MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina makes available a Coast Guard vessel for the Antarctic Blue Whale Project”

The 30 meters in length and 170 tons blue whale is the largest known animal (Pic. M. Johnson)

Argentina will make available a Coast Guard vessel in support of the ‘Antarctic Blue Whale Project’ and associated research activities planned for the 201314 season and coming years, according to a release from the Southern Ocean Research Partnership, SORP.

SORP which is supported by the International Whaling Commission held a two-day meeting in Buenos Aires where it reinforced its commitment to non-lethal methods of research on whales.

The full release follows:

“On April 17 and 18 a Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP) Workshop took place in Palacio San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The meeting was attended by delegates from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador, members of SORP.

“SORP is an international consortium of scientists established under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission. SORP is investigating the status of Southern Ocean whale populations using non-lethal scientific techniques such as photo-identification, genetics and satellite tagging.

“The workshop had valuable discussions on the Antarctic Blue Whale Project, which is the flagship project of SORP for the season 2013/14 and coming years. The objective was to coordinate future actions in the Antarctic Peninsula area, as well as to consider options for collaborative research and ship time.

“Argentina announced that a Prefectura Naval Argentina (Coast Guard) 50 m length vessel would be available to participate in SORP research activities in the Antarctic Peninsula area for the season 2013/ 2014. This announcement was welcomed by all the countries at the meeting.

“The participants reinforced their strong commitment to non-lethal methods of research on whales. No whales need to be killed in the name of science”.