Data Sources
We extend our thanks to all the contributors whose invaluable research, data, and insights made this Initiative possible. This collaboration will continue expanding and build on these efforts in the future. Get in contact if you would like to contribute data and become a partner.
Recommended Citation of Blue Corridors Data in data visualisations
Palacios, D., Reisinger, R., Friedlaender, A., Zerbini, A., Preito, R., De Silva, M., Ferguson, S., Panigada, S., Lydersen, C., Vermuelen, E., Rosenbaum, H., Dulau, V., Herr, H., Constantine, R., Sironi, M., Sepúlveda, M., Falabella, V., Uhart, M., Coscarella, M., Andriolo, A., Schorr, G., Gonzalez, R., Willson, A., Willson, M.S., Carroll, E., Riekkola, L., Harcourt, R., Botero Acosta, N., Wilson, T., Vely, M., Saloma, A., Seakamela, M., Lesage, V., Panigada, V., Cerchio, S., Adam, A., Trudelle, L., Matthews, C., Lawson, J. and Andrews-Goff, V. (2025). Protecting Blue Corridors Dataset - bluecorridors.org
Citation for the global Protecting Blue Corridors report (2022), which forms the basis for the case studies and solutions presented
Johnson, C., Reisinger, R., Palacios, D., Friedlaender, A., Zerbini, A., Willson, A., Lancaster, M. , Battle, J., Graham, A., Cosandey-Godin, A., Jacob T., Felix, F., Grilly, E., Shahid, U., Houtman, N., Alberini, A., Montecinos, Y., Najera, E. and Kelez, S. (2022). Protecting Blue Corridors, Challenges and Solutions for Migratory Whales Navigating International and National Seas. WWF, Oregon State University, University of California, Santa Cruz, Publisher: WWF International, Switzerland.
https://zenodo.org/records/6196131
SATELLITE TELEMETRY DATA01
Satellite tracks displayed in infographics and maps were kindly provided by the following researchers and research groups or is available as supplementary data online.
Species Area # of tracks Organisations Contact Source |
Antarctic minke whales Southern Ocean - Antarctic Peninsula 20 University of California Santa Cruz Ari Friedlaender Friedlaender, A.S., Joyce, T., Johnston, D.W., Read, A.J., Nowacek, D.P., Goldbogen, J.A., Gales, N. and Durban, J.W., 2021. Sympatry and resource partitioning between the largest krill consumers around the Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 669, pp.1-16. |
Mate, B. R., Lagerquist, B. A. & Calambokidis, J. Movements of north pacific blue whales during the feeding season off southern California and their southern fall migration. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 15, 1246–1257 (1999) Bailey, H., Mate, B. R., Palacios, D. M., Irvine, L., Bograd, S. J. & Costa, D. P. Behavioural estimation of blue whale movements in the Northeast Pacific from state-space model analysis of satellite tracks. Endanger. Species Res. 10, 93–106 (2010). Irvine, L. M., Mate, B. R., Winsor, M. H., Palacios, D. M., Bograd, S. J., Costa, D. P. & Bailey, H. Spatial and temporal occurrence of blue whales off the U.S. West Coast, with implications for management. PLoS One 9, (2014). |
Blue Whales Southeast Pacific - Chile 10 Universidad Austral de Chile Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete Hucke-Gaete, R., Bedriñana-Romano, L., Viddi, F. A., Ruiz, J. E., Torres-Florez, J. P. & Zerbini, A. N. From Chilean Patagonia to Galapagos, Ecuador: Novel insights on blue whale migratory pathways along the Eastern South Pacific. PeerJ 2018, 1–22 (2018). |
Blue Whales Southeast Pacific - Chile 15 Universidad Austral de Chile Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete Bedriñana-Romano, L., Hucke-Gaete, R., Viddi, F. A., Johnson, D., Zerbini, A. N., Morales, J., Mate, B. & Palacios, D. M. Defining priority areas for blue whale conservation and investigating overlap with vessel traffic in Chilean Patagonia, using a fast-fitting movement model. Sci. Rep. 11, 1–16 (2021). |
Blue whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 24 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Véronique Lesage Lesage, V., Gavrilchuk, K., Andrews, R.D. and Sears, R., 2017. Foraging areas, migratory movements and winter destinations of blue whales from the western North Atlantic. Endangered Species Research, 34, pp.27-43. |
