The Oceania Project's
23rd Whale Research Expedition
2012

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He was resighted and photographed annually between 1994 and 1998. He was seen again in 2000 and 2003.

In 1995, 1998 & 2003 (Below) he was observed in the role of an Escort. This suggests he is a male however gender remains to be confirmed from either observation or through DNA analysis.

Trish Franklin's observations and photo-id data of the Hervey Bay Humpbacks from 1992 to 2005, plus historical work by Wally Franklin has already made a significant contribution to documenting the recovery of the East Coast of Australia Humpbacks following near extinction by commerical whaling in Antarctica
(Paton et al (in press JCRM)), (Clapham et al 2009).

Trish has taken, digitised and analysed over 35,000 Photo Identification data images of the Hervey Bay Whales. Her Fluke Catalogue consists of over 2500 individuals from the Hervey Bay Humpback Group. This is the largest digital data archive available on the East Coast of Australian Humpback Group.

The data from the long-term survey is the basis of Trish Franklin's PhD at Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre investigating the 'Social and ecological significance of Hervey Bay to the Area V humpback whales'. See: (Franklin et al (2011) Marine Mammal Science

A collaboration between Dan Burns, Dave Paton, Trish Franklin and Wally Franklin involving pooling of photo-id data from Hervey Bay, Byron Bay and Ballina for the years 1999 to 2005 is being used to investigate:

• The abundance and recovery of Eastern Australian Humpbacks
  (Paton et al (in press JCRM))
  
  
• The migratory movements of humpbacks between Hervey Bay, Byron Bay and Ballina and migratory interchange between Eastern Australian breeding grounds and Antarctic feeding grounds
  (Franklin & Burns 2005), (Franklin et al (in press JCRM))

• The group characteristics of migrating Humpback Whales at Hervey Bay. (Franklin et al (2010 - Marine Mammal Science))
  
  
• The group behaviour of migrating Humpback Whales at Hervey Bay (Franklin et al (in review - Marine Mammal Science)

Each of the fluke photgraphs above are of the same individual humpback whale.

TOP photo was taken near the Balleny Islands in Antarctica on the 14th February 2006.

CENTRE photo was taken in Hervey Bay on the 26th September 2005.

BOTTOM photo was taken off Byron on the 26th July 2004 (Franklin et al 2007)