{"id":838618,"date":"2026-08-01T22:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T22:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838618\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T22:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T22:28:12","slug":"whales-in-australia-expert-sounds-the-alarm-on-beloved-70-million-australian-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838618\/","title":{"rendered":"Whales in Australia: Expert sounds the alarm on beloved $70 million Australian industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Chris Johnson was barely 30 when he gave up his tech job in Melbourne<\/a> to sail around the world for five and a half years chasing whales.<\/p>\n

He became an \u201caccidental scientist\u201d on Dr Roger Payne\u2019s Voyage of the Odyssey<\/a>, an ambitious program that travelled to 121 ports across every major ocean on the planet studying whales and ocean pollution.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Johnson didn\u2019t set out to become a whale conservationist, but that\u2019s where he wound up after dipping out of a career in tech in 2000.\u00a0WWF<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s sounding the alarm on threats much closer to home that could decimate whale populations in Australian waters and a lucrative sector of the tourism industry<\/a> in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n

Humpback whales were almost wiped out by commercial whaling<\/a>, but populations have bounced back since it was outlawed decades ago.<\/p>\n

Today about 40,000 humpback whales migrate past Australia and whale watching injects millions into the nation\u2019s economy every year.<\/p>\n

Have you got a story? Contact\u00a0reporter Maddison Skipper:\u00a0mskipper@nine.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society put it at about $70 million annually, but a 2008 report from International Whaling Commission (IWC) estimated it was closer to $170 million.<\/p>\n

Either way, whale watching attracts more than a million local and international guests each year and is a lucrative and beloved sector of the tourism industry.<\/p>\n

But the whales it relies on are under threat.<\/p>\n

More than 30 years of data has revealed multiple major threats to the globe\u2019s Blue Corridors<\/a>, the critical marine migration routes humpbacks and other whales follow along Australia\u2019s coasts.<\/p>\n

If those threats aren\u2019t dealt with, Australia risks losing its whales<\/a> and the tourism they inspire.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Humpback whales are a beloved sight as they migrate through the waters off Australia\u2019s coast every year.\u00a0AP Photo\/Mark Baker<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change<\/a> is is is the biggest risk long term for marine life, full stop,\u201d Johnson, now a marine scientist and conservation strategist, told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

Climate change has reduced Antarctic krill populations, which humpback whales rely on to build up reserves before their long migration.<\/p>\n

It means the 40,000 humpback whales that travel by Australia\u2019s coasts have less prey, which could have devastating impacts on their numbers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the northern hemisphere, gray whales are shrinking in size because they\u2019re not getting enough to eat due to climate change,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Warming seas could also force humpback whales away from historic breeding grounds, which could have major repercussions for reproduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother big threat is accidental bycatch, or being entangled in nets or fishing lines,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso increased ship traffic and risk of ship strikes, plastic pollution, noise pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, these threats are still reversible \u2013 provided we act now.<\/p>\n

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia is advocating for the global \u201c30 by 30\u201d goal, which would see 30 per cent of the world\u2019s oceans protected by 2030.<\/p>\n

About 10 per cent is currently protected, meaning the world would have to triple ocean protections in the next four years to meet the goal.<\/p>\n

Australia is surging ahead of the pack on that front; almost half of our oceans were Marine Protected Areas by 2024, up from just 10 per cent in 2008.<\/p>\n

The country is also making progress on emissions\u2019 reduction, though a Climate Change Authority report showed that more is needed to meet vital climate goals.<\/p>\n

\"Juvenile<\/p>\n

If Australia doesn\u2019t work to protect its \u2018blue corridors\u2019, we could lose some of the most magnificent animals that traverse them.\u00a0iStock<\/p>\n

The Blue Corridors research project has brought together more than 50 global collaborators to develop whale conservation strategies around the world.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s still a lot of work to do if Aussies want their grandchildren to see humpback whales swimming along the nation\u2019s coasts for decades to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs taking action and moving to a low-carbon future, that is probably the most important thing that we can do as Australians,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Chris Johnson was barely 30 when he gave up his tech job in Melbourne to sail around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-838618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}