Humpback whales on Australia's east coast go from 150 whales to 40,000
October 27, 2023 8:22 PM Subscribe
From 150 whales to 40,000 whales, humpbacks on Australia's east coast make miraculous recovery. Experts believe the humpback whale population has reached record heights, after commercial whaling from the late 1800s to the 1960s pushed the animals to the brink of extinction.
and we got transparent aluminum to boot!
what I like about these posts well it's in the header, it says it all.
posted by clavdivs at 8:27 PM on October 27, 2023 [9 favorites]
what I like about these posts well it's in the header, it says it all.
posted by clavdivs at 8:27 PM on October 27, 2023 [9 favorites]
They're so numerous that random wingsurfers crash into them.
They pass by Sydney twice a year on their annual migrations North to South and back again.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:03 PM on October 27, 2023
They pass by Sydney twice a year on their annual migrations North to South and back again.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:03 PM on October 27, 2023
cripes that's a lot of whales (and a lot of humping). But threading the population through such a genetic bottleneck has reduced genetic diversity and will make the now whales less resilient to infection and other environmental buffets. See cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus , which experienced a demographic crash 12,000 years ago and now are genetically identical and have notably low rates of reproductive success.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:14 PM on October 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:14 PM on October 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
threading the population through such a genetic bottleneck has reduced genetic diversity and will make the now whales less resilient to infection and other environmental buffets. See cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus , which experienced a demographic crash 12,000 years ago and now are genetically identical and have notably low rates of reproductive success
That is true, but unlike cheetahs, there are other populations of humpbacks on the west coast of Australia; and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. And as humpback whales from the Southern Hemisphere head to Antarctica to feed, there is an opportunity for gene-mixing while they are feeding in Antarctica.
(There are also humpback whales in the Northern Hemisphere, but those are considered a separate subspecies: "A 2014 genetic study suggested that the separate populations in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans have had limited gene flow and are distinct enough to be subspecies, with the scientific names of M. n. novaeangliae, M. n. kuzira and M. n. australis respectively.")
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 11:51 PM on October 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
That is true, but unlike cheetahs, there are other populations of humpbacks on the west coast of Australia; and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. And as humpback whales from the Southern Hemisphere head to Antarctica to feed, there is an opportunity for gene-mixing while they are feeding in Antarctica.
(There are also humpback whales in the Northern Hemisphere, but those are considered a separate subspecies: "A 2014 genetic study suggested that the separate populations in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans have had limited gene flow and are distinct enough to be subspecies, with the scientific names of M. n. novaeangliae, M. n. kuzira and M. n. australis respectively.")
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 11:51 PM on October 27, 2023 [8 favorites]
Someone's probably going to decide that we can start eating them now.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 4:35 AM on October 28, 2023
posted by Cardinal Fang at 4:35 AM on October 28, 2023
“save the whales” was an obsession of mine as a kid but as time went on i just assumed that the whales would never be saved but did we do it? did we save the whales? is this what happiness feels like?
posted by dis_integration at 6:57 AM on October 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 6:57 AM on October 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Excellent.
posted by doctornemo at 7:45 AM on October 28, 2023
posted by doctornemo at 7:45 AM on October 28, 2023
Yes, we did save the whales. Global quotas for the remaining commercial whalers are zero for many species and small related to natural population growth of the species that remain eligible for the hunt. Various Arctic circle indigenous tribes have the right to take whales in local population for traditional uses by (somewhat) traditional hunting methods, but once again the total harvest is very small.
posted by MattD at 8:47 AM on October 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by MattD at 8:47 AM on October 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
Hooray! Hooray for Australia! Now we just have to get the United States in line, as the oil lobby is threatening the Rice's Whale. The Oil Industry doesn't even want to slow down....
I have seen such beautiful whales off the Fallaron Islands on the West Coast of the USA, such amazing monsters! It took a Grey whale what seemed like a full minute to pass our large catamaran.
So thanks gor the good news.
posted by eustatic at 11:08 AM on October 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have seen such beautiful whales off the Fallaron Islands on the West Coast of the USA, such amazing monsters! It took a Grey whale what seemed like a full minute to pass our large catamaran.
