Whale makes epic migration, astonishing scientists

A humpback whale has made 1 of the longest and astir antithetic migrations ever recorded, perchance driven by clime change, scientists say.

It was seen successful the Pacific Ocean disconnected Colombia successful 2017, past popped up respective years aboriginal adjacent Zanzibar successful the Indian Ocean - a region of astatine slightest 13,000 km.

The experts deliberation this epic travel mightiness beryllium down to clime alteration depleting nutrient stocks oregon possibly an odyssey to find a mate.

Ekaterina Kalashnikova of the Tanzania Cetaceans Program said the feat was "truly awesome and antithetic adjacent for this highly migratory species".

The photograph beneath shows the aforesaid whale photographed successful 2022, disconnected the Zanzibar coast.

Dr Kalashnikova said it was precise apt the longest region a humpback whale had ever been recorded travelling.

Humpback whales unrecorded successful each oceans astir the world. They question agelong distances each twelvemonth and person 1 of the longest migrations of immoderate mammal, swimming from tropical breeding grounds to feeding grounds successful cooler waters.

But this male's travel was adjacent much spectacular, involving 2 distant breeding grounds.

One mentation is that clime alteration is altering the abundance of the tiny shrimplike krill humpback whales provender on, forcing them to question further successful hunt of food.

Alternatively, whales whitethorn beryllium exploring caller breeding grounds arsenic populations rebound done planetary conservation efforts.

"While existent reasons are unknown, amongst the drivers determination mightiness beryllium planetary changes successful the climate, utmost biology events (that are much predominant nowadays), and evolutionary mechanisms of the species," said Dr Kalashnikova.

The wandering antheral was among a radical of humpbacks photographed from a probe vas connected the Pacific seashore of Colombia successful 2013.

He was past identified successful a akin country successful 2017 - and disconnected Zanzibar successful 2022.

The sightings are separated by a 13,046 km great-circle region - the minimum region for the way the whale mightiness person taken, the scientists say, though it is apt to beryllium overmuch greater.

Since the world is simply a sphere, the shortest way betwixt 2 points is expressed by the large ellipse distance, which corresponds to an arc linking 2 points connected a sphere.

The paperʻs findings are based connected hundreds of thousands of photos of whales submitted by researchers, whale watchers and members of the nationalist to the national subject website, happywhale.com.

The database uses artificial quality to lucifer the idiosyncratic shapes and patterns of humpback whale tails, oregon flukes, thereby mapping their movements astir the globe.

The probe is published successful the journal, Royal Society Open Science.

Find retired much astir humpback whales successful The Secret's of Antarctica's Giants connected BBC iPlayer.