World Wildlife Fund in Colombia asked to protect whale routes in the Pacific

The section in Colombia of The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF for its acronym in English) and the scientific community have called for urgent cooperation to protect whale routes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, central route for the migration of these cetaceans as they feed, mate and nurse their young in these waters.

Whales “They depend on large ocean areas for food, mating, giving birth, nursing their young, socializing and migrating” and these “are impacted by multiple human activities and are under increasing stress”, World leader in whale and dolphin conservation at WWF, Chris Johnson, said in a statement.

Also known as the “blue corridors”, these routes extend from the Bering Strait in Alaska to the Antarctic Peninsula, located at the southern tip of the American continent, according to the data of the latest report of this organization.

through them, 12 of the 14 species of “great whales” use the eastern Pacific as their “core area for their migrations”.

In the Colombian case, between the months of July and November, the humpback whale, which is the most recognized species of this type of cetacean in the country, crosses the waters of the Pacific at the height of Nuquí, Bahía Solano and Bahía Málaga, Gorgona Island and Tumaco.

Because of the importance of these corridors for whales, Johnson insisted on the “urgent call for cooperation” for their protection, stressing, on the other hand, the importance of whale populations in the oceans to “enhance marine productivity”. and play a role in carbon sequestration.

Beyond commercial hunting which, during the 20th century it brought many species “to the brink of extinction” after the capture of nearly three million whales, new threats are emerging that are making migratory routes an increasingly dangerous place to sail, WWF said in the statement.

These threats include the impact of climate changein particular on cetaceans of the Arctic and Antarctic insofar as “many of them depend on the sea ice and sea ice ecosystems.

Added to this are incidental catches in fishing gear and ghost nets which, according to the report, constitute the “most significant threat to the survival of marine megafauna” which includes not only species and populations of marine mammals, but also turtles, sharks and rays from everyone.

There The proliferation of offshore oil and gas infrastructure, which goes hand in hand with exploration and extraction activities, is also impacting whales and their prey. due to underwater noise or oil leaks.

an important environmental agreement signed by the environment ministers of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica to protect the marine corridor in the Pacific Ocean shared by the four countries and which will host their most emblematic island territories.

Among them, the emblematic The Galapos Islands in Ecuador, Coco in Costa Rica, Coiba in Panama and those of Gorgona and Malpelo in Colombia, all considered as natural national parks or sanctuaries of fauna and flora in their respective nations.

with this signature We ratify our commitment to work on an international treaty between countries and to implement actions in this strategic area, in terms of fisheries, biodiversity and tourism. A permanent technical secretariat will be set up to evolve collectively towards an international figure so that we can maintain all the corridor as one of the most important maritime areas in the world”, said Colombian Minister Susana