“Once hunted almost to extinction, the group of humpback whales currently migrating down Australia’s east coast has bounced back — and then some.

In a preliminary report to the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, marine scientists estimate there were more than 50,000 eastern Australian humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in 2024.

That’s around 20,000 more individuals than the estimated pre-whaling population of the early 1900s.

The report, while not yet peer-reviewed, is in line with previous predictions that the eastern humpback population may peak at around 50,000 individuals in the 2020s.”

From ABC Australia.