Helping Humpbacks with RABEN & Happywhale
RABEN (Red Nacional de Atencion a Ballenas Enmalladas, in english Whale Disentanglement Network) has been active in assisting marine mammals in distress in Mexico since 2006 with teams of trained individuals along the Mexican Pacific coast. There are currently 15 teams now since 2012 with the support of CONANP, the government commission of natural protected areas in Mexico. RABEN’s mission is to respond in a safe and efficient manner to reports of entangled whales, avoid the risks of response from untrained people, collect data for research and protection of the whales, and to work towards prevention of entanglement through improvements and regulations of fishing equipment and practices. They have been successful in freeing 97 whales, mostly Humpbacks but also Gray Whales, Brydes Whales, and Fin Whales. Our own Fer has been a part of the RABEN team in Los Cabos since 2020, and this year she and our excellent whale watching and safari guide Nina also joined up. The two completed the annual team training this October, meeting with the other volunteers to go over internationally recognized protocol and simulated rescue response, all in preparation to keep the whales of Cabo as safe as possible during their stay in our waters. Visit RABEN’s website to learn more and to donate to this important organization.
In addition to the RABEN training, our team in preparing for the return of the humpbacks by pulling out the long-focus lenses aiming to get solid identification shots of the whales that have come back to Mexico after months away. Humpbacks are identifiable by the unique pattern on the underside of the their tail fins, or flukes. Happywhale.com is a incredible international database for whale enthusiasts and researchers alike, where you can upload fluke shots to hopefully get a positive ID, and see where the whale you have just seen has been over the years. Nina recently had a positive match with a whale that has been identified back and forth between Mexico and Northern California since 2015, and Latitude throughout the years has had over 50 whales identified on the site. We hope to improve this number this season with your help! Join us for a whale watch or marine safari within Humpback season (November-April) and let’s ID some whales!
