SA Whale Centre Volunteers at work

The latest Victor Harbor field surveys provided a mixed bag in terms of observations and experiences. The SA Whale Centre Volunteers’ survey, coordinated by Nedra Haines, saw research effort expanded from Encounter Bay, past the Bluff to Petrel Cove and Kings Beach without any dolphin sightings, until returning to Granite Island where 17 dolphins, including a number of calves, appeared and undertook a short period of interaction with supporter Dan Irvine’s “The Big Duck” and crew. All this and a Southern Right Whale and its calf off Shark Island on the way out – quite a thrill for all concerned. The students from Investigator College were not so lucky the following day in their field survey as the same course was covered through Petrel Cove then eastwards to Port Elliot without any si htings recorded. The datacollected the previous day became the central focus accordingly and a number of new animals were added to the catalogue which has now grown to over 50 animals.This is quite remarkable given the limited research effort to date and is an absolute credit to teacher Renee Drew, students and volunteers.