NESP MaC Project 4.8 - Potential impacts of offshore wind developments on eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales, 2024-2025 (AIMS)

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Potential impacts of offshore wind developments on eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) are listed as Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC 1999). Their distribution and Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) overlap with regions proposed for offshore renewable energy development in western and south-eastern Australia, creating a need to assess potential impacts alongside existing pressures such as shipping, oil and gas activity, vessel strike, underwater noise and habitat disturbance. This project mapped the distribution and core foraging and migratory areas of eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales by combining satellite tracking data with auxiliary information from aerial surveys, marine mammal observer records, and existing habitat suitability models. These spatial products were overlaid with proposed offshore renewable energy areas, BIAs, Australian Marine Park boundaries, and spatial pressures layers. A cumulative impact framework was used to identify areas of higher risk and potential lower-impact reference sites. The project outputs support regulators, proponents and government agencies in assessing and mitigating potential offshore renewable energy impacts on pygmy blue whales. The results contribute to cumulative risk assessment, blue whale recovery planning, future BIA review, monitoring design, and prioritisation of future research and data collection. Outputs • Spatial layers quantifying the relative distribution including migratory corridors and foraging areas across the known eastern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whale range [dataset] • Spatial layers of habitat suitability distribution [dataset] • Spatial layers for human activities identified as key pressures in this study [dataset] • Spatial layers of cumulative impact score across the species' range including potential threats from ORE and existing threats from other industries [dataset] • Final project report [written]