Friendly Fins discovers the humpback whale:

Searching for these animals around the ocean can be as easy as it is complicated, the important thing is to always be optimistic, keep your eyesight sharp and never lose heart!

How to prepare for Whale Watching

• Carefully choose the right place at the right time. Humpback whales migrate, so if my dream is to meet them, I need to learn about the period of maximum presence. In Madagascar we can meet them from August to early October, normally.

• Rely on a serious excursion center with competent staff such as a marine biologist. In addition to the sighting of humpback whales in complete safety, why not also learn something more about them?

• Bring sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses with polarized lenses (which reduce the reflection of light on the water surface).

• Seasickness is a nasty beast that must be fought! There are many medicines to fight it, and many cause heavy soporific effects. Try an excellent natural remedy like ginger, chewing a piece of its extraordinary root will have excellent benefits and you will be able to enjoy the experience awake!

• Get ready to board!

How to spot a humpback whale

Environmental conditions are crucial for a great sighting. Imagine looking for dark spots in the middle of a rough sea with waves here and there and a cloudy sky, or looking for them with a nice flat sea and clear sky. Everything changes!

The abundance of humpback whales in a certain area greatly influences the sighting, we will have more chances to see many of them in the central period of migration.

Nothing is impossible at sea, so let's start looking:

1. The puff: the humpback whale makes a vertical puff in the shape of a bush about 3 metres high, visible from 3 km away

2. The jump: The humpback whale is famous for its extraordinary leaps out of the water, which cause enormous splashes that can be seen from many kilometres away.

3. We sail towards these splashes, hoping to find her still on the surface.

4. We begin to meet our first humpback whale: with a bit of luck we can see it still on the surface taking a breath and from there we can guess if it is a male, female, or calf.

Humpback whale taking a breath at the surface

The humpback whale's jumps

• SPY HOPPING: the humpback whale holds its head out of the water and dives again: it is curious to get to know us and may repeat it several times.

• BREACHING: the humpback whale comes out with most of its body out of the water, sometimes rotating in the air and landing on its back or side. It can be a typical courtship jump of the male who wants to reproduce, often it is solitary but there could be several males jumping to compete for the female.

• HEAD LUNGING: where the humpback whale leaps partially out of the water and lands belly first. (You are more likely to see this in shallow water than in deeper water.)

• FLUKE SLAPPING: is the exit of the tail from the water, flapping and moving it. It is a fundamental leap in social interactions, certainly between mother and child to play but also between puppies.

• PEDUNCLE SLAPPING: Both the tail and the caudal peduncle with part of the belly are lifted out of the water and slammed vigorously on the surface. This jump also has a social role.

• PECTORAL SLAPPING: is the exit of one or both pectoral fins from the water that are then hit on the surface. This jump is used to communicate between different groups but also between individuals of the same group. It could have the function of perceiving the wind speed and therefore whether a possible breaching could be successful; if there is a strong wind, the total jump of the humpback whale will have much more effect and will be felt at considerable distances.
  

How whale watching works:

Distance between the boat and the animals

Minimum 300 meters away; without approaching from the front or the back. Once positioned parallel to the animal, we can reach 100 m but never less, if the animals do not do so.

The boat's course and speed

• We always remain parallel to the animals without ever separating the specimens of the group;

• We keep the speed of the slowest animal, and in any case do not exceed 5 knots (about 9 km/h);

• If we are close, the engine will be put into neutral so as not to risk injuring the specimens that escape from the surface with the propellers.
  

Whale Watching from the boat

When the animals approached the boat

• We do not try to touch them in any way, neither with our hands nor with various objects;

• Let's not throw food at them, they eat plankton, our food would harm them;

• We don't go into the water because they might get scared and a flick of their tail would make us bounce right back to the beach! It's dangerous.
  

What Friendly Fins Can Do for Humpback Whales

Humpback Whales Identification

• Specific features and grooves of the tail;

• Shape and size of the small dorsal humps;

• Any scratches, bites and scars.

Photographing the humpback whale and therefore these specific signs is extremely useful for their conservation. Why?

For example: I photograph a specimen in Madagascar in September, someone else photographs it in Mozambique in May and someone else in the Antarctic Ocean in February; we will have recorded part of its annual movements and therefore its migration. This can be very useful for its protection as well as to know approximately their number in a given area.

You can collaborate with the global research by sending photos with geographic coordinates on this site: https://www.happywhale.com/home

Marine waste collection

Humpback whales, like all pelagic animals, have to deal with marine pollution, especially plastic and fishing nets. In our little Friendly Fins we can remove everything that has nothing to do with the sea, both when we snorkel, dive or walk on the beach.

Climate change

Humpback whales are a migratory species; they are particularly affected by climate change as they migrate to cold waters in search of food and return to warm waters to breed and give birth. The increase in temperature has led to a reduction in time in cold waters and a shortage of food, anticipating the migration to warm waters without the necessary amount of fat.

This increase in temperatures can be countered by paying daily attention to our habits. Each of us doing our little part can really save the planet and our friends the humpback whales!

Ora che sapete qualcosa in più Friendly Fins, venite a conoscere questo animale straordinario e difendiamolo insieme!!!

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