Blue whales North Atlantic - Azores 10 University of the Azores Rui Preito / Monica De Silva Silva, M. A., Prieto, R., Jonsen, I., Baumgartner, M. F. & Santos, R. S. North Atlantic blue and fin whales suspend their spring migration to forage in middle latitudes: building up energy reserves for the journey? PLoS One 8, e76507 (2013). Silva, M. A., Jonsen, I., Russell, D. J. F., Prieto, R., Thompson, D. & Baumgartner, M. F. Assessing performance of Bayesian state-space models fit to Argos satellite telemetry locations processed with Kalman filtering. PLoS One 9, e92277 (2014). |
Andrews-Goff, V., Bell, E.M., Miller, B.S., Wotherspoon, S.J. and Double, M.C., 2022. Satellite tag derived data from two Antarctic blue whales (Balaenopteramusculusintermedia) tagged in the east Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean. Biodiversity Data Journal, 10, p.e94228. |
Bowhead whales Northeast Atlantic - Spitsbergen 13 Norwegian Polar Institute Christian Lydersen Lydersen, C., Vacquié-Garcia, J., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Øien, N., Guinet, C. & Kovacs, K. M. Autumn movements of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) from Svalbard, Norway, revealed by satellite tracking. Sci. Rep. 10, 16966 (2020). |
Bowhead whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 96 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Steve Ferguson Fortune S., S. H. Ferguson, A. Trites, B. LeBlanc, V. LeMay, J. M. Hudson, M. F. Baumgartner. 2020. Seasonal diving and foraging behaviour of Eastern Canada-West Greenland bowhead whales. MEPS 643: 197-217. Pomerleau C, TA Patterson, S Luque, V Lesage, MP Heide-Jørgensen, LL Dueck, SH Ferguson. 2011. Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus diving and movement patterns in the eastern Canadian Arctic: implications for foraging ecology. Endangered Species Research 15: 167-177. Ferguson, SH, L Dueck, LL Loseto, SP Luque. 2010. Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) seasonal selection of sea ice. Marine Ecology Progress Series 411: 285-297. |
Unpublished. |
Unpublished. |
Fin whales Southeast Pacific - Chile 6 N/A Natalya Hernández Sepúlveda, M., Pérez-Álvarez, M. J., Santos-Carvallo, M., Pavez, G., Olavarría, C., Moraga, R. & Zerbini, A. N. From whaling to whale watching: Identifying fin whale critical foraging habitats off the Chilean coast. Aquat. Conserv. 28, 821–829 (2018). |
Cotté, C., Guinet, C., Taupier-Letage, I. & Mate, B. Scale-dependent habitat use by a large free-ranging predator, the Mediterranean fin whale. Deep Sea Res. Part I (2009). Cotté, C., d’Ovidio, F., Chaigneau, A., Lévy, M., Taupier-Letage, I., Mate, B. & Guinet, C. Scale-dependent interactions of Mediterranean whales with marine dynamics. Limnol. Oceanogr. 56, 219–232 (2011). |
Panigada, S., Donovan, G. P., Druon, J. N., Lauriano, G., Pierantonio, N., Pirotta, E., Zanardelli, M., Zerbini, A. N. & Di Sciara, G. N. Satellite tagging of Mediterranean fin whales: Working towards the identification of critical habitats and the focussing of mitigation measures. Sci. Rep. 7, 1–12 (2017). |
Fin whales Mediterranean to North Atlantic 2 Tethys Research Institute Simone Panigada Unpublished. |
Panigada, V., Bodey, T.W., Friedlaender, A., Druon, J.N., Huckstädt, L.A., Pierantonio, N., Degollada, E., Tort, B. and Panigada, S., 2024. Targeting fin whale conservation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea: insights on movements and behaviour from biologging and habitat modelling. Royal Society Open Science, 11(3), p.231783. |
Unpublished. |
Fin whales Northeast Atlantic - Svalbard 23 Norwegian Polar Institute Christian Lydersen Lydersen, C., Vacquié-Garcia, J., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Øien, N., Guinet, C. & Kovacs, K. M. Autumn movements of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) from Svalbard, Norway, revealed by satellite tracking. Sci. Rep. 10, 16966 (2020). |
Fin whales North Atlantic - Azores 16 University of the Azores Rui Preito / Monica De Silva Silva, M. A., Prieto, R., Jonsen, I., Baumgartner, M. F. & Santos, R. S. North Atlantic blue and fin whales suspend their spring migration to forage in middle latitudes: building up energy reserves for the journey? PLoS One 8, e76507 (2013). Silva, M. A., Jonsen, I., Russell, D. J. F., Prieto, R., Thompson, D. & Baumgartner, M. F. Assessing performance of Bayesian state-space models fit to Argos satellite telemetry locations processed with Kalman filtering. PLoS One 9, e92277 (2014). |
