Blue whale haunt found off Chilean mainland - includes nursing and feeding group...

A recent survey found a new hangout of Blue whales - the largest mammals on the planet - in the Gulf of Corcovada, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean between the southern Chilean mainland and the largest of the Chilean islands.

In 2007, 47 Blue whale groups, some including mothers and youngsters, were sighted in the above area. This was received as great news and a positive sign of an improvement in the numbers of the southern hemisphere blue whale population.

It was reported that during the first 60 years of last century commercial whaling had wiped out 97% of the southern hemisphere Blue whale population.This was noted by Rodrigo Hucke- Gaete of the Southern University of Chile in Valdidia and his survey team.

As of 2000, the International Whaling Commission(IWC) estimated that 700-1400 Blue whales remain in the southern hemisphere.It is the IWC that has been battling the Japanese whaling industry in recent months.

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