PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – During the recent whale watching season along the Mexican Pacific coast, the Ecology and Conservation of Whales (ECOBAC) organization, along with their partner Rescue Assistance Network for Entangled Whales (RABEN), successfully rescued a record number of 13 whales, while further enhancing the world’s knowledge of these marine giants.
Under the guidance of Astrid Frisch Jordán, head of ECOBAC and RABEN operations in the country, the collective mission remains consistent: rescue the marine leviathans and protect their habitats.
“Our primary focus is on two significant initiatives: RABEN, responsible for whale rescues, and the Humpback Whale photo-identification catalog in Banderas Bay (FIBB). As a result of these efforts, we celebrated 13 successful whale rescues this season,” Jordán stated.
She reported that the campaign launched three years ago to encourage public reporting of entangled whales has been remarkably successful. Furthermore, the introduction of the dedicated RABEN Mobile hotline has significantly increased the volume of reports, leading to the highest number of rescues in a season thus far.
Of the 13 whale rescues, five were humpback whales in the Bahía de Banderas region; two humpbacks and one gray whale in Los Cabos; three humpbacks in La Paz (BCS), and two humpbacks in Los Angeles Bay.
On the other hand, the FIBB’s photo-identification catalog, instrumental in understanding these marine giants, continues to grow. “Each year, we receive over 3,000 caudal fin photographs from our collaborators, augmenting our FIBB Catalog database. The catalog for the 2021-2022 season has now been updated and boasts a remarkable total of 3,358 distinct whales and over 10,500 records,” Jordán revealed.
The dedicated ECOBAC team is hard at work processing photographs and data from this past season to keep the catalog as current as possible. According to Jordán, more than 30 hours of work is needed to include a single caudal fin photo into the FIBB catalog.
This tireless work to conserve and study whale populations in the Mexican Pacific showcases the unwavering dedication of ECOBAC and its partners. Their continuous efforts present an inspiring example of effective wildlife conservation, and underscore the importance of collaborative efforts in preserving the world’s marine biodiversity.
