The interchange of individual humpback whales between the wintering grounds of Oceania (South Pacific) and the east coast of Australia weredocumented by individual identification photographs collected from 1999 to 2004. Interchange was assessed using regional catalogues of flukephotographs, totalling 672 individuals from Oceania (represented by New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Cook Island,French Polynesia and American Samoa) and 1,242 individuals from Hervey Bay and Byron Bay representing the southbound and the northboundmigration along the east coast of Australia (EA). Overall, there were seven documented movements between EA and Oceania. Four instances ofmovement of four individuals were documented between EA and the closest breeding grounds of New Caledonia. A further three movements wererecorded between EA and a small catalogue (n = 13) from the New Zealand migratory corridor. In contrast, during this same period, 20 cases ofinterchange were documented among nine breeding grounds: French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Niue, American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatuand New Caledonia. The low level of interchange between Oceania and the east coast of Australia has important implications for understanding thestock structure and abundance of humpback whales in the South Pacific.

Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae were severely depleted by commercial whaling. Understanding key factors in their recovery is a crucial step for their conservation worldwide. In Oceania, the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago was a primary whaling site in the 19 th century, yet has been left almost unaffected by anthropogenic activities since. We present the results of the first multidisciplinary dedicated surveys in the archipelago assessing humpback whale populations 2 centuries post-whaling. We encountered 57 groups during 24 survey days (2016-2017), among which 35 whales were identified using photographs of natural markings (photo-ID), 38 using genotyping and 22 using both. Humpback whales were sparsely distributed (0.041 whales km -1 ): most sightings concentrated in shallow inner-reef waters and neighbouring offshore shallow banks. The recently created marine protected area covers most of the areas of high predicted habitat suitability and high residence time from satellite-tracked whales. Surprisingly for a breeding area, sex ratios skewed towards females (1:2.4), and 45% of females were with calf. Connectivity was established with the New Caledonia breeding area to the east (mtDNA F ST = 0.001, p > 0.05, 12 photo-ID and 10 genotype matches) and with the Australian Great Barrier Reef breeding area to the west (mtDNA F ST = 0.006, p > 0.05). Movement of satellite-tracked whales and photo-ID matches also suggest connections with the east Australian migratory corridor. This study confirms that humpback whales still inhabit the Chesterfield-Bellona archipelago 2 centuries post whaling, and that this pristine area potentially plays a role in facilitating migratory interchange among breeding grounds of the western South Pacific.

Humpbacks breeding in East Australia (E1) and Oceania (New Caledonia E2, Tonga E3 and French Polynesia F) in the South Pacific are thought to be demographically independent, due to significant differentiation of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes between regions, and notable differences in the trend and pattern of recovery across the South Pacific. Matching of fluke photo-identification and microsatellite genotypes collected across the South Pacific has revealed multiple inter-annual movements between breeding grounds. Total documented movements within Oceania are greater than those documented between Oceania and East Australia, which indicates that East Australia may be more isolated from Oceania than the breeding grounds within Oceania are from each other. A strong contrast in population trend between these regions further supports this observation. A large microsatellite genotype dataset of 1,393 individuals (819 males and 574 females) spanning 1999-2004 is available from all South Pacific breeding grounds. We use this to build the first multistate movement model for the South Pacific region and to estimate rates of inter-breeding ground interchange in a framework that accounts for capture probabilities and survival through time. Thirteen inter-annual, inter-strata movements were identified; 10 males and 3 females. The data are too sparse to permit strong inference regarding movement among breeding grounds. However they do suggest that movements between East Australia and New Caledonia (Oceania) are not significantly different from intra-Oceania movements between New Caledonia and Tonga, indicating that population connectivity levels between East Australia, New Caledonia and Tonga are of similar, low magnitude, despite a pronounced difference in population trend between the East Australia and Oceania regions over the survey period. These results should be taken into consideration when grouping New Caledonia, Tonga and French Polynesia as a single unit for assessment since such an assessment may fail to account for different patterns of recovery and trend within the South Pacific.

This paper describes three datasets derived from the deployment of satellite tags on pygmy blue whales off south-western Australia and on humpback whales off Evans Head, eastern Australia and the Kimberley coast, north-western Australia. A total of 41 tags were deployed (3 pygmy blue whales, 38 humpback whales) which provided 910 days of location data (over 3,000 individual locations), and the whales were tracked for over 49,000km. These datasets will be used to define the spatial and temporal migratory behaviour of these whales in Australian waters and beyond.

