CANBERRA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists on Tuesday revealed that while some southern hemisphere whale species will recover to "pre-whaling" numbers as soon as 2050, the situation is dire for other species which might not reach even half of their pre-whaling numbers by the year 2100.
Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said that by combining historical whaling data, climate change predictions and the projected availability of food, they were able to estimate numbers for a number whale species.
In a statement released on Tuesday, co-author of the study, Viv Tulloch said that while humpback whales numbers were likely to recover in the next 30 years, other species were struggling to repopulate back to pre-whaling numbers.
"We predict that Antarctic Blue, Southern Right and Fin whales will be at less than half their pre-exploitation numbers by 2100 because of slow growth rates and heavy historical whaling," Tulloch said.
"Although humpbacks are currently at 33 percent of their pre-whaling numbers, we predict they will make a full recovery by 2050."
Meanwhile the study's co-author, Dr. Eva Plaganyi said the CSIRO's estimation model, called the Model of Intermediate Complexity for Ecosystem Assessments, or "MICE", was crucial to determining whale numbers and how to best approach further conservation efforts.
"Our MICE model uses whale numbers dating back from 1890 to now and then couples this with food availability and ocean physics to understand the changes to ocean conditions that whales are likely to experience," Plaganyi said on Tuesday.
"Projections of Southern Hemisphere whale numbers are crucial for management and conservation and this research helps answer some of the uncertainties regarding their recovery."
