Demography and ecology of southern right whales Eubalaena australis wintering at sub-Antarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand

Torres, Leigh G.; Rayment, William; Olavarría, Carlos; Thompson, David R.; Graham, Brittany; Baker, C. Scott; Patenaude, Nathalie J.; Bury, Sarah J.; Boren, Laura J.; Parker, Graham C.; Carroll, Emma L.

doi:10.1007/s00300-016-1926-x

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Range expansion and recolonization to new areas has been observed for other SRW populations, such as Brazil (Groch et al 2005, Danilewicz et al 2016), Argentina (Arias et al 2017, Rowntree et al 2001, Uruguay (Costa et al 2005), South Africa (Best 1990, Barendse andBest 2014), and New Zealand (Carroll et al 2011(Carroll et al , 2014a and Campbell Islands (Torres et al 2016). These areas show evidence of recolonization into former areas around the main nursery area in association with population growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) return to a former wintering calving ground: Fowlers Bay, South Australia

Charlton

Ward

McCauley

et al. 2019

Marine Mammal Science

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Southern right whales (SRW), Eubalaena australis, have reoccupied historically important winter habitat ranges (calving grounds) in recent years along the southern Australian coast. Here we present findings of increased abundance of SRW at Fowlers Bay, South Australia, a previous shore‐based whaling station. This study investigates: SRW inter‐ and intraseasonal trends in relative abundance; changes to the relative proportion of the southwestern subpopulation represented by SRW at Fowlers Bay; distribution; and occupancy. Sighting and photo identification data were collected during annual aerial (1993–2016) and vessel surveys (2014–2016). The total number of female and calf pairs was 3 during 1993–2003 and 63 during 2004–2014. Despite high variability in annual relative abundance, the rate of mean increase from 1993 to 2016 (29.0%/yr, 95% CI = 0, 54.2) exceeded the maximum biological rate for the species (6%–7%/yr). Peak relative abundance was recorded in July and August. SRW at Fowlers Bay represent an increasing proportion of the southwestern subpopulation (range = 0.9%–7.4%). Mean occupancy was 23 d (range = 1–75) for female and calf pairs and 2 d (range = 1–15) for unaccompanied adults. Reduced sightings in 2015 and 2016 demonstrate plasticity in SRW abundance at Fowlers Bay. Research into the movement and connectivity of SRW is needed to understand drivers of habitat dispersal in Australia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…, ) and Campbell Islands (Torres et al . ). These areas show evidence of recolonization into former areas around the main nursery area in association with population growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) return to a former wintering calving ground: Fowlers Bay, South Australia

Charlton

Ward

McCauley

et al. 2019

Marine Mammal Science

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“…Changes in distribution of different demographic classes have been linked with changes in density in multiple SRW populations. Increases in the number of cow-calf pairs displaces social groups and solitary individuals to other habitat in Argentina (Rowntree, 2001;Arias et al, 2018) New Zealand (Carroll et al, 2014Torres et al, 2017), and Australia (Charlton, 2017).…”

Section: Factors Driving Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SRW are circumpolar in the Southern Hemisphere between about 12 • S and 65 • S, albeit with a large historical and contemporary discontinuation between New Zealand and Chile. The austral winter distribution of SRW (Figure 1) includes the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands (Carroll et al, 2013;Torres et al, 2017), with far fewer whales reported around mainland New Zealand (Carroll et al, 2014). In Australian coastal waters, SRW occur along the southern coastline including Tasmania, generally as far north as Sydney on the east coast and Perth on the west coast (Carroll et al, 2011).…”

Section: Srwmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When in coastal habitat, SRW are usually within 2 km of shore and distinctly clumped in aggregation areas (Figure 1). SRWs tend to group into different demographic class along the coast, with cowcalf pairs and single adults or socializing groups using different sections of the coast or region, e.g., cow-calf pairs concentrate in Port Ross, Auckland Islands, while Campbell Island seems to contain more single whales (Torres et al, 2017).…”

