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The big island welcomes every year a large-scale visitor, the whale !

The opportunity for many tourists enjoy the show and an experience out of the ordinary.

Although the humpback whales are among the most studied large whales, the structure of the populations of the southern hemisphere is not very well known.
Worldwide, There are approximately 60 000 humpback whales, According to the IUCN, whose 35 000 located in the southern hemisphere, an estimate made by the International Whaling Commission.

The humpback whale is 14 to 16 meters long, and its weight in adulthood varies between 34 000 and 45 000 kg.
This whale is distinguished by its long pectoral fins, who can measure up to one-third of the length of the body.
It also has a small dorsal fin located in the second third of the body, the famous bump, who is it named after, is located upstream of the dorsal fin.
The humpback whale is also characterized by the presence of white on its underside and the posterior edge of its caudal fin, which offers variations ranging from completely white to completely black and unique designs that, with the scars, to identify each individual, This pigmentation and these reasons allow individual recognition.

Madagascar, reproduction field
Whales are long migrations between their feeding area and their breeding area.
They spend the summer months feeding in high latitudes, waters rich in food such as krill or small fish living in schools.
When approaching fall and winter, humpback whales begin a long journey which leads to their wintering or reproduction of low latitude areas.
These are generally shallow, warm and protected that are specifically the favorite habitat of humpback whales in their wintering. In winters, the whales migrate to the warm waters of the tropics including the coast of Madagascar for the breeding and calving.

The females return annually to the same spawning grounds, to mate and give birth to their baby. The opportunity to see the calf imitate all the gestures of his mother as the first 'no '..
Humpback whales live for 30 years. During their lifetime, females may give birth more than fifteen small.
The season for whale watching is from mid June to September.

The Whale Festival takes place in early July 2015 on the island of Sainte Marie

Cetamada Association

Cetamada is a Malagasy law non-profit association founded in may 2009.
Their goal is the preservation of the populations of marine mammals and their habitat in Madagascar.
For this, the association is committed to a sustainable development approach by involving local populations in its actions and by generating sustainable income for the communities.

Activities are centered around 4 areas of action :
• supervising and promoting responsible and sustainable ecotourism
• education and awareness of the environment and marine heritage
• the development of community activities
• the scientific research

Environmental education
The CetaClub offers children a range of activities (land and sea) mixing entertainment and learning.
Activities take place on Wednesdays, Saturdays and during school holidays.
About 150 children are enrolled.
Throughout the year, educators lead outreach activities for Saint-Marian children to raise awareness and enhance marine heritage.

This project is at the heart of the association's mission : ensure the conservation of marine mammals in Madagascar through long-term awareness. For this, fun and appropriate activities are put in place to stimulate the awakening of consciences of the younger generations and open their minds to the respect for the environment.

Awareness and environmental education are not limited to children.
The scientific team speaks regularly at conferences and workshops to present the different marine mammals of Madagascar and issues related to their conservation.

Cetamada also invites national and international partners to participate in these moments of Exchange.
These meetings are accessible to public, of the curious tourist to learn about local biodiversity to the Malagasy student wishing to work towards respect for biodiversity and the environment.
Since 2009, Cetamada has organised conferences on several sites in Antananarivo, Tamatave, Nosy Be, Toliara, Diego-Suarez, Majunga and Sainte-Marie.

Community activities
The migration of humpback whales during the southern winter brings more than months 5 000 tourists per year in the region of Sainte-Marie (about 50 % annual tourism), making it the third most touristic place of Madagascar.

Cetamada is committed to supporting the development of economic activities around marine mammals of Madagascar, in particular the humpback whales. The community centre of the association freely welcomes those who wish to be trained in techniques of local crafts or perfect their expertise.
Material is made available and artisans can expose their work of sewing, sculpture, painting, braiding, etc. Cetamada tourist eco partners also reserve a space in their structures to expose these products.

An assessment of the economic impact of the sightings of whales in the marine areas of the Bay of Antongil, Sainte-Marie, Nosy Be, Anakao and Cape Sainte-Marie showed that this activity generated 1,825,628 us$ during the season 2008. Although whaling ecotourism promotion efforts deployed by the different actors at the other sites in Madagascar, Sainte-Marie is still today the main site of the whale.
Meetings organized in the villages of Bush by our environmental educator, various topics are discussed to educate people to respect their environment on a daily basis, among other : the waste management, the preservation of forests, the protection of the reef and lagoon, groundwater, ... marine life in General.

Although there is no system of garbage collection in Madagascar, It is vital to respect the environment and to explain what are the consequences of certain practices.

Scientific research
Aware of the need to protect marine mammals of Madagascar and their habitat, Cetamada is committed to developing the collection of scientific data in the Indian ocean sanctuary. It invests particularly in tracking of humpback whales migrating around the 5 000 km of coastline.

The framework of ecotourism
The association has developed a code of conduct for responsible and respectful of the marine mammals observation (humpback whales, dolphins, …) in Madagascar. This document allows to popularize an interdepartmental order dating from 2000 laying down the rules for compliance.
In partnership with the Ministry of tourism, the association annually trains volunteers whose role is to supervise the outputs tourist operators partners of Cetamada, to collect scientific data and participate in the Community actions of awareness.

Based on the island of Sainte Marie, to the northeast of Madagascar, the association acts on the set of the Malagasy territory and has a beautiful representative in Majunga in Antsanitia resort.