The Punta Flecha Southern Right Whale Observatory, located in the El Doradillo Municipal Protected Area, 17 km from the city of Puerto Madryn, is the first place in the world that allows sightings from the coast with a large concentration of Southern Right whales ( Eubalaena australis).
Since 1999, the Patagonia Natural Foundation has offered this space freely to residents and tourists attracted by whales, eager to receive information and interpret the sight.
The Observatory serves as an operational base for researchers from different disciplines such as biology and tourism. Environmental education activities are also carried out for students and teachers in schools in the city and the region. The quality of the experience in this place makes it one of the best spots for coastal whale watching in the world.
Punta Flecha, an elevation of 21 meters above sea level, flanked by the beaches “Las Canteras” and “El Doradillo”, allows an unparalleled perspective on the calm waters of the Golfo Nuevo, one of the areas with the highest concentration of Southern Right whales in the world.
Municipal Protected Area El Doradillo
The Punta Flecha Observatory has the Declaration of Tourist and Institutional Interest by the Provincial Tourism Organization (Resolution Nº035-OPT/99), and with the acceptance of the environmental aspects established by the Environmental Protection Agency of the Province of Chubut (Provision Nº044 -DPA-99).
The area has been declared “El Doradillo Protected Landscape by the Deliberative Council of the City of Puerto Madryn” by Ordinance No. 4263 of November 29, 2001.
This declaration “aims to preserve the integrity of the landscape, maintaining the current natural conditions.” The text also states that “It includes a strip parallel to the sea coast composed of beach and dry land, the latter having a minimum width of three thousand meters counted from the high line
tide, with Punta Arco being its southern end and the limit of the municipal complex being its northern end.” The sector between Punta Arco and Punta Ameghino has been declared a Municipal Protected Area (Ordinance No. 4263/01), which serves as a framework to continue advancing in the path of conservation of the species in the area.
This is the site chosen to carry out Educational Programs aimed at children from the schools of Puerto Madryn (Chubut, Argentina), from nearby areas and from the rest of the country, who arrive in our city on scheduled study trips.
Thanks to its height of 21 meters above sea level, the Punta Flecha Observatory has a panoramic view and a good perspective that allows whale counts to be carried out from the coast. These counts are carried out once a week throughout the reproductive season (June to December) as long as weather conditions allow it (it is necessary that there is no wind and that the sea is calm). Using a telescope, the whales found in the area between Punta Arco and Punta Ameghino are counted, trying to determine if they are mothers with their calf, solitary individuals or copulating groups. The number of whales obtained underestimates the real value since only the whales that are on the surface at the time of the count can be observed. These studies, carried out in the long term, will allow us to know the temporal distribution of the whales in the Doradillo area and a quantitative measure of the use they make of this area. They also serve to enhance a unique landscape of vital importance for the species.
Whales make sounds to communicate and each species makes particular and characteristic sounds. The mechanism by which they produce them is not known in detail, but it is known that the larynx plays an important role and that they do not have vocal cords; also that whales do not need to exhale air to produce these sounds. Cetaceans have a much more developed auditory sense than humans. Some of the sounds they make are audible to us, but they also use sounds that our ears are not able to capture; such is the case of infrasound (low frequency sounds). In water, sound travels much faster than in air and its attenuation is also lower. For this reason, sound in the sea can travel great distances and allow whales several kilometers away to communicate.
The Southern Right Whale
It is the common name of the species Eubalaena australis, a marine mammal adapted to aquatic life. It belongs to the order of cetaceans, which are believed to have evolved from land mammals that went to sea between 45 and 70 million years ago. There is evidence that between 4 and 5 million years ago mysticete whales and odontocetes already existed.
Its body is robust and oval, and stands out for the size of its head, which reaches almost a third of the total length of the body.
The caudal fin, which it moves with vertical movements to swim, measures about 5 meters wide in adults. It is formed by fibrous tissue with a minimal skeletal base and attached to the body by powerful muscles that make up the caudal peduncle.
The forelimbs, converted into pectoral fins, are used primarily to change direction and maintain stability. It lacks a dorsal fin and ventral grooves or folds like other whales.
Breathing
Like all marine mammals, the whale needs to rise to the surface to breathe.
The air enters through the top of the head through a pair of holes called spiracles, equipped with powerful muscles that allow it to close them while submerged, preventing water from entering the lungs. When you exhale, you release two columns of humid air and condensed vapor particles along with secretions from the airways and lungs.
These columns of steam rise forming a “V” that can reach five meters in height. The type of blow allows the right whale to be distinguished from other whales. The time between exhalations varies according to the activity you are carrying out. In an inactive whale it can be between 15 seconds to 4 minutes; In a dive it can last up to 30 minutes, generally remaining then on the surface to ventilate and reestablish the oxygen balance (Harris and García, 1986).
