Fin + Blue = Flue (A 100% funded project through 2023!)
There’s a very special, hybrid whale out there swimming around Isla San Jose and he can tell us a lot about Blue and Fin whale behavior . . . if we can find him.
Thanks to a generous donor, a team from San Diego, led by renowned cetacean expert Tom Jefferson (no relation J) will join us in March 2023 to look for this unique whale who had a fin whale father and a blue whale mother. If found, we’ll take acoustic recordings of his songs, collect DNA samples, and observe his behavior. Seeing if this hybrid sings like a blue or fin or both, hangs out more with blues or fins and how he interacts with them, and where he travels in his annual migration into the Sea of Cortez can give biologists tons of new information on whale social behavior. Wish us luck and stay tuned for what we learn!