They were on the verge of extinction, but fin whale, the second largest whale species after the blue whale, recovers in Antarctic waters. For the first time since their hunting was banned more than four decades ago, a group of scientists has documented and recorded groups of up to 150 These fin whales feed together in fishing grounds that have become deserted due to species decline.
“I’ve never seen so many whales in one place before,” says biologist Bettina Meyer, co-author of the research published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
Fin whales were hunted during the 19th century and more 700,000 samples captured Between 1904, when intensive commercial whaling began in the Southern Ocean, and 1976, when the fishing quota for these whales was set at zero. By that date, the population had fallen to between 3,000 and 6,000 whales from 325,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. The decline caused them to practically disappear from the feeding grounds in the Antarctic waters that they used to frequent.
Elephant Island Miracle
However, in the past twenty years, the fin whale has returned. The study’s first author, Helena Herr of the University of Hamburg in Germany, and a group of scientists, along with the BBC’s camera team, decided to launch a new study on fin whales in Antarctica, after being tempted by the occasional sightings. In two expeditions in 2018 and 2019, they traveled 3,251 kilometers and found, above all, clusters of up to four samples. The surprise came close to Elephant Island In the Weddell Sea off the Antarctic Peninsula. There they discovered a group of 50 whales. The group will be the first of eight unusually large groups that have been discovered, numbering up to 150 individuals.
“It ran straight to our monitor, which uses acoustic measurement methods to show the presence and size of krill swarms in the water,” Mayer says in a brief note. “We were able to identify the swarms and even See how the whales chased them». Until then, the maximum range of fin whales validated by scientists in Antarctica was thirteen specimens.
Fin whales feeding off the northern coast of Elephant Island, in April 2018
The authors believe that the population in this area is present 7900 whale finThat is 0.09 people per square kilometer. This is a “high” density, they say, compared to populations of fin whales in other regions of the world, such as southern California. (about 0.003 whales per square kilometer).
In their publications, the researchers argue that high sampling densities, re-establishing historical behaviors and returning to ancestral feeding places are “Signs of a population recovery”. “Although we still do not know the total number of fin whales in Antarctica, due to the lack of simultaneous observations, this may be a good indication that, after nearly 50 years of bans on commercial whaling, fin whales are becoming popular In Antarctica says Meyer.
“Beeraholic. Friend of animals everywhere. Evil web scholar. Zombie maven.”