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Abstract

This work reports 11 sighting records of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, for the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (3º51'S 32º25'W) between 1989 and 1993 collected through personal observations and trustworthy information from local inhabitants. Although a previous confirmed record of the capturing of a specimen by North Americans exists for Fernando de Noronha, and possible captures performed by local inhabitants during the last century, only in August of 1989 was a humpback whale sighted in the archipelago. M. novaeangliae seemns to be showing signs of population recovery following the international prohibition on commercial whalling, and is seemingly returning to ancient areas of distribution. The present work also reports a summary of the whaling records of humpback whales by the Companhia de Pesca Norte do Brasil (COPESBRA) in Northeastern Brazil between 1911 and 1967. The sightings and historical and whaling records collected in this work indicate another possible occurrence of an area of concentration for this species in the Brazilian coast during its migration period beyond the Bank of Abrolhos (17º20' - 18º10'S ; 38º35' - 39º00'W), previously detected as an important area of concentration.