NESP MaC Project 4.8 - Potential impacts of offshore wind developments on eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales, 2024-2025 (AIMS)

Research Project

Researchers: Blue Whale Study (Associated with) ,  Emma Flukes (Point of contact) ,  Gill, Peter (collaborator) ,  Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Associated with)

Full description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Potential impacts of offshore wind developments on eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata.
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Pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) are listed as Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC 1999). Their distribution and Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) overlap with regions proposed for offshore renewable energy development in western and south-eastern Australia, creating a need to assess potential impacts alongside existing pressures such as shipping, oil and gas activity, vessel strike, underwater noise and habitat disturbance.

This project mapped the distribution and core foraging and migratory areas of eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales by combining satellite tracking data with auxiliary information from aerial surveys, marine mammal observer records, and existing habitat suitability models. These spatial products were overlaid with proposed offshore renewable energy areas, BIAs, Australian Marine Park boundaries, and spatial pressures layers. A cumulative impact framework was used to identify areas of higher risk and potential lower-impact reference sites.

The project outputs support regulators, proponents and government agencies in assessing and mitigating potential offshore renewable energy impacts on pygmy blue whales. The results contribute to cumulative risk assessment, blue whale recovery planning, future BIA review, monitoring design, and prioritisation of future research and data collection.

Outputs
• Spatial layers quantifying the relative distribution including migratory corridors and foraging areas across the known eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whale range [dataset]
• Spatial layers of habitat suitability distribution [dataset]
• Spatial layers for human activities identified as key pressures in this study [dataset]
• Spatial layers of cumulative impact score across the species' range including potential threats from ORE and existing threats from other industries [dataset]
• Final project report [written]

Lineage Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Notes Credit
This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, the Environment, Energy & Water (DCCEEW) through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub. In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.

Notes Purpose
To map the Australian distribution and core areas of use for pygmy blue whales, identify overlaps with proposed ORE developments, and assess the cumulative impacts of ORE and other anthropogenic activities as a potential impact score for this species.

Data time period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-02-28

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