Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program and Co-Director of the Whales and Climate research, states that the five-year research program would establish a fundamental understanding of how changing ocean conditions were influencing the recovery of humpback whale populations. Although there has been remarkable recovery of humpback whales in the southern hemisphere, climate change is a very significant threat and we do not yet understand how resilient whales are to changing climates and oceans.”

“I am excited to contribute our research data on humpback whales to this important and timely large-scale assessment. “Pacific Whale Foundation’s research in Australia started in 1984 and has spanned numerous locations along the East Australia coast, resulting in great coverage through space and time, which is important for migratory species,” notes Stephanie Stack, PWF’s Chief Biologist. The ultimate goal is to create a model for whale distributions under future climate-change scenarios and investigate changes influencing population status and conservation of humpback whales. Researchers from Pacific Whale Foundation are part of an international team from five countries and six universities involved in the first global research project kicking off today that studies how ocean changes influence the recovery of whale populations in the southern hemisphere.

Pacific whale foundation