Peak Viewing on 'Humpback Highway' About to Begin
- Editor OGN Daily
- Jun 4
- 1 min read
Every winter, Australia’s “humpback highway” bursts into life and demonstrates the remarkable recovery of these majestic marine creatures.
Thousands of humpback whales migrate from Antarctic feeding grounds to tropical breeding areas along Australia’s east and west coasts and Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a Sydney-based whale scientist, says that peak “blubber to blubber” traffic on the highway occurs between mid-June and early July.
That is when crowds will flock to greater Sydney’s headlands and beaches, hoping to glimpse the balletic performers as they defy their immense size. Lucky spotters can watch whales, weighing up to 40 tonnes, breach and crash back into the Pacific Ocean, flanked by bursts of sea spray.
“You don’t need a boat to see a whale,” Pirotta said. “I would encourage Sydneysiders to look out on their weekend or morning walk because we have such a fabulous coastline. Anywhere you can see the ocean, you have a chance of spotting a whale.”
Once hunted to near extinction, humpback whales have made an amazing recovery with population estimates now ranging between 30,000 and 50,000.
