NESP MaC Project 1.26 - Relative abundance of the ‘western’ population of southern right whales from an aerial survey off southern Australia

Research Project

Researchers: Smith, Joshua (Principal investigator) ,  Emma Flukes (Point of contact) ,  Emma Flukes (Point of contact)

Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub bridging study - "A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Aerial surveys of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) have been conducted across the southern Australian coast from Perth (W.A.) to Ceduna (S.A.) since 1993, as part of a long-term program to monitor the recovery, and inform the Conservation Management Plan (2011-2021), for this Endangered species (under the EPBC Act). The 2020 aerial survey recorded substantially lower numbers of whales than in the previous 13 years, and the lowest number of non-calving whales since the program started. An aerial survey conducted by this project in August 2021 will provide a relative estimate of annual population size for determining longer term population trends and contribute to determining if 2020 was an anomalous year or an indicator of some longer-term change to recent recovery rates and the female breeding cycle. Outputs • Aerial whale survey data (counts by size class, number, and location) - 2021-22 season [dataset] • Individual whale photo-identification data - 2021-22 season [imagery - published to ARWPIC] • Final technical report with analysed data, including a short summary of recommendations for policy makers of key findings [written]

Lineage Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Notes Credit
Joshua Smith (Murdoch University), Mike Double (Australian Antarctic Division), Nat Kelly(Australian Antarctic Division), Karen Evans (CSIRO)

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), Australian Government

Notes Credit
In addition to NESP (DAWE) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
To contribute to informing the Australian Government's Conservation Management Plan for southern right whales (2011-21), and in particular provide further information on population trends and the extent to which 2020 might be considered an anomalous year.

Data time period: 2021-09-01 to 2022-06-30

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