Marine biologists from Chile’s Antarctic Institute (Inach) announced this week a rare sighting of the elusive spectacled porpoise in Chile’s Antarctic territories. Spectacled porpoise generally inhabit temperate waters of the southern hemisphere, ranging from 5.5 to 9.5 degrees Celsius. This recent sighting in far colder waters could indicate changing migratory patterns, most likely caused by global warming.

“One of the animals was swimming in water that was just 0.9 degrees,” said Carlos Olavarría, a biologist and porpoise specialist at Inach. “It’s possible that the species has moved further south during the summer in search of food.”

In-depth studies on the spectacled porpoise are hard to come by, with most information coming from skeletal examinations or fleeting observations in more northerly waters. The porpoise has been observed in Chilean waters just 25 times since 1978.

Beatrice Karol Burks