Sydney: Tourists will soon be able to swim with humpback whales of Australia in a trial program modelled on the successful whale shark tours at the country's Ningaloo Marine Park.

Tourists can already swim with humpbacks off Mexico, Tonga and Queensland, however, conservation efforts have seen the whale population increase to about 30,000 in the area since the end of commercial whaling in the 1960s, Xinhua news agency reported.