Queensland’s spectacular whale season is on the horizon, and USC experts are available to comment on the annual phenomenon.

From June to November every year, humpback whales migrate 10,000 kilometres from Antarctica to Queensland’s coast where they birth their calves and teach them survival skills before returning south to cooler waters.

The whales are a regular tourist attraction from Hervey Bay – where they play with their young in the calm and sheltered waters - down to the Gold Coast as they make their way back to Antarctica.

A video of USC research using drones to track migrating whales is available here.

The following USC experts are available to comment:

Dr Vikki Schaffer: 07 5459 4705 or vschaffe@usc.edu.au

Researching the swim-with-whales experience. Marine-related tourism, natural and artificial reefs, whale tourism, citizen science, sustainable tourism, K’gari, visualisation and immersive experiences for teaching and learning, visualisation and immersive experiences for enhancing the visitor experience, regional tourism.

Dr Gayle Mayes: 07 5430 2894 or gmayes@usc.edu.au

Sustainable coastal and marine tourism, climate change and anthropogenic impacts on coral reefs, cultural tourism, community-based tourism and sustainable tourism development in the Asia–Pacific region.

Dr Javier Leon: 07 5456 3405, jleon@usc.edu.au

Using drones to track whale migration. Geography, morphology, ecology and management in the current changing climate and sea-level rise context.