If you reckon you’ve seen more whales dancing in the waters off Sydney this year (including right on top of one Northern Beaches’ windsurfer), turns out there’s a good reason. Experts have said that there are currently record numbers of humpback whales making their annual migration past Sydney to southern waters – and yes, this is very good news.
After the total eastern Australian humpback population declined down to a measly 150 due to commercial whaling between the 1850s and 1960s, numbers have built back to a staggering 40,000 over the last 30 years.
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Whale tour operators have reported seeing record numbers of whales and calves this season, while Dr Wally Franklin from the Oceania Project has said to the ABC that the whale numbers are almost at ‘carrying capacity’, which means that “the number of whales born equals the number of whales that die of natural causes every year”.
This amazing news is made all the more miraculous given that all whales we’re seeing in our eastern Aussie waters today are the direct descendants of the tiny group of whales who managed to survive mass killings up until the early 60s.
Using careful conservation and collective action, Australians have managed to help bring back these incredible animals from the brink of permanent extinction, with experts saying that their population has been steadily increasing by 10 per cent, year on year.
The only way is up.