A Pygmy Blue whale!

What a surprise! The first ever recorded sighting of a Pygmy Blue whale on any of our cruises! Captain, crew and passengers on the Winter Whale Cruise on 26th July noticed straightaway something different about this 15m whale. Its skin was mottled grey, it had a pronounced raised splash guard in front its blowhole, and the dorsal fin was set back further.

Sighted initially off Seal Rocks, this whale travelled at a steady pace of approximately 10kph eastwards and was last sighted off Pyramid Rock. There possibly was another Pygmy Blue further offshore at the same time but the species was not confirmed. A pod of 3 humpback whales, with a calf, was also sighted on the same cruise.

Pygmy blue whales, Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda, reach an average length of 22m (approx. 10m smaller than ‘True’ blue whales, reaching 33m). They are known to feed off the coast of the South West of Victoria, from Cape Otway to Robe in South Australia; they feed on krill in the cool nutrient rich waters called the Bonney Upwelling.

Little is known about their feeding, breeding and migratory behaviour, and sightings such as this can provide important information to help us understand more about these majestic blue whales. Wildlife Coast Cruises shares findings on whale migration with current research studies, and has contributed this Pygmy Blue whale sighting to the Blue Whale Study, which covers southern Australia and Indonesia.