This week, researchers from the Sea Mammal Lab working at the CONICET's Centre for the Study of Marine Systems, in Puerto Madryn, completed the first aerial census of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) of the year. The result was most encouraging: it set a 25-year-old record.
According to the scientists, the surveyed area contained 2,110 whales, out of which 826 were calves. Most of the animals were swimming in traditionally populated areas, such as El Doradillo, near Puerto Pirámides and the San José Gulf. In addition, whales were observed in large pods opposite the outer coast of the Valdés Peninsula and San Matías Gulf.
According to the census, the area included 826 mothers, the same number of calves, 281 lone whales and 77 copulation groups.
“Gulfs are their preferred areas and where they come together most. We discovered that there is a pattern with moments of maximum abundance and then the animals start to scatter. In the San Jorge Gulf area many copulation groups are being spotted, and we estimate that San Antonio Oeste will also have a large number of whales,” said Mariano Coscarella, CESIMAR researcher.
The census flight was carried out by a plane belonging to the Aeroclub de Puerto Madryn. Three CONICET scholars, Santiago Fernández, Virginia Tortolini and Ayelén Tschopp, joined pilot Pedro Domínguez. It is the first flight of the season and two more censuses are due to be carried out before mid-November.
Aerial whale censuses have been conducted almost uninterruptedly since 1999 and are funded by whale-watching companies: “The whale population has been growing since 2000, when we only counted 150 calves and 500 whales in all. After that, growth was steady and smooth, especially in the years 2012 and 2018; then it became stagnant and since last year we have been noticing a significant increase in the number of calves,” detailed Coscarella.
In turn, Enrique Crespo, a retired researcher from the institute, stated: “We live in a changing universe; since we started working with sea mammals, we have observed increases in the population of species which were highly exploited in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. After their population shrank, all of them increased, coupled with other changes in the ecosystem introduced in the mid-20th century. We’re following those very long-term changes, trying to monitor all of them at the same time.”
– TIMES/PERFIL
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