Lucky spotters can watch whales, weighing up to 40 tonnes, breach and crash back into the Pacific Ocean, flanked by bursts of sea spray.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need a boat to see a whale,\u201d Pirotta said. \u201cI would encourage Sydneysiders to look out on their weekend or morning walk because we have such a fabulous coastline.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnywhere you can see the ocean, you have a chance of spotting a whale.\u201d<\/p>\n Once hunted to near extinction, the humpback whales \u2013 Megaptera novaeangliae \u2013 have made a remarkable recovery.<\/p>\n Population estimates now range between 30,000 and 50,000.<\/p>\n But as numbers grow, migration patterns are shifting.<\/p>\n \u201cSome are hanging out here all year round, at least in those colder southern waters like Tasmania,\u201d Pirotta said.<\/p>\n Global heating, shifting food sources and warming oceans are likely factors \u2013 with implications for future marine life.<\/p>\n No longer listed as a threatened species, humpbacks still face risks in increasingly industrialised seas.<\/p>\n Entanglement in commercial fishing gear, shark nets and drum lines, vessel strikes and acoustic pollution from seismic blasting are all potentially deadly hazards.<\/p>\n Last year, it took rescuers almost five hours to free a young humpback whale in Sydney Harbour after it became entangled in ropes and buoys.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re a migrating animal the size of a bus, there are a number of challenges that whales face that we as humans present,\u201d Pirotta said.<\/p>\n The growing humpback population means conservation efforts \u201cneed to be bumped up\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n Melting Antarctic ice is also threatening krill \u2013 a key food source for the whales, which are so important to supporting ocean health.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir poo drives nutrients and helps the food chain, which we rely on, especially our fisheries industry,\u201d Pirotta said.<\/p>\n Pirotta works with the Gamay Rangers, who care for country around Gamay (Botany Bay). \u201cIndigenous knowledge holders reflect the past of our First Nations scientists, our first whale scientists,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For many saltwater people of the east and west coasts, whales are sacred and hold a significant cultural and spiritual place.<\/p>\n Yuin man Dr Jack Pascoe, an ecologist at the University of Melbourne, said the whales \u2013 Gurawal \u2013 hold lore in the form of stories.<\/p>\n Pascoe helped establish the Saltwater People\u2019s Alliance, which advocates for the preservation of whale song lines.<\/p>\n He said Australian environmental laws are \u201cflawed and not fit for purpose\u201d. Stronger action on climate and more Indigenous-led conservation strategies that recognise species of cultural significance were needed, he said.<\/p>\n Simon Miller, from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, has said the \u201cpressing international threat\u201d of climate change is affecting whale migration and marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia needs to be a leading global citizen and do our bit \u2026 keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n Like Pascoe, he has urged state and federal governments to develop stronger environmental policies.<\/p>\n According to the CSIRO, sea surface temperatures in Australia have risen by 1.08C since 1900, with the greatest warming off the south-east and Tasmania.<\/p>\n