South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus at South Georgia were heavily exploited during 20th century industrial whaling, to the point of local near-extirpation. Although legal whaling for blue whales ceased in the 1960s, and there were indications of blue whale recovery across the wider Southern Ocean area...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fe7c06bbfa8a4729bd37fcc788bb6033 2023-05-15T13:50:28+02:00 South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling Calderan, SV Black, A Branch, TA Collins, MA Kelly, N Leaper, R Lurcock, S Miller, BS Moore, M Olson, PA Širović, A Wood, AG Jackson, JA 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01077 https://doaj.org/article/fe7c06bbfa8a4729bd37fcc788bb6033 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p359-373/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01077 https://doaj.org/article/fe7c06bbfa8a4729bd37fcc788bb6033 Endangered Species Research, Vol 43, Pp 359-373 (2020) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01077 2022-12-31T07:36:48Z Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus at South Georgia were heavily exploited during 20th century industrial whaling, to the point of local near-extirpation. Although legal whaling for blue whales ceased in the 1960s, and there were indications of blue whale recovery across the wider Southern Ocean area, blue whales were seldom seen in South Georgia waters in subsequent years. We collated 30 yr of data comprising opportunistic sightings, systematic visual and acoustic surveys and photo-identification to assess the current distribution of blue whales in the waters surrounding South Georgia. Over 34000 km of systematic survey data between 1998 and 2018 resulted in only a single blue whale sighting, although opportunistic sightings were reported over that time period. However, since 2018 there have been increases in both sightings of blue whales and detections of their vocalisations. A survey in 2020 comprising visual line transect surveys and directional frequency analysis and recording (DIFAR) sonobuoy deployments resulted in 58 blue whale sightings from 2430 km of visual effort, including the photo-identification of 23 individual blue whales. Blue whale vocalisations were detected on all 31 sonobuoys deployed (114 h). In total, 41 blue whales were photo-identified from South Georgia between 2011 and 2020, none of which matched the 517 whales in the current Antarctic catalogue. These recent data suggest that blue whales have started to return to South Georgia waters, but continued visual and acoustic surveys are required to monitor any future changes in their distribution and abundance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Southern Ocean Endangered Species Research 43 359 373 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 Calderan, SV Black, A Branch, TA Collins, MA Kelly, N Leaper, R Lurcock, S Miller, BS Moore, M Olson, PA Širović, A Wood, AG Jackson, JA South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus at South Georgia were heavily exploited during 20th century industrial whaling, to the point of local near-extirpation. Although legal whaling for blue whales ceased in the 1960s, and there were indications of blue whale recovery across the wider Southern Ocean area, blue whales were seldom seen in South Georgia waters in subsequent years. We collated 30 yr of data comprising opportunistic sightings, systematic visual and acoustic surveys and photo-identification to assess the current distribution of blue whales in the waters surrounding South Georgia. Over 34000 km of systematic survey data between 1998 and 2018 resulted in only a single blue whale sighting, although opportunistic sightings were reported over that time period. However, since 2018 there have been increases in both sightings of blue whales and detections of their vocalisations. A survey in 2020 comprising visual line transect surveys and directional frequency analysis and recording (DIFAR) sonobuoy deployments resulted in 58 blue whale sightings from 2430 km of visual effort, including the photo-identification of 23 individual blue whales. Blue whale vocalisations were detected on all 31 sonobuoys deployed (114 h). In total, 41 blue whales were photo-identified from South Georgia between 2011 and 2020, none of which matched the 517 whales in the current Antarctic catalogue. These recent data suggest that blue whales have started to return to South Georgia waters, but continued visual and acoustic surveys are required to monitor any future changes in their distribution and abundance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Calderan, SV Black, A Branch, TA Collins, MA Kelly, N Leaper, R Lurcock, S Miller, BS Moore, M Olson, PA Širović, A Wood, AG Jackson, JA |
author_facet |
Calderan, SV Black, A Branch, TA Collins, MA Kelly, N Leaper, R Lurcock, S Miller, BS Moore, M Olson, PA Širović, A Wood, AG Jackson, JA |
author_sort |
Calderan, SV |
title |
South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
title_short |
South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
title_full |
South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
title_fullStr |
South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
title_full_unstemmed |
South Georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
title_sort |
south georgia blue whales five decades after the end of whaling |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01077 https://doaj.org/article/fe7c06bbfa8a4729bd37fcc788bb6033 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 43, Pp 359-373 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p359-373/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01077 https://doaj.org/article/fe7c06bbfa8a4729bd37fcc788bb6033 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01077 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
43 |
container_start_page |
359 |
op_container_end_page |
373 |
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1766253525265809408 |