Tasmania has two species of whales in its waters
the southern right whale and the humpback whale.
The southern right whale is among the rarest of whales, but since the end of commercial whaling its numbers have increased and whale sightings in Tasmanian waters, including Hobart’s Derwent River, are on the rise. Southern right whales migrate north along the Tasmanian coast from June to September and return southward between September and late October.
Humpback whales migrate northward past Tasmania to parts of mainland Australia between May and July and return southward along the Tasmanian coast between September and November. Most whale sightings occur on Tasmania’s east coast. Frederick Henry Bay and Great Oyster Bay, and of course offshore cruising, are excellent vantage points for whale watching.
