Zanzibar, Tanzania
Scientists have been left astonished by a humpback whale which made the longest and most unusual migration ever recorded in the world.
The whale was seen in 2017 in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia and then again appeared several years later in 2022 near Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, which is at a distance of around 13,000 km.
As per experts, this epic journey may have been taken by the whale because of the depletion of food stocks due to climate change.
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Tanzania Cetaceans Programme researcher Ekaterina Kalashnikova said that the feat was "truly impressive and unusual even for this highly migratory species".
Dr Kalashnikova said that there was a high chance that this was the longest travel of a humpback whale ever recorded.
Why did the humpback whale migrate?
Throughout the world, humpback whales live in all oceans. Every year they travel long distances and make one of the longest migrations ever done by any other mammal.
They move from tropical breeding grounds to feeding grounds in cooler waters. However, the journey of this whale was more spectacular because it involved two distant breeding grounds.
As per a theory, the abundance of the tiny shrimplike krill is being altered by climate change and since the humpback whales feed on them, they are now forced to travel more in search of food.
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There is also a possibility that the whales may have been exploring new breeding grounds because population rebound due to global conservation efforts.
"While actual reasons are unknown, amongst the drivers, there might be global changes in the climate, extreme environmental events (that are more frequent nowadays), and evolutionary mechanisms of the species," Dr Kalashnikova said.
The male whale was among the humpbacks whose photographs were taken on the Pacific coast of Colombia in 2013 and was again seen in the same region in 2017.
While in 2022 it was sighted in Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean. The sightings were at 13,046 km great-circle distance.
(With inputs from agencies)