Almost a Thousand Whales!!
Well, we’ve come to the end of our 2015 whale watching season now and sadly have to say good-bye to our humpback whales until they return next year. But it’s been an amazing season with a lot of incredible encounters this year! Aside from some spectacular displays from the humpback whales, some of the highlights of the 2015 season included having Aboriginal elders of the Quandamooka region on board to welcome the whales and share stories and songs with us. Another memorable day of course was when we sighted Migaloo, the all white albino humpback whale, again after a few years absence. And of course there were lots of other animals to see as well, including four species of dolphins (inshore and offshore bottlenose, common and Australian humpback dolphins), a dugong, sea turtles, a sea snake, flying fish, hammerhead sharks and lots of different sea birds.
In terms of the humpback whale numbers it’s been a bumper year for us. Over the 5 months of the whale season we sighted a total of 408 pods of humpback whales up close. These consisted of a total of 991 humpback whales we were lucky enough to encounter, just short of the 1,000! Those 991 whales included an incredible 82 newborn calves! These sighting numbers have been consistently increasing for us over the past few years with 695 humpback whales seen in 2012, 761 in 2013 and 812 in 2014. I think we can have high hopes of breaking the 1,000 mark next year!
Considering that this whale population had been hunted to near-extinction by the 1960’s with just 300 or so individuals left, we are just so lucky to see them recovering and coming back strong these days. Humpback whales are certainly one of the most impressive conservation success stories, which raises hopes for many other endangered species: with the right international protection and care, we can make a difference and we can save species and bring them back, even from the very brink of extinction!
Thank you for a fantastic year, whales, we’re already looking forward to welcoming you back to our shores in 2016!
Eco Ranger Ina