After witnessing a massive decline in its number in the 1960s, humpback whales off NSW are rebounding quite strongly. Their current population stands at around 20,000.

Rob Harcourt, a professor at Macquarie University, said the population has increased at a rate of almost 11% per year over a decade. "In nature, humpbacks live for about 50 to 80 years meaning that a two per cent replacement rate each year approximates a stable population", said Barry Carbon, former head of West Australia's Environmental Protection Authority.

Mr. Carbon was of the view that the recovery shows the great resilience of the species. Though it's great news, the society also needs to keep in mind that natural decline in the whale population a rise in whale deaths will also be seen.

In recent days, two dead humpback whales washed up on NSW beaches. One of the whales was found washed up at Wallabi Point on the mid north coast and the second whale was found at Saltwater Beach. Dave Armstrong filmed the dead whales and said that the whale washed up at Saltwater Beach was most probably a juvenile, but the other was much larger.

For now, it is not what led to their deaths and investigation is taking place, said Harcourt. Geoffrey Ross, a wildlife management officer with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, affirmed that there are also chances that the heavy seas have taken toll on them.

Mr. Ross said that this time, humpback whales have been moving to south earlier. Professor Harcourt said that it is not easy to handle the dead washed up whales. One of the options is to bury dead whales, but only on remote beaches so that the smell does not affect visitors.

The dead whale at Saltwater Beach was buried in sand. Experts have suggested swimmers not to be near the water where a dead whale is present.