Whales are frequently exposed to shipping in Australia, even in our marine parks

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-11-28 00:01

Australia; NSW; QLD; WA

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Whales and sharks are frequently exposed to shipping even in Australia's marine parks, according to Australian experts. The team used shipping data to determine how frequently Australia's marine parks are exposed to passing ships, and found 18% are exposed to more than 365 ships a year. The researchers also compared this shipping data with satellite tags of whales and whale sharks, and say 36.7% and 39% of tag reports respectively were in areas of moderate shipping exposure. The researchers say exposure to shipping activity can be harmful for marine mammals, and we should consider how shipping routes impact conservation areas.

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Research CSIRO Publishing, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Marine & Freshwater Research

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Newcastle, Macquarie University, Murdoch University, The University of Queensland

Funder: No specific funding was received for this study.

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