Western Australia wildlife officers prepare for a busy whale seasonThe annual migration of whales from Antarctica to warmer waters off Western Australia's northern coast has begun, and wildlife officers from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) are predicting a busier than usual whale season.
DEC senior wildlife officer Doug Coughran said humpback whales are now making appearances off the Perth coast, while southern right whales are moving along the south coast.
"Based on current science, more than 20,000 humpback whales will migrate to the State's north and some of these will be preparing to give birth," Mr Coughran said. "These whales should be a regular sight off the WA coast until the end of the year. We'll see humpbacks passing through Perth waters during June and July as they head north and then again from September as they return to their feeding grounds in Antarctica."
The 13,000 kilometres round-trip is made in small groups and humpback migrations were among the longest known in the animal kingdom. The west coast population migrates to the so-called ‘maternity ward' in the north of Western Australia is one of the largest and most successful recovering populations in the world.
"The reality is that as their numbers continue to rise, nature will need to take its course to separate the stronger animals from the weaker ones, in order to maintain a healthy population," he said.
Humpback whaling stopped in 1963
The whaling of humpbacks in Western Australia ceased in 1963 when the population was depleted to less than 500 individuals.
"To go from having less than 500 humpbacks on the west coast, to having more than 20,000 today is a spectacular wildlife recovery story," Coughran said.
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