This month, IWC Chair, Bruno Mainini of Switzerland, will host a meeting of the IWC Bureau in Bern. The Bureau was established when IWC meetings moved from an annual to biennial cycle in 2012 and its role is to oversee delivery of the Commission’s workplan during the longer intersessional period.

This week at the Coastal Studies Center, Provincetown, the training of two apprentices from Mexico was overtaken by a real and complex whale entanglement. Karel Beets and Ricky Rebolledo of Mexico's RABEN Entanglement Response Team had joined the CCS experts to advance their knowledge and skills through an IWC global capacity-building programme.  Their training was thoroughly tested on Sunday when a young humpback was spotted in very poor condition, trailing a large amount of fishing gear from its mouth.  The apprentices joined the CCS team and were able to play active roles in the 11 hour operation.

The latest IWC entanglement response training has concluded successfully in the port of Shiogama, Japan. This was a specially prepared training for the ship and scientific crew of the 2015 IWC-POWER cruise, which will be surveying for two months in the North Pacific Ocean.

A female humpback whale has been successfully freed from a third serious entanglement.   The rescue was performed by an expert team from the Centre for Coastal Studies (CCS), Provincetown, who partner the IWC in a programme to build entanglement response capability around the world.

Alerted by an aerial survey team from the North East Fisheries Survey Center, the CCS boat arrived to find the whale wrapped from mouth to tail in heavy fishing gear, forcing her into a hunched position.  The operation to release her from the life threatening entanglement took four hours.  Once a working line into the fishing gear was established, a series of painstaking cuts were made using a pole-mounted knife, until the bulk of the entanglement fell away.  Two more fishing lines were pulled from the whale's mount before she was able to swim freely.

When underwater footage of the operation was analysed back at CCS, its Humpback Whale Studies Program team was able to identify the whale as an adult female known as Spinnaker.  She is already known to entanglement response teams, most recently off the Maine coast where she was disentangled just seven months ago, highlighting the risk posed to whales by fishing gear and marine debris in the habitats they traditionally return to each year.

CCS, Provincetown, and other established response networks around the world, are generously sharing their knowledge and experience to train others in safe and professional entanglement response.  So far almost 400 individuals from 18 countries have attended Entanglement Response Workshops, and more are planned.  Spinnaker's recent experiences demonstrate how important this training can be.

A collaborative satellite tagging programme under the auspices of the IWC has shed light on the migration patterns of Mediterranean fin whales.  This latest research develops understanding of the routes travelled by the whales, and therefore the threats they face. 

IWC’s Global Whale Entanglement Response Network is meeting officially for the first time at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown.   Concern over the rising number of reported entanglements worldwide, the prolonged suffering caused, and the risk posed to humans attempting to release whales, led the IWC to develop an entanglement response capacity-building programme.  The programme began in 2012 and is a partnership with CCS who provide expertise, facilities and tools.  This month, a workshop will enable the experts who devised the programme to evaluate it with some of the new responders they helped to train.

Prompted by surprising new information, the IWC held its first rangewide review workshop on North Pacific gray whales in April 2014.  A year later, significant progress has been made and was reviewed at a workshop held in La Jolla, California from 1-3 April.

Regular 'Implementation Reviews' are required under the rules of the Revised Management Procedure (RMP), the mechanism devised by the Scientific Committee to provide advice on safe catch limits for baleen whales, should the Commission ever decide to reinstate commercial whaling. Where there is no new information to suggest the original trials procedure requires modification, the Implementation Review might be classified as 'light.' A 'light' Review primarily involves incorporation of updated catch data and abundance estimates. The process is different and more in-depth if new information is available that indicates additional 'trials' (see above) are required.

The Scientific Committee agreed a more in-depth Implementation Review was appropriate for North Atlantic common minke whales because the original Implementation pre-dated it's current guidelines. In-depth Implementation Review of North Atlantic fin whales is required because additional information is available on stock structure, and some population models have been revised to better mimic the new data.

It's hoped that the workshop will enable completion of the Implementation Reviews for both species at this year's Scientific Committee meeting, but the complexity of the work means it may not be possible to conclude the fin whale Review until the 2016 meeting.

