Within Ecuadorian territorial waters, the Galapagos area is declared a "whale sanctuary" and the rest of the territorial sea is a "whale refuge."
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| Photo: Sta. Elena Tourism Office. |
When they reach our territory, in addition to being victims of natural predators, the Humpback whales have a number of problems due to human activities.
The most serious is the indiscriminate use of fishing nets, since when they get entangled in them they either die from exhaustion or become easy prey for their predators. In many cases trammel nets have been detected entangled in their pectoral fins and tails.
Other less obvious problems, but no less damaging in the long term, include: pollution of the sea with industrial waste (used oil, for example) that affects their reproductive and immune systems; plastics; noise caused by fishing, military and observation vessels that in the long run interfere with their social activities such as mating, breastfeeding, rest, communication, etc.
These noises include engines, sonar, explosions and poor maneuvering.
The expert navigator Carlos Julio Santander explained to us that in reality the best vessel dedicated to whale watching should be the sailboat, especially for its quality of being silent, although he is aware that this should be a process because at the moment there is an entire infrastructure that is formed for the observation season.
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