With only the deep, dark blue stretch of the Southern Ocean between you and Antarctica, and the teeth of a chilling gale biting at your face, it seems unlikely that the coastal cliffs outside of Victor Harbor would be a prime tourism attraction in the depths of winter.
Yet that is when visitors come in numbers, hunkered down on exposed vantage points in Gore-Tex jackets and woollen beanies with binoculars in hand. These people have a quest; they seek the whales, and this exposed stretch of the southern Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia is just the right place to find them.
Southern Right Whales from the Antarctic region drift into South Australian coastal waters during winter to mate and for mothers to calf. During the 19th century this seasonal migration spawned an industry in whaling — thoug
h the giant mammals were slaughtered to the point of extinction — and in 1931 the Southern Right Whale became a protected species in South Australia. As a consequence, whales keep returning in ever increasing numbers to seek safe sanctuary from predators in these waters during breeding season.
Where the Whales Congregate
In 1996 the Great Australian Bight Marine Park was established, drawing specific focus on the whales’ winter ritual that has spawned a growing tourism industry. Up to 100 whales, including calves, now congregate in the seas adjacent to the Bunda cliffs, about 280km west of Ceduna – a significant proportion of the estimated world population of about 4000 Southern Right Whales. 
Migrating whales also venture along the southern coastal cliffs of SA – and their willingness to swim close to the coastline makes this region one of the treasured whale watching locations in Australia.
The most popular vantage point for tourists is also the closest to Adelaide, at Victor Harbor, on the southern toes of the Fleurieu Peninsula. The South Australia Whale Centre, created in 1994, recently reopened with great fanfare.
The 140-year-old stone building, a former railway shed on the shorefront causeway, has had $200,000 refurbishment to now include a variety of interactive displays, a giant whale skeleton on loan from the South Australian Museum, and a lecture space to accommodate larger marine education programs.
Significantly, the centr
e also provides information on coastal whale sightings for the growing hordes of keen watchers. More than 500 visitors each day during weekends take advantage of this information.
“Many more use the detailed Whale Sightings Database on our website to find information, or visit businesses that are our partners in the Whale Information Network at towns along the southern coastline,” says Tori Williams, SA Whale Centre’s tourism product development officer. “There’s a lot of support throughout the region for whale watching, because everyone here benefits from it.”
Whale Watching Vantage Points
While it’s difficult to identify the impact of whale watching, Tourism SA notes that 400,000 visitors go to the southern Fleurieu Peninsula each whale season – not usually a time when people head to the southern beaches.
Most are daytrippers
, taking advantage of a 50-minute journey from Adelaide to access 19 posted whale watching vantage points along a 25km stretch of coast from The Bluff at Victor Harbor to Goolwa.
The ambition is for more casual watchers to become overnight visitors at shorefront hotels and rental accommodation. To entice visitors for closer glimpses of the aquatic action, there are yacht cruises with Australia Tours (a two-to-three hour trip), or Hot Spot Too’s motorboat cruise, with both departing from Victor Harbor’s Granite Island jetty.
“The traffic of whales coming and going is incredible, and it’s fascinating to watch this migration,” says Williams. “We trying to encourage more people to stay here a while, to enjoy that longer journey.”
To see a more concentrated pod of whales, dedicated watchers take the more serious pilgrimage to the Head of Bight, only 200km east of the SA/WA border – a desolate landscape on the edge of the Nullabor Plain, but recognised as an exceptional vantage point above the great cradle of whale breeding in the Southern Ocean.
A designated viewing area and interpretive centre has been created within the Great Australian Bight Marine Park, atop the Bunda Cliffs on the Yalata Aboriginal Lands, accessed by a daily pass costing $10 for adults and $8 for seniors and children (family tickets cost $24).
From a purpose-built viewing platform about 20m above the water, designed with eco-friendly principles to ensure minimal environmental damage from growing numbers of tourists, whale calves can be seen with their mothers in the waters directly beneath the cliffs.
It’s a spectacular scene, with views of the unbroken cliffs stretching to the WA border. But it’s very remote: the interpretive centre has no refreshments available, only toilet facilities and picnic areas in the car park.
A Journey You’ll Never Forget
For tourists without vehicles to reach this destination, Perry Will’s Ceduna Tours, a multi-faceted charter fishing and tourism company, offers chauffeured 4WD full day tours from Ceduna to the Head of Bight Whale Sanctuary for $300 a person, or two-day trips that include a visit at sunset to famed big surf break Cactus Beach. His package, which usually makes two or three journeys each week, includes gourmet picnic meals along the route.
“It’s a journey I’ll never tire of taking,” says Perry. “Every time you go out there to see the whales, it’s always breathtaking.”
