Posts from Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures Australia
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Australia's Great Humpback Whale Migration
Each January, around 60,000 Humpback Whales leave the frigid, food-rich waters of Antarctica and begin the world's longest mammal migration, a 5,000-kilometre, three-month journey to the warm waters of northern Australia where they mate, calve, and nurture their newborns. Around 25,000 of these whales diverge around Tasmania and head up...
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Tourism Meets Science: Four Ways Visitors Can Contribute to Research
As pressures increase from factors such as climate change, extreme weather events, urban or industrial development, plastics pollution and debris, it has never been more important for the tourism sector to unite with academic researchers to measure the impact of these pressures and the health of our ecosystems. Several tourism...
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Top 5 Whale Watching Locations in Australia
Australia has become known as one of the world's best destinations for whale watching. With an enormous coastline spanning more than 34,000 kilometres (21,000 miles), combined with clean waters and sheltered bays, whale watching opportunities in Australia are plentiful. In addition to optimal whale watching conditions across the western, southern...
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Storyteller Series: Andrew Ellis from Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures Australia
Since he was a 15-year-old crewing on a tug boat on Sydney Harbour, Andrew Ellis has spent his career on the water. He ended up in tourism, working on floating restaurants and cruise ships. Then, 32 years ago, he took a catamaran from Sydney to Hervey Bay with the idea...
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Tracking Marine Debris with Andrew Ellis
A recent study of marine life found that flexible plastics are responsible for the largest proportion of marine life deaths. In the case of whales, once ingested the plastics can accumulate in the stomach, the mass eventually becoming so big that it obstructs the bowels and the whale starves to...
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Absorbing the Ethereal Sounds of Humpback Whales with Dr Barry McGovern
The complexity of a Humpback Whale song astounds scientists every day, and anyone who is privy to hearing a Humpback Whale sing firsthand is almost always left breathless by the beautiful – and what is sometimes described as haunting – melody. “It’s one of the most complex communication signals in...
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Managing the Largest Humpback Whale Photo Database in Australia with Stephanie Stack
Photo identification programs have been the backbone of marine mammal studies for decades, allowing researchers to identify individuals by comparing photos in existing catalogues. “We track Humpback Whales by photographing the underside of their tail fluke, where they have a unique pigmentation pattern,” explains Stephanie Stack, Chief Biologist at Pacific...