Photographers Document Record 304 Humpback Whales in One Day Off South Africa

In December 2025, photographers Monique Fallows and Chris Fallows documented large groups of humpback whales off the west coast of South Africa. Over two days, they photographed 208 individual whales on December 29 and 304 on December 30. Chris Fallows stated that the 304 whales represent the highest number of large whales identified in a single day.

The couple observed the whales feeding in groups, with blows from their exhalations visible up to 7 meters high and traveling at over 300 mph. Monique Fallows described the sound as resembling a big bellows and noted a strong fishy smell from the whales' breath.

They submitted their images to Happywhale, a citizen science project for identifying marine mammals.

whale populations were reduced to less than 5% of pre-whaling numbers due to industrial whaling in the 20th century. A global whaling moratorium took effect 40 years ago, leading to population increases. In the southern hemisphere, humpback numbers have grown by up to 12% per year.

Simon Elwen, a marine biologist at the University of Stellenbosch, stated that humpback super-group sightings off South Africa's west coast increased from 10 to 65 per year between 2015 and 2020. Elwen noted that seeing groups of hundreds of whales in a day has become common.

Super-groups are defined as 20 or more whales within five body lengths of each other.

whales typically form small groups for feeding or mating but gather in larger groups during the austral summer due to upwelling of nutrient-rich water that attracts krill. The whales migrate up to 5,000 miles annually from breeding grounds to feeding areas, transporting nutrients across oceans.

Ted Cheeseman, founder of Happywhale, stated that of the 372 individual whales identified by the Fallows over two days, most had not been previously photographed and are likely under 10 years old. Experts indicate that the reasons for the increase in super-groups may include changes in prey availability or population growth leading to new feeding strategies.