Whale Patrol follows the remarkable and perilous journey of close to 17,000 Humpback whales as they leave their summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic to journey to breeding sites in tropical waters off the west coast of Australia. It's a journey the whales have been making for thousands of years, and it is fraught with danger.

While the encroaching winter storms can wreak havoc of their own, the whales' greatest threat is man-made. A potentially fatal obstacle course of nets, buoys and ropes. Entanglement can mean a slow and painful death for a Humpback whale. But thankfully, an elite team of wildlife officers lead by whale rescue veteran Doug Coughran are on alert. They are the Whale Patrol.

It's whale season. The emergency calls are coming thick and fast and Doug and his team are quick to react. Freeing a distressed 30,000 kilo whale in dangerous seas is not for the faint hearted, but with 30 years of whale rescue experience, Doug is up to the challenge. Relying on his vast knowledge of whale behaviour and the skill, speed and razor sharp-like precision of his crew, Doug frees an entangled Humpback. This one is lucky. Its injuries are not debilitating and it is quickly on the move, danger averted for now. But for the whale patrol it is just the beginning.

Whale Patrol is a world first, with unprecedented access to a highly skilled whale disentanglement crew, the film captures the drama, action and raw emotion of whale rescue through the eyes of the environmental heroes at the coal face.

But it is not just those whales who run into trouble at sea that need the whale patrol's help. When a young calf loses its way and gets beached in the shallows, it is too late to help and Doug and his crew are faced with the first heart breaking casualty of the season. But there is little time for emotions - with more sightings and emergency calls coming through. Doug and his crew are on the way to investigate a new entanglement sighting. Along the way they witness some unique and spectacular whale behaviour, before pulling off another successful rescue. It was touch and go but they sent another Humpback on its journey north. It's all in a day's work for the whale patrol, but sadly for Doug and his team, they can't all be saved.

Witness some of the most confronting wildlife documentary footage ever filmed as Whale Patrol tackles the sensitive issue of whale euthanasia as Doug and his crew members make a gut-wrenching decision to end the suffering of a beached whale with no hope of survival. With breathtaking footage and unprecedented access, Whale Patrol is the exhilarating and moving story of the fight to protect the migrating whale population off the coast of Western Australia.

Festivals & Awards

Finalist - Conservation & Environmental Issues, 32nd International Wildlife Film Festival Montana.

Finalist - Ocean Issues, 2009 Blue Ocean Film Festival Georgia

Finalist - 3rd International Nature Film Festival GREEN SCREEN

Best Documentary - 7th International Film Festival Water - Sea and the Oceans

Gold - Australian Cinematorgaphers Society State Awards - Wildlife & Nature Cinematography