| Do you know Colombia is the country with the world
highest birth rate of whales with 28 percent of the
total? Some 1,200 whales are expecting to arrive very soon in the shores that house the Natural parks of Gorgona, Sanquianga and Utria where these animals find a perfect sea water temperature of 25 degrees centigrade Six of the eleven varieties of whales that exist in the world come up every year to Colombia: the blue, fin whale, the Bryde, the minke, sei and the humpback or Yubarta and they will be the attraction until November to hundreds of tourist that visit Colombia. But the whales won't be there only to give birth to their descendants, these giant animals will raise their babies and carry out processes of socialization in group before returning to Antarctica. The humpback, so called because the back before arcing dive, are the most acrobatic elasticity and that is reflected in jumps, backlash, aletazos, different postures and body twists in the sea surface. The following is what Wikipedia reports about the humpback whale: "The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres (40–50 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in mating. Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometres each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net feeding technique. Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks of the species have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. There are at least 80,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpbacks are now sought out by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia and the United States". If you are planning to go please be aware that boats that carry tourists to the sightings must stay some 200 meters from the whales to prevent accidents and you will also be prevented to admire these cetaceans for around 20 minutes. |