Irvine, L. M., Lagerquist, B. A., Schorr, G. S., Falcone, E. A., Mate, B. R., & Palacios, D. M. (2025). Ecological drivers of movement for two sympatric marine predators in the California current large marine ecosystem. Movement Ecology, 13(1), 19. |
Jimenez Lopez, M.E., Palacios, D.M., Jaramillo Legorreta, A., Urbán R, J. and Mate, B.R., 2019. Fin whale movements in the Gulf of California, Mexico, from satellite telemetry. PLoS One, 14(1), p.e0209324. |
Fin whales Southern Ocean - Antarctic Peninsula 4 University of Hamburg Alfred Wegener Institute Helena Herr Herr, H., Hickmott, L., Viquerat, S. and Panigada, S., 2022. First evidence for fin whale migration into the Pacific from Antarctic feeding grounds at Elephant Island. Royal Society Open Science, 9(9), p.220721. |
Fin whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 28 University of St Andrews Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Christian Ramp Ramp, C., Lesage, V., Ollier, A., Auger-Méthé, M. and Sears, R., 2024. Migratory movements of fin whales from the Gulf of St. Lawrence challenge our understanding of the Northwest Atlantic stock structure. Scientific Reports, 14(1), p.11472. |
Fin whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 11 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Steve Ferguson Unpublished. |
Mate, B. R., Ilyashenko, V. Yu., Bradford, A. L., Vertyankin, V. V., Tsidulko, G. A., Rozhnov, V. V. & Irvine, L. M. (2015). Critically endangered western gray whales migrate to the eastern North Pacific. Biology Letters, 11(4), 20150071. |
Mate, B. R., Gisiner, R. & Mobley, J. Local and migratory movements of Hawaiian humpback whales tracked by satellite telemetry. Can. J. Zool. (1998). Mate, B., Mesecar, R. & Lagerquist, B. The evolution of satellite-monitored radio tags for large whales: One laboratory’s experience. Deep Sea Res. Part 2 Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 54, 224–247 (2007). Tagged in Hawaii. Years: 1994-2000 |
Humpback whales Northeast Pacific - Southeast Alaska 46 Oregon State University Daniel Palacios Mate, B., Mesecar, R. & Lagerquist, B. The evolution of satellite-monitored radio tags for large whales: One laboratory’s experience. Deep Sea Res. Part 2 Top. Stud. Oceanogr. 54, 224–247 (2007). Palacios, D.M., B.R. Mate, C.S. Baker, C.E. Hayslip, T.M. Follett, D. Steel, B.A. Lagerquist, L.M. Irvine, and M.H. Winsor. Tracking North Pacific Humpback Whales To Unravel Their Basin-Wide Movements. Final Technical Report. Prepared for Pacific Life Foundation. Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University. Newport, Oregon, USA. 30 June 2019. 58 pp. doi:10.5399/osu/1117. (2019). https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/technical_reports/z890s0924 Oregon State University, unpublished. Tagged in SE Alaska. Years: 1997, 2014, 2015 |
Humpback whales Northeast Pacific - Southeast Alaska 5 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Amy Kennedy Kennedy, A.S., Zerbini, A.N., Rone, B.K. and Clapham, P.J., 2014. Individual variation in movements of satellite-tracked humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the eastern Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea. Endangered Species Research, 23, pp.187-195. |
Lagerquist, B. A., Mate, B. R., Ortega-Ortiz, J. G., Winsor, M. & Urbán-Ramirez, J. Migratory movements and surfacing rates of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) satellite tagged at Socorro Island, Mexico. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 24, 815–830 (2008). Tagging done in Baja California, Mexico (1998; unpublished) and in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico (2003; Lagerquist et al. 2008). Oregon State University, unpublished. |
