You don’t have to travel to remote places to find large whales. Sperm whales and fin whales frequent our waters as migratory passages and in search of food.
You don’t have to travel to remote places to find large whales. Sperm whales and fin whales frequent our waters as migratory passages and in search of food. To promote their protection, as well as that of other cetaceans, we have launched various actions within the framework of LIFE IP INTEMARES, the largest marine conservation project in Europe.
The Mediterranean offers many incentives for these marine giants. The waters that run between the Catalan and Valencian coasts and the Balearic archipelago are of great ecological value and constitute a cetacean migration corridor that is essential for the survival of various species.
The declaration of the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor as a Marine Protected Area and the proposal for its inclusion in the List of Specially Protected Areas of Importance for the Mediterranean (SPIM) has been an important milestone in guaranteeing its conservation. With this declaration, we have also managed to exceed 12% of protected marine area, already fulfilling the international commitment to achieve 10% protection of our seas by 2020.
It is a strip of 46,385km2 and about 85 km of average width, where the sperm whale dives to great depths. Its scientific name (Physeter macrocephalus) means “big head” in Greek, one of the hallmarks of the most famous sperm whale in world literature, Moby Dick. The work of Herman Melville (1819-1891) is inspired by the activity of the whaling industry, which led to a significant decline in the population of sperm whales worldwide. The fat of this sea giant and the semi-liquid wax that houses its head, used to make sails, were highly valued in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Endangered species
Today, the sperm whale is a species listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the Mediterranean population, genetically different from the Atlantic, is already “endangered”. It is estimated that there are approximately 400 individuals in the waters of the Balearic Islands and the Ligurian Sea.
In Spain, we find sperm whales in all seas and one of their favorite corners are the underwater canyons, where they feed on squid of considerable size, among other delicacies. These marine mammals are sociable, but the behavior of males and females is very different.
Males leave the group at age six to join “bachelor bands,” while in their reproductive prime and old age they are essentially solitary. They spend winters in cold waters and move to tropical waters for mating. Females, on the other hand, remain in groups with their young. Gestation lasts 14 to 16 months and they have a single offspring in spring-summer. Since they cannot give birth again until 5 years later, their replacement rate is very slow.
Sperm whales can live up to 70 years. However, due to the slow maturation process and the long periods between calves, populations of this species grow very slowly. In addition, several factors threaten their populations.
Sperm whales, like other cetacean species, have been affected by the degradation of marine ecosystems and pollution, as well as underwater noise and other impacts such as collisions with ships.
Within the framework of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, actions have been launched to improve the knowledge of cetaceans, promote their conservation and act against their threats. Specifically, the first steps have been taken to launch studies of marine mammal populations in the Balearic and Canary Islands with the aim of acting against collisions with ships, which will culminate in the drafting of a proposal for measures that will be sent to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The project will also develop actions to ensure that underwater noise levels do not generate significant impacts on biodiversity.
These actions are in addition to the preventive measures that are applied with the declaration of the Cetacean Migration Corridor as a Marine Protected Area, such as the prohibition of new hydrocarbon prospecting in the area.
The largest whale in the Mediterranean
These actions will also benefit other cetaceans, such as the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), the largest whale in the Mediterranean and the second largest in the world after the blue whale. Our waters are a transit area, both in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.
This marine mammal has a great capacity for communication over long distances and its sounds can be heard thousands of kilometers away, so it is vitally important to act against underwater noise.
Fin whales live mostly in deep water. But in Catalonia it has been found that they also feed in shallower areas and, sometimes, even on the surface, as shown in this video recorded with a drone on the coasts of the Garraf and in which we see how it feeds on krill. The baleen of this type of whale allows large amounts of plankton and small crustaceans to filter from the water.
Their reproduction resembles that of sperm whales and also their life expectancy, which can reach 70 years. It is currently in danger, so it is necessary to continue acting for its conservation.
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