An international research team led by UK scientists has revealed the return of critically endangered Antarctic blue whales to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, 50 years after whaling all but wiped them out.
An international research team led by UK scientists has revealed the return of critically endangered Antarctic blue whales to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, 50 years after whaling all but wiped them out. The new study follows recent research that humpback whales are also returning to the region.
The discovery, based on analysis of 30 years’ worth of sightings, photographs and underwater sound recordings, is crucial evidence in learning how the species is recovering following a ban on commercial whaling in the 1960s. The findings are published today (19 November) in the journal Endangered Species Research.
Blue whales were abundant off South Georgia before early 20th century industrial whaling between 1904 and 1971 killed 42,698 of them there. Most of these were killed before the mid-1930s.
Read more at: British Antarctic Survey
Photo Credit: janeb13 via Pixabay
