Whale travels more than 15 thousand km between Bahia and Australia and breaks record

A study published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science revealed an unprecedented case of extreme migration among humpback whales. One of the animals traveled more than 15 thousand kilometers between Bahia and Australia.

According to researchers, a whale photographed at the Abrolhos Bank, on the coast of Bahia, in August 2003, was recorded again more than 22 years later in Hervey Bay, on the Australian east coast.

The minimum distance between the two points is approximately 15,100 kilometers, a mark that exceeds the previous known world record for the species by approximately 15%.

The study documents for the first time a bidirectional exchange between breeding populations of South Atlantic and South Pacific humpback whales.

Scientists analyzed more than 19,000 images collected between 1984 and 2025 in Brazil and Australia.

Identification was made using the photo-identification technique, which uses unique patterns present on the lower part of the whales' tail, functioning as a kind of natural "fingerprint".

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According to the researchers, the data crossing was possible with the help of the Happywhale collaborative platform, which uses image recognition algorithms to compare records of whales around the world.

The survey found only two cases of crossings between the populations of the two oceans, which represents around 0.01% of the individuals analyzed.

The authors point out that climate change, changes in the distribution of krill, the whales' main food, and the population growth of the species after the end of commercial hunting may be favoring encounters between different groups in Antarctica.

Source: CNN