This was the sighting of the largest animal that has ever existed on earth on the coast of Ecuador, something rarely recorded in tropical waters

Researchers from the Pacific Whales Foundation, the Salinas Whale Museum, the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) and WildAid found a blue whale approximately 18 meters long near the Isla de la Plata, off the coast of the province of Manabíon January 22.

The waters around Isla de la Plata are known for the humpback whales that are observed between June and October, but also other species of dolphins and whales frequent this area regularly.

The registration took place in the context of an inter-institutional cooperation program created to generate knowledge of coastal dolphins and whales in Ecuadorian waters, promote their conservation, and support activities for the control and surveillance of marine and coastal protected areas run by the Ministry of the Environment. reports Fernando Félix, a researcher at the Salinas Whale Museum and PUCE.

The blue whale is the largest animal that has existed in the history of the planet.

In Antarctic waters, specimens of more than 30 meters in length and 150 tons in weight have been recorded.

It was one of the most attractive species for whalers who killed 99% of blue whales in Antarctica during the 20th century, only a few hundred of them remaining after this hunting period.

The International Whaling Commission prohibited its capture from 1966.

Despite the ban, the species has not yet recovered and is still considered endangered, adds Cristina Castro, from the Fundación Ballenas del Pacífico.

Unlike humpback whales, the migration of the blue whale is not as regular.

Their high energy demand means that blue whales have to feed throughout their range, which is why they tend to migrate and concentrate in areas of high productivity, says Félix, a researcher who participated in the expedition.

Great mysteries surround this giant, as little is known about their migration routes, their distribution in open waters, and even where they breed.

There are only a handful of records of blue whales in coastal waters of Ecuador in the last 20 years. Hence the importance of this new report.

Historical information accounts for its presence at the beginning of the 20th century in the southern area of ​​Manabí, according to reports from Norwegian whaling fleets that carried out hunting campaigns in this area.

Their presence, therefore, could be considered a sign of recovery, a return to traditional distribution areas, or simply a reflection of the low research effort on whales at this time of year.

Whaling records of blue whale hunting off the north coast of Peru show that they are most abundant in this part of the South American coast between December and March, so the Gulf of Guayaquil and the central coast of Ecuador could be important locations. for the distribution and feeding of the species during a part of its life cycle.

“The waters of the Gulf of Guayaquil are very productive. Ecuador could be a feeding or transit site for whales from the northern hemisphere coming down to Peru and perhaps further south. We don’t know much about their movements and identity of the population they belong to. That is why the record and the biopsy that we take for population genetics studies are important,” says Félix.

Blue whales are occasionally observed in the Galapagos Islands, where they are most abundant between June and November, although they have also been sighted during warm months.

Like other large whale species, there are different populations in both hemispheres.

In the South Pacific there are two recognized subspecies and an as yet unknown number of different populations, including one that is distributed along the Southeast Pacific between Chile and Ecuador, says Félix.

However, it is possible that the blue whales that frequent the coasts of Ecuador between December and March belong to a population of these species from the northern hemisphere and not from the south.

A skin biopsy for genetic studies was taken during the observation, which will make it possible to identify to which population the whale sighted on the Isla de la Plata would belong.

More detailed and collaborative studies with research groups in other countries could help to better understand the distribution and structure of the different stocks of blue whales in this part of the Eastern Pacific, adds the researcher.

The scientists call on national institutions, public and private, to support this type of research. The aim is to “better understand the ecological processes that occur in our coastal waters and generate information for the proper management of these species,” says Félix. (YO)