@article{1de5245f88ba4cfdb47f878b1ec6d041,
title = "Confirmation of a new breeding area for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the central South Pacific",
abstract = "Small numbers of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae, Borowski 1781) have been visiting Pitcairn Island in the central South Pacific annually since the early 1990s. The whales have been observed between the months of June and November in mixed groups including adult males, mothers with calves and escort whales. More recently, similar small groups have also been observed at neighbouring Henderson Island, 200km ENE of Pitcairn. The sightings of mothers with very young calves, the observations of surface-active behaviours and the witnessing of (unrecorded) singing bouts, strongly suggest that the waters around these two islands are being used as calving and mating habitats during the austral winter and spring. Recent photographs and videos taken during visits to both islands confirm that calves are of a size that would suggest they have been born at either Pitcairn or Henderson Islands. Further work is required to assess how these small breeding whale groups may relate to larger groups further west, centered on Mo{\textquoteright}orea and Rurutu in French Polynesia, which constitute part of the Cook Islands-French Polynesia Breeding Stock F. As no identification of individuals has yet been undertaken at the Pitcairn Islands, it is too early to determine whether there is any exchange of individuals with these more established groups.",
keywords = "BREEDING GROUNDS, CONSERVATION, DISTRIBUTION, MIGRATION, REPRODUCTION, SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
author = "Irving, {R. A.} and S. O{\textquoteright}Keefe and P. Warren and Koldewey, {H. J.} and Dawson, {T. P.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work has been carried out as part of a UK Darwin Initiative-funded project entitled A sustainable marine and fisheries management plan for the Pitcairn Islands (20-006), which ran from 2013–16. The second author, Sue O{\textquoteright}Keefe, was appointed the islands{\textquoteright} Fisheries and Marine Conservation Officer in April 2015 under the auspices of the Darwin Initiative project. The authors would like to thank their colleagues Henry Duffy (MSc student, Imperial College, London) and Charlene Warren-Peu (temporary Pitcairn Fisheries Officer while O{\textquoteright}Keefe was on Henderson) for assisting with the gathering of data on the whales at Pitcairn. They should also like to thank the participation of Pitcairn{\textquoteright}s very small population in volunteering to complete recording forms of whale sightings and vocalizations during 2014, 2015 and 2016. The authors are grateful to Michele Christian, Head of the Environmental, Conservation and Natural Resources Division, Government of the Pitcairn Islands, for various permissions. The authors are grateful for the constructive comments and suggestions received from two anonymous referees which improved the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 International Whaling Commission. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2018",
language = "English",
volume = "18",
pages = "119--125",
journal = "Journal of Cetacean Research and Management",
issn = "1561-0713",
publisher = "International Whaling Commission",
}