Southern right whale, the great species of the Golfo San Jorge

This season, by the third consecutive year, we were overflying the Golfo San Jorge to photoidentify the whales that visit the northern waters of the province of Santa Cruz. These activities were possible thanks to the financing of IFAW and WDCS and the support of the Prefectura Naval Argentina. The Southern right whales (SRW) are identified through the callosities of the head, which, like our fingerprints, are unique to each individual. The use of the photo-identification technique is very important for scientists, not only because it allows to know each individual by their physical characteristics, but also because it helps to know much about their biology, such as reproductive parameters, longevity, habitat use and fidelity to different areas. This knowledge is achieved by the comparison of the catalogues made by the different groups that have the SRW as object of study.

The Southern right whale is a migratory species, that is, it has feeding areas and breeding areas between which it moves depending on the season. Although since many years now there are specialist groups conducting researches on this species, very little is known about its migratory patterns and feeding areas. One of the best known SRW breeding areas is Península Valdés, Argentina and Florianopolis, southern Brazil. Outside these areas little is known about the distribution of SRW. This lack of knowledge plus the fact that in recent years these whales began to be sighted at various places along the coast of Argentina, pushed us to initiate a systematic study of the species in Santa Cruz in order to know the route they are following and the use they are doing to the waters of this area.

All these years of work have allowed us to know some aspects of the specimens of SRW that visit the waters of the Golfo San Jorge. The whales are sighted mostly in the months of July and August, but it is possible to see them from May to October. We are learning about how they use these waters, since besides watching animals in transit towards the north and the south of the province, we also see groups of courtship and some mothers with calves.

This work, to date, has enabled us to have identified the first whales, which in turn working with other groups that conduct researches in other areas, such as Península Valdés in our country, or Brazil, and comparing the catalogues of each area, would let us know where the animals that we see at the coast of Santa Cruz are traveling.

With regard to the SRW habitat, one of the hypotheses that attempt to explain the recent increase in the number of sightings in the coast of Argentina, is that, because the recovering of the species in the Western South Atlantic at a rate of 7.9% per year, the whales could occupy other different areas of reproduction, maybe older ones which are partly unknown to us. This is one of the reasons why we think that the studies we are carrying out are critical for the conservation of this species.

We know that the road ahead is long, the study of large mammals always requires long-term projects, but we also know that the continuation of this study in the province of Santa Cruz, in places like the Golfo San Jorge, will let us know more about the migratory patterns and destinations of these animals that are a mystery at present.