Approximately 3,000 Humpback whales will migrate this season between Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef

Humpbacks are still the third most endangered species of all the big whales, but now their numbers are increasing 13% each year.

They are the fifth largest animal on this planet, growing up to 15 metres in length with a weight of up to 45,000kg (99,000lbs) - equivalent to 11 elephants or 600 persons each!

Humpbacks are the most acrobatic of all of the great whale, tail and flipper slapping and breaching regularly and clearly visible of Point Lookout.

The species displays a wide variety of leaping, rolling and breaching movements which provide fascinating viewing for whale watchers from the North Gorge and the whale watching platforms above Frenchmans Beach.

The humpback whale is also well known for its complex underwater vocalisations or whale songs particularly during breeding.

Adult whales have been seen to breach 20 - 30 times within 5 minutes, displaying awesome grace and power.

History of East Coast Whaling in Australia

Whaling in Australia commenced in the late 18th century. There is no known history of Aboriginal communities in Australia having hunted whales. Early whaling was carried out using harpoons from small boats. Once caught the whales were towed behind the boats back to whaling stations on shore.

Whale by-products were used for a number of things: whale blubber was melted down to be used as oil for lamp fuel, lubricants, candles and as a base for perfumes and soaps, Baleen (whalebone) was used for items such as corsets, whips and umbrellas.

Whaling and the export of whale by-products such as whale oil became Australia's first primary industry. One of the first commercial whaling operations in Australia was the Davidson Whaling Station located just outside of Eden on the South-East coast of New South Wales. Numerous other coastal whaling stations were established around Australia in the late 1820s to 1830s.

The development of harpoon guns, explosive harpoons and steam-driven whaling boats in the late 19th century made large-scale commercial whaling so efficient that many whale species were over-exploited and came very near to extinction.

This over-exploitation eventually led to the demise of the whaling industry in Australia. As whale numbers dropped, laws were passed to protect a number of the species.

Reference: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage website

Demise of the whaling industry....yipeeee!

Straddie Whales today...

Since the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling came in to place in 1986, many whale populations have begun to recover.

The Southern Right Whale, which was nearly extinct by the middle of the nineteenth century, is now showing signs of recovery.

In recent years, growing numbers appear off the southern Australian coast, where breeding and socialising behaviour occurs before they head south to feed in the nutrient-rich Antarctic waters.