CBC Cetacean Research and Conservation Program

Cetacean Research and Conservation Program

Begun in 1996 as a survey of humpback whales in Antongil Bay, Madagascar, the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation's (CBC) program has grown into a multinational marine mammal conservation effort. In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), program researchers have garnered significant new information about whale populations, their behavior, and migration patterns. The program has recently played the leading role in forming and establishing priorities for the Indo-South Atlantic Consortium on Humpback Whales (ISACH): a regional initiative by scientists, conservation professionals, and environmental advocates to coordinate research and conservation efforts for humpback whales in the southwestern Indian and southern Atlantic Oceans.

Program Highlights In 2002, in collaboration with the University of Cape Town in South Africa and WCS, program leader Howard Rosenbaum and specialist Peter Ersts implemented a regional approach to whale conservation through simultaneous, systematic surveys of humpback whales on their wintering grounds and along migratory corridors. The year 2002 also inaugurated the first-ever collaborative, regional research-and-training cruise for the study of humpback whales. Conducted off the Natal Coast of South Africa, the voyage drew students and scientists from many countries around Africa as well as range states in the Indian Ocean. By establishing relationships that link these areas, project results will be better able to inform management decisions affecting these endangered whales.

In 2003 the Cetacean Research and Conservation Program completed its eighth field season in Antongil Bay, Madagascar, making it the longest continuous cetacean conservation program in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Under the direction of Dr. Rosenbaum, the program team and its collaborators have been playing an increasingly significant role in participating in and developing regional conservation programs in neighboring Comoros and in the West African country of Gabon. These included the first-ever systematic aerial surveys and satellite tracking of humpback whales off the coast of Gabon and exploring new critical sites for this species using novel survey methodologies in the Comoros.

Vanessa Rasoamampianina, an outstanding Malagasy student who has worked on the program, entered the Master's in Conservation Program at Columbia University in fall 2002. Working from recommendations in her Master's thesis, the project scientists have begun to develop educational content and materials to promote safe and conservation-oriented whale watching.:

Dr. Rosenbaum has presented the conservation implications of the project's research to the International Whaling Commission and the World Conservation Union, and since 2000, Rosenbaum has attended and presented the project's research to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. Rosenbaum and Malagasy collaborator Yvette Razafindrakoto are currently participating in the World Conservation Union's Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans 2004-2010. Razafindrakoto recently published the first scholarly paper ever written about the song of Madagascar's humpback whales and has a paper in press on humpback dolphin sighting and direct takes in western Madagascar. In 2001, she became the first woman from the Africa/Madagascar region to be nominated to the World Conservation Union's Cetacean Specialist Group. She joins Dr. Rosenbaum as a member.

Next Steps

Data analysis is ongoing, with the addition of new information each field season. In eight years, the team has collected over 2,000 tissue samples throughout the region. Researchers will continue to analyze the DNA and incorporate results into a genetic database of samples from Madagascar and elsewhere in the southern Atlantic and southwestern Indian Oceans, for a comprehensive assessment of movements between populations.

The team is also comparing data with those collected by researchers working in various areas in the Indo-South Atlantic region and corresponding Antarctic waters, in the hope of identifying individuals that migrate between these critical breeding and feeding habitats. By establishing relationships that link these areas, project results will be better able to inform management decisions affecting the whales.

Dr. Rosenbaum will attend two significant international meetings and present project findings: The US Government sponsored meeting entitled “Cetacean Systematics: Meeting The Needs of Conservation and Management,” April 28-May 2, 2004, and the 56th Annual Meeting of the IWC Scientific Committee in Sorrento, Italy, in June 2004.

With the development and launch of the Indo-South Atlantic Consortium on Humpback Whales (ISACH) website (http://www.isach.org), and beta-version of the distributed database, the project plans to convene the next meeting of ISACH members to implement its collaborative research program and sharing of information across the internet.

Yvette Razafindrakoto is progressing toward completion of her doctoral thesis on humpback whale song, working with CBC scientists and the Cornell University Bioacoustics Program. Vanessa Rasoamampianina continues to work toward her graduate degree in conservation biology at Columbia University, and is also working on implementation of the CBC's Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP) program in Madagascar.