Population of humpback whales in Brazil tripled in a decade
September 11, 2012
The Humpback Whale Institute, located near Salvador, Brazil, has recently reported the population of the once-threatened humpbacks has tripled in the past decade, according to Fox News.
The Institute announced that the Brazilian coastline has seen some 10,000 whales during this reproduction season, which is up from 3,000 in 2002. These whales have migrated from Antarctica and are concentrated around the Abrolhos Archipelago, which is off the coast of Bahia and Espirito Santo.
The recent growth is a result of the ban that was put in place in 1966 for the hunting of these mammals. Humpback were once hunted for their whale oil that was used for street lighting among its other uses. At that time, the population was thought to be just about 1,000 humpback's left, the media outlet reports. Milton Marcondes, the Institute chief, said in a statement that the ban was the reasoning behind the improvement as well as other conservation efforts regardless of global warming and commercial fishing and shipping, which can negatively affect the population.
According to RedOrbit, the humpback population has been improving in recent years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature put humpback whale's status from vulnerable to least concern.
However, humpbacks are still considered endangered in certain countries and this includes the United States. This could change though, as a status review has been put in place to determine if the whales are still considered under this classification, the media outlet reports.
Those who want to talk about the recent victory for the institute can make calls to Brazil using international calling cards, which will save some money.