Record-Breaking Humpback Whale Journeys Unveiled
Research published on Wednesday reveals that a pair of humpback whales have completed a remarkable swim between the eastern shores of Australia and the breeding grounds in Brazil. These journeys mark the greatest distances ever recorded for humpback whales.
An international team of scientists conducted the study, cataloging tens of thousands of images of whale tails to identify these two remarkable mammals. One whale appeared in Queensland, Australia, in 2007 and was then photographed near Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2019, covering approximately 8,823 miles. Another whale, initially sighted off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, re-emerged 22 years later in Hervey Bay, Australia, traversing about 9,383 miles.
These journeys are the longest distances documented between two sightings of the same humpback whale, according to the Royal Society Open Science. Despite their rarity, such extensive travels can play a crucial role in sustaining the genetic diversity of whale populations, said Griffith University PhD researcher and report co-author Stephanie Stack. She also noted that these journeys might contribute to the sharing of new whale songs across different regions, echoing cultural trends seen in humans.
The study relied on nearly 20,000 photographs collected between 1984 and 2025 from eastern Australia and Latin America. Both scientists and citizen scientists contributed these images. Using an automated image-recognition algorithm, the research team identified two whales recorded in both geographic areas.
Dr. Cristina Castro of the Pacific Whale Foundation emphasized the significance of this type of research. “Every photo contributes to our understanding of whale biology and, in this case, helped uncover one of the most extreme movements ever recorded,” she stated.
This research supports the “Southern Ocean Exchange” hypothesis, suggesting that sometimes humpback whales may travel to feeding grounds in Antarctica but take a different return route, ending up in new breeding areas. Griffith University suggested that changes driven by climate, such as sea ice shifts and alterations in krill distribution, might increase the likelihood of these journeys over time.
Humpback whales have faced challenges historically due to commercial whaling. They were listed as endangered in the U.S. in the 1970s, with a moratorium on commercial whaling established in 1985. Currently, four out of the 14 distinct population segments remain endangered, and one is classified as threatened, according to NOAA.