South American Whale Watching

Posted by Tony on July 18th, 2010 filed in Global Warming

Because of the location of the tropical island city of Florianopolis, located in the South of Brazil,  there are certain times of the that whales come from the cold antarctic  to take refuge in the warm waters off the coast. This usually happens during the months of July to November, during these months the sea near Florianopolis transforms into a nursery for the  Southern Right Whale.

The whales are motivated to take refuge in the waters of Santa Catarina during the winter is because of the warm water temperatures, which become a suitable environment for female whales to give birth as well as breastfeed their baby whales. Once the baby Right whales are old enough to feed themselves, the whale families start on their trip back to the Antarctic peninsula.

Normally when these whales migrate to the waters of Floripa, as Brazilians call it, they like to stay close to the coastlines so it is fairly easy to spot them. Its not even always necessary to use binoculars, simply looking from shore can often be enough to give you a good view.Up until the 1970′s this used to be a problem. Because they were so easily seen, and because they migrate in large numbers, whale hunting became a popular activity. The whale hunters made lots of money selling the whale’s meat, oil, fats, bones, and as well as their fins. Before they went entirely extinct, the local government made a conscious effort to stop this activity and ultimately closed the whaling stations. Of course, the Whales are now protected, and the only sign left of the whale hunting that once took place here are a few of the names of the local beaches, such as Praia da Armacao, and Matadeiro, which mean Trapper and Killing Beach respectively.

To further strengthen the efforts aimed at preventing these whales from going extinct, the government of Florianopolis turned the waters of Santa Catarina into an Environmental Protection Area of the Whale – APA in the year 2002. The protected area extends over an area of about 156,000 hectares in a 130 kilometer section of the Southern Brazil coastline. The APA covers only the prohibited use of the resources within the protected zone and not the prohibition of human activities within the scope of the protected zone.

In accordance with the protection rule, any boat that makes profit from guiding tourists to whale areas should have been accredited by organizations such as the APA and IBAMA. Along with the accreditation requirement, these boats also need to comply with the law that protects whales from being harmed or disturbed in anyway.  With Eco-Tourism on the rise, whale watching tours are becoming ever more popular, and the nearby beaches of Garopaba and Praia do Rosa are prime locations to spot the Southern Right Whale.