Whale Research News from Raja Ampat!

“We were invited by Papua Paradise to the spectacular Raja Ampat to conduct whale research, and we are now in our 3rd week here, having already identified over 11 species, which shows the high biodiversity of this place!

The largest whale is the sperm whales with males growing up to 18m (see fluke and body picture), followed by the Brydes whale, a smaller Baleen whale (15m). There are many dolphins in the area and we see them almost daily, the Spinner dolphins are the most acrobatic ones; also through our hydrophone observations, Rissos and pilot whales are the most vocal ones. And to our surprise we also met a lone male killer whale travelling slowly trough the bay.

Our goal is to monitor the abundance of marine mammals in the Raja Ampat area and create future Ocean Sounds research projects, as well as investigating the possibility of whale and dolphin conservation in cooperation with Papua Paradise.

Please stay tuned for more whale news from us.”

Heike & Patrick
Ocean Sounds Research Team

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