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More and counting
WWF continues to study humpback whales in the Babuyan Islands. Photo-identification studies have catalogued at least 40 individu­als, 10 of which match with whales that visit a nearby breeding area in Ogasawara and Okinawa, Japan, thus confirming the link of the Babuyan whales with the Asian popula­tion of Northern Pacific humpbacks. The project has been recording humpback whale vocalizations or "songs" in the Babuyan Is­lands' waters since 2000. Preliminary analy­ses show that the songs heard here are the same as those in Hawaii, leaving little doubt that there is a connection between the Ha­waiian and Philippine groups. Furthermore, the 2003 survey has added another species to the list of cetaceans living in these waters-the Risso's dolphin. With 12 species, the ce­tacean diversity of the Babuyan Islands is un­paralleled in the Philippines.
Strengthening partnerships with local people, WWF continues to engage volunteers in the annual survey. Working with local stake­holders, the WWF is leading the development of an overall conservation plan for the Babuyan Islands
Tanon Strait whales & dolphins
In the Philippines, WWF has launched a ce­tacean conservation program in the Tanon Strait Protected Seascape. Proclaimed in 1998, this area has nine of the country's 22 species of whales and dolphins and is the only protected area for cetaceans. The Tanon Strait is threatened by the overexploitation of fish­ery populations, conversion of coastal habi­tats (e.g. mangroves), and disturbance from inter-island travel using speed boats. Sugar plantations and sugar mills found on the west­ern border of the strait are sources of organic pollutants that reach the coastal and marine habitats.
WWF's Tanon Strait Initiative aims to en­gage the community in conservation and to further marine biodiversity conservation, among other things.
WWF and Cetacean Conservation
All around the world, WWF strives to safe­guard whales, dolphins and porpoises. Its strategy is to decrease bycatch or entangle­ment in fishing gear, reduce ship collisions, protect cetaeceans from chemical contami­nants, address climate change, support whale watching, and bring whaling under the strict control of the International Whaling Com­mission.
Through field research, training and capac­ity building, conservation education, and by securing stronger national and international action and agreements, WWF is making progress toward these high-priority cetacean conservation objectives.
Where the whales are
The treacherous currents of
Babuyan Island off northernmost
Luzon are breeding ground for the
world's whales and dolphins.
WWF'S Nayna Malayang outlines
the area's amazing diversity
and the group's painstaking
conservation efforts.
T he Babuyan Islands, about four hours by boat off the northernmost tip of Luzon, is not even in the Lonely Planet Guide and yet this area is one of the most fascinating places on earth. It is home to 36 species of Humpback Whales and 11 species of whales and dolphins.
The main islands here are Fuga and Camiguin Island, separated from Luzon by the treacherous currents of the Babuyan channel. There are no restaurants and hotels in these islands, no continuous running water, no re­liable source of energy and no regular ferries. But the trip here with all its inconveniences is well worth the effort.
Surveys by WWF-Philippines' Humpback Whale Research and Conservation Project over the last three years have counted 36 in­dividual humpback whales in the currents that flow between mainland Luzon and the islands of Fuga, Calayan, and Batanes. The project group has been working in the area since 1999 when WWF-Philippines first confirmed the presence of the whales.
This year's survey has also reported 11
other species of whales and dolphins here, giving these islands the highest cetacean di­versity in the Philippines. Cetacean refers to the family of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Tahon Strait in the Visayas, already known for its whale and dolphin watchingtours, has only nine species.
Previous surveys have shown that the humpbacks arrive around January and stay until late May every year to give birth to their calves in the relatively warmer tropical wa­ters of the northern Philippines. Recent re­ports of a sighting of a mother and calf near the coast of the Northern Sierra Madre have given rise to new speculation that the hump­backs may travel as far south as the Isabela coastline to give birth.
Like humans, whales and dolphins are mam mals. The you ng h u m pbacks, al ready the size of a four-door sedan at birth, will feed on their mother's nutrient-rich milk until they are strong enough to make the long journey back to feeding grounds in Japan, Alaska, and the Bering Sea. Humpback babies grow ex­tremely quickly: they will double their size in a matter of months. One calf spotted near the Northern Sierra Madre was estimated to be two months old, and already measured five meters in length.
Unfortunately, these fascinating creatures are being threatened by cyanide and dyna­mite fishing. Smaller whales and dolphins are also beingtargeted by commercial fishers who sometimes view the animals as pests.
The Babuyan Islands are not a protected area. Seeing that this is a calving area for humpbacks, any threat that disrupts the breeding cycle of these great animals will have repercussions throughout the Western Pacific and at worst, have a negative impact on re­gional food security.
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