Mothers with babies are the ones that stay on the surface the longest, solitary individuals and mating groups are the ones that submerge the longest. They use air efficiently, renewing up to 80% of lung content with each breath, instead of 15 to 30% like terrestrial mammals.
Nutrition
The whale is a filter-feeding animal par excellence. When feeding, it advances with its mouth open, letting the water drain through its baleen. The food is trapped on the inner surface of them.
The baleen are rigid plates inserted on each side of the upper jaw and arranged like a comb. The length of each beard varies according to the place it occupies on the jaw, reaching 2 meters in adult individuals. They have a significant amount of thick hairs on their inner edge that make more
efficient water filtration. They compensate with efficiency in food filtration what other species of whales gain with greater swimming speed. The food consists mainly of zooplankton: small marine invertebrates that group together in large masses, distributed in the ocean in areas with certain water and light conditions. The most common species in the whale’s diet are krill (Euphausia superba) and lobster (Munida gregaria). There are two known strategies for capturing food: on the surface where the whale
Semi-submerged, swims through the plankton concentration zone with its mouth ajar, allowing water to seep through the barbs and trap food. With head movements and the help of his tongue he directs the food to the back of his mouth to swallow it. The other strategy is at depth, where it swims with its mouth open while passing through the zooplankton concentration area.
Reproductive cycle
Females reach sexual maturity between five and six years and have a slow reproduction rate with one offspring every three years.
Mating occurs in copulation groups that form when several males compete for the same female.
Gestation: It is estimated to last approximately 12 months. A southern right whale birth has never been observed.
Birth: Females give birth to one calf at a time. The largest number of births are concentrated between June and September.
Breastfeeding: The frequency and duration of suckling varies according to the size of the calf. The whale calves remain with their mother during the first year of life.
Breeding: Shortly after birth, whale calves are capable of swimming and diving at shallow depths; To breastfeed they must dive under their mother. During the first stage, each whale is jealously cared for by its mother. As he matures, he begins to move away from her with greater frequency and distance, and then returns to maintain contact with her.
Subadult: Stage following weaning and prior to sexual maturity. They are individuals smaller than an adult and are not accompanied by their mother.
Age: The lifespan of a right whale is estimated between sixty and seventy years, as long as it survives natural predation and human interventions in its environment. Methodologies have been developed to determine age from the development of beards and the progressive accumulation of wax in the ears; However, these methodologies are quite imprecise and only work with dead individuals. Hence the importance of carrying out long-term identification and monitoring studies of living individuals in their environment, which will allow us to understand many aspects of the life cycle and biology of right whales.
Conservation of the
Southern Right Whale
The world historical population of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) has been estimated at approximately 100,000 individuals for the year 1900 (Leatherwood, 1983).
Formerly, they were distributed between 20º and 60º latitude in the Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, South Atlantic, South Indian Oceans and part of the South Pacific. Currently, they are only observed in New Zealand, South Africa, Malvinas and Patagonia. Indiscriminate hunting brought the species to the brink of extinction, leaving only 4,000 individuals (4% of the initial population). The prohibition of this practice more than 70 years ago has allowed a slow growth in the population, which raises hopes of recovery. Awareness about the need to conserve the species has been increasing, finding protection in international agreements, national or provincial laws and decrees, as well as in declarations and municipal ordinances in favor of whales. Another example of this awareness is the particular interest aroused by the phenomenon of strandings, where the efforts of institutions and individuals are combined to save the life of a whale, especially since some successful rescues have been achieved.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, whales were brutally persecuted, abusing their abundance and distribution in the seas, in order to market their oil, fat and baleen.
Although many species of whales suffered the same sentence during that time, right whales had unique characteristics; the slowness with which they swam and their buoyancy after death allowed them to be distinguished from the rest and placed among the most coveted. In addition to the indiscriminate hunting that these large whales have suffered, they have also been victims of other factors, which, directly or indirectly, have placed them in serious danger and even today they are declared in “LRcd” status: dependent on conservation actions ” (IUCN, www.redlist.org). Among other causes that threaten these animals is the overexploitation of their main food resource -krill-, the increase in shipping traffic and the ramming of whales by ships in recent years, the anthropogenic alteration of their feeding, reproduction and breeding, and also
sea pollution. According to research, the period between offspring results in an interval of at least three years. After giving birth, the whales remain with their calves for the first year. During this time the probability of death of these “babies” is high. In fact, a high perinatal mortality rate is observed, approximately 18% of births that occur each season (Harris and García, 1990). Currently, it is estimated that the annual growth rate of this species in Peninsula Valdés is close to 7% (Cooke et al, 1999 in press). Southern right whales are protected by laws and regulations that increasingly seek to ensure their ultimate survival and recovery.
