Do whales live in the Indian Ocean?
33777#52
The IWC has designated two whale sanctuaries: the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary spans and envelopes Antarctica. The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary takes up all of the Indian Ocean south of 55°S. The IWC is a voluntary organization, with no treaty. Any nation may leave as they wish; the IWC cannot enforce any law it makes.
Whale
17011#23
Information for offshore regions and warmer waters is more scarce, but widespread sightings indicate the killer whale can survive in most water temperatures. They have been sighted, though more infrequently, in the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. Over 50 individual whales have been documented in the northern Indian Ocean, including two individuals that were sighted in the Persian Gulf in 2008 and off Sri Lanka in 2015. Those orcas may occasionally enter the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden. The modern status of the species along coastal mainland China and its vicinity is unknown. Recorded sightings have been made from almost the entire shoreline. A wide-ranging population is likely to exist in the central Pacific, with some sightings off Hawaii. Distinct populations may also exist off the west coast of tropical Africa, and Papua New Guinea. In the Mediterranean, killer whales are considered "visitors", likely from the North Atlantic, and sightings become less frequent further east. However, a small year-round population is known to exist in the Strait of Gibraltar, mostly on the Atlantic side. Killer whales also appear to regularly occur off the Galápagos Islands.
Killer whale
230517#23
"B. brydei" occurs throughout the Indian Ocean north of about 35°S. Those of the southern Indian Ocean appear to correspond to "B. brydei", as do the individuals illegally caught by the Soviets in the 1960s in the northwest Indian Ocean, as well as the Maldives. Individuals sighted in the Red Sea may or may not be "B. brydei". Bryde's whales are considered to be more common in Red Sea than previously thought, and possibly a local resident group exists within the sea. Whales still migrate through coastal areas nearby such as in Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Aquaba, and in Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
Bryde's whale
46755724#9
Madagascar lies entirely in the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary, a whale sanctuary that covers the Indian Ocean south to 55º S. The sanctuary prohibits commercial whaling and aims to facilitate the recovery of whale populations, allow whales to do their jobs within the ecosystem, and foster public awareness. This sanctuary’s conservation efforts are uniquely important for several reasons. The sanctuary allows for the Sperm whale and the Oman Humpback whale to recover their population which has been diminished by illegal soviet whaling operations in the 70’s. The sanctuary also allows the population recovery of the Bryde’s whale from Japanese whaling operations which still continue to this day as Japan does not respect the sanctuary and continues its operations claiming that their operations are purely scientific. Approximately 600 whales are killed each year by Japanese scientific whaling operations.
Whaling in Madagascar
9780610#0
The Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area in the Indian Ocean where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. The IWC has at present designated two such sanctuaries, the other being the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Repeated proposals at the IWC for a South Atlantic Sanctuary and a South Pacific Sanctuary have never reached the 75% majority needed to pass.
Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary
42557148#2
Deraniyagala's beaked whale is known from only seven individuals that have stranded themselves on beaches of various islands in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans: Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati and Line Islands. It is thought that, like Cuvier's beaked whale, they live in insular populations (isolated communities).
Deraniyagala's beaked whale
4925#45
In the Southern Hemisphere, there appear to be two distinct subspecies, "B. m. intermedia", the Antarctic blue whale, and the little-studied pygmy blue whale, "B. m. brevicauda", found in Indian Ocean waters. The most recent surveys (midpoint 1998) provided an estimate of 2,280 blue whales in the Antarctic (of which fewer than 1% are likely to be pygmy blue whales). Estimates from a 1996 survey show that 424 pygmy blue whales were in a small area south of Madagascar (the Madagascar Plateau) alone, thus it is likely that numbers in the entire Indian Ocean are in the thousands. If this is true, the global numbers would be much higher than estimates predict. However, slower reproduction rate of the species, along with the impacts of whaling, may affect population recoveries as the total population size is predicted to be at less than 50% of its pre-whaling state by 2100.
Blue whale
366402#4
One population, possibly genetically distinct, lives in the Northern Hemisphere and has stranded from Nova Scotia in the western Atlantic to Ireland in the eastern Atlantic and as far south as Florida, the Bahamas, and Canary Islands. Another population lives in the Southern Hemisphere and has stranded in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. The species does not inhabit the Southern Atlantic or Northern Indian Ocean, and appears to avoid tropical waters. No population estimates have been established, but it is believed to be one of the rarest species of whale.
True's beaked whale
4925#50
In addition, the population of blue whales occurring off Chile and Peru may also be a distinct subspecies. Some Antarctic blue whales approach the eastern South Atlantic coast in winter, and occasionally, their vocalizations are heard off Peru, Western Australia, and in the northern Indian Ocean. In Chile, the Cetacean Conservation Center, with support from the Chilean Navy, is undertaking extensive research and conservation work on a recently discovered feeding aggregation of the species off the coast of Chiloe Island in the Gulf of Corcovado (Chiloé National Park), where 326 blue whales were spotted in 2007. In this regions, it is normal for blue whales to enter Fiords. Whales also reach southern Los Lagos, such as off Caleta Zorra, live along with other rorquals.
Blue whale
301743#51
Historical populations which summered in the Crozet Islands and the Kerguelen Islands, and migrated to La Roche Godon and Île Saint-Paul, Île Amsterdam, and Central Indian Ocean once existed, and that might be distinct from whales seen on Mozambique coasts. Repopulation these whales among these areas in Indian Ocean is likely to be even at lower rates than other areas. Sightings have been fewer in modern periods among Crozet, Réunion, Mauritius, Marion Islands, Île Amsterdam, and Kerguelen.
Southern right whale
372305#10
The short-finned pilot whale is less populous. It is found in temperate and tropical waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its population overlaps slightly with the long-finned pilot whale in the temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans. About 150,000 individuals are found in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. More than 30,000 animals are estimated in the western Pacific, off the coast of Japan. Pilot whales are generally nomadic, but some populations stay year-round in places such as Hawaii and parts of California. They prefer the waters of the shelf break and slope. Once commonly seen off of Southern California, short-finned pilot whales disappeared from the area after a strong El Niño year in the early 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In October 2014, crew and passengers on several boats spotted a pod of 50–200 off Dana Point, California.
Pilot whale