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| The Antarctic Humpback Whale Program (AHWP) |
Background and Rationale
2007-08 marks the International Polar Year (IPY) with worldwide efforts underway to increase our understanding, appreciation, and conservation of our planet's polar regions and their wildlife communities. The poles are climatic indicators, illustrating some of the most dramatic examples of global climate change on the planet. Determining the status of large cetaceans in Antarctica is vital to our ecological understanding of the delicate marine food web dominant in this region. Implemented by CWRF, the Antarctic Humpback Whale Program (AHWP) is a multi-national assemblage of scientists working together to further our knowledge of humpback whales in the waters surrounding the Western Antarctic Peninsula. This knowledge is crucial in order to develop effective conservations strategies for these animals in this fragile environment. While we know that humpback whales are common in Antarctic waters, information on their foraging patterns, seasonal distribution, habitat selection and migratory behaviour is extremely limited. We will use satellite technology and other research techniques that have been developed for baleen whale studies in other parts of the world to learn more about humpback whales residing along the Antarctic Peninsula.
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