Portland Bay is considered one of the finest shore-based whale watching locations in Australia. Southern right whales visit the bay each winter — typically June through August — to calve in the calm, sheltered waters near the shore. The whales come remarkably close to land, and sightings from the Lee Breakwater, the foreshore, and the clifftops above the bay are reliable during peak season.
Southern right whales were hunted nearly to extinction in the nineteenth century, when Portland itself was an active whaling station. Their recovery is a conservation success story, and the population using Portland Bay as a calving ground is slowly but steadily growing. The whales are identifiable by the callosities on their heads and their V-shaped blow.
The Lee Breakwater stretching a kilometre into the bay provides an elevated platform for observation. Henty Bay and the rocky foreshore areas to the south of the harbour offer additional vantage points. No boat trips are required — the whales regularly surface within clear view of the shore.