 |
Puerto Lopez, Manabi, Ecuador
(Click here to visit our Spanish language website about humpback whales)
Click here to download our 2007 Research Report for Ecuador
Project Focus:
The Pacific Whale Foundation Research Team hopes to demonstrate that the marine area, Bahia Cantagallo, is a zone of humpback whale reproduction and mating. Monitoring the population by photo- identification may provide evidence of a connection between Southern Hemisphere whale stock, possibly by identifying East Australian humpbacks in Ecuadorian waters.
The team also provides guidance on creating effective whalewatching regulations for researchers and government officials, classes and training workshops about the whales for area naturalist guides, and environmental education programs for children along the coastal villages.
Research Internships are available with this project. Click here to download (PDF Format) our 2008 Research Internship Brochure and Application.
Research Site:
Coastal waters off Machalilla National Park, Manabi, Ecuador
Project Outline:
The research effort in Machalilla National Park (PNM) was started in 1997 by a group of researchers from Germany and Ecuador, one of whom was Cristina Castro, an Ecuadorian Marine biologist. They set out to investigate the population of humpback whales in the PNM and to demonstrate that the marine area of the PNM is a zone of humpback whale reproduction and mating.
Since 2000, Pacific Whale Foundation provides the support needed for the Ecuadorians to continue the investigation of the whales of PNM. Pacific Whale Foundation finances the project, and provides research equipment and expertise to the team.
Pacific Whale Foundations Research Team's goals are to continue monitoring the population of humpback whales in the National Park Machalilla (PNM) and other areas. They also photoidentify individual whales. To date, they have photoidentified 200 of these mammals. Recording songs of the whales in the area, monitoring for beached or stranded animals, and compiling data of whales sighted by ships are also part of their plans for the season.
Pacific Whale Foundation is hoping that the Ecuadorian research will yield new information on the migration of Pacific humpback whales in the southern hemisphere.
Theories and ideas about the interchange between southern hemisphere whale populations that the Ecuador research may yield new insight into the migratory and population dynamics of southern hemisphere humpbacks.
Pacific Whale Foundation, working in collaboration with other researchers in the South Pacific, recently detailed the interchange of East Australian whales, with whales in Tonga, New Zealand, Antarctic Area V, and New Caledonia. The likelihood of finding an East Australian humpback in Latin American waters is plausible.
Because evidence shows that the whales are found along different areas of Ecuador's coast, the Pacific Whale Foundation Ecuador Research Team travel to different points in the country (Salinas, Puerto Cayo and Puerto Lopez) to learn more about the movements of humpbacks during the season.They also collaborate with the Ecuadorian Foundation for Estudio Marino (FEMM) and students of the Central University of Ecuador, to exchange information regarding whale sightings.
The team is also working on a scientific paper that documents the interaction of the whales with fishing boats in the area. They have also documented the relationship between ocean water temperature (influenced by El Nino cycles) and the numbers of humpback whales found in Ecuador each year.
|
Project History & Description:
Ecuador's whales are part of a population of Pacific humpback whales that reside in the southern hemisphere. These whales -- called ballenas jorobadas in Ecuador -- spend the months of June through September in the warm, tropical waters off Ecuador's west coast, mating, giving birth and caring for their calves. The months of October through May are spent near Antarctica, where the whales feed in cooler, nutrient rich waters.
Pacific Whale Foundation's Ecuador Research Project takes place primarily in Ecuador's Machalilla National Park (PNM), a beautiful area of white sand beaches, islands and tropical rain forests. The PNM protects two miles of coastline and the area around the Islas Salango and La Plata. The La Plata Island is isolated from the continent, and is home to species of animals and plants that constitute a dry ecosystem, similar to those found in the Galapagos Islands.
The research effort in Machalilla National Park was started in 1997 by a group of researchers from Germany and Ecuador, including Castro. They set out to investigate the population of humpback whales in the PNM and to demonstrate that the marine area of the PNM is a zone of humpback whale reproduction and mating.
Pacific Whale Foundation became involved in 2001, providing the support needed for the Ecuadorians to continue the investigation of the whales of PNM. Pacific Whale Foundation finances the project, and provides research equipment and expertise to the team.
The team creates and delivers environmental education programs for guides, students, actors, children and the community in PNM and other areas. The children's educational programs are conducted by Castro and local performance artists and utilize puppetry to convey messages about marine protection and environmental awareness.
Environmental Education:
 The Pacific Whale Foundation's Ecuador Research Team has published two books about the marine environment to distribute free to children in coastal villages. To date, over 1,000 children have received these books. Written by Cristina Castro, Elena La Ballena (Elana the Whale) and Los Riquezas Del Mar (The Riches of the Sea) are directed to children who are both readers and non readers, about the conservation of Ecuador's marine ecosystems and the animals of this habitat.
 Castro explains that the environmental education program grew out of a study launched in 1997 of the humpback whales in the waters of the Machalilla National Park during the "winter" months of the Southern Hemisphere. She found that the research project resulted in a local demand for lectures, classes and training workshops about the whales. She continues to visit schools, give free talks, and work with the Machalillla National Park naturalist guides to help create a synthesis of learning.
Castro points out that Ecuador's many environmental issues -- such as the creation of protective laws and regulations regarding whale watching and whale approaches -- require the imput of the greater Ecuadorian population. And the best way to protect our future will be education. People cannot take care of what they are not aware.
|
|
About Us