Australia-New Zealand Antarctic Whale Expedition

The Australian Government, in cooperation with New Zealand, is supporting the Antarctic Whale Expedition to conduct non-lethal research into large whales in the Ross Sea area and the adjacent Southern Ocean.

The expedition left Wellington, New Zealand on 1 February, 2010, to spend six weeks conducting non-lethal whale research aboard the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) vessel RV Tangaroa. Updates on the voyage will be posted as available.

This is the first major voyage of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP), a 5-year multinational collaboration on whale research in the Southern Ocean. SORP's aim is to develop a multi-lateral, non-lethal scientific research program that will improve the coordinated and cooperative delivery of science to the International Whaling Commission.

Antarctic Whale Expedition Aims

• To understand feeding behaviour of Southern Ocean whales (particularly humpback, Antarctic minke and blue), including interactions with pack-ice, krill and their environment
• To understand population movement patterns of Southern Ocean whales on feeding grounds, and linkages to their northern breeding grounds

Research

The research on the expedition will improve understanding of the population structure, abundance, trends, distribution and ecological role of whales in the Southern Ocean. Scientists will use state of the art non-lethal research techniques such as biopsy sampling, satellite tagging and acoustic and hydrographic surveys, focussing particularly on humpback, minke, blue and fin whales.

Watch lead scientist Nick Gales speaking about the expedition before its departure.