During the month of May, two other cetaceans appeared in the area.
Article originally published on May 28, 2024
A moment of joy
It was off the coast of Saint-Pierre that this last whale was seen. Globice Réunion, a scientific NGO whose objective is to expand knowledge and conservation of cetaceans, shared the photograph of this special moment taken by a passionate photographer of the Indian Ocean on its Facebook account. When he saw it, the whale was jumping.
A significant influx expected this year
In 2023, more than 1,300 whales will come to Reunion Island. A figure three times higher than the year 2022 itself considered to be a record year. As of August 16, 700 whales had already been recorded.
To better understand the animals present on Reunion Island and in the Indian Ocean, Globice has provided residents with tools allowing them to participate in research on cetaceans. They can therefore report any whale sightings by simply downloading an application dedicated to recording their arrival. In 2023,
Thanks to a second program called Kodal, they also have the opportunity to share the images they captured of the caudals, the whales' fins. This allows the NGO to identify animals bathing in the surrounding area.
Whales in Reunion
You should know that in general the majority of humpback whales arrive in Reunion in mid-July but the first ones emerge from the end of May. This period is nicknamed “whale season” by specialists.
This area is the one that these cetaceans protected by law favor for mating and giving birth along the Reunion coast before leaving. This protection status prohibits any individual from disturbing the whales, mutilating them, following them or even degrading their environment. Very strict rules included in the prefectural decree of July 7, 2021 have been established to achieve this conservation objective.
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