Zerbini, A. N., A. Andriolo, M. P. Heide-Jørgensen, J. L. Pizzorno, Y. G. Maia, G. R. Vanblaricom, D. P. Demaster, P. C. Simões-Lopes, S. Moreira and C. Bethlem. 2006. Satellite-monitored movements of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 313:295-304. Bedriñana-Romano, L., A. N. Zerbini, A. Andriolo, D. Danilewicz and F. Sucunza. 2022. Individual and joint estimation of humpback whale migratory patterns and their environmental drivers in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Scientific Reports 12:7487. Other Acknowledgements / Funding: Shell Brasil and CGG (Viridien) |
Humpback whales Southeast Atlantic - Gabon 15 Wildlife Conservation Society Rosenbaum, H. C., Maxwell, S. M., Kershaw, F. & Mate, B. Long-Range Movement of Humpback Whales and Their Overlap with Anthropogenic Activity in the South Atlantic Ocean. Conserv. Biol. 28, 604–615 (2014). |
Humpback whales Southeast Atlantic - South Africa 23 Department of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment South Africa Mduduzi Seakamela Seakamela, S.M., Findlay, K., Meyer, M., Kirkman, S., Venter, K., Mdokwana, B. and Kotze, D., 2015. Report of the 2014 cetacean distribution and abundance survey off South Africa’s west coast. Report SC/66a/SH30. |
Humpback whales Southern Ocean - Antarctic Peninsula 57 University of California Santa Cruz Ari Friedlaender Curtice, C., Johnston, D.W., Ducklow, H., Gales, N., Halpin, P.N. and Friedlaender, A.S., 2015. Modeling the spatial and temporal dynamics of foraging movements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Movement ecology, 3(1), p.13. Weinstein, B.G., Double, M., Gales, N., Johnston, D.W. and Friedlaender, A.S., 2017. Identifying overlap between humpback whale foraging grounds and the Antarctic krill fishery. Biological Conservation, 210, pp.184-191. Weinstein, B.G. and Friedlaender, A.S., 2017. Dynamic foraging of a top predator in a seasonal polar marine environment. Oecologia, 185(3), pp.427-435. |
Humpback whales Southern Ocean - Antarctic Peninsula 9 Federal University of Rio Grande Luciano Dalla Rosa Dalla Rosa, L., Secchi, E.R., Maia, Y.G., Zerbini, A.N. and Heide-Jørgensen, M.P., 2008. Movements of satellite-monitored humpback whales on their feeding ground along the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biology, 31(7), pp.771-781. |
Humpback whales Southern Ocean - Antarctic Peninsula 1 Oregon State University Daniel Palacios Unpublished. |
Humpback whales Southern Ocean - East Antarctica 5 Center for Whale Research Curt Jenner Owen, K., Jenner, K.C.S., Jenner, M.N.M., McCauley, R.D. and Andrews, R.D., 2018. Water temperature correlates with baleen whale foraging behaviour at multiple scales in the Antarctic. Marine and Freshwater Research, 70(1), pp.19-32. |
Humpback whales North Indian Ocean 14 Future Seas Global Environment Society of Oman Andrew Willson Willson, A.J., Baldwin, R., Childerhouse, S., Cerchio, S., Collins, T., Genov, T., Geyer, Y., Gray, H., Godley, B.J., Al Harthi, S. and Jabri, A.A., 2026. No place like home: assessing the multidimensional habitat use of endangered Arabian Sea humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae, Borowski 1781) with satellite telemetry. Frontiers in Marine Science, 13, p.1719547. |
Dulau, V., Pinet, P., Geyer, Y., Fayan, J., Mongin, P., Cottarel, G., Zerbini, A. and Cerchio, S., 2017. Continuous movement behavior of humpback whales during the breeding season in the southwest Indian Ocean: on the road again!. Movement ecology, 5, pp.1-17. |
Humpback whales Southwest Indian Ocean - Madagascar 20 MIRACETI, Wildlife Conservation Society Sal Cerchio, Lauren Trudelle and collaborators Cerchio, S., Trudelle, L., Zerbini, A. N., Charrassin, J. B., Geyer, Y., Mayer, F. X., ... & Rosenbaum, H. C. (2016). Satellite telemetry of humpback whales off Madagascar reveals insights on breeding behavior and long-range movements within the southwest Indian Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 562, 193-209. Trudelle, L., Cerchio, S., Zerbini, A. N., Geyer, Y., Mayer, F.-X., Jung, J.-L., Hervé, M. R., Pous, S., Sallée, J.-B., Rosenbaum, H. C., Adam, O. & Charrassin, J.-B. Influence of environmental parameters on movements and habitat utilization of humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) in the Madagascar breeding ground. Royal Society Open Science 3, 160616 (2016). |