The Scientific Committee's Aboriginal Whaling Management Procedure group (AWMP) will meet in February to progress SLAs for West Greenland's bowhead, common minke and fin whale hunts. SLAs are used to calculate safe limits for subsistence hunts. Developing acceptable SLAs is an iterative process and can take several years. The aim is to complete all West Greenland SLAs before the next Commission review of aboriginal whale catch quotas in 2018. Reviews of existing SLAs occur every five years.

As the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Yacht Race gets underway, the IWC is highlighting the measures that can be taken to avoid dangerous collisions between racing vessels and whales.  Known as ship strikes, these collisions can be fatal for both crew members and whales. The scale of the problem is hard to assess because it’s often impossible to gather accurate information at the time of the strike, but experts believe the numbers are rising. This year, the Volvo Race has seen collaboration between the IWC, WWF and VOR in an awareness-raising exercise. Information about whales will be provided to competitors, organisers and spectators, spanning the 11 worldwide port stops of the 38,730Nm race.

The latest satellite tagging technology has been deployed by scientists investigating seasonal whale calf deaths in Peninsula Valdes, Argentina.  It’s hoped the tracking devices will provide more pieces of a ten-year puzzle that has involved biologists, veterinarians, oceanographers and specialists in stress, krill and climate change.

The benefits of collaboration were reinforced recently when IWC attended the 25th Annual Meeting of SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Region Environment Programme) in Marjuro, Marshall Islands.   A number of organisations share IWC conservation and management objectives.  Sharing research and expertise, partnering and pooling can increase the impact of work, particularly when operating at a regional, or international level.   

The four day meeting of the IWC ended today with a broad and busy programme of work agreed for the two year inter-sessional period.   The constructive dialogue, and commitment of member governments to reaching consensus wherever possible, was acknowledged by the Chair, Jeannine Compton-Antoine, Commissioner for St Lucia.

Day Two of the 65th IWC meeting in Slovenia saw discussions ongoing on a wide range of issues.  The conservation committee reported increasing concern regarding collisions between ships and whales, and updated the Commission on a Conservation Management Plan in place for Southern Right Whales off the western coast of South America.  The Scientific Committee report on whale stocks was endorsed, and a Resolution seeking increased international collaboration on highly migratory species, including both baleen and toothed whales, was also adopted by vote (37 for, 15 against, 7 abstentions).

The 65th meeting of the IWC begins today in Portoroz, Slovenia.  This is the first on a new, biennial meeting cycle and therefore the first opportunity for member governments to come together under the IWC since the 2012 meeting in Panama.  Jeannine Compton-Antoine, IWC Commissioner for St Lucia is chairing, and will steer discussions through a very full agenda.  

The latest IWC entanglement response network training concluded successfully on 30 July, 2014. The two-day event was the first in the South Pacific Island Countries, whose waters are the primary breeding ground for many of Oceania humpbacks. Attendees included representatives of local Fisheries and Environmental Agencies, along with local NGOs and boat operators nominated by SPREP. 

In Argentina next month, an IWC workshop will bring together marine biologists, veterinarians and specialists in stress, disease, krill depletion and gull management.  The aim of the event is to understand the cause or causes of the large number of Southern Right whale deaths at Peninsula Valdes, Chubut, each year.

A complex and multi-faceted acoustics research programme has been endorsed by the IWC Scientific Committee.  Whales are generally easier to hear than to see, and underwater acoustic monitoring has been used for many years by scientists trying to learn more about these inaccessible animals.  The latest research has pioneered and validated new methodology, using sono (acoustic) buoys to locate and track whales in real time, and over distances of hundreds of kilometres.   This increases the efficiency of attempts to encounter and study cetaceans.   

This month, Panama will host the last in a series of three workshops addressing human impacts on marine mammals in the wider Caribbean region.  This workshop addresses collisions, known as ‘ship strikes,’ a problem for vessels and shipping as well as marine life.  Representatives from government, science and academia, the shipping and boating industries and environmental organisations will meet to review existing information and knowledge gaps, and assess mitigation measures.

