cessation of whaling in 1979.
And further south people like Maree Jackson from Tuross Head are poised to take part:
“Last year 1500 whales were spotted and we’re hoping for even more this year,” Ms Lorigan said.
To get involved, download the form from ORRCA’s website orrca.org.au; call their hotline on 9415 3333; or email orrca@orrca.org.au
The community whale census, coordinated by ORRCA, is conducted every year on the last weekend in June.
It supports the scientific count conducted by researchers based at Stradbroke Island and Cape Solander between May and July each year. According to Ms Lorigan this scientific census estimates there are 30,200 whales migrating along the NSW coast.
“This is a remarkable recovery success story with only 100 counted back in 1980 when whaling was first stopped.”
Watch whales frolicking off Copacabana on the Central Coast –video posted on ORRCA’s Facebook page: