At least 150 marine species have shown impacts from ocean noise pollution, but it has been difficult to specify the exact scenarios where ecosystem and population consequences from underwater noise will occur. Therefore, managing this threat requires a precautionary approach.
In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reviewed the conservation status of cetacean populations worldwide. As a consequence of this review, the Oceania population of humpback whales has been re-classified from Threatened to Endangered. This is in recognition that, although humpback whales in many parts of the world are showing encouraging signs of recovery from whaling, most of the small breeding populations in the South Pacific remain at extremely low levels and some remain vulnerable to extinction.
Members of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium met at the University of Auckland from 8-12 February, 2009 to discuss (i) the results of fieldwork and analysis conducted during 2008 and, (ii) conservation initiatives in the region. As with previous synoptic surveys dating back to the austral winter of 1999, surveys of humpback whales were conducted to collect genetic samples, individual identification photographs and song recordings in the four primary regions: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vavau), Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Moorea).
New Zealand's conservation office says all 240 pilot whales stranded on remote Pitt Island have died, just days after 215 whales died on a beach on nearby Chatham Island.
An international team of researchers have developed a method to assess sustainable levels of human-caused wildlife mortality, which when applied to a trawl fishery shows that dolphin capture is not sustainable.
The Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) initiative was launched by the Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2016, as a response to a conservation crisis in the protection of marine mammals and wider global ocean biodiversity.
More than 100 pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins are dead after being stranded on the Chatham Islands.
At least 38 dead dolphins have washed ashore on the island of Mauritius in the aftermath of a massive oil spill from a Japanese ship.
...where there are humans, there is little room for peace and quiet. A recent study reported in the eLife magazine shows how the observation of whales and dolphins from motorboats causes harm to animals.
Few will have heard of PCBs - polychlorinated biphenyls. The chemicals were banned in the late 70s amid fears about their toxicity. Recent estimates suggest that Europe produced anything between 299,000 and 585,000 tonnes of PCBs.