Current Projects at the Foundation for the Center for Research of Whales

A Boatful of Kids ||| Tourists Contribute to Whale Research ||| Project Elasmo

Project: A Boatful of Kids - Save a copy

The city of Puerto Lopez is located in Ecuador, and can be classified as a third world community. Seventy percent of the economy of Puerto Lopez falls within the fishing industry, but as more and more fish are hauled from the sea, the waters become depleted and bring in less income, forcing the small-business fisherman to subsist on an even smaller pay. This is simply not a sustainable economy in this pueblo. My Foundation is working with local scientists to promote a more sustainable economy based upon a very sustainable resource, tourism.

Every year during the months of June through September a stock of humpback whales migrate to the waters off Ecuador. The waters of Machalilla National Park in Manabi are breeding grounds for the whales and, as a result, a growing tourism industry is taking hold centering on whale-watching. However, many of the poorer families are still reliant upon fishing as a source of family economy. This is perpetuated as young children are drawn into the way of life that their parents and grandparents underwent, with little exposure to other opportunities. Our Foundation funds a program where 40-50 local students from this small pueblo are allowed the opportunity to actually see a whale, as many have never even seen one despite the teeming ocean life around them. By seeing a whale and being a part of this exciting adventure, these kids will have a first hand look at how rich their oceanic ecosystem is which will hopefully lead them to see value in a very eco-friendly career---Tourism . The tourist industry can co-exist with the fishing industry, but a better blend or balance needs to be attained. Fishing is still viable in this community but not in the large numbers seen in the past. Furthermore we hope to provide fishermen with the tools and knowledge of fishing practices so they do not overfish a particular population. But this is a slow, ongoing process.

Getting kids on a boat to “watch a whale” is a simple economic problem. It’s not that the kids in Puerto Lopez do not want to see whales! But, for this to occur, each child would have to pay $20 to view the whales from one of the tourist operated boats. In this hard economy, $20 is a large sum of money for these families. So our goal is to collect enough money each year to begin educating the youth about their environment. By sending 40-50 kids out to the whales each year, we could begin to enlighten the youth about whales and hopefully, begin the process of developing a more eco-friendly economy in the town of Puerto Lopez.

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Project: Tourists Contribute to Whale Research - Save a Copy

Staring in the summer of 2010, the Foundation will encourage whale watchers/ tourists to participate in humpback whale research. Currently we obtain data on whale behavior and collect images of humpback whales via our interns and Foundation staff for photo identification. We are requesting that tourists who are on the water daily and who take many good photographs of ‘whale tails’ (the markings of which are analogous to the human fingerprint and allows us to identify our whale population), share their photos with our Foundation.

Every day, for a few hours, our staff will be on hand to assist in the downloading of tourist photographs. This will involve the local tourists in our research and make their time on the boat more memorable and focused as they ‘shoot for a purpose’. More importantly, with the support of the informed tourist, this process will serve as a re-education of the tourist boat captains as to the rules and regulations concerning whale tourism. Boat captains are obligated by Ecuadorian law to take the following actions when taking tourists for whale watching adventures:

• Tourist boats must approach whales either from the side or from behind and slow their speed to 5 knots when they are within 400 meters of the whale pod.
• The boat must be kept a minimum of 100 meters from the whale pod at all times, unless the whale pod approaches the boat; at which time the boat must be put in idle and remain so until the pod has moved from the ship’s vicinity.
• The Maximum observation time per pod is 25 minutes
• No more than three boats may be around a pod of whales at any given time

In addition, we are encouraging tourists to request that the captain give them the best view of the ventral fluke (Underside of the whale tail) as that provides researchers with data concerning the possible identity of the whale.

This project will involve the tourist in the research project and help ensure that the boat fleet and captains are within accordance of Ecuadorian law concerning whale watching. Lately there has been neglect on the part of boat captains concerning several points of the whale watching laws, and by putting the tourists on the researcher’s side, we will slowly re-educate the tourism fleet.

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Project: Project Elasmo - Save a Copy

Read about Project Elasmo in the News!

Project Goals

This project has three areas of focus which dovetail. One focus is to identify and tag manta rays (Elasmobranchs) within the habitat and park of Machalilla National Park in Ecuador with aproximately 14,000 hec-acres within coastal waters. Through our informal observations there appear to be a group of mantas, which has been partially identified, who return each year to the same location. We would like to photo ID and tag these individuals, as well as broaden our search for more groups, as we suspect there are several others. Many questions arise that will hopefully be answered through this research study, such as: Why do they return here? Is this a breeding ground? Do they intermingle with other rays and if so, what are their normal ranges or breeding grounds? Does surface depth or structure of sea floor in relation to the Isla de la Plata offer clues as to manta behaviour?

Our second focus deals with the sea around these waters and the manta yearly migration. By utilizing a bathymetric map of the area, we can GPS manta coordinates and plot behaviour and range while in these waters. We hope to identify seamounts and large shelves in this area so future dives and research can be completed.

Lastly, there are virtually no marine educational programs in place to try to alleviate pressure from current and future generations of Ecuadorians overfishing? We want to begin the process of educating the younger generation in this area on the value of their oceanic eco-system.

Michel Guerrero-- Michel Guerrero is a Marine Biologist of the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano de Bogota. He is also affiliated with the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI).

Mark Harding—Mark is affiliated with the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) and is a professional marine life photographer.

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