Research of Endangered Whales in Guatemala

Ester Quintana is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi everyone, my name is Ester Quintana, and thank you for your interest in my work with humpback whales on the southern Pacific Coast of Guatemala in Central America!

Did you know North Eastern Pacific humpback whales migrate to Guatemala's tropical waters to give birth, nurse their calves, and mate? My research focuses on understanding this crucial and unexplored part of humpback whales' migratory patterns. Scientists don't know, for example, when and how humpback whales arrive and leave Guatemala's waters and in what order social groups travel. Do mothers and calves arrive first? And when do juvenile and adult males inhabit the breeding ground, and how long do they stay? These are just a couple of the questions I am studying to contribute to the worldwide conservation efforts of this endangered distinctive population segment –its latest abundance estimate is less than 1500. All funds will be used to support the staff and equipment required to do this work (e.g., time of fishermen, boat rental, boat fuel, transportation to/from field site, etc.). I will be updating this page with pictures of my upcoming field season.

Advancing community-driven conservation with locals is an integral part of this project. I collaborate with local fishermen and, together with them, work on this research. I have had powerful experiences working with locals and know the significant changes informed locals can make toward conservation efforts. One experience that comes to mind was a Guatemalan fisherman who helped me track marine life. After working with him for over a year and as our relationship grew, he told me that in our time together, he understood that marine life needed to be preserved for everyone. I was shocked when he handed me over a harpoon he used many years ago to kill dolphins.

I am a biological oceanographer and completed my doctorate at the University of South Florida. I have been working with marine mammals for over 25 years. Previously, I also received a LASPAU-Fullbright scholarship to obtain a Master's Degree in Zoology from the University of Florida after I graduated with a Licenciatura Degree in Biology from Universidad San Carlos in Guatemala. I am an invited member of the following International Union for the Conservation of Natural Resouces (IUCN) groups: the Sirenian Specialist Group, the Cetacean Specialist Group, and the Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force.

If you are interested in learning more about my work, don't hesitate to contact me with specific questions. I appreciate your support!

