Overview
- A 1991–2024 photo-identification record from the Great Australian Bight shows average calving intervals lengthening from about three to four years.
- The slowdown began around 2015 and has reduced annual calf numbers, signaling weaker population growth after decades of recovery.
- Researchers associate the change with Southern Ocean warming, persistent low sea-ice extent since 2015, and diminished krill availability.
- Parallel reports from South America and South Africa point to a broader southern-hemisphere pattern in body condition and births.
- Scientists urge expanded protected areas, tighter krill fishery management, and measures to reduce ship strikes, entanglement and underwater noise.