Recent Sightings of Blue Whales Balaenoptera Musculus and Bryde's Whales Balaenoptera Edeni in The Bohol Sea, Philippines

Marine Mammal Science
Recent sightings of Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and

Bryde's whales Balaenoptera edeni in the Bohol Sea,
Philippines
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Journal: Marine Mammal Science
Manuscript ID: Draft

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Manuscript Type: Note

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Date Submitted by the

n/a
Author:
Complete List of Authors: Acebes, Jo Marie; Balyena.org

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Sabater, Edna; Silliman University Marine Lab, Institute of

Environmental and Marine Sciences
Ponzo, Alessandro; Physalus NPO
Digdigan, Lisa; AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development
Coordination
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Emata, Christine; Silliman University Marine Lab, Institute of

Environmental and Marine Sciences; Physalus NPO
Utzurrum, Jean; Silliman University, Institute of Environmental and
Marine Sciences
Pahang, Kristina; Physalus NPO
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Keywords: Blue whale, Bryde's whale, Philippines, sightings, Omura's whale

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Page 1 of 16 Marine Mammal Science
1 Recent sightings of blue whales Balaenoptera musculus and Bryde’s whales Balaenoptera edeni
2 in the Bohol Sea, Philippines.
4 Jo Marie V. Acebes
5 ₁Balyena.org, Paseo del Mar, Barangay Pangdan, Jagna, Bohol, Philippines
7 Edna R. Sabater
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8 ₂Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences, Silliman University Marine Lab, Bantayan,
9 Dumaguete City 6200, Negros Oriental

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10
11 Alessandro Ponzo
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12 ₃Physalus NPO, Largo Callifonte 28, 00124, Rome, Italy /
13 LAMAVE, Large Marine Vertebrates Project Philippines, Paseo del Mar, Pangdan, Jagna,
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14 Bohol, Philippines
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16 Lisa Digdigan
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17 AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Coordination, Cebu City, Philippines
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19 ₂,₃Christine Louise P. Emata
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21 ₂Jean Asuncion T. Utzurrum
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23 ₃Kristina Pahang
1

Marine Mammal Science Page 2 of 16
24
25 Prior to modern commercial whaling blue whales were distributed widely in the North Pacific
26 (Calambokidis et al. 2009). Although the northeastern Pacific stock has recently shown
27 evidence of increase (Calambokidis and Barlow 2004), little is still known about the
28 northwestern Pacific stock (Mizroch 1984). In the Philippines, sightings of blue whales were
29 noted by American sperm whalers in the ‘Soloo Seas’ as ‘sulphur bottoms’ in the late 1800s1
30 while Slijper et al. (1964) noted occurrence in southern Mindanao, southern Palawan and eastern
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31 coast of northern Luzon. Subsequent surveys of marine mammals in the country did not confirm
32 its occurrence however (Leatherwood et al. 1992, Tan 1995). Prior to this report, the first known
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33 confirmed documentation of the blue whale was when a local television film crew caught on
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34 camera a mother and calf baleen whale off Pamilacan Island, Bohol on February 2004. At that
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35 time it was identified as a Bryde’s whale. A couple of photographs taken of a baleen whale seen
36 in the same area in May 2004 by a group of visitors consisting of a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer,
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37 Virginia Montgomery, an Econature Philippines staff person and a Bohol Marine Triangle
38 Project (BMTP) staff were released later that same year2. The photos were sent to experts in the
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39 U.S. for identification and the animal was confirmed to be a blue whale3. These sightings were
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40 brief and no detailed information on the animal was taken. There has been no further record of
41 the species in the Bohol Sea until a recent sighting in 2010.
1
Jo Marie V. Acebes, 2009. Historical whaling in the Philippines: origins of ‘indigenous subsistence whaling’
mapping whaling grounds and comparison with current known distribution. A HMAP Asia Project Paper. Working
Paper no. 161, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.
2
Personnal communication
3
Personal communication

