'They were legends': Humpback whales make spectacular comeback off Brazil's coast
Summary
Humpback whales off Brazil's coast have made a strong comeback since commercial whaling was banned in 1986. Today, about 35,000 humpbacks live in the South Atlantic, with Brazil’s Abrolhos archipelago as a major breeding ground studied by scientists.Key Facts
- Commercial whaling was banned worldwide in 1986, and Brazil followed with its own ban in 1987.
- The Abrolhos archipelago off Brazil is the largest breeding area for Southern Atlantic humpback whales.
- The humpback whale population in the South Atlantic is around 35,000, nearly half of the global total.
- In 2014, humpback whales were removed from Brazil’s threatened species list due to their population growth.
- Scientists collect skin and blubber samples using a crossbow to study whale family relationships and migration patterns.
- Humpbacks migrate long distances, with some traveling from Brazil to places as far as South Georgia island and Australia.
- Researchers use an artificial intelligence tool called Happy Whale to identify individual humpbacks from tail patterns in photos.
- The AI helped track a whale that traveled over 15,000 kilometers from Brazil to Australia.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
