Expert sounds the alarm on beloved $70 million Australian industry

Exclusive: Chris Johnson was barely 30 when he gave up his tech job in Melbourne to sail around the world for five and a half years chasing whales.

He became an “accidental scientist” on Dr Roger Payne’s Voyage of the Odyssey, an ambitious program that travelled to 121 ports across every major ocean on the planet studying whales and ocean pollution.

Now he’s sounding the alarm on threats much closer to home that could decimate whale populations in Australian waters and a lucrative sector of the tourism industry in one fell swoop.

Humpback whales were almost wiped out by commercial whaling, but populations have bounced back since it was outlawed decades ago.

Today about 40,000 humpback whales migrate past Australia and whale watching injects millions into the nation’s economy every year.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Skipper: mskipper@nine.com.au

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The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society put it at about $70 million annually, but a 2008 report from International Whaling Commission (IWC) estimated it was closer to $170 million.

Either way, whale watching attracts more than a million local and international guests each year and is a lucrative and beloved sector of the tourism industry.

But the whales it relies on are under threat.

More than 30 years of data has revealed multiple major threats to the globe’s Blue Corridors, the critical marine migration routes humpbacks and other whales follow along Australia’s coasts.

If those threats aren’t dealt with, Australia risks losing its whales and the tourism they inspire.

“Climate change is is is the biggest risk long term for marine life, full stop,” Johnson, now a marine scientist and conservation strategist, told nine.com.au.

Climate change has reduced Antarctic krill populations, which humpback whales rely on to build up reserves before their long migration.

It means the 40,000 humpback whales that travel by Australia’s coasts have less prey, which could have devastating impacts on their numbers.

“In the northern hemisphere, gray whales are shrinking in size because they’re not getting enough to eat due to climate change,” Johnson said.

Warming seas could also force humpback whales away from historic breeding grounds, which could have major repercussions for reproduction.

“Another big threat is accidental bycatch, or being entangled in nets or fishing lines,” Johnson said.

“Also increased ship traffic and risk of ship strikes, plastic pollution, noise pollution.”

Fortunately, these threats are still reversible – provided we act now.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia is advocating for the global “30 by 30” goal, which would see 30 per cent of the world’s oceans protected by 2030.

About 10 per cent is currently protected, meaning the world would have to triple ocean protections in the next four years to meet the goal.

Australia is surging ahead of the pack on that front; almost half of our oceans were Marine Protected Areas by 2024, up from just 10 per cent in 2008.

The country is also making progress on emissions’ reduction, though a Climate Change Authority report showed that more is needed to meet vital climate goals.

The Blue Corridors research project has brought together more than 50 global collaborators to develop whale conservation strategies around the world.

But there’s still a lot of work to do if Aussies want their grandchildren to see humpback whales swimming along the nation’s coasts for decades to come.

“Us taking action and moving to a low-carbon future, that is probably the most important thing that we can do as Australians,” Johnson said.