18 Humpback whales off the east coast of Australia were heavily exploited by commercial whaling operations. It has been 19 documented in recent years that this population is growing; however, it is considered that still is below pre-exploitations levels. 20 Here we investigate the genetic diversity of Eastern Australian humpback whales, comparing mitochondrial DNA control region 21 sequence data with that of breeding grounds across the South Pacific (New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and 22 Colombia) and eastern Indian (Western Australia) oceans. We compared 156 sequences, representing individual whales sampled 23 off Byron Bay (northbound migration 2002-2003) and Ballina (southbound migration 2003), with 1,112 samples from breeding 24 grounds, comparing a 470 bp fragment of the mtDNA control region consensus sequence. The analysis revealed 42 haplotypes in 25 Eastern Australia, with five unique haplotypes. The Eastern Australian humpback whale haplotype diversity (h) was 0.962 ± 26 0.005, and the nucleotide diversity (π) was 2.32 ± 1.18%. These levels were similar to those from the compared breeding grounds, 27 but were significantly different only at haplotype level with New Caledonia, Cook Island, French Polynesia and Colombia 28 breeding grounds. We found significant differences at haplotype and nucleotide levels with all the breeding grounds when a pair29 wise AMOVA was performed, except with Tonga at nucleotide level. The genetic differentiation observed here and our previous 30 analyses presented to the SC/IWC support the proposed stock sub-division of the breeding stock E into three sub-stocks, E1 31 (Eastern Australia), E2 (New Caledonia) and E3 (Tonga). 32

Humpback whales off the east coast of Australia were heavily exploited by commercial whaling operations. It has been 19 documented in recent years that this population is growing; however, it is considered that still is below pre-exploitations levels. 20 Here we investigate the genetic diversity of Eastern Australian humpback whales, comparing mitochondrial DNA control region 21 sequence data with that of breeding grounds across the South Pacific (New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and 22 Colombia) and eastern Indian (Western Australia) oceans. We compared 156 sequences, representing individual whales sampled 23 off Byron Bay (northbound migration 2002-2003) and Ballina (southbound migration 2003), with 1,112 samples from breeding 24 grounds, comparing a 470 bp fragment of the mtDNA control region consensus sequence. The analysis revealed 42 haplotypes in 25 Eastern Australia, with five unique haplotypes. The Eastern Australian humpback whale haplotype diversity (h) was 0.962 ± 26 0.005, and the nucleotide diversity (π) was 2.32 ± 1.18%. These levels were similar to those from the compared breeding grounds, 27 but were significantly different only at haplotype level with New Caledonia, Cook Island, French Polynesia and Colombia 28 breeding grounds. We found significant differences at haplotype and nucleotide levels with all the breeding grounds when a pair29 wise AMOVA was performed, except with Tonga at nucleotide level. The genetic differentiation observed here and our previous 30 analyses presented to the SC/IWC support the proposed stock sub-division of the breeding stock E into three sub-stocks, E1

The movements of individual humpback whales between winter breeding grounds of Oceania (South Pacific) were documented by individual identification photographs collected from 1999 to 2004. Photographs were collected with comparable effort across the six years in four primary island breeding grounds: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vava'u) the Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Mo'orea and Rurutu) and with a smaller effort in a few adjacent regions: Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Niue, and American Samoa. Interchange among wintering grounds was assessed using, regional catalogues of fluke photographs, representing 776 annual sightings of 659 individual whales from Oceania. Most resightings occurred within regions (n = 78) but 20 individuals were sighted in two (mostly adjacent) regions. Previously undocumented exchanges were highlighted within central Oceania and the west Pacific. No individual was sighted in more than two regions during this six-year period. The documented movement between regions was one-directional except for one individual sighted first in French Polynesia, then in American Samoa and then back in French Polynesia. Only one whale was resighted in more than one region during the same winter season. No directional trend was apparent and movement between regions did not seem to be sex specific. The movement of individuals across the longitudinal borders of the Areas V and VI, has important implications for the allocation of historical catches from the Antarctic.

