Humpback Whale Research & Conservation Project in the Babuyan Islands

The discovery of the Babuyan Islands as a possible humpback whale breeding area is a milestone in Philippine marine mammal research and a significant finding for the international marine mammal research community. For a species classified as vulnerable by the IUCN , this area has great conservation implication for the species stock to which these whales belong. Since 2002, WWF-Philippines with volunteer support has been conducting boat surveys every summer. In 2004, a total of 69 humpback whales individuals were identified in the waters of Babuyan. This species constitutes another biodiversity resource of the Philippines that has to be conserved for the long-term. Through the project's initiative, the provincial government of Cagayan declared the humpback whale as a protected species. A Joint Administrative Order of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Tourism provides for the Implementing Rules and Regulations for cetacean interaction. The project is supported by the Structure of Populations and Status of Humpbacks in the Western North Pacific (SPLASH) and WWF-US.To know more about this project,
please email eaca@wwf.org.ph.