Humpback whales Southwest Indian Ocean - Comoros 12 MEGAPTERA Department of Biodiversity Greenland Institute of Natural Resources Fossette, S., Heide-Jørgensen, M.-P., Jensen, M. V., Kiszka, J., Bérubé, M., Bertrand, N. & Vély, M. Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) post breeding dispersal and southward migration in the western Indian Ocean. J. Exp. Mar. Bio. Ecol. 450, 6–14 (2014). |
Humpback whales Southwest Indian Ocean - Tanzania 5 Wildlife Conservation Society Unpublished. |
Humpback whales Southeast Indian Ocean - Australia 55 Australian Antarctic Division Virginia Andrews-Goff Bestley, S., Andrews-Goff, V., van Wijk, E., Rintoul, S.R., Double, M.C. and How, J., 2019. New insights into prime Southern Ocean forage grounds for thriving Western Australian humpback whales. Scientific Reports, 9(1), p.13988. |
Humpback whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 33 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Steve Ferguson Unpublished. |
Zerbini, A., Robbins, J., Andrews, R., Andrews-Goff, V., Baumgartner, M., Clapham, P., Double, M., Gales, N., Gulland, F., Hammar, T., Holland, M., Kennedy, A., Landry, S., Leask, A., Mattila, D. K., Sandilands, D. and Schorr, G. (2025). Developing robust large whale satellite tags through follow-up studies. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Special issue 5: 91-126. Kennedy, A., Robbins, J., Andrews-Goff, V., Clapham, P., Double, M., Gale, N., Gulland, F., Holland, M. and Zerbini, A. (2024). Remote assessment of ‘Type C’ implantable satellite tag extrusion rate using light sensors. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Special Issue 5: 35-44. Gulland, F. M. D., Robbins, J., Zerbini, A. N., Andrews-Goff, V., M., B., Clapham, P. J., Double, M., Gales, N., Kennedy, A. S., Landry, S., Mattila, D. K., Sandilands, D., Tackaberry, J., Uhart, M. and Vanstreels, R. E. T. (2024). Effects of satellite-linked telemetry tags on humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine: photographic assessment of tag sites. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Special Issue 5: 1-33. Hückstädt, L. A., Schwarz, L. K., Friedlaender, A. S., Mate, B. R., Zerbini, A. N., Kennedy, A., Robbins, J., Gales, N. J. and Costa, D. P. (2020). A dynamic approach to estimate the probability of exposure of marine predators to oil exploration seismic surveys over continental shelf waters. Endangered Species Research 42: 185-199. |
Humpback whales Northwest Atlantic - Caribbean 21 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research Amy Kennedy Kennedy, A.S., Zerbini, A.N., Vásquez, O.V., Gandilhon, N., Clapham, P.J. and Adam, O., 2014. Local and migratory movements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) satellite-tracked in the North Atlantic Ocean. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 92(1), pp.9-18. |
Humpback whales Northeast Atlantic - Norway 1 Norwegian Polar Institute Marie-Anne Blanchet Kettemer, L.E., Rikardsen, A.H., Biuw, M., Broms, F., Mul, E. and Blanchet, M.A., 2022. Round-trip migration and energy budget of a breeding female humpback whale in the Northeast Atlantic. PLoS One, 17(5), p.e0268355. |
Humpback whales Southwest Pacific - New Caledonia 65 UMR ENTROPIE Operation Cétacés Solène Derville and Claire Garrigue Derville, S., Torres, L.G., Zerbini, A.N., Oremus, M. and Garrigue, C., 2020. Horizontal and vertical movements of humpback whales inform the use of critical pelagic habitats in the western South Pacific. Scientific Reports, 10(1), p.4871. Garrigue, C., Clapham, P.J., Geyer, Y., Kennedy, A.S. and Zerbini, A.N., 2015. Satellite tracking reveals novel migratory patterns and the importance of seamounts for endangered South Pacific humpback whales. Royal Society open science, 2(11), p.150489. |
Humpback whales Southwest Pacific - Australia 47 Australian Antarctic Division Viriginia Andrews-Goff Andrews-Goff, V., Bestley, S., Gales, N.J., Laverick, S.M., Paton, D., Polanowski, A.M., Schmitt, N.T. and Double, M.C., 2018. Humpback whale migrations to Antarctic summer foraging grounds through the southwest Pacific Ocean. Scientific reports, 8(1), p.12333. |
