Case study: Migrations of Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in the Eastern South Pacific connect multiple South American jurisdictions with the High Seas.

• Main Authors: Herrero Palacio, Alejandro, Heywood, Eleanor
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre 2019
• Subjects: Pacific; Balaenoptera musculus; baleen whales
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.34892/0nk8-8234; https://wcmc.io/ABNJ_connectivity_bluewhales

Baleen whales are traditionally understood to migrate long distances between their summer feeding and winter breeding grounds; many exceptions to this pattern have however been recorded throughout the years, such as individuals that forgo migration to take advantage of abundant resources on the feeding grounds (Barendse et al. 2010) or even records of individuals performing longitudinal inter-oceanic exchanges (Stevick et al. 2014). A deeper understanding of migratory species and their transboundary connections is thus important to underpin regional and national management (Hucke-Gaete et al. 2018).