The Humpack Highway

Being located in Sydney, we are lucky enough to be situated smack bang in the middle of the on the Whale Superhighway known affectionately as the Humpback Highway. This allows us to benefit from a generous Whale Watching season, running all the way from mid May through to mid November.

 

Australia is lucky to have whale migrations paths which run all the way up both the West & East coast. We use the term Humpback Highway to describe the thousands of km’s of coastline which the whales pass as they migrate from the cold waters of Antarctica, up the to the warmer waters through the winter months to mate & have their babies. Their annual migration of up to 10,000 kms attracts many visitors to coastal areas on the south, east and west coasts of Australia. After birthing, resting and feeding their calves in the warmer norther waters, they jump back on the highway south to complete their extraordinary migration back to Antarctica.

 

It’s estimated that around 40,000 humpback whales migrate along the East coast of Australia today. This is in stark contrast to roughly 100 – 200 remaining humpback whales in the early 1960’s, with international whaling finally banned in the southern hemisphere in1963. The Humpback species is one of the few species that has recovered exceptionally well and has gladly been removed from the endangered species list.