Humpback whale in the bay of Algeciras and a mini-review of this species in the Mediterranean

For all these reasons, the historical presence of this species in the Mediterranean - bypassing its Atlantic migratory routes -, and the theory of why the species occasionally visits this sea has been argued in this paper. Mediterranean sightings map for the species have been developed and overlapped with primary production areas and chlorophyll concentrations in the same sea, finding coincidences between areas of high concentration of productivity and presence of humpback whales. All the individuals detected in the Mediterranean Sea were juveniles or sub-adults (never mother-calf pair), supporting that humpback whales enter these waters for feeding reasons . These solitaire animals may come from their trophic migrations movements rather than the return migration from breeding areas belonging to the North Atlantic populations. Given the increasingly frequent occurrence of these species in the Mediterranean waters, environmental monitoring and conservation programmes for humpback whales should be developed.