Humpback breeding ground discovered

December 14, 1998
Web posted at: 5:00 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

(ENN) -- Dr. Peter Walsh calls himself a biologist and a statistician, but the truth is, he's an adventurer. As a conservation ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, he has traveled most of the world. In waters off the shores of Africa, in an area that has been heavily impacted by whaling over the last 100 years, he and his partners have discovered a previously unknown humpback whale breeding ground.

The site is located off the Gabonese city of Port Gentil.

"This site compares with some of the largest breeding areas in the world," says Walsh.

Through an informal kind of researcher network, Walsh s, who counted groups of animals by air last summer, cautioned that the eventual fate of the humongous humpbacks was far from certain.

The status of breeding populations has been largely documented in other parts of the world, but the situation off the western coast of Africa was largely unknown. Research originally began in September 1997 when WCS and Aventure Sans Frontriere -- a fledgling Gabonese conservation organization -- joined forces to confirm reports of frequent whale sightings by boat pilots and local fishermen. It wasn't until August of this year that the team began finding large concentrations of humpbacks.

Humpback whales once bred in large numbers in all the world's oceans. But after a century of intense hunting only a few scattered breeding sites remain. The rapid expansion of the petroleum and fishing industries continues to pose a major threat, and there are operating oil rigs in the bay where the whales are breeding.

The Wildlife Conservation Society sponsors research and conservation projects around the world designed to gather information on wildlife needs, train local conservation professionals and work with in-country staff to protect and manage wildlife and wild areas for the future. Up until just a few years ago, non-government organizations were illegal in these countries, and so the focus of WCS has been to build the capacity for local conservation planning. Now that the breeding area has been identified, the research team is calling for expanded surveys to assess the status of the whale populations and to identify threats, and subsequent conservation measures to protect the whales.

Increased boat traffic around the Port Gentil area may already be driving the whales out of sheltered bays and into the open ocean, posing a problem to newborn calves. The first several days after birth, whale calves spend their time resting and suckling; rough waters make it difficult for them to stay on the surface and get the oxygen they need.

According to Walsh, who has been studying the habits and habitats of terrestrial species in a reserve in Central Africa about 100 miles south of Port Gentil, very little is known about Africa's marine and freshwater ecosystems.

"As much as animals like elephants are currently under threat in Central Africa, whales, manatees and turtles, to name a few, are probably in far more dire peril -- and almost nobody knows," Walsh said.

Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved