First record of an unsuccessful parturition of a southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) at Península Valdés, Argentina

Abstract

Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) populations were severelydepleted in past centuries by intensive whaling, but many are now recover-ing after receiving international protection in 1935 (IWC 2012). In the SouthAtlantic, the population of southern right whales that migrates each australwinter to calve at Península Valdés, Argentina (Payne 1986; IWC 2001,2012), began experiencing unusually high calf deaths in 2003. The deathspeaked in 2012 with 113 dead calves (Rowntreeet al. 2013, Sironiet al.2018). The estimated age of dead calves ranged from 1 d to 4–6mo(Rowntreeet al. 2013, McAlooseet al. 2016).