Southern Right whales baby boom has scientists in awe

Scientists are baffled by an apparent whale baby boom off the South African coastline, with triple last year’s number of calving Southern Right whales recorded last week during an aerial count conducted by the Mammal Research Institute.

A record number of 1,347 Southern Right whales were counted between Cape Infanta and Hermanus, of which 661 were calves. The figure is all the more surprising considering last year’s aerial count recorded just 215 calves.

Researchers believe the baby boom could be related to a shift in whale calving interval, from an average three years to between four and five years.

“Some data analysis showed a shift in calving interval, and this is very likely due to food availability,” said Els Vermeulen, research manager of the Mammal Research Institute’s Whale Unit which conducts annual photographic and counting whale surveys.

“Last year’s [very low] statistics predicted that there would likely be a massive baby boom – because all the females not calving last year had to calf at some point,” Vermeulen said.

Southern Rights typically visit SA’s sandy protected bays that serve as convenient “swimming pools” both to mate and rear their young.

Researchers plan a follow-up survey in three weeks’ time, and will conduct a supplementary annual photo-identification aerial survey in October between Nature’s Valley and Muizenberg.

Some data analysis showed a shift in calving interval