RapportFondation 2025 V02 EN light - Flipbook - Page 76
Supporting SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
2024 REPORT
NICARAGUA
TOWARDS A SAFER OCEAN
for whales
2024 > PRESENT
This project, led by Dr. Joëlle De Weerdt—2024 recipient of the Pairi Daiza Foundation Grant, Vrije Universiteit
Brussel researcher, and director of Association ELI-S—focuses on an urgent and poorly understood issue: collisions
between humpback whales and vessels off the Nicaraguan Pacific coast.
Although whaling has ended in many parts of the world, some populations remain small, fragile and exposed to
increasing human pressures. This is particularly the case in Central America, where two populations of humpback
whales – from the northern and southern hemispheres – come to breed at different times of the year. Their presence
coincides with a sharp rise in maritime traffic, particularly due to fishing, tourism and coastal transport.
The project aims to map the migratory routes of the whales using photo-identification and navigation data analysis,
in order to identify areas where there is a risk of collision. The end goal: to propose concrete, science-based solutions
to improve the coexistence between human activities and marine fauna, and contribute to the sustainable preservation
of this iconic species.
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