Monday, January 18, 2010

HUMPBACKS ON THE MOVE

The migration patterns of humpbacks are fascinating. They are known to travel the longest distance of all whales between feeding- and breeding grounds. From our bay of Skjálfandi, we know that the humpbacks usually arrive in Icelandic waters in early spring and spend their whole summer feeding. When autumn comes, they head south to warmer waters in lower latitudes for mating and breeding. But where exactly do they go during the winter months? This question is burning on Gísli A. Víkingsson and his team by the Icelandic Marine Research Institute, who have been eagerly doing research on the migration patterns.

The Icelandic Marine Research Institute has in recent years been placing more emphasis on satellite transmitters to study the whales’ travels. The aim of this research is to investigate the travels of baleen whales around the country and their migration routes in the autumn. As information regarding this is very limited both in Iceland and in the world, researches like these are important to learn more about whale species.

Since last autumn Mr. Gísli and his team have been carefully observing a humpback whale, which was tagged with a satellite mark in northeast Iceland. The animal has travelled approximately 6.000 km since last October – heading first north into the Arctic Ocean, then along the west and southeast coast of Iceland, before heading far south away from Icelandic waters.

By comparing photo identifications, the team has discovered that this particular humpback was spotted in our bay during summer 2006. No one knows exactly where the animal will head next – maybe it will return back to Skjálfandi bay …

DA

A map of the humpback's travels - more information here.