San Francisco, Oct 22 (IANS): The population of humpback whales in the South Atlantic is believed to have rebounded from the brink of extinction, the University of Washington said.

The university on Monday said that its researchers found that the number of humpback whales has grown to 25,000 in the western South Atlantic, close to the population recorded in the pre-whaling era, reports Xinhua news agency.

Commercial whaling in the 20th century had once reduced the number of humpback whales to only 450 in the South Atlantic, bringing the mammals to the brink of extinction, said the university.

About 25,000 whales were killed in about 12 years in the early 1900s, it added.

The International Whaling Commission issued a moratorium on all commercial whaling to protect the marine mammals in the mid-1980s.

The new study incorporated detailed data from the whaling industry since commercial whaling began.

The current estimates were made from a combination of air- and ship-based surveys, along with advanced modelling techniques.