Head to the Mediterranean for a great adventure alongside scientists specializing in the protection of whales. Many specimens die each year due to collisions with boats or containers.
Measure the stress of whales in contact with boats
A team from France Télévisions leaves Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) aboard the Blue Panda. At the head of the expedition, Denis Ody, cetacean expert from WWF France. At his side, CNRS scientists. They want to measure the stress of whales in contact with boats and limit collisions. « The challenge is to better understand what is happening in the interactions between ships and large cetaceans. It is estimated that every year, 33 common whales die out of a population of 1,700 to 1,800 individuals, that’s 2% per year. It’s enough to endanger the future of the population in the Mediterranean, » explains Denis Ody.
After hours and hours of observation, a whale is in sight. Last check of the beacon, full of sensors. The challenge is to measure the whale’s heart activity. On board the zodiac, the team approaches the animal. She will try to put the beacon on her back. Equipped with suction cups, it is painless for the animal. Enough to get to know this giant of the seas better. « The beacon records all the parameters of his dives, his heart activity, all the scientific parameters that we will need to interpret his journeys, » explains Sébastien Personnic, doctor of marine biology.
« We go inside his physiology, really »
On the sailboat, at the same time, scientists follow the operation. A receiver allows them to locate the beacon, which still holds on the whale. Simply exceptional. « It’s something that almost no one in the world is capable of doing. And it’s not just the behavior of the animal, we go inside its physiology, really. Even his emotions, in a way, » says Angelo Torrente, a researcher in functional genomics at the National Center for Scientific Research.
After 20 minutes on the whale, the beacon finally came off. She is recovered and brought back to the sailboat. On the electrocardiogram of the ger whale, peaks of stress are observed as the zodiac approaches. An argument to regulate the speed of commercial ships. « This data here will allow us to understand how far this situation is becoming unpleasant. If it’s 100 meters, if it’s 300 meters. And on this basis, we can give directives to the navy to, effectively, allow a better supervision of maritime traffic and avoid disturbing whales, » explains Angelo Torrente.
The more stressed the whale is by a ship, the higher the risk of collision. Thanks to these researchers, they could regain some of their tranquility.
