Brazil: Whale population returns to pre-hunt levels

The population of humpback whales visiting the coast of Brazil has increased almost 18-fold over the past two decades, from about 1,400 in 2001 to 25,000 in 2022, thus restoring levels that were before commercial hunting make it an endangered species.

The number was calculated thanks to the census conducted in August by the NGO Baleyya Jubarte Institute (the name of the humpback in Portuguese), which numbered 25,000 cetaceans of this species on the coasts Brazil in 2022, as well as the birth of about 2,500 calves.

“We have never recorded such a large number of humpback whales, which, according to our estimates, existed before commercial hunting began to threaten them, and this is from 27,000 to 30,000 copies,” said biologist Marcia Engel, director of the institute, in an interview with EFE.

The whale census that the organization has been conducting since 2001 was the result of flights between August 2 and 9 that covered 6,200 kilometers of the Brazilian coast between the states of Ceará (northeast) and São Paulo (southeast).

The monitoring made it possible to detect 643 different groups of whales at the peak of the reproductive season, that is, at the moment when all expected migrations were completed and not a single individual went back.

humpbackedup to 16 meters in size and weighing up to 40 tons, annually travel from Antarcticawhere they spend most of the year feeding on krill in tropical waters off the northeast coast Brazilwhere they breed.

“We found the highest concentration, as always, in the Abrolhos archipelago (off the state of Bahia), but we also found significant concentrations in the states Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Norte and even on the north coast Sao Paulosomething that was very rare, ”said the specialist.

THE SPECIES WERE CONSIDERED EXTINCTION

In 1988, when the Institute was established, it was estimated that in Abrolhos only 500 to 800 whales remained.

According to instituteIn the 20th century, about 200,000 whales of various species were hunted in the southern hemisphere by companies that used their blubber as fuel or solution.

In 2001, in his first attempt to measure the population of BrazilThe Institute counted 1,400 specimens, and this figure has gradually increased, reaching 11,418 humpbacks in 2011, more than double the number today.

“Over 21 years of observation, the number has grown. This is wonderful for those of us who are involved in conservation. It’s nice, especially because it goes against the mass extinction of species that we’re seeing around the world. Engel said.

For the institute, the increase in the population is a direct consequence of the cessation of commercial hunting for whales thanks to an international moratorium agreed in 1986.

“But we’ve also made progress on redefining sea ​​routes boats to pass through areas with lower whale densities and avoid collisions, as well as campaigns to avoid accidents with fishing nets,” he said.

The specialist added that these actions need to be strengthened, as the growing population whales and growing human activity in the oceans is multiplying the risk of accidents.

Humpbacks also face other threats, Engel said, such as changes climaticwhich reduce their food, sea pollution and underwater noise pollution.

EFE