Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633:body:0:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01633
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 11658–15263

may inhibit the recovery of blue whale populations in Australian waters. The relevance of these threats to the two subspecies varies depending on the habitats they occupy, timing of habitat occupancy and their population abundance and trend. The highest rated threats (as identified through a risk assessment process outlined in Section 5.2) are below.
A. Whaling - The impacts of commercial hunting on blue whales are well documented. While currently banned under the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling due to the classification of all blue whale populations as Protected Stocks, the potential for commercial whaling on large baleen whale species to recommence exists and pressure to take blue whales may well increase as the population recovers.
B. Climate variability and change - Climate variability and change may cause distribution and migratory timing changes and decreased health of individuals in a population. Climate change can lead to ocean temperature increases, changes in ocean heat transfer resulting in changes to circulation patterns (e.g. upwellings), ocean acidification and melting of Antarctic sea ice. This may impact krill availability, the major food source for blue whales.

C. Noise interference - Blue whales rely on sound to find prey and mates. Man-made noise can potentially result in injury or death, masking of vocalisations, displacement from essential resources (e.g. prey, breeding habitat), and behavioural responses. Potential sources of man-made underwater noise interference in Australian waters include seismic surveys for oil, gas and geophysical exploration, industrial development activities (such as drilling, pile driving, blasting and dredging), gas processing and shipping.
D. Vessel disturbance – Vessel disturbance can occur in the form of collisions or by disrupting the behaviour of animals. Vessel collision can lead to mortality or significant injury, and could impede recovery of blue whale populations. Vessel disturbance or collisions can result from industrial, recreational or commercial activities including whale watching.

Actions
Actions were prioritised to deliver tangible results to meet the Interim Recovery Objectives (Section 1.2) over time. There are a number of action areas identified in this Plan that address the 'very high' and 'high' risk threats to pygmy and Antarctic blue whales (above). Actions that support measuring population recovery, distribution and identification of important habitat were also prioritised. These actions and their ratings are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1. Summary of Actions and Priority Ratings identified in the Conservation Management Plan for pygmy and Antarctic blue whales.

Action                                                                                                         Pygmy blue whale  Antarctic blue whale
                                                                                                               Priority Rating   Priority Rating
Assessing and addressing threats
Maintain and improve existing legal and management protection                                                  Very high         Very high
Assessing and addressing anthropogenic noise                                                                   Very high         High
Understanding Impacts of climate variability and change                                                        High              High
Minimising vessel collisions                                                                                   High              High
Enabling and measuring recovery
Measuring and