A note on migratory destinations of humpback whales from the eastern Caribbean

Abstract

Identification photographs of humpback whales taken in the eastern Caribbean were compared with photographs from the North Atlantic to identify re-sightings. Nine individuals were identified in the eastern Caribbean region, seven of these in the Grenadine Islands. There were three re-sightings. Two individuals were re-sighted in northern feeding grounds: one between Newfoundland and Saba Bank; the other between Greenland and Grenada. This demonstrates movement between this breeding and calving area and two of the primary humpback whale feeding grounds in the North Atlantic. The re-sighting rate (0.222) is comparable to the rate of re-sightings between feeding grounds and other breeding areas in the North Atlantic. Another individual was re-sighted in Puerto Rico and Dominica, demonstrating an exchange between the eastern Caribbean and another breeding and calving area in the West Indies.