Humpback whales Southwest Pacific - Kermadec 19 University of Auckland Rochelle Constantine Riekkola, L., Andrews-Goff, V., Friedlaender, A., Constantine, R. and Zerbini, A.N., 2019. Environmental drivers of humpback whale foraging behavior in the remote Southern Ocean. Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, 517, pp.1-12. Riekkola, L., Andrews‐Goff, V., Friedlaender, A., Zerbini, A.N. and Constantine, R., 2020. Longer migration not necessarily the costliest strategy for migrating humpback whales. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(5), pp.937-948. |
Narwhal Arctic Ocean - Canada 25 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Hornby, C.A., Togunov, R.R., McClintock, B.T. and Watt, C.A., 2025. Behavioural analysis of multi-year satellite telemetry data provides insight into narwhal (Monodon monoceros) winter prey selection in Baffin Bay. Plos one, 20(9), p.e0330928. |
North Pacific Right Whale Northeast Pacific - Alaska 4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Alex Zerbini Zerbini, A.N., Baumgartner, M.F., Kennedy, A.S., Rone, B.K., Wade, P.R. and Clapham, P.J., 2015. Space use patterns of the endangered North Pacific right whale Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 532, pp.269-281. |
Northern bottlenose whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 73 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Steve Ferguson Unpublished. |
Orca South Indian Ocean - Prince Edward Islands 9 University of Pretoria Ryan Reisinger Reisinger, R.R., Keith, M., Andrews, R.D. and De Bruyn, P.J.N., 2015. Movement and diving of killer whales (Orcinus orca) at a Southern Ocean archipelago. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 473, pp.90-102. |
Orca Southern Ocean - Ross Sea 10 Institute for Environmental Protection and Research Giancarlo Lauriano Lauriano, G., Pirotta, E., Joyce, T., Pitman, R.L., Borrell, A. and Panigada, S., 2020. Movements, diving behaviour and diet of type‐C killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30(12), pp.2428-2440. |
Pygmy blue whales Southeast Indian - Indonesia/ Australia 36 Australian Antarctic Division Virginia Andrews-Goff Andrews-Goff, V., Double, M., Moller, L., Attard, C., Bilgmann, K., Jonsen, I. and Paton, D. Switching state space model for pygmy blue whale satellite tag derived locations, Ver. 1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.26179/5e671120e52b4 (2020). https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_4101_pygmy_blue_whale_SSSM Andrews-Goff, V., Double, M. and Gales, N. Filtered Argos location data for pygmy blue whales 2009 and 2011, Ver. 1, Australian Antarctic Data Centre - doi:10.4225/15/5af3cbf350bf0, (2018). https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_2941_blue_whale_Argos_sda_filter_tracks |
Sei whales North Atlantic - Azores 11 University of the Azores Rui Preito / Monica De Silva Silva, M. A., Jonsen, I., Russell, D. J. F., Prieto, R., Thompson, D. & Baumgartner, M. F. Assessing performance of Bayesian state-space models fit to Argos satellite telemetry locations processed with Kalman filtering. PLoS One 9, e92277 (2014). Prieto, R., Silva, M. A. & Waring, G. T. Sei whale movements and behaviour in the North Atlantic inferred from satellite telemetry. Endanger. Species Res. (2014). at https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v26/n2/p103-113/ |
Southern right whales Southern Ocean & South Africa 18 University of Pretoria & Oregon State University Mate, B. R., Best, P. B., Lagerquist, B. A. & Winsor, M. H. Coastal, offshore, and migratory movements of South African right whales revealed by satellite telemetry. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 27, 455–476 (2011). |
Southern right whales Southern Ocean & New Zealand to Australia 6 Australian Antarctic Division Virginia Andrews-Goff Andrews-Goff, V., Double, M., Mckay, A., & Bailleul, F. Argos location data for southern right whales satellite tagged off New Zealand and South Australia, Ver. 1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre. (2021). https://doi.org/10.26179/5d37c13fe2ff4 https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/AAS_2941_4101_SRW_tracks |
