Hervey Bay is renowned as the best place on the East Coast to see humpback whales. Each year, these baleen whales make a 11,000km migration from Antarctica to the warm tropical waters of northern Australia, where they mate and breed. On their return, between July and October, they stop in the strait between Hervey Bay and K’gari, while the calves nursed by their mothers build up a protective layer of blubber to face the polar waters. Since whaling was banned in the 1960s, their numbers have increased from 300 to around 40,000.