Oil exploration survey spots 17 blue whales off coast of southern Australia

The area's biggest-ever monitoring programme

February 2012: The whales were identified in the largest aerial monitoring programme ever undertaken for blue whales in the region. The survey is a collaboration between Adelaide-based exploration company Bight Petroleum in conjunction with Portland-based researchers Blue Whale Study Inc, led by Dr Peter Gill.

Three aerial surveys, covering more than 5,000 km, have been flown between Ceduna on the west coast of South Australia and Port Fairy in Victoria. Dr Gill said that in all, 17 blue whales had been identified either feeding or surfacing with a further three sightings of whales which could not be conclusively identified.

'The season so far is quiet'‘The eastern Bight is a very important feeding habitat for blues in some seasons, but the low numbers we have seen suggest this season so far is relatively quiet,' Dr Gill said.

‘Without these surveys we would have no idea what is going on out there.'

The next survey flight is scheduled for later this month, with additional flights to follow to gather more data to enhance the understanding of cetacean activity in the area. The Chief Operating Officer for Bight, Iain MacDougall, said the information from the survey would help Bight in planning its exploration activities to ensure minimal environmental impact.

Hoping to gather more dataBight has been awarded two exploration permits in the Eastern Bight Basin and late last year was granted a 12 month suspension/extension on its permits, allowing it to start its 3D seismic survey at the end of the year.

Mr MacDougall said that operating in Australia's calmer summer months would help in managing safety on board the survey ships as well as avoiding key whale migration times, particularly the winter southern right whale migration through the area.

‘The revised timing of our work programme gives us an extra opportunity to acquire base-line data of blue whale activity in the region through the summer months,' he said.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whales-australia2012.html

BLUE WHALES KEEP GETTING BIGGER

It's easier to grow bigger in the sea with the water holding up your weight, say researchers.

Blue whales are the largest animal to have ever lived on Earth and -- for now -- are continuing to get bigger, say researchers.

The findings come out of a study by evolutionary biologist Alistair Evans, of Monash University in Melbourne, and colleagues.

"The biggest animal ever is potentially still getting bigger," says Evans, whose study is reported this week in Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences.

When the dinosaurs and their marine cousins went extinct 65 million years ago, mammals took the opportunity to take advantage of the space these creatures had previously occupied, says Evans.

He and colleagues investigated the increase in the size of mammals since this time.

The study estimated the body size of hundreds of species in 28 different orders of animals in 20 time periods over the past 70 million years.

The researchers used teeth, skulls and limb bones to work out the size of the animal, based on comparisons with current day species.

The researchers found it took whales 5 million generations, or 30 million years, to go from 25 kilograms to 190 tons -- the weight of a blue whale.

By contrast land mammals got bigger half as quickly as marine mammals.

Read more:  http://news.discovery.com/animals/blue-whale-larger-than-ever-120131.html

Blue whales off California. Why aren't they recovering?

Research shows Blue whales endangered by shipping
October 2011. Scientists in California have been puzzling as to why, when most large whale species have recovered well in the last 20 years, Blue whales have not.

Blue whales migrate past the Post of Los Angeles, one of the busiest in the world, between May and December. There are regular reports of ships striking the Blue whales, and at least 4 were killed in 2007. The true number may be much higher because most blue whale deaths go undocumented with the carcass sinking or the blue whale floating offshore undiscovered. Blue whales face serious risks from ship strikes especially when they use areas like LA/Long Beach on the route of the high level of shipping traffic serving these ports.

Blue whale research on occurrence off S California, abundance, and presence near shipping lanes has benefited by the recent collaborative effort between Cascadia Research and the Aquarium of the Pacific with the help of Harbor Breeze Cruises. This work has revealed a higher level of recent use of the waters off LA by Blue whales than had been known previously.

The lack of increase in blue whale populations is in contrast to many other large whale species that occur off California like Humpback, Fin, and Gray whales which have shown strong recoveries from whaling over the last 20 years.

Read on ...

Blue whales at risk off LA Harbor

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Blue whales feeding off the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex are at risk of being hit and killed by enormous ships using the port, researchers said.

The whales, which migrate along the coast of California, are congregating in feeding grounds near the port in such numbers the spot has become "the area of densest concentration close to shore in all of California," research scientist John Calambokidis told the Los Angeles Times.

The underwater buffet of krill, shrimp-like crustaceans that are the whale's preferred food, is in the path of a virtual freeway of ship traffic that puts them in danger of fatal collisions with huge cargo ships, the newspaper said.

The gathering of whales outside Los Angeles Harbor has been a huge draw for sightseers.

"While this is a unique and exciting opportunity to have these animals out here, it also puts them at great risk," said Calambokidis of the Olympia, Wash.-based Cascadia Research Collective.
Dozens of whales have been injured or killed by ships of the California coast in the last 10 years, and scientists think the slowly recovering population of about 2,500 West Coast blue whales is especially vulnerable.

The abundant food has the creatures coming back to the area of the port again and again, Calambokidis said.

"They're constantly in this mode of looking for a place to feed," he said. "So when they find a patch of prey, they stick around for a while."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/10/07/Blue-whales-at-risk-off-LA-Harbor/UPI-48311318023015/#ixzz1aHuwHQhp