WHALE-WATCHERS PREPARE FOR BUMPER SEASON
But with whale population soaring experts voice fears of possible deadly food shortage
WHALE populations expected to migrate past the Gold Coast have boomed to an estimated 27,000 individuals, up from 20,000 three years ago.
And they’re already heading north from the Southern Ocean past the Gold Coast with one of the first spotted off Tweed Heads two weeks ago, according to whale watchers.
The whispers of humpbacks would have seen whalers ready their harpoons off the coast as late as 1962 to decimate populations offshore.
Now it means thousands of tourists have booked tickets to shoot the mammals with their cameras.
But with many booms there’s often a bust, Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long warned.
He explained in pre-whaling times there was no farming of krill – the whale’s food – in Antarctic waters.
With humpback numbers approaching the estimated pre-whaling population of 40,000 while people continue to fish for krill, Mr Long said there was the potential for strain on the food chain.
He said the lack of food could mean weaker whales would set off on their annual 16,000km migration to breed in warmer northern waters.
And those that die on the journey could increasingly wash up on Gold Coast beaches.
“It’s hard to get valid information on pre-whaling figures, but in those times no one was harvesting krill,” he said.
“We might be reaching the original population but with a depleted amount of krill the animals may not be as strong.
“We could see more animals wash up on our beaches.”
But Mr Long said entanglement in shark nets were a direct threat to whales off the Gold Coast and now northern NSW, where beaches are nearing end of a six-month shark net trial.
He had repeatedly called on the State Government to replace nets with drumlines during the whale migration from April to November.
“There are 11 nets off primary beaches on the Gold Coast,” Mr Long said.
“We have seen six drumlines have the same catch-rate as a net, we should replace the nets with drum lines.” Gold Coast-based marine biologist and co-founder of Humpbacks and Highrises Dr JanOlaf Meynecke agreed.
“Unfortunately it looks like we are going to see this happen again this year,” he said.
Last season his team of researchers found some whales were spending three days off the Glitter Strip.
“They’re starting to stay in the bay longer,” he said.
“It could be because the East Australian Current is warmer or they aren’t travelling as far north because of food depletion in the Southern Ocean so they’ve reduced their overall migration. It’s just a theory at this stage and we can’t prove it.”
Whales in Paradise owner Anthony Ardern said advanced bookings had already doubled from last year. Bookings were popular among people on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane.
“We’ve had more forward bookings than we’ve ever had,” Mr Ardern said.
He said tours spotted whales on every trip last season.
“With so many whales offshore it’s become a lot easier to spot them – usually it only takes 15 to 20 minutes.”