Whale 'maternity ward' discovered

Hundreds of young humpback whale calves have been discovered in a bay in the Kimberley region (located in the northern part of Western Australia), making it one of the world's biggest humpback whale nursery grounds. The bay is being used by over 600 humpback whales to teach their young important marine lessons including feeding, utilising currents and breaching.

Scientists have been astounded by the amount of pregnant whales, whales with young calves and bulls appearing in the area, and may well surpass the number found in the Caribbean’s Silver Banks region, which is usually listed as one of the world’s main humpback whale nursery grounds.

The whales were discovered as part of an unfunded study, and on the last day 51 whales passed the scientist's observation site in two and half hours, which equates to more than 20 whales passing each hour.

Their highlight? Watching some of the young whales practicing breaching by jumping out of the water every 30 seconds for five minutes while their mothers watched on!