Twenty-two years and 15,000km later: fluke discovery sets new record for humpback whale journey

Whale first photographed off the coast of Brazil in 2003 spotted off north-east Australia in September 2025 Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A humpback whale has made a 15,000km journey from Brazil to Australia, marking what researchers believe is the longest distance ever documented between sightings of an individual humpback. The whale was first photographed in 2003 at the Abrolhos Bank, Brazil’s main humpb...

By Donna Lu Assistant editor, climate, environment and science