Some publications

Quintana-Rizzo, E., O. Machuca-Coronado, and H.A. García. 2023. Long-term spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, and priority areas for manatees and calves (Trichechus manatus) in Guatemala. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 71(S4): e57273. https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57273
Machuca-Coronado, O., E. Quintana-Rizzo, T. Sandoval, M.F. Corona-Figueroa, and H.A. García. Characteristics and spatial identification of areas of high concentration of manatee (Trichechus manatus) strandings in Guatemala. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 71(S4): e57274. https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57274
Méndez, G., S. Carney, H.A. Garcia, and E. Quintana-Rizzo. Initial characterization of mitochondrial DNA control region haplotypes of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus Sirenia: Trichechidae) in Guatemala. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 71(S4): e57278 https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57278
Douglas, A.B., F. Garita Alpízar, A. Acevedo-Gutiérrez, S.D. Mahaffy, K. Rasmussen, E. Quintana-Rizzo, J. De Weerdt, D.M. Palacios, D. Martínez-Fernández, C. Lazcano-Pacheco, C.D. Ortega Ortiz, J. Calambokidis, and R.W. Baird. False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) along the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico: Long-term site fidelity and association patterns. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation 71(S4): e57189. https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.57189
De Weerdt, J., Pacheco, A.S., Calambokidis, J., Castaneda, M., Cheesman, T., Frisch-Jordan, A., Garita Alpizar, F., Hayslip, C., Martinez-Loustalot, P., Palacios, D.M., Quintana-Rizzo, E., Randome N., Urban Ramirez, J., Clapham, P., and Van der Stocken, T. 2023. Migratory destinations and spatial structuring of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering off Nicaragua. Scientific Reports 13, 15180. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41923-7
Cheeseman T., Southerland K., Acebes J.M., Audley K., Barlow J., Bejder L., Birdsall C., Bradford A. Byington J., Calambokidis J., Cartwright R., Cedarleaf J., Garcia Chavez A.J., Currie J., De Weerdt J., Doe N., Doniol-Valcroze T., Dacrott K., Filatova O., Finn R., Flynn K., Ford J., Frisch-Jordan A., Gabriele C., Goodwin B., Hayslip C. Hildering J., Hill M., Jacobsen J., Jones M., Kobayashi N., Lyman E., Malleson M., Mamaev E., Marinez-Loustalot P., Masterman A., Matkin C., McMillan C., Moore J., Moran J., Neilson J., Newell H., Okave H., Olio M., Pack A., Palacios D., Peason H., Quintana-Rizzo E., Ramirez Barragan R.F., Ransome N., Sharpe F., Shaw T., Stack S., Staniland L., Straley J., Szabo A., Teerlink S., Titova O., Urban J., van Aswegen M., Vinicius M., von Ziegesar O., Witteveen B., Wray J., Yano K., Zwiefelhofer D., Rosales-Nanduca H., Jiménez-Lopez M.E., and Clapham P. 2023. (Almost) all the humpback whales of the North Pacific: A collaborative comprehensive North Pacific humpback whale photo-ID dataset. Scientific Reports 13, 10237. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36928-1
Palacios D., Felix F., Montecinos Y., Najera E., Kelez S., Samaniego J.,Velásquez P., Zapata L, Lancaster M., Friedlaender A.S., Castro C.A., Quintana-Rizzo E., Bermúdez-Rivas C., Cazas JJ., Villamil Echeverri C., Rojas Bracho L., Sepúlveda M., Medrano-Gonzales L., Santillan L., Aguilar Arakaki R., Pineda, L., Reisinger R., and Johnson C.M. 2023. Blue corridor of the Eastern Pacific: Opportunities and actions for the protection of migratory whales. A Technical Report. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
McMillan, C.J., Ford, J.K.B., Cheeseman, T., Calambokidis, J., Audley, K., Birdsall, C., Byington, J.K., Currie, J., Darling, J.D., De Weerdt, J., Doe, N., Doniol-Valcroze, T., Dracott, K., Finn, R., Frisch-Jordán, A., Gabriele, C., Goodwin, B., Hildering, J., Jones, M., Lyman, E., Malleson, M., Martinez Loustalot, P., Pack, A.A., Quintana-Rizzo, E., Ransome, N., Shaw, T.J.H., Stack, S., Urbán R., J., Wray, J., Wright, B.M., and Yano, K.M. 2023. Spatial patterns in the migratory destinations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) encountered in Canadian Pacific waters, based on photo-identification data and ocean basin-wide collaboration. Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 3519: v + 27 p.
Quintana-Rizzo, E., V. Davila, J. Ortiz-Wolford, and A.A. Cabrera. 2022. San José Canyon and Adjacent Shelf IMMA (Important Marine Mammal Protected Areas). IUCN-MMPATF. IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/portfolio-item/san-jose-canyon-and-adjacent-shelf-imma/
Quintana-Rizzo, E., B. Pérez-Ortega, L. Trejos-Lasso, J.D. Palacios-Alfaro, F. Garita, J. De Weerdt, N. Ransome, K. Urriola-García, K. Rasmussen, J. Urbán-Ramírez, L. Viloria-Gómora, L. Rojas-Bracho and I.C. Avila. 2022. Central America Humpback Whale Corridor IMMA. (Important Marine Mammal Protected Areas). IUCN-MMPATF. IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/portfolio-item/central-america-humpback-whale-corridor-imma/
O’Brien, O., D.E. Pendleton, L.C. Ganley, K.R. McKenna, K.D. Kenney, E. Quintana-Rizzo, C.A. Mayo, S.D. Kraus, and J.R. Redfern. 2022. Repatriation of a historical North Atlantic right whale habitat during an era of rapid climate change. Scientific Reports. 12:12407. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16200-8
Curtis, K.A., J. Calambokidis, K. Audley, M.G. Castaneda, J. De Weerdt, A.J. García Chávez, F. Garita, P. Martínez-Loustalot, J.D. Palacios-Alfaro, B. Pérez, E. Quintana-Rizzo, R. Ramírez Barragan, N. Ransome, K. Rasmussen, J. Urbán R., F. Villegas Zurita, K. Flynn, T. Cheeseman, J. Barlow, D. Steel, and J. Moore. 2022. Abundance of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Central America and southern Mexico from a one-dimensional spatial capture-recapture model. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SWFSC-661. https://doi.org/10.25923/9cq1-rx80
Hodge, B. C., D.E. Pendleton, L.C. Ganley, O. O’Brien, S.D. Kraus, E. Quintana-Rizzo, and J.V. Redfern. 2022. Identifying predictors of species diversity to guide designation of marine protected areas. Conservation Science and Practice, e12665. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12665
Quintana-Rizzo, E., S. Leiter, T. V. N. Cole, M. N. Hagbloom, A. R. Knowlton, P. Nagelkirk, O. O’Brien, C. B. Khan, A. G. Henry, P. A. Duley, L. M. Crowe, C. A. Mayo, and S. D. Kraus. 2021. Residency, demographics, and movement patterns of North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis in an offshore wind energy development area in southern New England, USA. Endangered Species Research 45:251-268. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01137
Redfern, J.V., Kryc, K.A., Weiss, L., Hodge, B., O’Brien, O., Kraus, S.D., Quintana-Rizzo, E., and P.J. Auster. 2021. Opening a marine monument to commercial fishing creates gaps in ecosystem protections. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:645314. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.645314
Quintana-Rizzo, E., A. Cabrera, J. Ortiz-Wolford, and V. Davila. 2021. Spatial distribution and abundance of small cetaceans in the Pacific waters of Guatemala. Frontiers in Marine Science Frontiers in Marine Science 8:674134. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.674134