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NESP MaC Project 1.22 - A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia (ECU)

Created 24/06/2025

Updated 28/09/2025

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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub small-scale 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. The population of Southern Right Whales (SRW) in the Southern Hemisphere has been recovering slowly from near extinction due to its decimation from whaling before its ban in the mid-1970’s. The population that visits the Australian coast each year to breed is estimated to have increased by about 4–5% per year in the past two decades, bringing the total population to approximately 3,500 whales. As the population increases, the whales extend their breeding areas into previously occupied suitable habitat. As the species recovers, there is increasing evidence of expansion of aggregation areas. Consequently, there is a need to update known established aggregation areas and Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) and update relevant Marine Parks management plans based on new evidence. Flinders Bay and Geographe Bay off south-western Western Australia were likely to have been important calving areas before commercial whaling began. Much of this habitat is popular for recreational boating and other marine activities. This project collated and completed photo-ID matching of southern right whale images collected between 2010 to 2020 in the southwest of Australia, and uploaded these to the Australasian Right Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue (ARWPIC). The photo-ID matching outcomes provide evidence that Flinders Bay and Geographe Bay now fit the criteria to be recognised nationally as Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for Southern Right Whales. Outputs • Photo-identifications of individual whales in southwestern Australia for 1991-2021 (photo-matches contributed to ARWPIC) • Final Project Report, including evidence and recommendations for updating aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia according to the Commonwealth criteria [written]

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title NESP MaC Project 1.22 - A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia (ECU)
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/71a8e669-dc0b-4622-84b6-a7b39d5d209d
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
c.salgadokent@ecu-edu.au
Reference Period 01/09/2021 - 30/04/2022
Geospatial Coverage Australia
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "NESP MaC Project 1.22 - A photo-identification study of southern right whales to update aggregation area classification in the southwest of Australia (ECU)". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/nesp-mac-project-1-22-a-photo-identification-study-of-southern-right-whales-to-update-aggregati