#MeetOurPartners: Julio Cardoso
- helenesmidt
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 3
Retired from business life, Julio has dedicated himself since 2004 to navigating and monitoring whales and dolphins along the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil.
The ocean has always been his greatest passion, and even before retiring, he always found time to go out to sea in his boat. Julio began undertaking longer voyages with friends for blue-water fishing (billfish expeditions), but one day in 2003, he experienced something like an epiphany - a true revelation.
While fishing about 60 miles offshore in the open ocean, two large shadows suddenly appeared beneath the boat. At first, he thought they were two large blue marlins - but they were actually two minke whales. They approached the boat and performed a spyhop. It was incredible, and he was deeply impressed by their behavior - to the point that Julio completely lost interest in fishing. As a result, he changed his mindset entirely and decided to start searching for whales to photograph.
Photography and navigation are Julio's two great passions, and whales and dolphins became the central subjects of his work - a true life commitment.
In 2004, he received guidance from a biology professor, Shirley Pacheco, who taught him the best ways to organize his catalog of cetaceans through photo identification. From then on, he began building what has now become a catalog containing thousands of identified whales and dolphins.
From 2004 to 2016, Julio dedicated his time to documenting and photographing whales and dolphins along the coasts of São Sebastião and Ilhabela. At the same time, he served as a council member helping to create the Alcatrazes Archipelago Wildlife Refuge - one of the most beautiful and important conservation areas in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Julio continues to serve on this council today.
During those early years, he also informally brought together a group of whale and dolphin enthusiasts through the ICBU (Yacht Club), the YCI (Ilhabela Yacht Club), and Brazil’s environmental agency (ICMBio), so he was no longer alone at sea in this effort.
However, everything began to change in 2016.
Until then, Julio had mainly been documenting Bryde’s whales. But suddenly, humpback whales began arriving in the region - and everything changed.
Bryde’s whales are notoriously difficult to observe and photograph. Known as “ghost whales,” they are fast and tend to move away from boats at speeds of up to 20 knots.
Humpback whales, on the other hand, are very different. They are energetic, highly visible, and often display acrobatic behaviors such as breaching and tail-slapping - capturing the attention and admiration of everyone who sees them.
At the same time, he began organizing a network of whale enthusiasts who help locate and photograph whales in the region for photo identification. This group of volunteers contributes to what we call citizen science.
We are not a formal organization or NGO - just a group of people dedicated to monitoring and researching cetaceans in the São Sebastião and Ilhabela region through photo identification and bioacoustics.
The number of humpback whales they have been able to document has grown remarkably, thanks to an increasing number of observers both at sea and on land—because more eyes always help:
2016–2018: about 20–30 humpbacks per year
2019–2022: 150–200 per year
2023–2024: 600–750 per year
2025: a record of 814 humpbacks
At the same time, the group has directly published or contributed to more than 20 scientific papers since 2016.
They have also dedicated time and effort to educational and training initiatives for boaters and whale-watching operators, helping them follow appropriate, safe, and legal practices when approaching cetaceans at sea.
Julio currently serves as a board member of the Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute (IBJ).
Together, they have implemented a highly successful program to prevent ship strikes involving whales in the São Sebastião Oil Terminal (TEBAR), including collaboration with the port, ferry system, and Aquabus.
This initiative has been very effective, with zero accidents recorded since 2022.
Looking ahead, there is still much work to be done to better understand whale migration routes in the Southwest Atlantic. This knowledge is essential to help the shipping industry take informed measures, adjust routes, and implement alerts to prevent collisions with whales.
We still have an important mission ahead of us.
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