Day 13, March 6, Bonus day 2.5 — return to David and end of the expedition

With a few hours to spare before catching my return flight, we did one last survey of the Islas Paridas, but only sighted one group of bottlenose dolphins. Once inside the estuary we observed two more groups.

This wraps up our expedition. In all, we surveyed for 12 days, covered 1034 km, had 1 visual sighting of humpback whales and had 4 acoustic encounters with singers. It has been 15 years since we first surveyed these waters in the boreal season in 2001-2003, with similarly low encounter rates, suggesting there hasn't been an appreciable increase of the population using the Gulf of Chiriqui (unlike the population using this area during the austral season, which is increasing in leaps and bounds). We will prepare a report for presentation at the next Scientific Committee meeting of the International Whaling Commission, as part of the ongoing assessment of North Pacific humpback whale populations.

​Our research in Panama is conducted under MiAmbiente permit SE/A-79-17. Islas Secas Resort provided logistical support. 

Inside the estuary

Mangrove forest in the estuary

View of the estuary from the plane

Tracklines for all of our survey days, the final day in bold green