| Summary: | Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded Credit Joshua Smith (Murdoch University), Mike Double (Australian Antarctic Division), Nat Kelly(Australian Antarctic Division), Karen Evans (CSIRO) Credit National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub Credit Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), Australian Government Credit In addition to NESP (DAWE) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators. Purpose To contribute to informing the Australian Government's Conservation Management Plan for southern right whales (2011-21), and in particular provide further information on population trends and the extent to which 2020 might be considered an anomalous year. This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub bridging study - "A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. --- Aerial surveys of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) have been conducted across the southern Australian coast from Perth (W.A.) to Ceduna (S.A.) since 1993, as part of a long-term program to monitor the recovery, and inform the Conservation Management Plan (2011-2021), for this Endangered species (under the EPBC Act). The 2020 aerial survey recorded substantially lower numbers of whales than in the previous 13 years, and the lowest number of non-calving whales since the program started. An aerial survey conducted by this project in August 2021 will provide a relative estimate of annual population size for determining longer term population trends and contribute to determining if 2020 was an anomalous year or an indicator of some longer-term change to recent recovery rates and the female breeding cycle. Outputs • Aerial whale survey data (counts by size class, number, and location) - 2021-22 season ...
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