Notes from the field.

What One Season Watching Whales from Shore Taught Me About the Limits of Marine Monitoring

I spent a significant part of 2025 on the southern Australian coastline watching for whales. Not casually. Systematically. Structured observation sessions, consistent protocols, documented effort.   The Otway Basin is a designated Biologically Important Area for Southern Right Whales, which are listed as Endangered under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Our goal was [...]