Rio de Janeiro revels in the recovery of its humpback whale population

Rio de Janeiro, July 23 (EFE) - Rio de Janeiro is enjoying a significant number of humpback whales off its coast these past few weeks, a majestic "gift" to tourists and researchers, the result of years of work to recover their population in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Brazilian city is a must-see for these imposing cetaceans on their way to warmer waters to breed. This July 23rd, World Whale and Dolphin Day , they once again performed their unique show of pirouettes and songs in Rio de Janeiro's waters.

Every year they travel from Antarctica, where they feed, to their breeding grounds, located around the Brazilian states of Bahia and Espírito Santo, Guilherme Maricato, a marine biologist and researcher with the Humpback Whale Project, told EFE.

This initiative, created in 1988 and managed by the Baleia Jubarte Institute, aims to study and protect humpback whales, as well as other cetaceans, in Brazil.

Maricato and his colleagues use these sightings to collect all kinds of data and decipher, for example, exactly where they come from or the fate of these animals, which can grow up to 16 meters long and weigh up to 40 tons.

They also conduct "biological taint" studies, including age and sex, and even acoustic analysis. At this time of year, male specimens offer "increasingly complex calls to attract females," Maricato points out.

The current surge in sightings is a consequence of the arduous conservation efforts of recent decades.

"Humpback whale populations in the Southern Hemisphere are recovering and occupying former geographic distribution areas, including Rio de Janeiro," Liliane Lodi, a marine biologist who collaborates with the Humpback Whale Project, told EFE.

Lodi has been researching whale behavior since the 1980s and says the presence of these magnificent cetaceans in Rio's waters is a "true gift" for tourists and scientists.

"It's essential that people have respect and admiration for these animals," he demanded.

However, his stay in Rio is not without threats.

On Monday, a dead whale was found on the beach in São Conrado , a tourist area in southern Rio. This month, two others had to be rescued from fishing nets in Ilhabela and Ubatuba, on the coast of São Paulo state.

According to the latest census conducted by the Baleia Jubarte Institute, the humpback whale population visiting the Brazilian coast has multiplied almost 18-fold in the last two decades, from around 1,400 in 2001 to 25,000 in 2022.

This increase is a direct consequence of the end of commercial whaling thanks to the international moratorium agreed upon in 1986. EFE

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