Management of Antarctic baleen whales amid past exploitation, current threats and complex marine ecosystems

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Leaper, R, Miller, C
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Journals 2011
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Ecology; Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology); Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; baleen whales
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102011000708; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/74002

As baleen whales recover from severe exploitation, they are probably subject to a wide variety ofthreats within the Antarctic marine ecosystem, including directed take. Here we review both the managementand current status of Antarctic baleen whales and consider those threats likely to impact on them. Threats rangefrom global problems - marine pollution and climate change - to localized issues including shipping, habitatdisturbance, unregulated wildlife tourism and fishery activities. We identify the most pressing anthropogenicthreats to baleen whales including scientific whaling and climate change. It is unclear whether currentmanagement approaches will be able to effectively encompass all these threats while also accounting both forthe differing levels of scientific understanding and for the differing recovery rates of the whale species. Formanagement we recommend the following: 1) incorporation of both ecosystem considerations and the suite ofidentified threats not limited to direct take, 2) identification of measurable indicators of changes in whales thatallow more certainty in monitoring of populations and the environment, and 3) recognition of significantrelationships between baleen whales and habitat features to provide information on distribution and use.