A scientific study will be conducted for the identification of blue whale species in the Bohol Sea by a group of researchers and students of the Department of Biological Sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, USA.
Edna Sabater, principal investigator, is in Dumaguete to request for permission to conduct the study within the municipal waters of the City as well as in nearby Bacong town, where a huge mammal, identified as a blue whale, was spotted several months ago.
According to Sabater, they are required by existing laws to acquire a Prior Informed Consent from the concerned local government units which will be submitted as part of the application docket to the Department of Agricultrure-Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources permitting division fo the issuance of a Gratuitious Permit or collection permit.
She said the encounter of the blue whale in the Philippines as in the case of Bughaw, the unofficial name given to the blue whale seen in the seawaters off Dumaguete and Bacong, was among the few sightings by locals in the Bohol Sea but there was very little research effort done to understand the population of the largest mammal on earth.
The Blue Whale is categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered globally with few recognized discrete populations.
Sabater further said that the blue whale population found in the Bohol Sea has not been assessed, its taxonomy remains unresolved, thereby, is not listed as protected species under the Philippine Law.
And so this study seeks to know the identify the blue whale population found in the Bohol sea including that of Bughaw in Negros Oriental, the stock it belongs and the extent of distribution.
To date, nobody can tell what kind of blue whale Bughaw is, whether it is either pygmy, a true blue whale or a new sub species.
The principal investigator said tissue samples to be collected will be used for generic studies and later on for stable isotopes that would lead us to the identification of the blue whales found in the Bohol Sea.
The scope of the survey is the entire Bohol Sea from Dumaguete all the way to San Ricardo or Pintuyan in Southern Leyte, cris crossing the seawaters from Dumaguete, to Siquijor then to Mindanao and back to Bohol.
The start of the combination of boat-based visual surveys, molecular genetic tools and photo-identification techniques will depend on how soon the collection permit can be issued from at least 15 municipalities that will be included in the syrvey, Sabater pointed out.
The study group is also coordinating with the local coast guard for security reasons. (Juancho Gallarde)
