Good news for researchers and wildlife enthusiasts following the southern Atlantic’s remarkable right whale sightings. A formal registration was completed during the annual field checks on 31 August and 2 September along the Valdés Peninsula in Argentina. The 51-year study recorded 1,420 right whales, including 554 calves, in the waters of Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José. This marks a record high in the long-running effort that began in 1971, underscoring progress in population monitoring and conservation actions.
On August 31 and September 2, the 51st comprehensive aerial survey photographed the right whales of Península Valdés. A total of 1,420 individuals were documented, including 554 calves, in the Gulf entrances of Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José. This milestone reflects the peak counts achieved over more than five decades of careful observation and data collection by the field teams and signatories of the joint program.
51 years of flights to photograph the right whales
Right whales possess a distinct callus pattern on their heads that remains constant over time. This feature enables researchers to identify individual whales from aerial imagery, a method first highlighted by Dr. Roger Payne in 1970. The ongoing program has since been conducted through a collaboration between the Whale Conservation Institute and Ocean Alliance since 1996, delivering a robust, long-term catalog of known individuals.
Argentina conducts yearly aerial surveys to photograph the southern right whales along Península Valdés. This approach has built the most comprehensive catalogue of known individuals for the species, recording more than 4,000 whales to date. Each new sighting enriches the dataset, helping scientists understand population dynamics and year-to-year trends.
During the two-day flight, 12,500 photographs were captured and will be analyzed by the ICB scientific team led by researcher Victoria Rowntree to augment the catalog with new entries.
While census counts occur during flights, the primary aim is to identify individual whales, particularly young females, rather than producing a headline tally. The result is a dynamic field record that suggests more whales inhabit the area than the raw counts alone indicate.
Whales that didn’t exist before
Mariano Sironi, the scientific director of ICB, noted that during the San José Bay expedition, whales appeared in sectors that were previously scarce or absent, such as near Punta Buenos Aires and the nearby Riacho Saint Joseph. The season featured unusually high whale numbers, which required longer flight hours and more extensive surveying to map the bay’s entire perimeter. The phenomenon was described as exceptional for its scale and variability in distribution.
From the air, observers noted white calves, sometimes referred to as gray morphs, adult courting groups, newborns, and resting females drifting in calm seas. Dolphins were occasionally seen nearby, with dramatic cliff backdrops making the flights particularly memorable and emotionally resonant for researchers.
The southwestern Atlantic whale population has recovered slowly after centuries of intense hunting by fleets from multiple nations. The species carries a high fat content that once made whale oil a crucial fuel source in Europe, powering lamps, heat, and light, a dark chapter in maritime history.
There were 58,000 copies in the 17th century
Recent research published in Scientific Reports estimates that there were about 58,000 southern right whales in the Southwest Atlantic during the early 17th century. Drastic declines followed commercial exploitation, leaving roughly 2,000 individuals by 1830. International protections were put in place by 1935, though enforcement lagged in some regions. Historical accounts remind us of the fragile balance between exploitation and conservation.
For example, in 1962, vessels flagged by the former Soviet Union illegally captured 1,335 whales in international waters. Such illegal activity slowed recovery, but today about 5,000 southern right whales inhabit the Southwest Atlantic. In Argentina, the species has been recognized as a natural monument since 1984.
The population’s gradual rebound is a hopeful sign, with ongoing research emphasizing the need to maintain protective measures and monitor climate change impacts and current maritime traffic. CIMAS-CONICET researchers highlight that continued effort is essential to sustain recovery and to better understand how changing conditions might affect future distribution and abundance.
As recovery continues, more coastal communities in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina may offer whale-watching opportunities. Researchers note that right whales are recolonizing territories they occupied centuries ago off Brazil, Uruguay, and along parts of the Argentine coast. This revival offers both scientific insight and opportunities for sustainable tourism.
Reference article: Infobae (2022) Se cazaron para iluminar Europa y hoy recolonizan el Atlântico sur la historia – southern right whales. [citation: Infobae]
…
Environment department contact address:[citation needed]