Humpback
Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Catalog of the National
Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic 2000 to
2013
The
Center for Conservation and Eco-development of the Bay of Samaná and its
Environment (CEBSE) and the Samaná Bay Boat Owners Association (ASDUBAHISA) have
joined forces in order to produce the Humpback Whale Catalog of the National
Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic. We would like to present the
first edition, with more than 900 individual humpback whales, photographed
between the years 2000 and 2013, including Samaná Bay and Silver Bank.
Since
1999, CEBSE has coordinated a humpback whale data collection program aboard
commercial whale watch vessels with the support of ASDUBAHISA. This program has
involved national and international researchers together with local students
and volunteers from all over the world. The product of this effort involving
hundreds of data collectors, more than 1900 trips in Samana Bay alone, more than
3800 documented sightings of humpbacks in the extreme Northeast of the bay, the
Eastern border of the Samaná Peninsula and adjacent oceanic waters. This information has provided the database for the creation of this catalog in collaboration
with the Conscious Breath Adventures team on Silver Bank.
Become a collaborator and help
protect humpbacks whales
You
can collaborate with humpback whale research by sending copies of the tails of
any humpback whales you have photographed here in the National Marine Mammal
Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic. CEBSE has documented almost 1000
individual humpbacks and each new individual whale added to the catalog enables
us to better understand these animals and this information assists in their
conservation. Photographs can be sent to the following address: cebsesamana@gmail.com.
We
would also like to invite researchers, naturalists and visitors to compare
their photographs taken in the Sanctuary with the photographs of individuals in
our catalog in order to exchange information on re-sightings of individuals in
the same year, other years or distinct areas in the North Atlantic. We would
appreciate information on date, time location where the individual was
photographed to include in our data base.