42 Bryde’s whales on the other hand have been seen frequently in recent years in the
43 Philippines (Leatherwood et al. 1992, Tan 1995). Given that it is still unclear how many species
44 of Bryde’s-whale-like species are there and the nomenclature remains unresolved (Wada et al.
45 2003, Sasaki et al. 2006, Kato & Perrin 2009) we will refer to the Philippine whales here as
46 simply as a member of Bryde’s whale complex and follow the International Whaling
47 Commission’s usage of Balaenoptera edeni. Recently however, research indicates that there are
48 possibly two species occurring in the Philippines, what Yamada et al. (2008) refers to as Indo-
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49 Pacific Bryde’s whale (B. edeni) and the new species B. omurai (Omura’s whale) (Wada et al.
50 2003, Yamada et al. 2008). Yamada et al.’s (2008) examination of bones stored in the Silliman
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51 University Marine Laboratory at Dumaguete City led him to conclude that the majority were
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52 from Omura’s whale and only four out of 24 whales represented were Indo-Pacific Bryde’s. The
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53 bones were collected from Pamilacan Island and Lila in Bohol where whales used to be hunted.
54 The whales were hunted in the Bohol Sea for at least over a century until the ban on hunting for
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55 whales and dolphins in the Philippines was implemented (Dolar et al. 1994). However, since the
56 last known catch of Bryde’s whales off Pamilacan Island, somewhere between 1993 and 19984
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57 (Dolar et al. 1994), no sightings of the species have been confirmed and documented in the
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58 Bohol Sea until 2010. Previous surveys conducted around the Bohol Marine Triangle area from
59 2002-2004 did not encounter either Bryde’s or blue whales5. However, reports from locals from
4
Jo Marie V. Acebes, 2009. Historical whaling in the Philippines: origins of ‘indigenous subsistence whaling’
mapping whaling grounds and comparison with current known distribution. A HMAP Asia Project Paper. Working
Paper no. 161, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia
5
Hilconida P. Calumpong, Editor, 2005, Large Vertebrates, pp. 228-242, Sec. 1, Chap. 3, Bohol Marine Triangle
Project (BMTP): Volume I, Biodiversity Inventory, Assessment and Monitoring – year 3, Foundation for the
Philippine Environment, 77 Matahimik St., Teacher’s Village, Quezon City 1101, Philippines, Prepared by Silliman
University Marine Laboratory, Dumaguete City

60 Pamilacan Island and dolphin watching tour operators persisted that the Bryde’s whales, locally
61 known as bongkaras, could still be seen in the Bohol Sea.
62 Documented sightings of Bryde’s-like whales in other parts of the Philippines are recent.
63 One was encountered off Balabac, southern Palawan during a cetacean survey in 20066, and
64 Miyashita et al. (1996) and Kishiro (1996) sighted animals off the eastern coast of Mindanao.
65 Photos of a Bryde’s whale-like animal were taken off Aklan in 20107. Live strandings were also
66 documented in Masbate in 20088 of a whale entangled in a net and a whale stranded in the
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67 shallows in 2009 in Nasugbu, Batangas9. A small baleen whale stranded in 2010 in Zambales
68 could possibly have been a subadult Omura’s whale. There were several beachings of baleen
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69 whales in the past three years, one in Batangas in 2007 and two around the Manila Bay area in
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70 2009 which were identified as either Bryde’s whale or Omura’s however these identifications
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71 cannot be confirmed without osteological examination or genetic analysis of the specimens.
72 On 10 June 2010 locals from Pamilacan reported seeing a large whale close to its shores
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73 for the previous three consecutive days. On June 11th a team of researchers organized a survey to
74 investigate. Using a 28-foot Fibreglass boat, the team surveyed 8-10 kms off the shores of
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75 Pamilacan, following a zig zag pattern with legs about 5 km long. A tall blow was seen at 14:19
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76 about 2.7 km from Pamilacan, SE (~165°) of the island. At 14:34:19 the boat was able to get
6
Ma. Louella L. Dolar, 2006, Marine Mammals of the Marine Biodiversity Conservation Corridors in the Philippines:
Verde Island Passage, Balabac Strait and the Cagayan Ridge. A Technical Report submitted to Conservation
International – Philippines. 60pp.
7
8
Personal communication from Arnel Andrew Yaptinchay, 2008, Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, Makati
City, Philippines
9

77 close to the whale at N9.47835/E123.94426 (Fig. 1). The whale appeared to be resting. It
78 surfaced showing its broad head first. It had a prominent splashguard and broad shoulders (Fig.
79 2). As it rounded its back to dive, with the head no longer seen above water, its bluish grey back
80 could be seen. About two-thirds back on the body the small dorsal fin could be seen. It had a
81 mottled coloration. The research team observed the whale for 1 hour and 47 minutes, following it
82 with caution and keeping a distance of about 100 meters. It was diving regularly with dive
83 intervals of 9-24 minutes. It made two fluke-up dives. The whale was estimated to be 22 m long.
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84 Photographs of the left (Fig. 3) and right side of the animal were taken for future identification.
85 After about an hour into the observation, a dolphin-watching boat approached the animal directly
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86 from behind, getting as close as 20 m from the animal, until it did a fluke-up dive. When it
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87 resurfaced it was about 150 m from where it was last seen. The animal stayed in the general area
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88 for at least 2.5 hours. The dolphin-watching boat continued to follow the animal after the
89 research team left the area.

