nature

Scientist tracking whales

Héctor Guzmán has spent about five years studying a large group of visitors to Panama, but he still doesn't know much about them.

Unfortunately for Guzmán, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the visitors he is studying don't arrive in Panama on a plane or fill out an immigration card. He is studying whales that travel through Panama's waters during their annual migration.

"We know that Panama has whales coming here from two different hemispheres, but not much is known where they go after leaving here," the scientist said.

He is trying to change that by attaching tracking devices to the whales. These devices use satellites to keep tabs on the whales. Another part of the study has been to photograph visiting whales to see if the same ones return year after year.

This is the second major study of whales that has taken place in Panama. While this study is being done in the Pearl Islands, the previous study, done by American scientists, focused on the Gulf of Chiriquí.

Whales, like many visitors to Panama, come here to escape the cold. Whales from the southern hemisphere come here from July to November, and those from the northern hemisphere are found here from January to April.

Among the species that visit Panama are humpback whales, fin whales, Bryde's whales, pilot whales and, less frequently, blue whales and sperm whales.