Rare sighting of a ‘megapod’ with over 100 humpback whales surrounds a boat off the Australian coast

A 'megapod' of more than 100 humpback whales has been filmed encircling a boat off Australia's coast – an extremely rare occurrence that an expert claims has only been documented once before in the country's waters.

The whales were spotted near Bermagui, approximately 236 miles (380 kilometers) from Sydney in New South Wales, as they fed on a massive bait ball – a dense cluster of fish swimming together in a spherical formation.

Simon Millar, the owner of Sapphire Coastal Adventures, was conducting a training session with his staff when the whales appeared on September 9. The video shows the whales slapping their tails against the water in an attempt to corral the fish.

Millar stated that this was only the second time a 'megapod' – a mass gathering of whales – had been observed in Australian waters.

"It was an amazing experience," he shared with Dinogo. "We saw whales all around us, swimming in every direction. It was unbelievable. We were really fortunate."

"The sight and the sounds were truly extraordinary."

Australia's coastline comes alive with whale pods each year between April and November as the whales journey north from Antarctica, where they feed during the summer, to sub-tropical waters where they mate and give birth, according to Australia's Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment.

Their annual migration can stretch as far as 6,214 miles (10,000 kilometers), drawing thousands of tourists to coastal towns like Byron Bay, Hervey Bay, and Eden. Most humpbacks return to the Southern Ocean between September and November, the department reported.

Millar noted that the whales he encountered this year have been feeding more heavily, possibly due to a food shortage.

"We're depleting their food supply in Antarctica through overfishing," he remarked.

David M. Baker, Associate Professor at the Swire Institute of Marine Science at the University of Hong Kong, stated that humans are "directly competing with whales for food" and are altering the availability of food by "changing the global climate."

"Global fisheries are stripping away the very food sources whales rely on, like schooling fish and krill, which could significantly hinder their recovery," he explained. "Climate change is also obstructing the recovery of certain species, including the critically endangered right whales in the North Atlantic."