Darryl Stuart of Narooma Charters said, ''There's an absolutely phenomenal number of whales around Montague Island already, certainly more whales than whalewatchers at the moment, and they've been coming through in reasonable numbers over the past two weeks.

''We saw 30 to 40 whales near Montague on Wednesday, all humpbacks, and large pods of dolphins were with them.

''They're very early this year and they've been feeding, flipper-flapping, tail slapping and generally having a wonderful time.''

Mr Stuart suggested the milder August, the cool water temperatures or maybe increasing numbers may be factors in their early arrival. Humpbacks return to their rich feeding grounds near Antarctica each year about this time after wintering and breeding around the Great Barrier Reef, with a few feeds along the way around Montague, if the feed is there, and Eden.

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