Two killer whales were spotted at Shelley Beach travelling east about 12.30 on Thursday, according to the Warrnambool Surf Lifesaving Club.
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Warrnambool life guard Chris Sharam said the killer whales were seen to be heading toward Warrnambool beach when first sighted.
However, he said the whales had not been spotted since.
“At this stage there is no imminent danger,” he said.
“I presume they have travelled out to sea.
“But everyone swimming in the flags will be kept updated – if there is any danger, people will be alerted by a siren.
“We go by the shark standard operating procedure, which is just to evacuate everyone from the water if it comes within 500 metres.”
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning natural environment programs officer Mandy Watson said killer whales sightings were “not unheard of” in this area.
Mrs Watson, a southern right whale researcher based in Warrnambool, said while killer whales were more commonly seen in winter, they can be spotted at any time of year.
She said there had been killer whale sightings in Robe, South Australia, over the past few weeks.
“The reason killer whales are most commonly seen in the winter months is because they are possibly chasing whale calves,” Mrs Watson said.
Mrs Watson said there were two types of killer whale – resident pods and transient pods.
“We don't have any resident pods that we're aware of here, but we have had a number of visits from transient killer whales, possibly from the same pod,” she said.
“We had some a few years back at Logans Beach chasing southern right whale calves. And we identified that pod and matched them to one that was seen a few weeks earlier in Narooma, NSW.”
Mrs Watson said she often heard anecdotal reports of killer whale sightings around Lady Julia Percy Island.
“They're probably hunting seals, as there's a big seal colony out there,” she said.
“If people want to report sightings and provide images, we can photo-identify individuals by the notches on their dorsal fins.”
Mrs Watson said transient killer whale pods had very large “home ranges” or territories.
“It's quite possible this pod is the same seen in Robe and that they're heading back that way,” she said.