Southern right whales Southern Ocean & New Zealand 25 University of Auckland Leena Riekkola and Emma Carroll Riekkola, L., Sprogis, K.R., Della Penna, A., Andrews-Goff, V., Harcourt, R., Cole, R., Constantine, R., Goetz, K.T., Lundquist, D., Stuck, E. and Zerbini, A.N., 2025. Large-scale differences, mesoscale similarities: Neighbouring marine predator populations provide insights into Southern Ocean productivity. Global Ecology and Conservation, p.e03788. |
Southern right whales Southern Ocean & Australia 4 University of Western Australia Kate Sprogis Riekkola, L., Sprogis, K.R., Della Penna, A., Andrews-Goff, V., Harcourt, R., Cole, R., Constantine, R., Goetz, K.T., Lundquist, D., Stuck, E. and Zerbini, A.N., 2025. Large-scale differences, mesoscale similarities: Neighbouring marine predator populations provide insights into Southern Ocean productivity. Global Ecology and Conservation, p.e03788. |
Southern right whales Southwest Atlantic - Argentina 33 Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research, University of Washington, NOAA, Wildlife Conservation Society Alex Zerbini and partners Zerbini, A.N., Rosenbaum, H., Mendez, M., Sucunza, F., Andriolo, A., Harris, G., Clapham, P.J., Sironi, M., Uhart, M. and Ajó, A. Tracking southern right whales through the Southwest Atlantic: an update on movements, migratory routes and feeding grounds. Paper SC/66b/BRG26 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, Bled, Slovenia, 7-19 June 2016. 16pp. (2016). Zerbini, A.N., Ajo, A.F, Andriolo, A., Clapham, P.J., Crespo, E., Gonzalez, R., Harris, G., Mendez, M., Rosenbaum, H., Sironi, M., Sucunza, F., and Uhart, M. Satellite tracking of Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) from Golfo San Matías, Rio Negro Province, Argentina. Paper SC/67B/CMP/17 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, Bled, Slovenia, 23 April-6 May 2018. 10pp. (2018). Other Acknowledgements / Funding: Office of Naval Research and National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration & Instituto Aqualie |
Southern right whales Southern Ocean - South Georgia 2 British Antarctic Survey Jen Jackson Kennedy, A.S., Carroll, E.L., Zerbini, A.N., Baker, C.S., Bassoi, M., Beretta, N.A., Buss, D.L., Calderan, S., Cheeseman, T., Collins, M.A. and Costa‐Urrutia, P., 2024. Photo‐identification and satellite telemetry connect southern right whales from South Georgia Island (Islas Georgias del Sur) with multiple feeding and calving grounds in the southwest Atlantic. Marine Mammal Science, 40(2), p.e13089. |
Irvine, L. M., Winsor, M. H., Follett, T. M., Mate, B. R., & Palacios, D. M. (2020). An at-sea assessment of Argos location accuracy for three species of large whales, and the effect of deep-diving behavior on location error. Animal Biotelemetry, 8, 1-17. Mate, B. R., Irvine, L. M., & Palacios, D. M. (2017). The development of an intermediate‐duration tag to characterize the diving behavior of large whales. Ecology and evolution, 7(2), 585-595. |
Sperm whales Northwest Atlantic - Canada 34 Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Steve Ferguson Lefort, K.J., Hussey, N.E., Jones, J.M., Johnson, K.F. and Ferguson, S.H., 2022. Satellite-tracked sperm whale migrates from the Canadian Arctic to the subtropical western North Atlantic. Marine Mammal Science, 38(3), p.1242. |
Unpublished. |
Sperm whales Northeast Atlantic - Norway 26 Norwegian Polar Institute Marie-Anne Blanchet Lydersen, C., Blanchet, M.A., Kovacs, K.M., Similä, T., Freitas, C., Morange, Z., Pedersen, O.M., Vogel, E.F., Bril, M., Christensen, G. and Rikardsen, A.H., 2025. Migration to breeding areas by male sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus from the Northeast Atlantic Arctic. Scientific Reports, 15(1), p.7861. |
Sperm whales Southwest Indian Ocean - Mauritius 22 MEGAPTERA Department of Biodiversity Greenland Institute of Natural Resources Chambault P, Fossette S, Heide‐Jørgensen MP, Jouannet D, Vély M., 2021. Predicting seasonal movements and distribution of the sperm whale using machine learning algorithms. Ecology and evolution, 11(3), 1432-45. |
Additional Whale Movement02
Some whale corridors, or migration areas, are visualised based on peer-review literature and other sources.