So thanks gor the good news.
posted by eustatic at 11:08 AM on October 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
A topically relevant derail: a humpback whale breeched in front of a boat I was in a couple weeks ago, like a building rising out of the sea. We were 30 feet away. My brain hardly processed it. Top tier life experience, what beautiful creatures. I hope they inherit the earth, rather than us, in the end.
posted by kensington314 at 12:30 PM on October 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 12:30 PM on October 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think Japan, Iceland, and Norway all still hunt whales (as well as some indigenous groups like some Alaska Native tribes and Faroe Islanders).
posted by Chrysopoeia at 3:52 PM on October 28, 2023
posted by Chrysopoeia at 3:52 PM on October 28, 2023
How nice of a coincidence this post is for me - I’m on the Western Australian coast, and am just back from an off grid sojourn out at Point Billie, Nyinggulara Station/ Ningaloo. The Norwegians had a whaling station at Norwegian Bay near Ningaloo, and we four wheeled through the dunes to find the rusting leftovers of the deserted station that was pretty high tech during its periodic use 1915-1957.
I am so glad that whaling stations are a thing of the past in this country. I grew up in an old whaling station town and am old enough to remember seeing whales being flensed and processed in the 1970s. I much, much, much prefer to see them up close when they are alive and thriving in the Indian Ocean.
We were lucky to have a decent boat with us at Ningaloo, and could take it out past the reef to watch the humpback migration up close [giving them lots of space though]. There were tons of them just cruising by, flipper tussling for us. Incredible creatures. You just know that they are watching us as we watch them.
posted by honey-barbara at 7:21 AM on October 29, 2023
I am so glad that whaling stations are a thing of the past in this country. I grew up in an old whaling station town and am old enough to remember seeing whales being flensed and processed in the 1970s. I much, much, much prefer to see them up close when they are alive and thriving in the Indian Ocean.
We were lucky to have a decent boat with us at Ningaloo, and could take it out past the reef to watch the humpback migration up close [giving them lots of space though]. There were tons of them just cruising by, flipper tussling for us. Incredible creatures. You just know that they are watching us as we watch them.
posted by honey-barbara at 7:21 AM on October 29, 2023
A decade ago I went on holiday to Rarotonga and was delighted to see, in the distance, a whale. It was quite a ways away and looked like a large black log in the sunlit water, but it occasionally went Phhht and spouted water, so I knew it was a whale. This is the first time I'd ever seen one in all my decades on Earth. So Excite!
This year I have seen three in my city! Two were just in the harbour when I was at the harbourside markets (Humpbacks), and one Southern Right was swimming along the shoreline at a local beach. Pretty much the only time I open facebook is to check the local Whale watch group who alerted us to the last one plus numerous dolphin pods.
Anyhow - purely anecdata, but I for one am grateful for the increases in numbers that seem to be positively impacting my life in the form of more whale.
posted by Sparx at 3:12 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
This year I have seen three in my city! Two were just in the harbour when I was at the harbourside markets (Humpbacks), and one Southern Right was swimming along the shoreline at a local beach. Pretty much the only time I open facebook is to check the local Whale watch group who alerted us to the last one plus numerous dolphin pods.
Anyhow - purely anecdata, but I for one am grateful for the increases in numbers that seem to be positively impacting my life in the form of more whale.
posted by Sparx at 3:12 PM on October 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
There has been a very noticeable increase in the whale population even in the past few years. I live on Australia's East Coast and we take our boat out to watch these beautiful creatures at least once each year (keeping our distance, of course).
Incredible creatures. You just know that they are watching us as we watch them.
Whales regularly 'perform' for groups of boats in this area. They swim up to and around the boats and are obviously just as curious as we are. We had one charge along the surface straight towards us and dive at the last moment, then rolling and re-surfacing just on the other side of our boat, waving a pectoral fin as if to say 'haha, scared ya!'. Some marine scientists in the area believe they remember that humans have helped them when they get caught in nets etc* and have learned that humans are their friends. I really hope that isn't true because, if it is, they will be once again at risk when we decide there are enough whales to spare that we can hunt them for food or oil again.
*which assumes they don't know we put the fucking nets there in the first place, but don't get me started on the abomination that is the shark nets off our beaches.
posted by dg at 5:19 PM on October 29, 2023
Incredible creatures. You just know that they are watching us as we watch them.
Whales regularly 'perform' for groups of boats in this area. They swim up to and around the boats and are obviously just as curious as we are. We had one charge along the surface straight towards us and dive at the last moment, then rolling and re-surfacing just on the other side of our boat, waving a pectoral fin as if to say 'haha, scared ya!'. Some marine scientists in the area believe they remember that humans have helped them when they get caught in nets etc* and have learned that humans are their friends. I really hope that isn't true because, if it is, they will be once again at risk when we decide there are enough whales to spare that we can hunt them for food or oil again.
*which assumes they don't know we put the fucking nets there in the first place, but don't get me started on the abomination that is the shark nets off our beaches.
posted by dg at 5:19 PM on October 29, 2023
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Thanks for the report on such good news!
posted by hippybear at 8:25 PM on October 27, 2023 [9 favorites]