Australia has an excellent response capacity to assist individuals and groups of whales in distress, in cases where assistance is physically and logistically possible.
The AMMC hosts the National Marine Mammal Data Portal. This portal collates and protects data that facilitates data-driven management and conservation decisions, as well as assisting with reporting obligations to the IWC. The AMMC also leads Australia's scientific commitment to the Commission’s Southern Ocean Research Partnership (IWC-SORP).
Annual IWC Scientific Committee Meeting Virtual Meeting - May 2020 Documents SC Report 2020
Joint CC-SC Meeting
The Working Group was established through IWC Resolution 2014-4 to facilitate the implementation and follow-up of conservation recommendations. The Joint CC-SC meeting will be held virtually on 11 July 2022 at 15:00-17:00 London time (GMT+1). A draft agenda for this meeting is attached and we invite comments by Friday 1 July. Any queries on this should be directed to the Secretariat.
The following MPAs are in place within UK waters and specifically name cetaceans as a qualifying feature.
The National Stranding Network coordinated by ICMBio has been working along the Brazilian coast to evaluate cetacean stranding rates and cumulative effects of anthropogenic activities on these animals. A national database was developed to store the collected information providing the possibility to integrate data (in terms of space and time) and improve the evaluation of threats, as well as support both conservation planning and management actions.
The government of Brazil established two large Federal Marine Protected Areas in 2018, including the two most remote islands of the national territory - the São Pedro and São Paulo archipelagos - and also the chain of submarine mountains that connects the Brazilian continental shelf to the Trindade and Martin Vaz Archipelago.
Act No. 444/2014 of the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil determines the "Official National List of Endangered Fauna," including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and terrestrial invertebrates, and indicates the degree of extinction risk of each species. This offers certain protections to the species with endangered or threatened status.
The Brazilian Government is party to multilateral agreements related to cetaceans, besides the IWC, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The Government of Brazil participates as Observer in the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and has signed a Letter of Intentions to this agreement. Potential benefits of such agreements include conservation efforts to protect southern right whales and franciscana dolphin.
These Guidelines were developed in consultation with the state and territory governments, scientists, industry representatives and non-government organisations. They provide a consistent national policy for the management of whale and dolphin watching in Australian waters. They build upon and replace the Australian National Guidelines for Whale and Dolphin Watching 2005. The guidelines provide advice for all governments in the development, updating and implementation of laws regulating whale and dolphin watching.
