Environmental Concerns

The Environment and Whale Populations

In 1998 the Commission agreed to establish a regular Commission agenda item entitled ‘Environmental Concerns’ under which the Scientific Committee would report annually on its progress in non-lethal research on environmental concerns, and Contracting Governments could report annually on national and regional efforts to monitor and address the impacts of environmental change on cetaceans and other marine animals.

In response to this request, the Scientific Committee formalised its work on Environmental threats and a working group that has met every year since then. 

Particular topics studied by the working group include pollution, cetacean diseases, anthropogenic sound, climate change and ecosystem modelling.  In addition, the Scientific Committee regularly complies a State of the Cetacean Environment Report which deals with the current state of knowledge relating to cetaceans in different regions.