A study carried out within the framework of more than 20 years of scientific collaboration between Loro Parque Fundación and CIRCE, together with the University of La Laguna, provides a key advance for the conservation of one of the most endangered cetacean populations on the planet.
The methodologies and technologies employed are based on decades of research with the orcas at Loro Parque in collaboration with the University of La Laguna.
A new scientific publication has just been accepted in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, presenting a key discovery for marine conservation: the first formal description of some of the sounds that make up the vocal dialect of the Iberian orca, a population classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
The study, led by Dr. Javier Almunia (University of La Laguna) in collaboration with Loro Parque Fundación and CIRCE, represents a scientific milestone and opens the door to new lines of research into the communication, behaviour and protection of this unique population.
For more than two decades, Loro Parque Fundación has worked closely with CIRCE to study and protect these orcas, which have also gained attention in recent years due to their interactions with sailing vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar. CIRCE is the only organization authorized to conduct scientific research on this population in Gibraltar, allowing the compilation of one of the most valuable scientific datasets in the entire region. The scientific advances made possible through the study of the orcas at Loro Parque over many years, have contributed significantly to this achievement.
Dr. Javier Almunia, professor at the University of La Laguna, emphasized that “for the first time, we have been able to describe some of the sounds that are part of the vocal repertoire of the Iberian orca. These previously unknown sounds will allow us to better understand how they communicate and organize socially, which is essential for their protection.”
The study was based on a broadband acoustic buoy, initially tested in Tenerife and deployed in May 2025 near Barbate. The technology captured clear vocalizations of Iberian orcas, sufficient to describe four distinct sounds, the first ever identified for this population, as well as 40 Hz calls of fin whales associated with feeding behaviour, and never before recorded in the Strait; sperm whale clicks; and delphinid whistles, reflecting the extraordinary biodiversity of the area.
At the same time, the buoy revealed a persistent layer of anthropogenic noise, dominated by vessels and echo sounders. This constant noise forces cetaceans to communicate in an acoustically saturated environment, which may pose a threat to their survival in areas with intense maritime traffic.
One of the key messages of the study is the transformative role of next-generation passive acoustic monitoring (PAM). These tools allow animals to be studied continuously, non-invasively and in complex environments such as the Strait of Gibraltar, providing essential information on communication, feeding, movements and responses to human pressures such as shipping traffic and underwater noise.
For the study’s co-author and director of CIRCE, Renaud de Stephanis, the results “strongly support the creation of a permanent acoustic monitoring observatory in the Strait, one of the busiest maritime corridors on the planet.”
“Such a network would make it possible to detect endangered species in real time, improve knowledge of their habitat use, identify threats such as noise, collisions or fishing activities, and design more effective conservation measures,” added Stephanis.
This new study reinforces the international impact of the work carried out by Loro Parque Fundación for more than 30 years, supported by advanced scientific research, collaborations and sustained funding for marine conservation projects.
The research also highlights the importance of combining data obtained in zoological institutions such as Loro Parque, where detailed and controlled studies can be carried out, with information collected in the natural environment. Only by integrating both approaches can a complete and accurate understanding be achieved of the behaviour, communication and conservation needs of the Iberian orca, an extremely vulnerable population with only 37 individuals remaining.
