© ABC, AustraliaBiologists say a number of whales did not migrate north over winter as usual.
Marine biologists are baffled by a change in the behaviour of whales visiting Victorian bays this year. The Dolphin Research Institute says a number of humpback whales remained in Western Port and Port Phillip bays throughout the migration season instead of travelling north.
Institute spokesman Jeff Weir says scientists are unsure what has caused the change in their migration pattern. He says they also saw the animals competing for the first time off Mount Martha and Mornington.
"These are big animals, the size of tourist buses, playing demolition derby under the water and then sometimes reaching the surface banging into each other jostling for position in the pod," he said.
Mr Weir says it is the kind of behaviour normally seen when the animals are mating in northern Australia.
"I mean, it possibly is simply numbers of whales are picking up again and the populations are increasing," he said.
"Maybe they're just spreading themselves more evenly around our coast. The critical thing will be to monitor it in the years to come."
Comment: It appears that in Washington and Oregon, summer has only just started. Day time Temps for September have been in the high 70's (24c) to low 80's (27c). There was snow fall in western Washington and Northwest Oregon in April of 2011 as well. There was a similar pattern in 2010.