A friendship has formed between Irene, from Salamander Bay, and Jan, from Sydney, during the past eight years while the pair have taken part in ORRCA’s annual whale census.

Corlette resident Janet Mackintosh came across the women at Boat Harbour on Saturday where they were volunteering in the 2017 census.

“They met about eight years ago whale watching and their friendship has developed since then,” Mrs Mackintosh said.

“They were so lovely and so enthusiastic.”

Irene told Mrs Mackintosh she had counted 100 whales between 12.30pm and 4.30pm for the census.

There were reportedly “masses” of people out watching whales on Saturday.

A highlight was an episode where a whale enjoyed slapping its tail on the water in Kingsley Beach bay for 10 minutes.

Mr Ling said “hundreds and hundreds” of people across Australia volunteered for the 2017 census.

Data was still being collated, but initial figures indicate there had been up to 2000 whale sightings along the coastline of Australia on Saturday.

The official 2016 count was 1567.

A particular hot spot was Port Macquarie where 353 whales were counted.

“The east coast was really luck weather-wise,” Mr Ling said.

“The conditions were fantastic, unlike in previous years.”

Mr Ling said the census brought families and the community together to appreciate the majestic animals, but also collated important data about the health of the species.