{"id":1166,"date":"2026-06-11T13:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/?p=1166"},"modified":"2026-06-11T13:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:25:26","slug":"humpbacks-are-now-gathering-in-record-numbers-and-experts-are-stunned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/2026\/06\/11\/humpbacks-are-now-gathering-in-record-numbers-and-experts-are-stunned\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpbacks are now gathering in record numbers. And experts are stunned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nature<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humpbacks are now gathering in record numbers. And experts are stunned<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

After nearly going extinct only a few decades ago, something is drawing these giants together in their hundreds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Tom Howarth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Humpback
Photo credit: ChrisFallows.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Chris Fallows and his wife Monique began capturing fine art photographs of some of the world\u2019s most iconic wildlife 30 years ago, they never saw humpback whales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were like phantom animals,\u201d he says. \u201cSomebody would see one here, somebody else would see one there, but because they were so depleted in the post-industrial whaling era, we never even bothered trying to find them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the morning of 30 December 2025, however, things were different. Sitting on a boat off the west coast of South Africa, the couple worked furiously to capture the sight they\u2019d spent decades waiting for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wasn\u2019t one humpback whale, or 10, or even 50, but more than 300, surfacing, diving, leaping from the water and sending plumes of spray into the air \u2013 the largest gathering of its kind ever recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most sensorial experiences you can have,\u201d Fallows says. \u201cIt is an absolute \u2013 the word awesome is very overused \u2013 but it is an absolutely awesome experience to be so close to an animal that\u2019s 15, 16, 18m (50, 53, 59 feet) long, and to see so many of them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while most of us can only dream of encountering these giants, the truth is that \u2018super-groups\u2019 \u2013 gatherings of 20 or more humpbacks which last for several hours \u2013 are becoming increasingly common. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial whaling in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries slashed humpback populations by more than 95 per cent<\/a>. A moratorium in 1985 gave them room to recover, and today most populations are no longer classed as endangered \u2013 a rare conservation success story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet numbers alone don\u2019t explain the super-groups. These mass gatherings only began around 2011, long after the recovery was underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris and Monique Fallows spotted 304 individual humpbacks in one day \u2013 the largest gathering ever recorded. Photo credit: ChrisFallows.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Between 2015 and 2022, researchers recorded 239 of them, according to a study<\/a> in Marine Mammal Science<\/em> led by Elisa Seyboth at the University of Pretoria. Seyboth believes this is genuinely new behaviour, not simply a gap in the historical record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it were historical, we would probably have records of massive groups in old school recordings and books, even from the whaling era,\u201d she says, \u201cbut records from back then only indicate groups of 10 to 15 individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sightings have only increased in frequency since 2022, and now appear almost all year-round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the super-groups have become one of marine biology\u2019s most tantalising puzzles. As scientists like Seyboth and photographers like the Fallows spot, document and study these events with growing frequency, we are finally starting to piece together what might be drawing hundreds of humpbacks together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a party \u2013 and the parents aren\u2019t invited<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While much remains unknown about the super-groups, in a relatively short period of time, scientists have gleaned a great deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For one thing, we now know these gatherings are almost exclusively made up of juveniles. While calves were recorded inside super-groups on only four occasions in a seven-year study period, most individuals were not yet fully-grown, breeding-age adults. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The groups are also highly fluid. Rather than a stable assembly of the same individuals, super-groups form, split and reconvene over hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that those 100 whales are going to stick together for days and days,\u201d says Seyboth. \u201cThey form a super-group, which then splits into smaller ones, or you might even see single individuals travelling in the area. Eventually, some individuals will get together again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add to that the fact that the whales appear to come from multiple distinct breeding populations from different parts of the ocean and the gatherings start to look a bit like a convergence of strangers drawn to a well-stocked buffet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That buffet is probably provided by the Benguela upwelling system, one of the most productive stretches of ocean on Earth, where cold, nutrient-rich water is driven up from the deep along South Africa\u2019s west coast each summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resulting blooms of plankton and prey \u2013 including shrimp, krill and small fish \u2013 appear to draw the whales in from across the seas. And with each whale needing over one tonne<\/a> (2,200lbs) of food a day, there must be plenty to go round for so many to converge on one location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Spray
While visually stunning, the super-group gatherings have a pungent smell that Seyboth likens to \u201ccooked broccoli that has gone bad\u201d. Photo credit: ChrisFallows.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A perfect storm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The super-groups are probably the product of several converging factors, Seyboth says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Population recovery is the most obvious. From a low of around 10,000 individuals at the peak of industrial whaling, global humpback numbers have rebounded to an estimated 80,000 today<\/a>. More whales means more individuals exploring feeding opportunities and, potentially, competing for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But something else may be pushing them together in unprecedented numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n