a whale breaching out of the ocean about to land on its back with a hilly coastline in the distance

A University of Queensland study has found humpback whales sing louder when the wind is noisy, but don’t have the same reaction to boat engines.

11 May 2023
Humpback whales swimming and breaching in waters off Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Image, UQ

Male whales along Australia’s eastern seaboard are giving up singing to attract a mate, switching instead to fighting their male competition.

17 February 2023

When Associate Professor Rebecca Dunlop left Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2003 for Brisbane, the move was meant to be temporary – and testing the hearing of humpback whales wasn’t part of the plan for the physiology graduate either.

26 November 2022

The noise and presence of boats can harm humpback whales’ ability to communicate and socialise, in some cases reducing their communication range by a factor of four.

28 November 2019
Humpback whale 'spy hopping': Pic courtesy BRAHSS

A new international study has measured the effect of loud sounds on migrating humpback whales as concern grows as oceans become noisier.

17 August 2017
Collecting a sample from a whale's "blow".

Australia’s humpback whale population is increasing by more than 10 per cent a year, and University of Queensland researchers are going to extreme lengths to find out why.

22 February 2016