The anticipation is palpable aboard the Boaventura II as the yacht departs from Rio de Janeiro at sunrise. Once the vessel clears the Cagarras Islands, the rocky outcrops situated just three miles off Ipanema beach, the passengers gather at the bow, scanning the horizon with keen interest. They do not have to wait long before the ocean comes alive. “Eleven o’clock!” someone calls out, as a pod of bottlenose dolphins appears, playfully diving in and out of the water. Shortly after, two distinct spouts of vapour hanging in the air signal the primary objective of the outing: a pair of humpback whales.
This is a bucket-list moment for many on the boat, heightened by the spectacular backdrop of Rio’s jungle-cloaked mountains. Such sights have become increasingly common as Brazil’s humpback whales return to the shores of the Atlantic metropolis. This year, one whale has even been repeatedly spotted within Rio’s Guanabara Bay. The sightings, totaling at least 18, are a first and have sparked speculation among experts that humpbacks are returning to areas they once occupied centuries ago.
“You can’t put a price on this show. It’s pure magic,” says the yacht’s skipper, Theo Andrade, co-founder of the tour agency ROC Sail. After working on whale-watching expeditions around breeding grounds further north, Andrade started these tours to share the experience with others. Luciane dos Santos, a 53-year-old passenger, is fascinated by the gentle giants and took a day out of her busy life running a drinks wholesaler in the hopes of catching a glimpse of them. “I’m amazed at how a 50-tonne animal can perform such a beautiful leap that leaves everyone spellbound,” she says.
She was not disappointed by the encounter. “I feel a sense of fullness – it’s truly a gift from nature,” says Dos Santos, after a morning spent admiring six humpbacks performing their aquatic ballet. Humpbacks have always travelled along the Brazilian coast between June and November as they migrate from feeding grounds around South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic to the warmer, shallower waters of the Abrolhos Bank, which serves as their primary breeding site.
As elsewhere, indiscriminate hunting – recorded as early as about 1780 in Rio by the artist Leandro Joaquim, who painted scenes of whales being chased and harpooned in Guanabara Bay – had decimated the population by the time a global ban on commercial whaling was enforced. “At the end of the 1980s, fewer than 1,000 individuals were counted in this Brazilian group. Today, there are nearly 30,000,” says Thiago Ferrari, director of the Amigos da Jubarte (Friends of the Humpback) conservation project. Other estimates put the number closer to 35,000.
Brazilian waters are home to several whale species, including the once-endangered southern right whale – believed to be the species depicted in Joaquim’s painting – and Bryde’s whale. The 15-metre-long humpback is, however, “the star of the show” due to its acrobatic performances, says Ferrari. Liliane Lodi, a marine biologist who works for the Ilhas do Rio (Islands of Rio) research project, first registered a humpback whale in the city’s waters in 2014. The number of sightings has soared since then, bringing both excitement and concerns about potential human interference.
“Rio de Janeiro is an area of passage; it’s a migration route,” she says of humpbacks. “However, we have already registered behaviour that is typical of breeding grounds, rather than passage areas.” That includes spotting newborn calves, displays of competitive behaviour between males, and recordings of haunting whale songs. Having a researcher onboard, says Ferrari, is “fundamental for healthy, sustainable and orderly whale-watching tourism.”
With its team of biologists, the Amigos da Jubarte non-profit environmental organisation offers free training courses in partnership with local authorities, through which they have already certified about 20 agencies for cetacean watching in Rio, including ROC Sail. During these trips, a biologist often accompanies the crew. Clipboard in hand, experts answer tourists’ questions, advise the skipper to ensure that he follows best practice – such as keeping at least 100 metres from the whales and never spending more than 30 minutes near the same individuals – and write down details about the animals.
“Surveying the number of individuals allows us to track population growth and individual behaviour,” says biologist Julia Bueno. However, the expansion of the industry brings significant risks. “Fishing, tourism, large ships, chemical pollution and noise pollution, these are all challenges and threats,” she adds. The concern is that without strict regulation, the very presence of tourism could drive the whales away from these newly reclaimed urban waters.
“For a whale, it doesn’t make much difference that one operator follows best practice if the others aren’t doing so,” says Lodi. The challenge for Rio is to ensure that the return of these majestic creatures is met with a regulatory framework that prioritizes the whales’ welfare over the convenience of the tourism sector. As the city continues to embrace its role as a whale-watching destination, the balance between economic gain and environmental stewardship remains a delicate, ongoing negotiation. The report also notes that “It’s very sociable when it wants to be,” says Lodi, who enlisted the help of citizen scientists to study the animal. The report also notes that “When you combine tourism and research,” she says, “you have infinitely better data collection than if you weren’t working together.”. The report also notes that before revealing the underside of their fluke as they dive back underwater, the majestic mammals surface to breathe with an unhurried chuff. The report also notes that as elsewhere, indiscriminate hunting – recorded as early as about 1780 in Rio by the artist Leandro Joaquim, who painted scenes of whales being chased and harpooned in Guanabara Bay – had decimated the population by the time a global ban on commercial whaling took effect in 1986. The report also notes that as well as a new source of tourism revenue during the winter, such collaboration between science and leisure is one of the reasons advocates believe Rio’s budding whalewatching industry can be a tool for conservation. The report also notes that mariana Bueno is an environmental sciences student employed by ROC Sail to accompany each whalewatching outing on the Boaventura II. The report also notes that these behavioural surveys then serve as the basis for formulating laws and rules.”. The report also notes that “This population increase is a source of great happiness to us researchers.