Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge
Cetacean research, in terms of the number of papers, and areas for which data are available, has expanded considerably in the southern African subregion in the past decade, especially in the South-West Indian Ocean. We review cetacean research within this subregion from the 1800s to the present to p...
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ftjafricanj:oai:ojs.ajol.info:article/73223 2023-05-15T16:36:08+02:00 Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge Elwen, SH Findlay, KP Kiszka, J Weir, CR 2012-01-27 application/pdf http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223 eng eng NISC http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223/62157 http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223 Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the publisher. African Journal of Marine Science; Vol 33, No 3 (2011) 1814-232X info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2012 ftjafricanj 2017-03-05T06:53:20Z Cetacean research, in terms of the number of papers, and areas for which data are available, has expanded considerably in the southern African subregion in the past decade, especially in the South-West Indian Ocean. We review cetacean research within this subregion from the 1800s to the present to provide an overview of findings, investigate trends and identify knowledge gaps. Data are presented separately for large whales (those subject to commercial whaling) and smaller cetaceans, and are separated by era and ocean basin. Over 550 peer-reviewed papers and books were identified relating to research on cetaceans within the subregion. More than half (284) have been produced since 1990 and 193 relate specifically to South African waters. The most-studied species are those that are most accessible due to their coastal distributions (southern right whale Eubalaena australis: 45 papers, humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae: 31 papers, killer whales Orcinus orca : 27 papers, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin Tursiops aduncus: 30 papers, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis (plumbea form): 25 papers) and/or were hunted commercially (sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus: 25 papers). Identified conservation concerns vary throughout the subregion, but include bycatch and directed hunts, oil and gas development, ecotourism activities, shifts in prey resources, and noise and chemical pollution. The inshore stocks of Bryde’s whales Balaenoptera edeni , the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and the Atlantic humpback dolphin S. teuszii were identified as the populations of highest conservation concern, although there are considerable knowledge gaps relating to deep-water species and almost no data (even on species occurrence) are available for several areas and countries. Keywords: Atlantic Ocean, dolphin, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, whale, whalingAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2011, 33(3): 469–493 Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus Southern Ocean Southern Right Whale Sperm whale AJOL - African Journals Online Southern Ocean Pacific Indian |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
AJOL - African Journals Online |
op_collection_id |
ftjafricanj |
language |
English |
description |
Cetacean research, in terms of the number of papers, and areas for which data are available, has expanded considerably in the southern African subregion in the past decade, especially in the South-West Indian Ocean. We review cetacean research within this subregion from the 1800s to the present to provide an overview of findings, investigate trends and identify knowledge gaps. Data are presented separately for large whales (those subject to commercial whaling) and smaller cetaceans, and are separated by era and ocean basin. Over 550 peer-reviewed papers and books were identified relating to research on cetaceans within the subregion. More than half (284) have been produced since 1990 and 193 relate specifically to South African waters. The most-studied species are those that are most accessible due to their coastal distributions (southern right whale Eubalaena australis: 45 papers, humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae: 31 papers, killer whales Orcinus orca : 27 papers, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin Tursiops aduncus: 30 papers, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis (plumbea form): 25 papers) and/or were hunted commercially (sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus: 25 papers). Identified conservation concerns vary throughout the subregion, but include bycatch and directed hunts, oil and gas development, ecotourism activities, shifts in prey resources, and noise and chemical pollution. The inshore stocks of Bryde’s whales Balaenoptera edeni , the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and the Atlantic humpback dolphin S. teuszii were identified as the populations of highest conservation concern, although there are considerable knowledge gaps relating to deep-water species and almost no data (even on species occurrence) are available for several areas and countries. Keywords: Atlantic Ocean, dolphin, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, whale, whalingAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2011, 33(3): 469–493 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elwen, SH Findlay, KP Kiszka, J Weir, CR |
spellingShingle |
Elwen, SH Findlay, KP Kiszka, J Weir, CR Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
author_facet |
Elwen, SH Findlay, KP Kiszka, J Weir, CR |
author_sort |
Elwen, SH |
title |
Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
title_short |
Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
title_full |
Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
title_fullStr |
Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cetacean research in the southern African subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
title_sort |
cetacean research in the southern african subregion: a review of previous studies and current knowledge |
publisher |
NISC |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Pacific Indian |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Pacific Indian |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus Southern Ocean Southern Right Whale Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Orca Orcinus orca Physeter macrocephalus Southern Ocean Southern Right Whale Sperm whale |
op_source |
African Journal of Marine Science; Vol 33, No 3 (2011) 1814-232X |
op_relation |
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223/62157 http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/73223 |
op_rights |
Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the publisher. |
_version_ |
1766026433910538240 |