Historic data used to protect whale species

Scientists are using centuries-old whalers' data from the southwestern Pacific and Tasman Sea to help better protect threatened whale species.

American offshore whaling maps, log books and strike documents from the 1700s to the 1920s are being analysed to shed light on southern right whales and sperm whales in Australasia.

Whaling was big business in the 1830s, so very detailed records were kept, said marine ecologist Dr Leigh Torres, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

Using these historic records, Dr Torres has begun to analyse the old whalers' data for comparison with the distribution of whale sightings today.

The research would provide an insight into the distribution and movements of endangered whale species before their numbers were reduced to what they are today.

"We are using these data, that are over a hundred years old, to tell us what the key foraging, migratory, and frequently used habitats were for southern right whales and sperm whales, because abundance levels were high in the 19th century before heavy whaling," Dr Torres said.

She is developing models, based on the historical data, that will be used to predict modern-day habitat use patterns of these two whale species.

Southern right whales are nationally endangered and are in danger of extinction. Prior to the 1830s there were an estimated 27,000 southern right whales within New Zealand waters, and now there are an estimated 5000.

Sperm whales are classified as threatened which means that they are likely to become endangered.

- NZPA