WHALE MONITORING PROGRAM.

The marine area of Machalilla National Park and Puerto Lopez is considered a sanctuary for the reproduction of humpback whales. Annually between 400 to 600 whales arrive from Antarctica to mate and reproduce. Since 1998, research programs with different foundations have been developed with the objective of knowing behaviors, movements in the area of reproduction, population growth, impacts of tourism activity and photo identification of individuals.

It is interesting when we talk about photo identification of whales but it turns out that whales under their tail have pigmentation patterns that are similar to fingerprints in humans, what is done in photo identification work is to take photographs of the tails of the whales to then compare with the existing photographs and determine if this animal is a frequent visitor, know sex, behaviors etc. These activities are only developed between the months of June to September.

The activities developed in this program are:

1. Monitoring of whales on the Isla de la Plata.
2. Photo identification work. (Is important that the volunteer has a professional camera or good resolution.)
3. Tabulation of statistical data and comparison of photographs.