Section: Srwmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Future Directions in Eubalaena spp.: Comparative Research to Inform Conservation

et al. 2019

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All three extant right whales [Eubalaena australis (Southern; SRW), glacialis (North Atlantic; NARW), and japonica (North Pacific; NPRW)] were heavily exploited, and the status of the two northern hemisphere species remains precarious. Recently, limited gains made by the NARW have been reversed and urgent changes to management approaches are needed if extinction is to be averted. By contrast, some SRW populations are recovering. Given their close phylogenetic relationship, morphological, demographic, and ecological similarities, the contrasting recovery rates between populations and species provide an opportunity to apply a comparative approach to inform the differences in recovery as follows. (1) Recovery: All right whale species were internationally protected in 1931, but NARW, eastern NPRW and some SRW populations have barely recovered from whaling, while others are doing so at maximal rates. Are these differences a legacy of extreme depletion (e.g., loss of genetic diversity and cultural knowledge) or primarily due to anthropogenic factors (e.g., high mortality from ship strike and fisheries entanglement)? If modern anthropogenic threats are not affecting remote SRW populations, can these serve as baseline populations for comparison with NARW and NPRW? (2) Linking individuals to population-level responses: In wild mammals, strong links exist between reproductive indices and environmental conditions within the context of life-history strategies. Individual identification of whales provides the ability to track survival, reproduction and other demographic parameters, and their population-level consequences, providing the tools with which to uncover these links. Robust life-history analyses are now available for NARW and several SRW populations, linking demography with environmental conditions, providing the potential for teasing out important influencing factors. (3) Adapting to shifting resources: Recent reproductive declines in NARW appear linked to changing food resources. While we know some large-scale movement patterns for NARW and a few SRW populations, we know little of mesoscale movements. For NPRW and some SRW populations, even broad-scale movements are poorly understood. In the face of climate change, can methodological advances help identify Eubalaena distributional and migratory responses? (4) Emergent diseases and the vulnerability of populations under stress: Marine mammals are vulnerable to infectious diseases,

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Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population demographics at major calving ground Head of Bight, South Australia, 1991–2016

Charlton

McCauley

Brownell³

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Demographic parameters were estimated for southern right whales (SRWs), Eubalaena australis, using photo-identification (photo-ID) and count data collected during annual cliff-based surveys at the Head of the Great Australian Bight (HoB), South Australia between 1991 and 2016. Photo-ID and count data were contributed from the annual aerial surveys of the south-western population in Australia (1993Australia ( -2016. 2. The HoB photo-ID database included 1,186 non-calf individuals, with 459 reproductive females. HoB is an open population and represents a relative proportion (0.48-0.21) of the overall south-western population, which is decreasing with population growth.3. No change was detected in the growth rate at HoB over time and there was no significant difference when compared to the overall south-western population. The estimated mean rate of increase for all SRW was 3.2% (± 1.3) per annum and for females with a calf was 4.6% (± 1.7) per annum at HoB, compared to 5.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.78, 7.36) and 6.01% (95% CI, 3.78, 7.36), respectively for the south-western population during the same period.4. The apparent mean calving interval was 3.3 years (SD = 0.78, ± 0.14, 95% CI; 1996-2016), and a significant increase to 4 years was observed since 2015. The apparent mean age at first parturition was 9.0 years. The minimum estimated age of the oldest whale was 50 and oldest lactating female 41 years old.5. The SRW demographic data provides information for monitoring recovery, population status, species conservation management and global comparative studies. There is a need to understand fluctuations in calving intervals, threats to the population and implications for species recovery.

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Demography and ecology of southern right whales Eubalaena australis wintering at sub-Antarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand

Abstract: 1Since the decimation of the southern right whale Eubalaena australis population in New Zealand 2 by whaling, research on its recovery has focused on the wintering ground at the Auckland 3

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) return to a former wintering calving ground: Fowlers Bay, South Australia

Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) return to a former wintering calving ground: Fowlers Bay, South Australia

Future Directions in Eubalaena spp.: Comparative Research to Inform Conservation

Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population demographics at major calving ground Head of Bight, South Australia, 1991–2016

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