Natural Barrier Feeding Technique in Megaptera novaeangliae in Central Coastal Area of Golfo San Jorge, Patagonia, Argentina

ABSTRACT

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are cosmopolitan and highly migratory animals. They are found in all ocean basins and annually migrate between low-latitude waters, where they breed and calve during the winter and spring, and high-latitude waters, where they feed during the summer and autumn. Commercial whaling resulted in a considerable reduction in all humpback whale populations. In the Southern Hemisphere alone, more than 200,000 whales were caught. Most populations, including the Western South Atlantic Ocean Breeding Stock "A" (BSA), have shown signs of recovery after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium in the late 1960s.