A humpback whale has made history by traveling over 13,000 kilometers from South America to Africa, a feat that scientists say is the longest recorded distance for an individual whale. The remarkable journey was tracked using a new platform called Happywhale, which enables researchers and citizen scientists to identify whales based on their unique flukeprints – essentially fingerprints of the whale’s tail.
Led by Dr. Ted Cheeseman, a whale biologist at Southern Cross University, the research team used the Happywhale platform to track the whale’s movements from its initial sighting near Colombia nearly a decade ago until it was spotted again near Zanzibar, Africa. The distance traveled is almost twice the typical migration range of humpback whales.
While the exact circumstances surrounding the whale’s journey are still unknown, researchers speculate that the individual whale may have wandered out of its usual population group and range due to environmental changes linked to climate change.
“This is a brilliant example of combining citizen science and technology to turn a single day of whale watching into something remarkable,” said Dr. Vanessa Pirotta, an expert on humpback whales who was not involved in the research. “As we learn more about whales, their movements and habitats, we’re gaining valuable insights that help us better understand these incredible creatures.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/11/humpback-whale-makes-record-journey-of-more-than-13000km-from-south-america-to-africa