The Antarctic blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus ssp. intermedia , is the largest known animal to ever inhabit the Earth . But despite its imposing size – around 30 meters long and can weigh more than 170 tons – zoologists have little data on its biological functions, habits or distribution.
In large part, this is because a few thousand individuals survive today . In fact, according to the Red List of Threatened Species prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), hunting has brought these cetaceans to the brink of extinction . IUCN experts estimate that more than 340,000 of these whales were caught during the 20th century. Although their numbers have been increasing in the last two decades, this subspecies remains critically endangered.
Now a team of researchers from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Flinders University in Australia has found that the surviving specimens have clustered into just three populations . A genetic study of them has allowed them to conclude that although all these whales feed in the same areas, they move to different oceans to reproduce.
In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports , these scientists suggest tracking their movements by satellite to determine how these groups are organized, which migratory routes they follow and where they mate . In this way, they point out, it will be possible to know their numbers with greater precision and devise conservation strategies that guarantee their survival.
Image: NOAA