Species Region Citation / source |
Bowhead Whales Eastern Canada / West Greenland Ferguson, S. H., Dueck, L., Loseto, L. L. & Luque, S. P. Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) seasonal selection of sea ice. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 411, 285–297 (2010). |
Bowhead whales Bering / Chukchi / Beaufort Seas Smith, M. A., Goldman, M. S., Knight, E. J. & Warrenchuk, J. J. Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas: Melanie A. Smith, Max S. Goldman, Erika J. Knight, and Jon J. Warrenchuk. (Audubon Alaska, 2017). |
Humpback whales North Atlantic Robbins, J. Gulf of Maine Humpback Whales - Centre for Coastal Studies. Movebank (2021). at https://www.movebank.org/cms/webapp?gwt_fragment=page=studies,path=study540299766 |
Humpback whales North Atlantic Rikardsen, A. Blanchet, M.A. ien, N. Biuw, M. Broms, F. KLeivane, L. Whaletrack. UiT - The Arctic University of Norway (2022). at https://en.uit.no/prosjekter/prosjekt?p_document_id=505966 |
Humpback whales Global Fleming, A. & Jackson, J. Global review of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (2011). at https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/4489/noaa_4489_DS1.pdf |
Species range maps Global Kaschner, K., Kesner-Reyes, K., Garilao, C., Segschneider, J., Rius-Barile, J. Rees, T., & Froese, R. (2019, October). AquaMaps: Predicted range maps for aquatic species. Retrieved from https://www.aquamaps.org. |
MARINE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA.03
Data layers displayed in maps and infographics
Data layers displayed in maps and infographics Source |
Marine Protected Areas UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM) [Online], November 2021, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2021). Available at: www.protectedplanet.net. For CCAMLR MPA data layers, special thanks to Cassandra Brooks, University of Colorado, Boulder (USA). |
IUCN Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force. Global Dataset of Important Marine Mammal Areas (IUCN-IMMA). April 2025. Made available under agreement on terms of use by the IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force (2025). Available at www.marinemammalhabitat.org/imma-eatlas |
Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) BirdLife International (2025) World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. Developed by the KBA Partnership: BirdLife International, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, American Bird Conservancy, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Global Environment Facility, Re:wild, NatureServe, Rainforest Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. March 2025 version. Available at http://keybiodiversityareas.org/kba-data/request |
Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. Protected Planet: The World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM) [Online], November 2021, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2021). Available at: www.protectedplanet.net. |
Country Borders, Land and Sea Areas Available at https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ |
Country EEZs Flanders Marine Institute. Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase: Maritime Boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zones (200NM), version 11 (2019). Downloaded from https://www.marineregions.org/. Last accessed 10 February 2021. https://doi.org/10.14284/386. |
Bycatch Incidence Avila IC, Kaschner K, Dormann CF (2018) Current global risks to marine mammals: Taking stock of the threats. Biological Conservation 221:44–58. (Fig. 6A). https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/jwfrz8238k/1/files/467957fa-4268-47c6-b565-f90ca189def0 |
Chemical Pollution Frazier M (2019). Recent pace of change in human impact on the world's ocean: Organic chemical pollution. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity. https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/view/resource_map_doi:10.5063/F12805ZF |
Climate Change Data GISTEMP Team, 2025: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), version 4. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dataset accessed 2025-05-01 at https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/. |
Cumulative Impact Avila IC, Kaschner K, Dormann CF (2018) Current global risks to marine mammals: Taking stock of the threats. Biological Conservation 221:44–58. https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/jwfrz8238k/1/files/f57f5ac3-affd-4c04-8974-507f0bdb7698 |
Global Fishing Effort Global Fishing Watch. Fishing effort, Version 2. Global Fishing Watch. (2021). Downloaded (19 March 2021) from https://globalfishingwatch.org/data-download/datasets/public-fishing-effort. |
Global Ship Traffic Data ExactEarth Vessel Traffic Density Layers, (2015). https://www.exactearth.com/product-exactais-density-maps |
Oil and Gas Exploration Omara, Mark, Ritesh Gautam, Madeleine O'Brien, Anthony Himmelberger, Alex Franco, Kelsey Meisenhelder, Grace Hauser et al. "Developing a spatially explicit global oil and gas infrastructure database for characterizing methane emission sources at high resolution." Earth System Science Data Discussions 2023 (2023): 1-35. |
Plastic Pollution Clark, B.L., Carneiro, A.P.B., Pearmain, E.J. et al. Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds. Nat Commun 14, 3665 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38900-z |
Underwater Noise Pollution Jalkanen J-P, Johansson L, Andersson MH, Majamäki E, Sigray P (2022) Underwater noise emissions from ships during 2014–2020. Environmental Pollution 311:119766. https://zenodo.org/records/6513401 |
Species Probability of Occurrence Kaschner, K., K. Kesner-Reyes, C. Garilao, J. Segschneider, J. Rius-Barile, T. Rees, and R. Froese. AquaMaps: Predicted range maps for aquatic species. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.aquamaps.org, version 10/2019 (final) (2019). Last accessed 15 November 2021. |