Researchers are concerned and perplexed by a dramatic increase in whale mortality in the waters off Argentine Patagonia in recent years. On an annual basis, one of the greatest concentrations of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) in the world occurs off Argentina’s Valdés Peninsula, which is located in the Patagonian province of Chubut. During the winter and spring months, when they’re in residence to reproduce and raise their young, the whales attract tens of thousands of Argentine and foreign tourists. In 2003, Argentine and foreign nonprofit groups launched a monitoring program aimed at evaluating the health of the whale population by studying the carcasses of dead southern rights that occasionally wash ashore. It is the mortality statistics compiled by this program that have stirred concern... [Log in to read more]