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90 On 12 June 2010, another research team conducted a survey around Pamilacan Island
91 using an outrigger boat about 7-9 m long. A whale was initially seen at N9.47421/ E123.93774,
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92 about 2.4 km from shore at 12:33pm (Fig. 1). The animal appeared to be travelling towards the
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93 southeast. Although it was observed for only 8 minutes, recorded respiration interval was
94 between 2 to 3 minutes. It did not make a fluke-up dive. Photographs of the left side of the
95 animal showing its rostrum were taken (Fig. 4). The photo shows a ridge parallel to the median
96 ridge. These features led to the conclusion that the whale was a Bryde’s-like whale. Whether it
97 was a B. edeni or B. omurai cannot be determined for certain. Cookie-cutter shark bites on its
98 body were evident. There was also a prominent dorsal fin mark which can be used for future
99 identification (Fig. 5). Weeks later, an amateur video was seen of a blue whale being ‘chased’ by

100 a dolphin-watching boat off Pamilacan Island. The video was posted in January 2010, but it
101 cannot be determined for certain when it was taken, because the authors were not successful in
102 getting in touch with the videographer.
103 The sighting of the blue whale in the Bohol Sea is significant because it is the first time
104 that a long observation of the species was documented there. So far it is only in the Bohol Sea,
105 specifically around the waters of Pamilacan Island that this animal has been seen in the country.
106 Few sightings of the species have been reported recently in the western North Pacific (Sears and
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107 Perrin, 2009).
108 Similarly the sighting of the Bryde’s whale in these waters is significant because this is
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109 the first documented sighting since the whaling ban took effect in early 1993. This may indicate
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110 that the whales have returned to their former grounds.

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111 The sightings of these two species within the same area pose a question to whether
112 previous undocumented reports of bongkaras or Bryde’s whales were in fact blue whales. From
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113 interviews of island residents and local dolphin-watching guides and operators it was apparent
114 that they could not distinguish one species from the other. It is then possible that both species
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115 have always occurred recently in the Bohol Sea but blue whales have been misidentified as
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116 Bryde’s whales. It is also possible that the blue whale was also locally hunted together with the
117 Bryde’s whale and Omura’s whale. Another possibility is that blue whales have returned to their
118 former area of distribution in the Philippines and now frequent the Bohol Sea.
119 Further surveys are needed to determine the regularity of the occurrence of these two (or
120 three) species in the Bohol Sea. Photographic identification study is needed to determine how
121 many animals occur there for each species. Biopsy sampling and genetic studies will help give
122 clarity to the genetic identity of the blue whales in the Philippines and their relation to the rest of

123 the Pacific blue whale population. It will also help to determine whether both B. edeni and B.
124 omurai occur in the Philippines.
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146 Literature Cited
147 Calambokidis, J., Barlow, J., Ford, J.K., Chandler, T. E. and Douglas, A. B. 2009. Insights into
148 the population structure of blue whales in the Eastern North Pacific from recent sightings and
149 photographic identification. Marine Mammal Science, 25(4): 816-832.
150
151 Calambokidis, J., and Barlow, J. 2004. Abundance of blue and humpback whales in the eastern
152 North Pacific estimated by capture-recapture and line-transect methods. Marine Mammal
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153 Science 20:63-85.
154
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155 Dolar, M.L.L., Perrin, W.F.P., Taylor, B.L. and Kooyman, G.L. 2006. Abundance and
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156 distributional ecology of cetaceans in the central Philippines. Journal of Cetacean Research and
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157 Management. 8(1): 93-111.
158
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159 Dolar, M.L.L., Leatherwood, S.J., Wood, C.J., Alava, M.N.R., Hill, C.L. and Aragones, L.V.
160 1994. Directed fisheries for cetaceans in the Philippines. Reports of the International Whaling
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161 Commission, 44, 439-449.

