Scientists Discover Critical Blue Whale Breeding Area In Southern Ocean

[hatrack]

Scientists say they have discovered one of the world's most important blue whale colonies off the coast of Chile, where the endangered animals appear to be staying for the summer instead of migrating south to the Antarctic to feed according to their traditional migratory patterns.

"What we are seeing is one of the biggest feeding and breeding sources, at least in the southern hemisphere," Ernesto Escobar, a spokesman for the Ballena Azul (Blue Whale) project, said. The project has been studying the animals in Chile for the past four years.

The research team has just returned from three months studying the whales in the Gulf of Corcovado, off the remote island of Chiloe in Chile's south, in association with the BBC, which will be showing the trip on its Planet Earth programme.

On the trip, 65 blue whales and 51 humpback whales were sighted "which confirms the existence of one of the most important whale habitats in Chile and the planet", Ballena Azul said in a statement. "The population of blue whales in Corcovado shows us that a large number do not migrate to Antarctica," Mr Escobar said.

EDIT

http://www.ecoearth.info/articles/reader.asp?linkid=55996

[acmejack]

1. Deploy a destroyer down there to make the whalers stand off

In fact the whalers can perform quite a public service, their sunken hulks will make fine artificial reefs, no doubt.

[Nihil]

2. Don't tell the Japanese!

I really hope that the main area is within the extended territorial
waters and that Chile steps in to show some global leadership by
defending the whales from the scum who hunt them.

[KingM34]

3. re: the whales

I could be wrong, but aren't both the blue and the humpback protected from ALL whaling by international treaty? I think the Japanese and the Norwegians stick to smaller, less controversial species.

[Nihil]

4. Yes, in theory

There again, in theory, all sovereign nations are protected
from invasion by a predatory empire and we know how well that
turns out ...

My concern is that there will be a push to "weaken" (=sidestep)
the existing international treaty under the pretence of "having
a larger, stronger population than was previously believed".
This allows the predatory ones to perform tasting, oops, "scientific"
research on larger & more controversial species than at present.
(Let's face it, even now they pay scant regard to controversy at
any point where it conflicts with financial or culinary interest.)