Photo:
Afrodita´s tracking route
April 30, 2024
We lost transmissions from Afrodita on April 11, when she was over the continental shelf and close to the continental slope, at the latitude of Golfo San Jorge. She arrived in the highly productive area of the Blue Hole at the beginning of April and was probably feeding there when her transmissions ceased.
Over the 173 days we tracked her migration, Afrodita traveled 21,166.79 kilometers (13,153 miles). After leaving Golfo Nuevo, she first traveled to the shelf east of the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands), then backtracked and traveled north along the continental slope. In February and March she was over the continental shelf off the southern coast of Buenos Aires province. Mid-March she began traveling south again, passing by Peninsula Valdés and the coast of Chubut province, until she arrived in the Blue Hole.
April 9, 2024
Afrodita and Calliope continue over the continental shelf, off Golfo San Jorge, close to the continental slope. Both whales converged in the productive area of the Blue Hole during the last two weeks of March.
March 5, 2024
Afrodita continues feeding in the same section of the continental shelf. She is 200 kilometers (124 miles) off the southern coast of Buenos Aires province.
February 20, 2024
For more than a month now Afrodita has remained in a highly productive zone of the mid-continental shelf, at the latitude of Golfo San Matías, 160 kilometers (99 miles) west of the rim of the continental slope.
February 5, 2024
Afrodita continues exploring areas of high biological productivity over the mid-continental shelf southeast of El Rincon oceanographic front. The circular paths she has been traveling since mid-January suggest she is feeding.
January 19, 2024
Afrodita remains over the continental shelf, traveling short distances in irregular patterns, which suggests she is feeding. There is a sea front in this area known as “Frente El Rincón”, an area of high biological productivity.
January 2, 2024
Afrodita crossed the extreme southwestern section of the deep ocean basin and continued her meandering travels over the continental slope. Mother and calf then traveled slowly northwards, Afrodita most likely feeding in the rich, cold waters of the Malvinas (Falklands) current. When they were at 40°S they crossed the continental slope over to the continental shelf, and today are 400 kilometers (249 miles) south of the Bahia Blanca estuary.
December 5, 2023
Afrodita was the first whale tagged in the 2023 season. She and her calf traveled around the northern section of Golfo Nuevo during her first 13 days tracked. She then visited the Área Natural Protegida El Doradillo to the southwest and returned to Puerto Pirámides bay. On November 3 Afrodita began her migration, crossing the continental shelf and the continental slope at the latitude of the Blue Hole. She then continued to the deep ocean basin and the shelf to the east of the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands). When she was near the Antilles Arch (46°S, 52°W) she made a 180° turn, and followed her previous route back, this time towards the northwest.