To get a more detailed view of whales from the air, several aviation companies at the Nullarbor Roadhouse (12km north of the Head of Bight viewing platform) offer 30-minute flights over the bight, priced from $85 a person. For a more lavish aerial experience, Chinta Tours runs single-day air safaris from Adelaide, combining a Regional Express flight to Ceduna, then Chinta’s light aircraft to the Head of Bight, flying over the whales before landing to observe them from the viewing platforms. Chinta’s
Felicity Brown says the flight package, priced from $1400 a person, gives a more intimate whale watching experience. “People don’t have to compete with hoardes of other people to enjoy the incredible sight of these whales,” she says. “They come away quite overwhelmed.”
From Sea to Outback
While such expensive pursuits of whales has largely been the domain of international tourists, their excited feedback and web postings has prompted more Australians to also invest in this premium whale watching experience. Moreover, they’re building it into wider outback exploration in the far west of South Australia, even tying travels around such burgeoning events as Ceduna’s indulgent Oysterfest, held on October 2 and 3 this year. The success of the whale watching season and the numbers of whales present in South Australia’s waters each year suggests this will continue as a growing phenomenon.
GETTING THERE: Australian domestic flights to Adelaide with Qantas, Virgin, Tiger and Jetstar. Tours from Adelaide to Victor Harbor with Ambassador Limousine Service (08 8365 1984), or In Vogue Limousines (08 8337 7234). Regional flights from Adelaide to Ceduna 
can be booked with REX airlines.
GETTING AROUND: Whale watching boat tours off Victor Harbor with Australis Charters (bookings: 0414 454 191), or Hot Spot Too (bookings: 08 8552 7000). Ceduna Tours’ chauffer-driven 4WD tours to Head of Bight with Perry Will (bookings: 0428 643 519, or 08 8625 2654). Air travel packages from Adelaide can be booked through Cinta Tours or phone 0428 244 628).
STAYING THERE: Victor Harbor has a wide range of accommodation, from hotels and motels, to formal bed and breakfast cottages or coastal holiday houses for rental. Ceduna has a range of hotel/motels, caravan parks and shorefront holiday units, including Coastal Dreaming (08 86 252 780) and Seaview Cottage. Nullarbor Roadhouse has motel units, a caravan park, fuel, repairs and roadhouse facilities available.
WHEN TO GO: Whale watching season runs from June until October.
CONTACTS: For current whale spotting information, call the Whale Info Hotline – 1900 WHALES (1900 942 537). The South Australian Whale Centre has a mine of information about Southern Right Whales and whale watching (phone 08 8551 0750). For Head of Bight information, phone the Head of Bight Interpretative Centre (08) 8625 6201 or visit the Yalata Land Management website.
Photo Credits
“Southern Right Whales” courtesy of the Government of South Australia
“Great Australian Bight Marine Park”, Nachoman-au, Wikicommons
South Australia Whale Centre, courtesy SA Whale Centre
“View West from Victor Harbor Bluff” Wikipedia
“Mother and Calf, Southern Right Whales”, courtesy of Ceduna Tours
“Nullabor Plain” courtesy of Government of South Australia
“Southern Right Whale Spraying”, Wikipedia
A nicely written article on the giants of the deep which regularly take refuge along our coastline here in South Australia.
As Dave says, there is something quite mesmerising and humbling int watching these creatures simply live and breathe in our presence.
It’s even more emotive to realise that, for decades from the late 1800s, these noble and sensitive creatures, mothers and calves, were hunted and butchered in their tens of thousands for their body parts. The streets of London were once lit with whale oil and the economic engines of Europe were stoked by the lucrative whaling industry.
It’s heartening to see that both times, and perceptions, do change. It gives hope that we humans can do better at living than our ancestors, a sign of positive human progress.
Good yarn, Dslay.
After living in Asia for 10 years and visiting Encounter Bay during most of those winters, it is a delightful place to get close to the whales without disturbing them. Standing on the shore or climbing to a granite boulder to observe and listen for the sounds of the water and the whales is a strangely satisfying and peaceful feeling.
The sense of wonder whilst walking along the Heysen Trail, playing on the sand at Horseshoe Bay and peering longingly from the Bluff (Rosetta Head) or Granite Island, hoping to glimpse or gorge your eyes(not gouge, hopefully!) upon the whales is delightful.
David Sly is correct – I love seeking the whales… for different reasons than traditional whalers. I trust that my children’s grandchildren may seek the same forms of life.
If you’re thinking of spending a few days whale watching this season, Brooklands Heritage B&B (www.brooklands.net.au) is minutes away from Bashams Beach where mothers commonly come close inshore with their calves during the season from June – September. The B&B cottage overlooks the coast between Port Elliot and Victor Harbor and has a warm log fire in the sitting room! We also have a number of midweek special rates.