| Summary: | Progress Code: completed Statement: Not applicable Purpose The Australian Government sponsored the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage to develop methods and initiate research that will lead to a new estimate of abundance for blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) in the Southern Ocean. Commercial whaling decimated this species, and the state of its recovery is currently unknown. The 65-m FV Amaltal Explorer was chartered for a 47-day voyage leaving from and returning to Nelson, New Zealand and conducting studies in Antarctic waters between 135 degrees E and 170 degrees W. This voyage was conducted as part of the Antarctic Blue Whale Project (ABWP) of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP). SORP is a consortium of ten countries working together on six collaborative research programs under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The 2013 voyage was conducted by Australia in the expectation that it would be the first in a series of such voyages by SORP partners that would, collectively, produce a new estimate of abundance for Antarctic blue whales. The main purpose of the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage was to evaluate methods that can be used to estimate blue whale abundance and to initiate the collection of necessary data. Prior research shows that mark-recapture methods using photographic and genetic identification may be the most cost-effective method to estimate Antarctic blue whale abundance (Kelly et al. 2012). However these methods depend on the collection of sufficient identification photographs (photo-IDs) and biopsy samples. Blue whales make extremely loud, low frequency sounds that travel for hundreds of kilometres, and can be used to find areas where blue whales are concentrated. The 2013 Voyage was designed to test whether acoustic detection and localisation of blue whales can facilitate the collection of an adequate sample of photo-IDs and biopsies to serve as a foundation for a new estimate of Antarctic blue whale abundance. A list of eight prioritised ...
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