Whale’s Epic Migration: Driven by Climate Change or Quest for Love?
In a jaw-dropping display of nature’s wonders, a humpback whale has embarked on one of the longest and most extraordinary migrations on record, potentially influenced by climate change, according to scientists.
Initially spotted in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia in 2017, the same whale reappeared several years later near Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, covering a staggering distance of at least 13,000 km.
Experts speculate that this incredible journey could be attributed to climate change affecting food sources or perhaps a romantic expedition in search of a mate.
Ekaterina Kalashnikova from the Tanzania Cetaceans Program described the feat as “truly impressive and unusual even for this highly migratory species”.
The photograph below captures the same whale sighted off the Zanzibar coast in 2022.
Dr. Kalashnikova suggested that this could possibly be the longest recorded distance a humpback whale has ever traveled.
Humpback whales are known to inhabit all oceans globally, undertaking extensive journeys annually from tropical breeding grounds to cooler feeding areas.
However, this male’s expedition stands out for involving two distant breeding locations.
One hypothesis is that climate change is disrupting the availability of krill, a vital food source for humpback whales, prompting them to venture further in search of sustenance.
Alternatively, whales might be venturing into new breeding areas as populations recover due to global conservation initiatives.
“While the precise reasons remain uncertain, potential factors could include climate change, heightened environmental occurrences, and the species’ evolutionary mechanisms,” Dr. Kalashnikova noted.
The wandering male was initially observed among a group of humpbacks off the Pacific coast of Colombia in 2013, later identified in a similar region in 2017, and ultimately found off Zanzibar in 2022.
The sightings span a remarkable 13,046 km great-circle distance – the shortest path the whale could have taken, although the actual distance traveled is likely much greater.
Given the spherical nature of the Earth, the shortest distance between two points is represented by the great circle distance, which forms an arc linking two points on a sphere.
The study’s conclusions are based on an extensive collection of whale tail photos submitted by researchers, whale enthusiasts, and the public to the citizen science platform, happywhale.com.
Utilizing artificial intelligence, the database matches the unique shapes and patterns of humpback whale tails, or flukes, enabling the tracking of their global movements.
The research findings have been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. — BBC
