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In the news - A whale of a recovery

August 13th 2008

It appears that the humpback whale, the awesome acrobat of the oceans, may be on the road to recovery. Recent assessments for the IUCN Red List move this magnificent mammal from Vulnerable to Least Concern, meaning that it is now less threatened with extinction.

Historically one of the major targets of the whaling industry, humpback whales were once slaughtered in their hundreds of thousands. Since they have been protected from commercial hunting, numbers of humpback whales have been able to recover from this devastating exploitation.

Similarly, the southern right whale has been making a comeback from the over-exploitation it once suffered. This whale species has also now been moved to Least Concern.

Whilst the improvement in status of these two magnificent ocean species is a fantastic conservation success story, threats still remain, to these and other whales, in the form of ship strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, habitat deterioration, declining prey and noise disturbance. Efforts must be continued if these awe-inspiring whales are to be conserved for future generations.

The magnificent humpback whale is renowned for its impressive leaping displays and for the mysterious 'singing' of solitary males. Found throughout the world's oceans, humpback whales undertake yearly migrations of thousands of kilometres from summer feeding grounds in polar waters to winter breeding grounds near to the tropics.

The southern right whale is easy to identify as it has a uniformly dark colour with white callosities (outgrowths of hard skin) on and around the head which can even be used to distinguish individuals. It is known as a right whale because during the height of whaling efforts, this was the ‘right' whale to catch, as it is large, slow-moving and floats when dead.

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