WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED, IN A CLAM SHELL
“Southern right whales are recovering in Australia and their distribution ranges are expanding. However their calving rates are reducing at home and globally, which means that their recovery rate is slowing, whilst their threats are increasing through climate change and human impact.”
- Dr Claire Charlton
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“Recognising the great value of the data collected in increasing understanding of abundance, trends and movement patterns, and for informing regional and global population assessments, the Committee recommends that long-term aerial and land-based surveys in Australia continue."
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- International Whaling Commission
Long-term Continuous Datasets are invaluable
Our recent achievements
EST. 1991
DECADES OF CONTINUED FIELD RESEARCH
Continuation of the longest running land-based whale study in Australia
2500
INDIVIDUALS IN ARWPIC
long-term unbroken time series dataset uploaded into the national repository, ARWPIC
REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
20+ reports & publications in last 3 years directly informing conservation strategies and policy decisions
20+
Generating a wave of larger impact
Decadal Shifts in Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) Recovery in South Australian Waters: Implications for Conservation and Management
Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) population demographics at major calving ground Head of Bight, South Australia, 1991–2016.
Charlton, C., McCauley, R.D., Brownell, R.L. Jr., Ward, R., Bannister, J.L., Salgado Kent, C., Burnell, S. (2022). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 1–16
Estimating the cost of growth in southern right whales from drone photogrammetry data and long-term sighting histories.
Christiansen F, Bejder L, Burnell S, Ward R, Charlton C (2022). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 687:173-194. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14009