Humpbacks are an Australian success story. They have two advantages that most whales don't
During the 20th century, nearly 3 million whales were commercially harvested, driving many species to the brink of extinction. Some species have rebounded – humpback numbers on the east coast of Australia have grown from less than 100 in the 1960s to about 40,000 now.
Yet many other species such as blue whales are not doing nearly as well. Of about 15 species of great whale, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists two as critically endangered, three as endangered, two as vulnerable and one as near threatened.
Dr Olaf Meynecke, a research fellow at the Coastal and Marine Research Centre at Griffith University, said humpback whales have two advantages.
'Humpback whales can have a calf every year if the conditions are very good, but at least every two years,' Meynecke said. 'And humpback whales can switch between different prey – different fish species or krill. They also develop advanced social feeding strategies, sharing food amongst each other and information about it.'
By contrast, Meynecke said, blue whales need to feed on krill most of the time to survive, and can only give birth every two to three years at maximum.
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Research last year from the Australian Antarctic Division suggested that blue whale populations may be starting to recover.
The World Wide Fund for Nature on Wednesday released Blue Corridors, an interactive mapping tool to show the migratory routes and range of different species.
The collaboration between WWF and more than 50 global research groups combines over 3.2 million kilometres of satellite tracking data from more than 1400 migratory whales, with information on overlapping threats and conservation solutions.
Chris Johnson, the global lead of the WWF Protecting Whales & Dolphins Initiative, said the animation collates all the data and plots it over a year to show how the whales move in both space and time. The map is launching with eight whale species, but there are plans to expand.
Johnson said this would help the Australian government update its 'biologically important areas' – critical ocean areas that are key for various species – to inform how to reduce risks such as ship traffic or noise from the seismic surveys or construction of offshore oil, gas or wind projects.
'The aim is to make this transparent and open,' Johnson said. 'Right now when there's oil and gas exploration, the data is actually owned by the company doing the environmental impact statement, and you can only find very limited data online from seismic surveys, for example.'
Minke whales and 'underwater microphones'
In a separate development, while on his industry placement at Accenture, University of Sydney student Oscar Mower, 22, developed AI technology that can recognise the song of the minke whale.
'There are millions and millions of 'hydrophones', which are underwater microphones, and they're scattered around coastlines all around the world,' Mower said. 'They pick up the very diverse ocean soundscape, and essentially what this model does is it analyses these soundscapes and identifies minke whale vocalisations.'
Mower said there was a lot of research on bigger whales, while not much was known about the migratory patterns of minke whales, but his techniques could be broadened out and applied to other species as well.
Antarctic minke whales are listed by IUCN as near threatened. Johnson said there was scientific debate about whether they were a separate species to common minke whales, found in the northern Pacific.
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The statement also condemns the continued detention of hostages and notes that a negotiated ceasefire "offers the best hope of bringing them home". Australia has decried Israel's "drip feeding of aid and inhumane killing" of civilians in Gaza as pro-Palestine protesters rally in the nation's capital on the first day of parliament. A joint statement signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and more than 20 of her global counterparts - barring the US - calls for an immediate end to Israel's violence in the strip and condemns the denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians. It also calls for the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on aid to allow humanitarian groups to do their work. "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths," the joint statement said. "We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. "Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law." The amount of food allowed into Gaza is just a fraction of what's required to adequately nourish the population. Israel's control over aid has left more than 500,000 people starving, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. "Gaza's hunger crisis has reached new levels of desperation," it posted on X. In recent months, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid - including those shot by the Israeli military - according to the country signatories of the joint statement. On Sunday Israel killed at least 67 Palestinians in northern Gaza while they were waiting for UN aid trucks. The joint statement comes as pro-Palestine supporters rally in Australia's capital on Tuesday for the first sitting day of parliament since the May federal election. The group will call on the government to sanction Israel and "end its support and complicity in genocide". 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The statement also condemns the continued detention of hostages and notes that a negotiated ceasefire "offers the best hope of bringing them home". Australia has decried Israel's "drip feeding of aid and inhumane killing" of civilians in Gaza as pro-Palestine protesters rally in the nation's capital on the first day of parliament. A joint statement signed by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and more than 20 of her global counterparts - barring the US - calls for an immediate end to Israel's violence in the strip and condemns the denial of humanitarian assistance to starving Palestinians. It also calls for the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on aid to allow humanitarian groups to do their work. "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths," the joint statement said. "We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. "Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law." The amount of food allowed into Gaza is just a fraction of what's required to adequately nourish the population. Israel's control over aid has left more than 500,000 people starving, according to the United Nations World Food Programme. "Gaza's hunger crisis has reached new levels of desperation," it posted on X. In recent months, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid - including those shot by the Israeli military - according to the country signatories of the joint statement. On Sunday Israel killed at least 67 Palestinians in northern Gaza while they were waiting for UN aid trucks. The joint statement comes as pro-Palestine supporters rally in Australia's capital on Tuesday for the first sitting day of parliament since the May federal election. The group will call on the government to sanction Israel and "end its support and complicity in genocide". Inside Parliament House, Greens Senator David Shoebridge will table a petition signed by more than 2500 Australian healthcare workers calling on the government to take action and end Israel's violence, blockade and weaponisation of aid in Gaza. "Every signature on this letter is a voice refusing to be silent in the face of this genocide," petition organiser and pharmacist Yossra Abouelfadl said. "We cannot stand by while our colleagues in Gaza are killed, hospitals are targeted and patients are denied basic medical care. "Enough words, enough statements, it's time for action." The violence erupted after the designated terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1200 people and taking 251 hostages. The Israeli government's blockade and military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 737,000 between March and July, according to Gazan health authorities. Opposition frontbencher Jonathon Duniam said Israel had a "right to self defence" and said Australia signing the joint statement was not the right approach. "There is more to this issue than this letter portrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter," he told Sky News. "It's unacceptable that a conflict continues, but again, this conflict probably would come to an end if Hamas released the hostages." While some of the hostages have been released, others have died and about 50 are believed to still be in captivity - although Israel believes about half of those are dead. Israel has rejected the joint statement and claimed it is "disconnected from reality". "The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas's role and responsibility for the situation," Israel foreign affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a statement. The statement also condemns the continued detention of hostages and notes that a negotiated ceasefire "offers the best hope of bringing them home".