ABSTRACT The movements,of individual humpback,whales between winter breeding grounds of Oceania (South Pacific) were documented ,by individual ,identification photographs ,collected from 1999 to 2004. Photographs were collected with comparable effort across the six years in four primary island breeding grounds: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vava’u) the Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Mo’orea and Rurutu) and with a smaller effort in a few adjacent regions: Vanuatu,Fiji, Samoa, Niue, and American Samoa. Interchange among wintering grounds was assessed using, regional catalogues of fluke photographs, representing 776 annual sightings of 659 individual whales from Oceania. Most resightings occurred within regions (n = 78) but 20 individuals were sighted in two,(mostly adjacent) regions. Previously undocumented ,exchanges ,were highlighted within central Oceania and the west Pacific. No individual ,was ,sighted in more ,than two ,regions during this six-year period. The documented,movement,between,regions was one-directional except for one individual sighted first in

The abundance of humpback whales on winter breeding grounds throughout Oceania (South Pacific) was estimated by sighting- resighting analysis of individual identification photographs collected from 1999 to 2004. Photographs were collected with comparable effort across the six years in four primary island breeding grounds: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vava'u) the Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Mo'orea and Rurutu). Photographs were collected in one or more years in eight other island regions or subregions: Vanuatu, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, American Samoa, the Ha'apai group (Tonga), Eua (Tonga) and Niuatoputapu (Tonga). Catalogues from all regions were reconciled through comparisons during annual meetings of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium. Across the six years, a total of 1148 annual sighting of 1021 individual whales were documented. Most resightings occurred within regions (between years), with a smaller number of resightings between regions, (across years). Only two whales were resighted in more than one region or subregion during the same season. Estimates of regional abundance based on closed population models (adjusted for time and individual heterogeneity but unadjusted for mortality) ranged from N = 472 (CV, 0.18) for New Caledonia (stock E2), to N = 2311 (CV, 0.22) for Tonga (stock E3) and N = 1057 (CV, 0.22) for French Polynesia (stock F). Abundance was not estimated for Cook Islands because of the absence of between year resightings. An overall estimate of N = 3827 (CV, 0.12) for Oceania (stocks E2+E3+F) was calculated with the closed population model by considering resightings across the four primary regions combined. Open- population models (e.g., POPAN) and the average of the year-to-year Petersen estimates (with the Chapman modification) were 15-25% lower than the multi-year closed population estimates. There was little indication of a trend in abundance. The degree to which the whales wintering in Oceania contribute to estimates of abundance and trends from shore-based counts along the eastern coast of Australia remains unknown.

We attached satellite tags to 16 humpback whales off South Eastern Australia in October/November 2008. The tags transmitted for an average of 55 days (range: 3-156 days) and provided data on migratory movements between Australia and the Antarctic feeding grounds. While the dispersal into the Southern Ocean was generally consistent with movements determined from historical discovery marks, unexpected findings included an eastwards migration of eight whales to SW New Zealand, regular feeding in temperate latitudes (areas of high productivity) and a migration of one whale into Area IV. A full analysis of these data, with a focus on habitat utilization, will be developed.

ABSTRACT The abundance,of humpback whales on winter breeding grounds throughout Oceania (South Pacific) was estimated by sighting- resighting analysis of individual ,identification photographs ,collected from 1999 to 2004. Photographs were collected with comparable effort across the six years in four primary island breeding grounds: New Caledonia, Tonga (Vava’u) the Cook Islands and French Polynesia (Mo’orea and Rurutu). Photographs were collected in one ,or more ,years in eight other island regions or subregions: Vanuatu, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, American Samoa, the Ha’apai group (Tonga), Eua (Tonga) and Niuatoputapu (Tonga). Catalogues from all regions were reconciled through comparisons,during annual meetings,of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium. Across the six years, a total of 1148 annual sighting of 1021 individual whales were documented. Most resightings occurred within regions (betweenyears), with a smaller number of resightings between regions, (across years). Only two whales were resighted in more than oneregion or subregion during the same season. Estimates of regional ,abundance ,based on closed population models ,(adjusted for time and individual heterogeneity but unadjusted for mortality) ranged from N = 472 (CV, 0.18) for New Caledonia (stock E2), to N = 2311 (CV, 0.22) for Tonga