Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633:body:0:p16
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 43224–46275

through indirect evidence, such as the occurrence of krill in close proximity of whales, or satellite tagged whales showing circling tracks. Anecdotal feeding areas include offshore of Eden and Merimbula, NSW (especially during October)20.
Antarctic Blue Whales
Antarctic blue whales have a circumpolar, but potentially patchy, distribution off Antarctica during the summer feeding season. In the Antarctic, they prey on the krill Euphasia superba19 and possibly E. crystallorophias. There is limited understanding of the movements of Antarctic blue whales around Antarctica or between Antarctica and breeding areas.

Distribution, migration and behaviour
Blue whales have a cosmopolitan distribution. As with other baleen whales, they generally migrate between (low-latitude) breeding grounds where both mating and calving take place during the winter, and (high-latitude) feeding grounds during the summer. During the southern hemisphere summer, Antarctic blue whales are usually found south of 60⁰ South, while pygmy blue whales are usually found north of 55⁰ South.
Breeding Areas
Pygmy blue whales
Pygmy Blue whales are thought to migrate from Australian feeding areas to low latitude breeding ground(s) that include Indonesia based on sightings in Indonesia in the austral winter19. Satellite tracked pygmy blue whales have been recorded moving from the Perth Canyon up the Western Australian coast and into the Banda Sea and Molucca Sea off Indonesia by Australian scientists38. It is possible that there may be more than one breeding habitat for these blue whales. Females with small calves are recorded seasonally moving through Geographe Bay in Western Australia from September to December19, but the migratory origin and destination of these whales is largely unknown.

Antarctic Blue Whales
Antarctic blue whale winter migratory destinations include lower latitudes of the Pacific and Indian Oceans based on acoustic recordings106. Interestingly, Antarctic blue whales have been detected acoustically in the Australian Antarctic Territory103 and the Western Antarctic Peninsula102  throughout the year suggesting that either some whales may not migrate every year, and / or that migration may be staggered in time. Off Australia, Antarctic blue whales have been acoustically recorded off Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia from May to November106, at the Perth Canyon from May to October (with a few occurrences recorded in March)71, and off Tasmania predominately from May to December42, which suggests these areas may be breeding grounds and/or migratory corridors, and/or winter feeding grounds.
Migratory pathways
Pygmy blue whales
Pygmy blue whales feeding off Australia use the west coast of Australia as part of their migratory route to and from breeding destinations72. The pygmy blue whales tend to pass along the shelf edge at depths between 500m to 1000m during their migration. Recent tagging studies have provided important new information potentially indicating the general migration pattern and breeding grounds of pygmy blue