Humpback whale population thriving on east coast of Australia

Experts say the dramatic turnaround for the east coast's humpback whale population is a promising sign for the future.

Transcript

00:00 Beneath the water off Australia's east coast, a record number of humpback whales are making

00:08 their way south.

00:09 We know the population has reached at least 40,000.

00:13 That number is a dramatic turnaround from the days of whaling, when the animals were

00:18 hunted for oil and other products.

00:20 By the early 60s, as a result of over whaling, the population crashed.

00:26 Only 150 individuals survived.

00:29 Dr Wally Franklin has been researching humpback whales for decades and says he's been privileged

00:35 to watch the remarkable recovery.

00:37 Of course over the last 30 years we've been able to watch with a great deal of joy the

00:44 incredible recovery of the eastern Australian whales, recovering at 10% per annum.

00:49 It's not just whale numbers that are up.

00:52 With more of the gentle giants making their way along the east coast, tourism operators

00:56 say the number of whale watchers has also seen a spike this season.

01:00 I've always wanted to see the whales.

01:03 They're just so peaceful and graceful when they flip out of the water.

01:09 Awesome.

01:10 Just a once in a lifetime experience I reckon.

01:13 It's looking like it's been a pretty strong season so far.

01:16 There were days where there were just whales as far as I could see across the bay.

01:20 But experts say the work is far from over.

01:23 Climate change is another big risk factor.

01:26 There's no point saving them from being harpooned if we can't save the environment.

01:30 What a great future we have for whale research in this amazing part of the world.

01:35 A miraculous recovery for some magnificent creatures.

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