Baleine australe

Scientific name:

Eubalaena australis

Threat level:

Least concern

Authority:

Desmoulins, 1822

Common names:

• Southern right whale (English)
• Ballena franca (Spanish)

Version:

3.1

Year assessed:

2008

Assessor(s):

Reilly, S.B., Bannister, J.L., Best, P.B., Brown, M., Brownell Jr., R.L., Butterworth, D.S., Clapham, P.J., Cooke, J., Donovan, G.P., Urbán, J. & Zerbini, A.N.

Evaluator(s):

Taylor, B.L. & Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. (Cetacean Red List Authority)

Justification:

Given the recent estimated population size (1,600 mature females in 1997, and approximately twice that number in 2007) and the strong observed rate of increase in some well-studied parts of the range, the species, although still scarce relative to its historic abundance, is not considered under threat at the hemispheric level. The population is estimated to be higher now than it was three generations (87 years, assuming a generation time of 29 years; Taylor et al. 2007) ago. Some breeding populations, in particular that off Chile/Peru (see separate listing), are still very small and may need special protection to become re-established.

Geographic ranges:

• Argentina (Native)
• Australia (Native)
• Bouvet Island (Native)
• Brazil (Native)
• Chile (Native)
• Falkland Islands (malvinas) (Native)
• French Southern Territories (Native)
• Madagascar (Native)
• Mozambique (Native)
• Namibia (Native)
• New Zealand (Native)
• Saint Helena (Native)
• South Africa (Native)
• Uruguay (Native)

Population trend:

Increasing

Ecosystems

• Marine

List of habitats:

• Marine Neritic
• Pelagic
• Marine Oceanic
• Epipelagic (0-200m)

List of threats:

• Transportation & service corridors
• Shipping lanes
• Biological resource use
• Logging & wood harvesting
• Intentional use: (large scale)
• Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale)
• Invasive & other problematic species & genes
• Problematic native species
• Climate change & severe weather
• Habitat shifting & alteration

List of conservation actions:

• Species management
• Species recovery