🇬🇧 As every year, humpback whales are back in Cape Verde, an important place for the migration of humpback whales from the North Atlantic. This is an opportunity for us to offer "Whales Watching" sea trips to our customers. Here are some short explanations of the life and behaviors of these cetaceans in the form of 'Did you know?'!
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🇫🇷 Le saviez-vous 1 : Le parcours de la migration des baleines à bosse se mesure à hauteur de 7000km aller simple. Entre 12000 et 15000 km aller-retour entre les mois de janvier et juin. Durant cette migration, les baleines partent de la zone entre le Groenland et l'Islande, passe par Les Açores et Madère pour se reposer avant de terminer leur migration aux îles du Cap-Vert.
🇬🇧 Did you know 1: The migration route of humpback whales is 7,000km one-way. Between 12,000 and 15,000 km round trip between the months of January and June. During this migration, the whales leave from the area between Greenland and Iceland, passing through the Azores and Madeira to rest before completing their migration to the Cape Verde Islands.
🇬🇧 Did you know 2: In Cape Verde, there is no or almost no food for humpback whales. This means that they embark on an incredible migration to reach a place where there is nothing to eat. They will remain thus 4 to 6 months with an extremely reduced diet. The whales thus lose nearly 25% of their weight, or about 5 to 8 tons.
🇬🇧 Did you know 3: Humpback whales travel to tropical areas to give birth to their calves in temperate waters. Indeed if the birth were to occur in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, the baby might not resist and die quickly. Subsequently, the males following the females, reproduction scenes will take place. The gestation lasting about 12 months, the synchronization is perfect for a round-trip migration and a parturition the following year.
🇬🇧 Did you know 4: A calf weighs about 700kg and measures around 4m at birth!! After two months and only by breastfeeding, he will reach 2 tons! It will then be time for him to start his first migration towards the North. Fatigue, storms, killer whales, will make only 50% of these babies reach their destination...
🇬🇧 Did you know 5: If the whales jump, it’s not to play or to look nice in the photos! Some jumps allow for cleaning the animal’s body. Others are warnings to be taken very seriously by predators. Others allow communication between whales. Obviously jumps can also be executed to show a female the well-fixed intentions of a male. Finally, when a female, accompanied by her baby, jumps, it is to educate her young who will reproduce the gesture after her mother.
🇬🇧 Did you know 6: An adult whale weighs around 25 to 30 tons and measures between 12 and 15m. A baby 4 to 5m and around 2 tons. When a male decides to squeeze a female already accompanied by a baby, it is a big danger for the baby. The male obsessed with his objective can hit the baby and thus give a blow from a 30-ton animal on a 2-ton animal. Some die from it. If everything goes well for the baby, he will stay about 2 to 3 years around his mother. He will breastfeed for the first 6 months, then divide his diet between breast milk and natural food, then be independent in his diet after 12 months. His sexual maturity will arrive around the age of 8.
