Times of the Islands Spring 2023

green pages newsletter of the department of environment & coastal resources
The Turks & Caicos Islands Whale Project (TCIWP)
is a collaborative project between TCI’s Department of
the Environment & Coastal Resources (DECR), Deep Blue
Charters (a private boat charter company in Grand Turk),
and independent researchers. The primary objective is
data collection regarding the distribution and behaviour
of North Atlantic humpback whales within TCI’s territorial
waters. North Atlantic humpback whales migrate annually
from feeding grounds in the north to the warmer
waters of the Caribbean, which act as breeding and nursery
grounds. The objectives of the TCIWP include the
establishment of a long-term humpback whale project
based in the TCI, developing a consistent presence and
TCI-wide data collection through dedicated surveys, and
citizen-based science.
For the 2022 season, data collection took place
between January 22 and April 6, with a total of 55 surveys
on 38 survey days. Data was primarily collected through
vessel-based surveys and in-water observation, with GPS
data, photographs and videography for identification,
whale behaviour, and environmental parameters (e.g.
weather conditions, depth) recorded. Over the three and
a half months of surveys, three species were identified:
humpback whales, Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella
frontalis), and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).
A total of 112 cetacean groups, comprising 288 individuals,
and 108 humpback whale groups, comprising 243
individuals, were encountered during TCIWP surveys, as
shown in the table below.
In the 2022 season, mother and calf pairs were the
most commonly encountered groups of humpback whales,
followed by adult pairs and mother-calf pairs with an
escort. Less frequently encountered were single whales,
competitive groups of adults, and singing males. This season
(2023), there appears to be a notable difference in
the first few weeks, with a greater number of single adult
whales being encountered and fewer mother-calf pairs.
Citizen science
Citizen-based science is a key aspect of the TCIWP, with
the submission of photographs by whale watching operators
and passengers contributing valuable information to
the understanding of humpback whales in the TCI. At the
start of the 2022 season, the TCIWP established the Turks
& Caicos Islands Humpback Whale Catalogue (TCIHWC)
in collaboration with DECR for photo-identification of
whales in the TCI to facilitate matching of these whales
to other areas in the North Atlantic. It is exciting to see
members of the public getting involved, and to share
the excitement when interesting matches or information
about the whales is discovered through photographs and
videos. We recently received a match to a whale who is
46 years old, which holds a record of being the longest
time between the first and last sightings of an individual
humpback whale!
The TCIHWC now holds more than 330 individual
humpback whales that have been catalogued, 292 at
the end of the 2022 season. Ninety-six (33%) of those
292 individual humpback whales have been matched
to another breeding and/or feeding ground. TCIHWC
includes images dating back to 2008 and re-sightings to
all known feeding areas in the North Atlantic. To date,
matches have been made to multiple breeding and feeding
grounds in the North Atlantic, primarily the Gulf of
Maine in the USA, Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada,
Iceland, Norway, West Greenland, the mid-Atlantic region
(consisting of Virginia Beach, New Jersey, and New York),
and the Silver Bank and Samaná Bay in the Dominican
Republic. Some individuals observed in the TCI were
matched to Bermuda, although Bermuda is recognized as
a mid-point during the whale migration between breeding
and feeding grounds.
Identification of some well-known whales generates
a lot of interest with humpback whale lovers both locally
and on the feeding grounds. “Pinball” is an extremely
Marine Mammal Species Encountered during the 2022 Season
Species Common Name Species Scientific Name Total Number of Total Number of
Groups
Individuals
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae 108 243
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin Stenella frontalis 1 25
Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 3 20
Total 112 288
32 www.timespub.tc