469
in 2011, a “Right Whale Monitoring Program” was implemented. The program
included theodolite tracking of whales from a shore-based station for monitoring
the occurrence and movements of the whales in the port area, and aerial surveys for
population monitoring along the RWEPA and adjacent areas (Groch, unpublished).
After completion of the expansion, the program became a permanent monitoring
program included in the Environmental Management Plan of the Port.
Facing the potential threats of vessel traffic to right whales, the repertoire of
vocalizations produced by southern right whale mother-calf pairs in southern Brazil
have been characterized using passive acoustic monitoring providing baseline information on the vocal behavior of this species as a tool for conservation and research
of the species off its main concentration area (Dombroski et al. 2016).
Despite increase in the right whale population in southern Brazil, climate variability may currently constitute the main potential threat. A recent study suggest
that global climate indices influence southern right whale breeding success in the
area (Seyboth et al. 2016). There is positive correlation between the number of
southern right whale calves in southern Brazil and krill densities near South Georgia,
considered an important feeding ground for this whale population, suggesting that
the reproductive success of southern right whale is directly influenced by food availability during the early months of gestation. The study analyzed data from 1997 to
2013. In 2016 only seventeen calves were counted in Santa Catarina, the lowest
number since 2001. A low number was also recorded in 2015, when 29 calves were
recorded (Groch unpublished). A likely explanation is that these years were also
influenced by climate anomalies. If the frequency of years with reduced krill abundance continues, is likely to reduce the current rate of recovery of southern right
whales and jeopardize its expansion to historical range (Seyboth et al. 2016).
The southern right whale breeding population of Península Valdés, Argentina,
have also found to produce fewer calves than expected following years of higher sea
surface temperatures around South Georgia (Leaper et al. 2006). Southern right
whales can be flexible in many aspects of their habitat use, however they have
shown site fidelity both to breeding and feeding grounds. There is also evidence of
culturally inherited site fidelity to feeding grounds (Valenzuela et al. 2009).
More than six hundred southern right whale calves died in their breeding ground
off Penınsula Valdes, Argentina, from 2003 through 2011. There is a varying levels
and patterns of calf mortality suggesting that many of the deaths have an unusual
cause or causes (Rowntree et al. 2013). The mortality of calves may be a consequence of: (1) cow nutritional stress; (2) exposure to HAB- and/or bacteriaassociated biotoxins in (a) the feeding ground resulting in in utero exposure of the
calf or (b) the calving/nursery ground; (3) infectious disease (viral, bacterial, protozoal, etc.); (4) kelp gull parasitism; (5) density-dependent processes; and (6) a
decline in food availability (IWC 2016).
In 2009, the southern right whale breeding ground in Argentina was estimated to
include 3373 whales (IWC 2013). As of 2010, the southern right whale subpopulation that calves off Península Valdés was estimated to be less than 20% of its
initial size before whaling (Rowntree et al. 2013). It is expected that the ongoing
high mortality of calves will significantly affect its recovery.
16 Conservation Advances for the Southern Right Whales in Brazil
in 2011, a “Right Whale Monitoring Program” was implemented. The program
included theodolite tracking of whales from a shore-based station for monitoring
the occurrence and movements of the whales in the port area, and aerial surveys for
population monitoring along the RWEPA and adjacent areas (Groch, unpublished).
After completion of the expansion, the program became a permanent monitoring
program included in the Environmental Management Plan of the Port.
Facing the potential threats of vessel traffic to right whales, the repertoire of
vocalizations produced by southern right whale mother-calf pairs in southern Brazil
have been characterized using passive acoustic monitoring providing baseline information on the vocal behavior of this species as a tool for conservation and research
of the species off its main concentration area (Dombroski et al. 2016).
Despite increase in the right whale population in southern Brazil, climate variability may currently constitute the main potential threat. A recent study suggest
that global climate indices influence southern right whale breeding success in the
area (Seyboth et al. 2016). There is positive correlation between the number of
southern right whale calves in southern Brazil and krill densities near South Georgia,
considered an important feeding ground for this whale population, suggesting that
the reproductive success of southern right whale is directly influenced by food availability during the early months of gestation. The study analyzed data from 1997 to
2013. In 2016 only seventeen calves were counted in Santa Catarina, the lowest
number since 2001. A low number was also recorded in 2015, when 29 calves were
recorded (Groch unpublished). A likely explanation is that these years were also
influenced by climate anomalies. If the frequency of years with reduced krill abundance continues, is likely to reduce the current rate of recovery of southern right
whales and jeopardize its expansion to historical range (Seyboth et al. 2016).
The southern right whale breeding population of Península Valdés, Argentina,
have also found to produce fewer calves than expected following years of higher sea
surface temperatures around South Georgia (Leaper et al. 2006). Southern right
whales can be flexible in many aspects of their habitat use, however they have
shown site fidelity both to breeding and feeding grounds. There is also evidence of
culturally inherited site fidelity to feeding grounds (Valenzuela et al. 2009).
More than six hundred southern right whale calves died in their breeding ground
off Penınsula Valdes, Argentina, from 2003 through 2011. There is a varying levels
and patterns of calf mortality suggesting that many of the deaths have an unusual
cause or causes (Rowntree et al. 2013). The mortality of calves may be a consequence of: (1) cow nutritional stress; (2) exposure to HAB- and/or bacteriaassociated biotoxins in (a) the feeding ground resulting in in utero exposure of the
calf or (b) the calving/nursery ground; (3) infectious disease (viral, bacterial, protozoal, etc.); (4) kelp gull parasitism; (5) density-dependent processes; and (6) a
decline in food availability (IWC 2016).
In 2009, the southern right whale breeding ground in Argentina was estimated to
include 3373 whales (IWC 2013). As of 2010, the southern right whale subpopulation that calves off Península Valdés was estimated to be less than 20% of its
initial size before whaling (Rowntree et al. 2013). It is expected that the ongoing
high mortality of calves will significantly affect its recovery.
16 Conservation Advances for the Southern Right Whales in Brazil