MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First Week of the Blue Whale on Chiloé Island

Starting this week Chile's Center for Cetacean Conservation is sponsoring the first celebration of the Week of the Blue Whale in Ancud, on island of Chiloé. The event is part of an international program in which over 400 coastal communities around the world mark the seasonal visits of various whale species.

The goal, according to the event's organizer Constanza Poduje, is to celebrate of the blue whale as part of the Island's natural heritage and promote awareness of the need to protect the species. "This is a wonderful opportunity for the communities of Chiloé to actively participate in the effort to conserve this species," she said. The week's activities will feature educational and artistic events, including the screening of the documentary "Return of the Blue Whale," by Chilean director Raúl Morales and a Whale Watching workshop by Carole Carlson. Carlson specializes in the implementation of responsible whale watching practices, and her participation reflects efforts to develop the island's tourism industry around the mammoth creatures. According to Marijke van Meurs, director of the Ancud Regional Museum, "the blue whale provides a certain opportunity for development of the tourist industry, and also represents a sustainable model of development for the island." Each summer, the largest blue whale population in the Southern Hemisphere comes to the waters off Chiloé's northern coast to feed and rest, following their ancestral migratory route. Blue whales used to be abundant in all the world's oceans, but excessive hunting during the first half of the twentieth century nearly drove the species to extinction. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission issued a moratorium on whale hunting, and scientists believe that the blue whale population has at least remained stable since then. Chile has been a leader in international efforts to protect whale species. The country was at the forefront of protests against Japan, which continues to kill some 1,000 whales a year for research purposes, despite the international ban. In January, Chilean environmental activist Gustavo Vergara risked his life by temporarily blocking Japanese whaling ships during a refueling stop in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica. On the domestic front, the Senate's Environmental Commission proposed a series of stricter whale conservation measures earlier this year, including plans to designate Chile's waters as a whale sanctuary and increase sanctions for whale hunting here. "We intend for Chile not only to oppose, but to lead the opposition to whale hunting" Senator Alejandro Navarro, a leading backer of the measures, told the Santiago Times at the time. The Santiago Times