Researchers puzzled as baby whales spotted in unexpected places along Australia’s ‘humpback highway’ | Whales

Hadda whales are attended in unexpected places.

In Australia, Al -Hadba mothers were supposed to travel to the north to give birth to the warmer orbital waters – such as the Great Reef – before migrating south with its calves along the “highway” for feeding in the Antarctica Water.

But a new research, published in Borders in marine scienceThis scenario has turned, and newborns were registered in the far south of Tasmania, more than 1500 km from the supposed birth area.

The study, which sought to understand whether the hallways that exceed the previously accepted southern border discovered more than 200 confirmed scenes from newborns across a region that extends from Queensland to Tasmania and across the southern island in New Zealand.

Dr. Vanessa Beiruta, co-author of the study and whale scientist Dr. Vanessa Beiruta, said that the children of Al-Hadba-the size of a small car-went out first and flexible. It was identified by its folded dorsal fins, and it was generally gray or white light.

Beiruta said more research is needed to determine the reason for noticing newborns to the south.

“This may be the case always and we have not documented it well or pay attention,” she said.

“Or it might be something new to happen because the water has become warmer south of those traditional tropical areas, which means that it is more suitable for the Hadba whale to have a leg.”

The study was pushed when the leader of the watching whale team, Jane McVy, is also a co -author of the paper, from Newcastle coast, 160 km north of Sydney.

“It looked out of place,” said McPe Four, a researcher at the University of New South Wales. “The calf was small, and it is clear that it was completely new. What were they doing here?”

Data from whale watch operators, citizens of citizens and government wildlife agencies revealed many extraordinary observations, dating back to after 2016.

McPe Four said that as soon as they started the investigation, the reported scenes came from the south and the south, which indicates that the migration of Al -Hadba and the reproduction was much more complicated than thought.

“In the end, he run out from the ground to see them,” she said. “So we do not actually know the location of the limit. But we had reports directly to the bottom of Tassie, the maximum points in southern Australia and the island of New Zealand.”

Climate change has caused an average sea surface temperature in Australia by 1.08 degrees Celsius since 1900, According to csiroWith the largest warming that occurs off the southeast of Australia and Tasmana.

Beiruta said that more awareness and observation of newborns outside their expected area was very important to better protect these mothers and calves.

She said that there are many navigational challenges along the highway of wise. You have human effects – ship strike risks, tangle risks, predation of natural predators, and tourists [and] Boats.

“A research like this will help us better to keep monitoring, but also communicate with the audience in these areas.”

Angus Henderson, a whale researcher based at the Institute of Marine and Southern Studies at the University of Tasmania, who did not participate in the study, said that unexpected scenes may also be linked to the restoration of humpback whales since the end of the industrial whales in Australia.

But with the expansion of human activities as well as the restoration of the whale, conflicts have become more common. He said: “Traffic, especially large ships, can kill whales.” “Speed ​​restrictions, and a reservoir of vessels away from whale habitats are the most effective way to reduce interactions and deaths.

“Tanging into sharks, ghost window [and] Neglected fishing equipment … represents another major threat to the gun along the lands of the eastern coast proliferation, and with the expansion of the distribution, this reaction is also expanded. “