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163 Kato, H. and Perrin, W.F. 2009. Bryde’s Whales – Balaenoptera edeni/brydei. In: Encyclopedia
164 of Marine Mammals, 2nd Ed. (Perrin W.F., Würsig B., Thewissen J.G.M., eds.) Academic Press,
165 Amsterdam, pp. 158-163.
166
167 Kishiro, T. 1996. ‘Movements of Marked Bryde’s Whales in the Western North Pacific’. Reports
168 of the International Whaling Commission, 46: 421-28.

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170 Leatherwood, S. Dolar, M.L.L., Wood, C.J., Aragones, L.V., and Hill, C.L. 1992. Marine
171 Mammal Species Confirmed from Philippine waters. Silliman Journal (36)1.
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173 Mizroch, S. A., Rice, D.W. and Breiwick, J.M. 1984. The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus.
174 Marine Fisheries Review 46:15-19.
175
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176 Miyashita, T., Kishiro, T., Higashi, N., Sato, F., Mori, K. and Kato, H. 1996. ‘Winter
177 Distribution of Cetaceans in the Western North Pacific Inferred from Sighting Cruises 1993-
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178 1995’. Reports of the International Whaling Commission, 46: 437-41.

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179
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180 Sasaki, T., Nikaido, M., Wada, S., Yamada, T.K., Cao, Y., Hasegawa, M., and Okada, N. (2006).
181 Balaenoptera omurai is a newly discovered baleen whale that represents an ancient evolutionary
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182 lineage. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 41, 40-52.
183
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184 Sears, R. and Perrin, W.F.. 2009. Blue Whale – Balaenoptera musculus. In: Encyclopedia of
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185 Marine Mammals, 2nd Ed. (Perrin W.F., Würsig B., Thewissen J.G.M., eds.) Academic Press,
186 Amsterdam, pp. 120-124.
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188 Slijper, E.J., van Utrecht, W.L., and Naaktgeboren, C. 1964. ‘Remarks on the distribution and
189 migration of whales, based on observation from Netherlands ships.’ Bijbragen Tot De
190 Djerkunde XXXIV. 34:3-93.
191

192 Tan, J.M.L., 1995. A field guide to the whales and dolphins in the Philippines. Makati City:
193 Bookmark. 125p.
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195 Wada, S., Oishi, M. and Yamada, T.K. 2003. A newly discovered species of living baleen whale.
196 Nature 426: 278-281.
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198 Yamada, T. K., Kakuda, T. and Tajima, Y. 2008. Middle sized balaenopterid whale specimens in
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199 the Philippines and Indonesia. Memoir Of the National Museum Of Nature and Science, Tokyo,
200 (45): 75–83.

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212 Acknowledgements
213 We would like to thank the local government of the Municipality of Baclayon in Bohol,
214 especially Mayor Alvin Uy and his staff for their invaluable support and for lending us their
215 boat; the second author would like to acknowledge the funding support from Rufford Small
216 Grants Foundation and Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong; Mr. Joel and Adrien
217 Uychico for their unfailing support; residents of Pamilacan Island; Tadasu Yamada, Ma. Louella
218 Dolar, William F. Perrin, Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan and Jojo Baritua for providing important
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219 information and comments; Karina Escudero, Arnel Andrew Yaptinchay, Jessie de los Reyes,
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220 and Shelby Guigerre for sharing video footages and/or photographs; Mr. Kelly Dolan for
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221 generating our map; and the Bohol Environment Management Office.
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Location of sightings and tracks of the blue whale and Bryde’s-like whale off Pamilacan Island,
Bohol.
254x168mm (96 x 96 DPI)
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Photo of the head of the blue whale sighted on 10 June 2010 off Pamilacan Island, Bohol.
203x135mm (300 x 300 DPI)
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Photo of the left side of the blue whale sighted on 10 June 2010 off Pamilacan Island, Bohol.
203x135mm (300 x 300 DPI)
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Photo of the head of the Bryde’s-like whale sighted on 12 June 2010 off Pamilacan Island, Bohol.
203x77mm (300 x 300 DPI)
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Photo of the dorsal fin of the Bryde’s-like whale sighted on 12 June 2010 off Pamilacan, Bohol.
203x51mm (300 x 300 DPI)
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Recent Sightings of Blue Whales Balaenoptera Musculus and Bryde's Whales Balaenoptera Edeni in The Bohol Sea, Philippines

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