February – March 2024
During this austral summer, two project members, Dr. Elisa Seyboth and Dr. Renan Lima, joined an expedition to Antarctica to collect more data and samples for the Whales and Climate Research Program! The expedition occurred from 19 February to 19 March 2024 as part of the Brazilian Antarctic Operation XLII, in collaboration with the ECOPELAGOS project (Respostas do ecossistema pelágico às mudanças climáticas no Oceano Austral; Responses of the pelagic ecosystem to climate change in the Southern Ocean), coordinated by Prof. Dr. Eduardo Secchi, from our South American team, and developed under the Brazilian Antarctic Program. The main activities performed by the team were visual cetacean monitoring and biopsy sampling.
In total, 274 sightings were recorded during an observation effort that totaled 33 h 07 min. Species sighted include pods of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (n=172), fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) (n=35), killer whale (Orcinus orca) (n=4), and minke whale (Balaenoptera sp) (n= 1). The remaining sightings could not be identified to species level and were therefore classified as unidentified whales (n=44) and likely fin whales (n=18).
