Hope for the Australian Humpback Whales

Sometimes, science delights us with good news! A scientific article about Humpback Whales in Australian waters showed that the population of this whale species is rapidly increasing, likely due to the conservation measures in place¹. The population is now larger than 50% of the population size before whaling. Of course, there is still a long way to go for this species to get its population back up to pre-whaling abundance in its entire range. But positive trends like this are always like music to the ears!

¹https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280444142_Embracing_conservation_success_of_recovering_humpback_whale_populations_Evaluating_the_case_for_downlisting_their_conservation_status_in_Australia

PS: Photos from our archive on 30.05.2016

by Judith Kok