Film follows the WA journey of whales

The makers of a nature documentary that sparked international interest in the Bremer Canyon two years ago will air their latest film next week.

Birthplace of the Giants follows humpback whales on their annual migration from Antarctica past Albany and up WA's coastline to breeding grounds in the Kimberley, a journey that is about to begin and attracts whale watchers to Albany's shores every winter.

The film, which cost more than $1 million to create, has been six years in the making for director and producer Leighton De Barros.

He used aerial, night vision, starlight and thermal cameras to capture incredible footage of whale behaviour, including a humpback giving birth at Camden Sound, 500km north of Broome, during an expedition with Fremantle's Centre for Whale Research marine biologists Curt and Micheline Jenner.

"We always wanted to follow the migration to the Kimberley and the entire life cycle of a humpback whale," Mr De Barros said.

"We have seen one whale three times in seven years, which provides new science."

The documentary also follows Department of Parks and Wildlife officer Doug Coughran and his 36 years of experience disentangling more than 60 humpback and southern right whales in WA waters.

Mr De Barros said seeing a whale Mr Coughran had rescued two years ago off Perth's coast at the breeding ground was a "scientific world-first for the southern hemisphere".

"My inspiration was to follow Doug's phenomenal work to support and publicise what he does all over the world disentangling and euthanising whales," he said.

Birthplace of the Giants also features Mr Coughran rescuing a whale beached at Windy Harbour, near Walpole, in 2009, and he is expected to visit Albany this whale season to train DPaW Albany officers.

Mr De Barros said the film would premiere on National Geographic Wild at 6.30pm on June 7.

It will also be aired in France and Germany in August.