Timor-Leste has one of the highest concentrations of marine mammals in the world.
During the migration season – in October and November – hundreds of minke blue whales pass through the country’s waters, making an epic journey of thousands of kilometers from the Banda Sea, which lies in the north of Timor-Leste, to the south of Australia.
But this area has been under-researched, says Professor Ediwen, who started the citizen science monitoring program in 2014.
For the past two whaling seasons, she has been based in Subaun, about 50 km (31 miles) from the capital city of Dili, and has worked with fishermen, students and diving tour operators to document the cetaceans.
They have documented “some of the lesser-known intimate reproductive behaviors of blue whales, some for the first time,” says Professor Edivain, a research fellow at Charles Darwin University and the Australian National University.
For example, in 2022, tourists with a local tour operator participating in the program captured underwater footage of a mother feeding her calf, providing a glimpse into the reproductive behavior of a species that has remained largely unknown.
“It’s very, very exciting,” she adds.
