NESP MaC Project 3.15 - Monitoring, aggregation areas and approaches to improve data effectiveness for southern right whale conservation (Murdoch Uni, Flinders Uni, ECU)

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2023 project "Monitoring, aggregation areas and approaches to improve data effectiveness for southern right whale conservation". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata.

Southern right whales are listed as Endangered under the EPBC Act and are recovering slowly from historical whaling. In Australia, recovery differs between the growing western population and the more poorly understood eastern population, where available data are largely opportunistic. Improved abundance estimates, photo-identification workflows, aggregation-area assessment, and understanding of connectivity are needed to support conservation management.

This project delivered priority information for southern right whale conservation through four linked components:
(1) long-term aerial surveys of the western population;
(2) expansion and integration of photo-identification datasets within the Australian Right Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue (ARWPIC);
(3) development of statistical approaches to combine opportunistic and systematic observations; and
(4) collection of movement and genomic data to assess connectivity between eastern and western subpopulations.

The project continued annual aerial surveys from Perth to Ceduna to update abundance trends and reproductive parameters for the western population. Photo-identification images and metadata were collated from archived, targeted, and opportunistic sources across eastern and western aggregation areas, supporting matching of individual whales, assessment of reproductive areas, and estimation of population parameters.

The project also developed methods to expand the use of opportunistic sightings data alongside systematically collected observations, improving capacity to estimate population size, trends, recovery rates, residency, site fidelity, and connectivity. Movement, photo-identification, and genomic data collected near the boundary of the eastern and western subpopulations, particularly around Encounter Bay and adjacent waters, supported assessment of population structure, whale movements, habitat use, and potential exposure to human activities.

The outputs of this project support updates to the national Southern Right Whale Conservation Management Plan, Biologically Important Area (BIA) mapping, marine park management, and risk assessments for marine industries and tourism. Consultation and engagement with Indigenous groups in South Australia and Western Australia enabled communication of research goals and findings, supported knowledge sharing, and identified opportunities for collaboration and capacity building linked to southern right whale conservation.

Outputs
• Individual whale photo-identifications in aggregation areas [ARWPIC image catalogue]
• Aerial survey data for 2023, 2024, 2026 [dataset]
• Exposure to single and cumulative threats [dataset]
• Whale tracking tracking, behaviour, and dive data [dataset]
• Final project report [written]

Tags: Eubalaena australis, National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub, Southern right whale, aggregation area, habitat utilisation, photo-identification, population parameters
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network