A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published
Photo-identification data collected between the 2003/04 and 2018/19 seasons yields a POPAN superpopulation estimate of 3,506 whales (95% CI 2,107-5,832), with abundance in the final study year estimated at 1,817 (95% CI lower bound 714). The confidence intervals are wide because the sample is small; that width is the honest state of knowledge about the subspecies, not a defect of the method.
Observed — measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.
Subjects
- Antarctic Blue Whale (B. m. intermedia) · species · Southern Ocean and adjacent temperate South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific sectors · not located
- Photo-Identification Cataloguing · process · Applied wherever blue whales are surveyed · not located
- IWC Southern Ocean Research Partnership · research programme · Southern Ocean · not located
Evidence
Verified — Every field is supported by a cited authoritative source.
Capture-recapture estimates of Antarctic blue whale abundance and population growth rate
A POPAN superpopulation estimate from Antarctic blue whale photo-identification collected between 2003/04 and 2018/19 gives 3,506 whales (95% CI 2,107-5,832), with abundance in the final study year, 2018/19, estimated at 1,817 (95% CI lower bound 714); SORP voyages in 2013, 2015 and 2019 added 119 individuals to an Antarctic Blue Whale Catalogue totalling 552. V55 verification basis: these figures were returned in the search result carrying the published abstract text and attributed to this paper.
Marine Mammal Science (Wiley); Olson and colleagues · 2025 · Verified
Marine Mammal Science; doi:10.1111/mms.13215; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.13215
Recorded on Antarctic Blue Whale (B. m. intermedia)
- Whaling begins at Grytviken, South Georgia
- The Antarctic blue whale catch reaches its all-time peak
- The heaviest blue whale on record is weighed
- Soviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns
- Whaling ends at South Georgia
- The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting
- The commercial whaling moratorium takes effect
- Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages
- Blue whales are found back at South Georgia
- The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data
- A capture-recapture abundance estimate for Antarctic blue whales is published
- An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- An individual Antarctic blue whale is re-sighted at South Georgia · 2026
- The only published Antarctic blue whale satellite tracks are released as data · 2023
- Blue whales are found back at South Georgia · 2020-02
- Dedicated Antarctic Blue Whale Project voyages · 2013, 2015, 2019
- The commercial whaling moratorium takes effect · 1986 (coastal); 1985/86 pelagic season
- The IWC protects blue whales from commercial hunting · 1966
- Whaling ends at South Georgia · 1965 (Grytviken); island operations described as running to 1971
- Soviet fleets take protected whales and file false returns · 1948-1970s