00:01It's been a whale of a time for southern rights in the far west this year.
00:07Researchers say it's been one of the best years in recent history
00:10for southern right whale numbers in the Great Australian Bight.
00:13The numbers are very strong. At Head of Bight, Encounter Bay and Fowlers Bay,
00:17we've recorded over 170 whales.
00:20It's now been 30 years since the Great Australian Bight Marine Reserve was established.
00:25Researchers have witnessed a lot of change since the last millennium.
00:29The data collection back in the early 90s involved processing film in a sleeping bag
00:34whilst camping at the back of the sand dunes.
00:37And it's certainly progressed now to, you know, operating starlink, flying drones.
00:43While the toxic algal bloom has devastated parts of South Australia's coast this year,
00:47it hasn't impacted the far west of the state.
00:49And it's here where southern right whales congregate to give birth and to socialise.
00:54A whale named Topsy is currently at the Head of Bight,
00:56having first been spotted with a calf in 1984.
00:59There is a breeding female that has now returned 12 times to the Head of the Great Australian Bight
01:05over the 35-year research to have 12 different calves.
01:09The southern right whale was hunted to near extinction,
01:12but conservation work has helped the cetaceans to regenerate.
01:15Citizen scientist Marianne Stockham is based at Sleaford on the Eyre Peninsula,
01:19where she braves the elements to record the number of passing whales.
01:23Even after three decades of spotting, this whale watcher still gets a buzz every time.
01:28They're just amazing.
01:30And, you know, I've seen so many whales in the 30-plus years that I've been doing it.
01:34But whenever I see a whale, it's like I've seen them for the first time.
01:38Two studies published over the last few weeks detail the success of the conservation
01:43at the Gab Marine Reserve over the last 30 years,
01:46but also of concerns for the population in the years ahead.
01:49So there's been some overall concerns for the population,
01:52but definitely conservation success story in terms of the Gab Marine Park.
01:57For now, though, there's a new wave of southern rights coming through.
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