Tour guides help solve humpback whale mystery after 16 years
- Australian tourism operators and scientists have solved a mystery surrounding unusual humpback whale behaviour first observed in 2009.
- Observations of extended fluking, where whales float upside down with their tails exposed, helped researchers identify a major humpback “maternity ward” in the Whitsunday Islands.
- A collaborative citizen science project recorded hundreds of adult whales and newborn calves in the warm, shallow waters off Queensland.
- The discovery resulted in the creation of a dedicated Whale Protection Area in the Whitsundays with enhanced legal protections and vessel approach limits.
- The region has subsequently become the only site in the world where a Whale Heritage Area is located inside a UNESCO World Heritage Area.
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