The latest IWC entanglement response network training concluded successfully on 4 April, 2014.  The two-day event was the first in the Dominican Republic, whose waters are the primary breeding ground for the majority of North Atlantic humpback whales during the winter.  

Oceans are getting noisier which can cause problems for the marine animals that rely on sound.   Marine noise management has traditionally focused on high intensity, short duration noise sources, but this two-day expert workshop will look at sound field mapping of chronic and lower intensity sources.

The IWC Pollution project is moving to a new phase and will begin to assess the potential impact and toxicity of microplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their dispersants in cetaceans.  This phase will start with a meeting of the new Steering Group in St Andrews, Scotland, in March.  

The latest IWC entanglement response training has concluded successfully in the San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico.  The two day event was an addition to two previous workshops in Mexico, and the twenty trainees included representatives of the regional marine parks and nominated local fishermen and boat operators.

Earlier this year, the IWC brought together whale watch operators, scientists and government officials from over 20 countries.  The aim was to take forward work on a 5 year Strategic Plan and a web-based 'living handbook' for whale watching. The workshop sought input from all stakeholders.  A number of key recommendations were made and their report is now published.  For more information click here.

The IWC has always placed great importance on science.  Its peer-reviewed Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (JCRM) has published scientific papers since 1999.  As part of the IWC's philosophy of making the best scientific information available to all, JCRM has now become an open access online journal and all past issues will be available online fron 25 November 2013.

The research vessel, Yushin-Maru No.3arrived in Shiogama Harbour on 9 September 2013 after completing the fourth annual IWC-POWER (International Whaling Commission - Pacific Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research) survey. This year’s survey began on 12 July 2013 when the ship departed Shiogama to survey the whales of the Eastern North Pacific.

The IWC co-ordinates and directs a major research programme, POWER (Pacific Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research). The fourth annual cruise will set sail on 12^th July.  Scientists from Japan, Mexico and Korea will spend 60 days at sea and travel approximately 2000 nautical miles. Read More...

The IWC is working with the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS) to offer training in whale disentanglement in South America.  Entanglement in fishing gear and marine debris is a serious animal welfare issue.  The risk involved in disentangling a whale is often underestimated and this global programme aims to create a network of trained entanglement responders. Click here for more information. 

In June, more than 200 cetacean scientists from all over the world will collaborate at the annual IWC Scientific Committee meeting.  Science underpins every aspect of the IWC’s work on conservation and management. Since 1950, its Scientific Committee has met annually to bring together information and expertise from every continent.  For about two weeks, the Committee and its working groups will hold over 100 sessions, covering all aspects of conservation and management including: the status of individual whale populations; ecosystem modelling; impacts of hunting, entanglement and ship strikes; health and disease; effects of noise; implications of climate change; and oil spill response capacity.  The draft agenda and submitted papers can be found here. The Committee’s reports provide the scientific basis for IWC policymaking, and final reports are publicly available via this website http://iwc.int/reports.

Conservation Management Plans were introduced to the IWC in 2008.  Their purpose is to improve conservation outcomes for the world’s most endangered cetacean populations.  CMPs are tailored, flexible tools which enable targeted management of human activities.  Importantly, they are designed to complement existing international conventions and agreements, national legislation and management regimes in participating states.  An essential component is the involvement of stakeholders, including those whose actions contribute to the threats.  Three CMPs are already underway.  More are planned, and the IWC expert group meeting in Brisbane this month will be looking at cetacean populations all over the world.  

The challenges for our oceans and the life they sustain have never been more significant.    In May, the IWC is bringing together experts from around the world to better understand marine debris and its effect on cetaceans.  Man-made ocean debris includes plastics, abandoned and lost fishing gear, glass, metal and wood.  Ingestion and entanglement can cause horrific suffering to marine mammals.   The IWC is co-ordinating efforts to understand the nature and impact of marine debris on whales and small cetaceans with the first of two workshops.  This workshop will begin with a one day public seminar which is open to anyone with an interest in the issue.  Click here for more information.