Whales, connecting two nations in Science

POSTED ON BY Aw Jeanice

Photo by Ari Friedlaender, courtesy of the United States Antarctic Program

To many Colombians, humpback whales are a big part of their lives. Every year, hundreds of humpback whales migrate from the icy Antarctic waters to the warmer waters along Colombia’s Pacific coast where they were born, to repeat the cycle and give birth to young of their own. Thousands of domestic and international tourists flock to the whales’ breeding spot yearly, attracted by the thrilling sight of these giants.

However, as travel ceased in most parts of the world during this global pandemic, many were unable to witness the rare natural spectacle in person this year. Hence, the Embassy of Colombia hoped to open a window into their world by bringing the majestic humpback whales of the Pacific Ocean to Singaporeans and the rest of the world, virtually. This is a part of a larger framework of their Plan for the promotion of Colombia—Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia.

From left to right: A/P Darren Yeo, Professor Peter Ng, H.E. Manuel Solano, Ms Diana Rengifo (Consul of Colombia to Singapore). Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Colombia in Singapore

The collaboration with the Embassy of Colombia in Singapore was initiated a little over a month ago, on 12 October 2020. Over a lunch meeting, the Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia, His Excellency Manuel Hernando Solano Sossa, spoke to our Head, Professor Peter Ng,  about the importance of marine species, such as Colombia’s beloved humpback whales.

Their discussion set in motion an exciting endeavour—a virtual sharing of the whales important to these two nations, jointly organised by the Embassy of Colombia and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum!

Event poster for ‘A Window to Colombia: The Humpback Whales’
Preparations for the webinar began immediately, setting our museum abuzz with activity.

On the day of the event, hundreds of people from Singapore, Colombia, Malaysia, India, the United States, the United Kingdom and attended the webinar, hosted by Ms Diana Pimentel from the Embassy of Colombia, and Deputy Head, A/P Darren C J Yeo.

Left to right: Ms Holly Turner (founder of ARTitude Galería), Professor Peter Ng, Dr Liu Thai Ker, H.E. Manuel Solano. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Colombia in Singapore

The event was also webcast simultaneously from the ARTitude Galería, home to a stunning showcase of artworks by Colombian artists, and graced by Ambassador H.E. Manuel Solano, Prof Ng and Dr Liu Thai Ker, former chief-planner at the Urban Redevelopment Authority and known as the architect of modern Singapore, as members of the webinar panel together with the featured speakers.

While in Colombia for the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum in July 2019, Dr Liu had met with the Ambassador in Santiago de Cali to discuss strategies of urban planning for liveable cities. Seeing that Dr Liu did not get to encounter the whales during his cruise around the Colombian waters during that trip, the Ambassador invited Dr Liu to this educational webinar event to experience the magnificence of the whales differently—and what a unique way it turned out to be!

Aimed at spotlighting the role of marine science in the conservation of whales, the webinar invited keynote speaker, Ms Angela Posada-Swafford, a recognised Colombian American science writer and journalist, to start the dialogue about the whales of the world.

Of Whales & Scientific Adventures

Photo by Rebecca Shoop, courtesy of the United States Antarctic Program

Over her three-decade-long career, Angela has been a part of several international oceanography and land research expeditions, writing about earth sciences, the environment, biodiversity, climate change and more. Her exemplary work earned her many awards, such as an Emmy nomination for scriptwriting and the Society of Professional Journalists’ First Prize for Investigative Environmental Journalism!

Ms Angela Posada-Swafford, Colombian American science writer and journalist.

Her journey and fascination with the humpback whales began on her first encounter in the 1990s: on a submarine owned by the Colombian Navy, which she explained provides significant aid to scientific research on whales. She told a captivating story of how she heard and felt the whales singing in the Pacific Ocean, through the vibrations in the submarine walls.

Also on-board the submarine was the co-inventor of the external pacemaker, Dr Jorge Reynolds, who was on a mission to study the electrical signals of one the largest hearts in the world. The acoustic recordings taped underwater were later processed to unmask the heartbeats of the whales. Listening to the sounds made by the enormous hearts of these gentle giants, pumping 700 litres of blood with each contraction, moved Angela as well. She later wrote about the science of it in her widely acclaimed book, “In the Heart of the Whales”.

The Silver Threads between Nations

As inhabitants of all oceans in the world, Angela pointed out eloquently, “whales can be silver threads of friendship and cooperation between nations… They are incredibly important in telling us what’s going on in our seas, and calling (our) attention to get together to do something about it.”

Here in Singapore, the first ever sperm whale sighting in July 2015 within our territorial waters sent a buzz of excitement through the nation. Upon hearing reports about a carcass of an adult female sperm whale seen off Jurong Island, our resident mammalogist, Marcus Chua, sprang into action to secure the specimen.

Mr Marcus Chua, mammalogist at LKCNHM.

Standing before the sperm whale skeleton during the webinar, Marcus spoke about the journey the museum undertook to obtain the carcass, and the incredible amount of support we received from agencies such as Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, and the National Environment Agency. The nation rallied together to publicly fund the exhibition of the sperm whale, as well as related scientific and educational activities, eventually contributing over $1.3 million.

“It was a race against time”, Marcus said as he recalled the hurried process of dissecting the whale carcass for preservation before the inevitable decomposition set in. Our museum staff sought to study the diet and origin of the sperm whale respectively through its stomach contents and mitochondrial DNA. Read more about their findings published in the open access journal, PeerJ.

A Friendship in Science

From left to right, front row: Ms Diana Pimentel, Mr Marcus Chua.
Back row: A/P Darren C J Yeo, Ms Jeanice Aw (Media Officer/LKCNHM), Ms Susan Tan (Director/LKCNHM).
From left to right: Professor Peter Ng, Dr Liu Thai Ker, H.E. Manuel Solano, Mr Ravi Thakran (co-owner of ARTitude Galería) and Mr Marcus Chua. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Colombia in Singapore

We are honoured to collaborate with the Embassy of Colombia and Ms Angela Posada-Swafford, to share with the public about the research on humpback whales in Colombia. Indeed, rooted in our shared passion in conserving our precious marine biodiversity, this webinar event will “bring Singapore and Colombia closer together in one more area, which is the area of the whales”, as Angela hoped.

Thank you to all who joined and supported our special webinar, ‘A Window to Colombia: The Humpback Whales’, via Zoom and Facebook Live. We are heartened to have attracted such a lively audience, who posed an interesting range of questions on whales, marine research and conservation to the panellists. You may watch the webinar here, and visit Angela’s website to stay tuned for the release of her upcoming co-authored book, “The Secret Lives of Whales”!