It will help educate the local community of boat operators, tour guides, residents and tourists, about the local marine fauna with the intent of promoting lasting changes toward preserving and conserving a healthy marine ecology.
This research will be conducted on the field for the entire 2016-2017 whale watching season, starting December 15th through the April 15th. The goal is to locate, photo-identify and record songs of Humpback Whales and collect as much data as possible, such as position, time and particularities. A record of other marine mammals in the area will be kept including dolphins and other species of whales such as the Gray, Blue, Fin, Pilot, Sperm, Bryde’s and Killer whales.
Fluke identification photos will primarily help to build a data base of the individual Humpback Whales that visit the Cabo San Lucas area and in further instance leading to the collaboration with other organizations in Mexico as well as in the U.S. to improve larger existing fluke identification catalogues.
Data collected will help the region to become acknowledged as a mariner mammal site, which will increase further resources to study and protect the whales. It will also help identify potential sensitive regions for Humpback Whales and it will contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of the Northeastern Pacific Humpback Whale population.
The whales are on their way to Cabo, so are the tourists, both are here to have a good time: so don’t forget to join a reputable whale watching company that respects the environment and the animals. *
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