A South African couple documented a “supergroup” of nearly 300 humpback whales gathered off the west coast of South Africa last December — a sight scientists say reflects one of the most striking wildlife recoveries in modern history. Humpback populations in the southern hemisphere have climbed from fewer than 10,000 at the height of commercial whaling to more than 100,000 today, according to assessments by the International Whaling Commission.
At a glance
- Humpback whale recovery: Southern hemisphere populations have grown from fewer than 10,000 at the peak of whaling to more than 100,000 today, following the 1986 international moratorium on commercial whale hunting.
- Whale supergroups: Chris and Monique Fallows documented 299 humpback whales gathering in a single group off South Africa’s west coast in December 2025 C.E. — what the Africa coordinator for Happywhale described as likely the largest such group ever sighted.
- Ship strike risk: A preliminary assessment co-authored by University of Pretoria whale scientist Els Vermeulen found that shipping traffic around the southern tip of Africa quadrupled after December 2023 C.E., raising new dangers for recovering whale populations.
What a supergroup looks like
Wildlife photographer Chris Fallows has spent 35 years documenting marine animals. He and his wife Monique were accustomed to seeing larger and larger clusters of humpbacks on their trips off South Africa. But nothing prepared them for what they found one morning last December.
Plumes of whale breath exploded into the air from every direction. Fallows described it as a “Manhattan skyline” of blowholes. The couple counted 299 individual whales by photographing each animal’s tail fluke — a standard method scientists use to identify individual whales, since each fluke pattern is unique.
Alex Vogel, the Africa coordinator for Happywhale — a global whale database built largely from citizen scientist photo submissions — reviewed the documentation and said the sighting appears to be the largest humpback supergroup on record.
The 1986 moratorium and what followed
Humpbacks are typically solitary or travel in small pods. The re-emergence of supergroups is itself a conservation signal. Els Vermeulen, chief scientist at the University of Pretoria’s Whale Unit and a zoologist, said these large gatherings started appearing again around 2012 C.E. — roughly a generation after the International Whaling Commission’s 1986 C.E. commercial whaling moratorium took effect.
“In general, the moratorium on whaling can be classified as one of the strongest conservation success stories in the marine environment,” Vermeulen said.
Humpbacks feed on krill and small fish, and Vermeulen noted that when they gather in supergroups they produce underwater sounds that draw in even more whales. The behavior itself may be amplifying the social bonds of a recovering population.
This recovery stands alongside other species recovery success stories reshaping what’s possible in conservation — proof that deliberate, sustained international protection can reverse the course of extinction.
A recovery with real limits
The humpback story is genuinely good news, but the wider picture is more complicated. The World Wildlife Fund notes that recovery has been uneven across whale species. Seven of the 14 great whale species remain classified as endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. North Atlantic right whales number only around 380 individuals today and are listed as critically endangered.
Threats haven’t disappeared. Entanglement in commercial fishing gear, ship collisions, and climate change all continue to affect whale populations globally. Only a few countries still hunt whales commercially, but those pressures compound ongoing risks.
A new danger off South Africa
Vermeulen has identified an urgent emerging threat specific to southern African waters. A preliminary assessment she co-authored found that shipping traffic around the southern tip of Africa quadrupled after December 2023 C.E., when Yemen’s Houthi rebels began attacking vessels in the Red Sea following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The ongoing Iran war and security crisis over the Strait of Hormuz have since diverted even more ships around the African continent.
More ships mean more chances of fatal collisions with whales. Gregg Oelofse, coastal and environmental manager for the city of Cape Town, said some whale carcasses wash ashore bearing unmistakable evidence: propeller strikes cutting through the animals’ bodies. Because most ship-struck whales sink before they can be found, there are no comprehensive statistics on the scale of the problem.
Vermeulen and colleagues are now lobbying for official speed limits for vessels near the South African coast — giving ship crews more time to spot whales and maneuver around them. No such limits are yet in place, and the campaign is ongoing.
The humpback supergroup that the Fallows witnessed last December is a reminder of what sustained protection can achieve. It is also a reminder of how quickly new pressures can emerge for animals whose recovery took decades to build.
Read more
For more on this story, see: Associated Press
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- African Parks moves white rhinos to rewild southern Africa
- African elephant populations stabilize in southern Africa
- The Good News for Humankind archive on ocean and marine protection
About this article
- 🤖 This article is AI-generated, based on a framework created by Peter Schulte.
- 🌍 It aims to be inspirational but clear-eyed, accurate, and evidence-based, and grounded in care for the Earth, peace and belonging for all, and human evolution.
- 💬 Leave your notes and suggestions in the comments below — I will do my best to review and implement where appropriate.
- ✉️ One verified piece of good news, one insight from Antihero Project, every weekday morning. Subscribe free.
