John J. Ososky

May 6, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Kathleen E. Hunt |William R. Cioffi |Andy Read |John J. Ososky

1 INTRODUCTION The pre-exploitation abundance of Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) has been estimated at ~200,000–300,000 (Branch et al., 2004) and ~400,000–600,000 (Gambell, 1976), respectively. Both populations experienced dramatic declines due to pelagic commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean (Clapham & Baker, 2002).