Whale watching season starts early as humpback population bounces back

Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.

Prof Mike Noad, director of the centre of marine studies at the University of Queensland, said the number of sightings this early in the season, which usually peaks at the end of June and into July, is due to the eastern Australian humpback whale population booming during a remarkable period of recovery.

In the early 60s when commercial whaling was banned in the region, Noad said it was estimated only about 300 of the eastern Australian humpback whales remained. Sixty years later, he suspects the population now sits at about 40,000.

But Noad said there is a need to continue surveying the population to understand how the whales are being affected by the climate crisis, pollution, and underwater noise and potential collisions caused by boat traffic.

In February, humpback whales were struck from the threatened species list, which drew the ire of a number of scientists due to the threats the species continues to face.

Franklin said the whale population grew by 10% every year from the 90s to 2015.

He said drastic growth in whale populations has surprised researchers, with scientists working in the northern hemisphere who study whale populations previously thinking the maximum growth rate of whales annually was 8%.