What humpback whales get up to when they visit the Gold Coast
Humpback whales young and old visit the Gold Coast for different reason, some come to party while others focus on something a bit different.
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YOUNG humpback whales visit the Gold Coast to party and frolic, while their mature counterparts focus on mating.
This is according to a study by Griffith University’s Whales and Climate Research Project and Coast and Marine Research Centre.
Study lead, Dr Olaf Meynecke, said the research team analysed long-term citizen science data collected from non-profit organisations Humpbacks & Highrises (Gold Coast) and the Oceana Project (Hervey Bay).
They studied the movements and behaviours of 5400 humpback whales during their migration through the two regions.
The research, which has been published in Marine & Freshwater Research, includes humpback whale data from Hervey Bay between 1999-2009 and the Gold Coast between 2011-2018.
“This is the first study to look at the behaviour of humpback whales in two different regions to determine how they use the areas,” said Dr Meynecke.
“It showed that the whales used the two bays for many similar activities, such as resting and socialising, but that there were distinct differences.
“We found more competitive groups and aggressive behaviours in the Gold Coast Bay, whereas the results support the findings from earlier research for Hervey Bay, showing that it is predominantly a resting area for mother-calf pairs.
“In the GC Bay we also have the mother-calf pair resting, but the area is much easier to enter for males and doesn’t require much of a detour.
“Overall, our results suggest that the GC Bay provides habitat for a wide range of critical humpback whale activities, in particular for resting mother-calf pairs, mature whales seeking copulation and socialising immature whales.“Hervey Bay had a higher number of mother-calf pair sightings, confirming the areas an important resting site.”
Dr Meynecke said the study demonstrated that the two regions were critical for humpback whales during their annual migration, but for different essential activities, and should be considered as whale protection areas.
Originally published as What humpback whales get up to when they visit the Gold Coast
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