Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 A separate creation: diversity, distinctiveness and conservation of Australian wildlife
- Chapter 2 New Zealand – a land apart
- Chapter 3 The ecological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation in New Zealand and Australia
- Chapter 4 The impacts of climate change on Australian and New Zealand flora and fauna
- Chapter 5 Unwelcome and unpredictable: the sorry saga of cane toads in Australia
- Chapter 6 Invasive plants and invaded ecosystems in Australia: implications for biodiversity
- Chapter 7 Environmental weeds in New Zealand: impacts and management
- Chapter 8 The insidious threat of invasive invertebrates
- Chapter 9 Pollution by antibiotics and resistance genes: dissemination into Australian wildlife
- Chapter 10 Invasive vertebrates in Australia and New Zealand
- Chapter 11 Freshwaters in New Zealand
- Chapter 12 A garden at the edge of the world; the diversity and conservation status of the New Zealand flora
- Chapter 13 The evolutionary history of the Australian flora and its relevance to biodiversity conservation
- Chapter 14 Protecting the small majority: insect conservation in Australia and New Zealand
- Chapter 15 Terrestrial mammal diversity, conservation and management in Australia
- Chapter 16 Marine mammals, back from the brink? Contemporary conservation issues
- Chapter 17 Australian reptiles and their conservation
- Chapter 18 New Zealand reptiles and their conservation
- Chapter 19 Isolation, invasion and innovation: forces of change in the conservation of New Zealand birds
- Chapter 20 Australian birds: current status and future prospects
- Chapter 21 Austral amphibians – Gondwanan relicts in peril
- Chapter 22 Predators in danger: shark conservation and management in Australia, New Zealand and their neighbours
- Chapter 23 ‘Ragged mountain ranges, droughts and flooding rains’: the evolutionary history and conservation of Australian freshwater fishes
- Chapter 24 Down under Down Under: Austral groundwater life
- Chapter 25 Fire and biodiversity in Australia
- Chapter 26 Terrestrial protected areas of Australia
- Chapter 27 Australian marine protected areas
- Chapter 28 Marine reserves in New Zealand: ecological responses to protection and network design
- Chapter 29 Conclusion: conservation onboard Austral Ark needs all hands on deck
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Chapter 16 - Marine mammals, back from the brink? Contemporary conservation issues
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 A separate creation: diversity, distinctiveness and conservation of Australian wildlife
- Chapter 2 New Zealand – a land apart
- Chapter 3 The ecological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation in New Zealand and Australia
- Chapter 4 The impacts of climate change on Australian and New Zealand flora and fauna
- Chapter 5 Unwelcome and unpredictable: the sorry saga of cane toads in Australia
- Chapter 6 Invasive plants and invaded ecosystems in Australia: implications for biodiversity
- Chapter 7 Environmental weeds in New Zealand: impacts and management
- Chapter 8 The insidious threat of invasive invertebrates
- Chapter 9 Pollution by antibiotics and resistance genes: dissemination into Australian wildlife
- Chapter 10 Invasive vertebrates in Australia and New Zealand
- Chapter 11 Freshwaters in New Zealand
- Chapter 12 A garden at the edge of the world; the diversity and conservation status of the New Zealand flora
- Chapter 13 The evolutionary history of the Australian flora and its relevance to biodiversity conservation
- Chapter 14 Protecting the small majority: insect conservation in Australia and New Zealand
- Chapter 15 Terrestrial mammal diversity, conservation and management in Australia
- Chapter 16 Marine mammals, back from the brink? Contemporary conservation issues
- Chapter 17 Australian reptiles and their conservation
- Chapter 18 New Zealand reptiles and their conservation
- Chapter 19 Isolation, invasion and innovation: forces of change in the conservation of New Zealand birds
- Chapter 20 Australian birds: current status and future prospects
- Chapter 21 Austral amphibians – Gondwanan relicts in peril
- Chapter 22 Predators in danger: shark conservation and management in Australia, New Zealand and their neighbours
- Chapter 23 ‘Ragged mountain ranges, droughts and flooding rains’: the evolutionary history and conservation of Australian freshwater fishes
- Chapter 24 Down under Down Under: Austral groundwater life
- Chapter 25 Fire and biodiversity in Australia
- Chapter 26 Terrestrial protected areas of Australia
- Chapter 27 Australian marine protected areas
- Chapter 28 Marine reserves in New Zealand: ecological responses to protection and network design
- Chapter 29 Conclusion: conservation onboard Austral Ark needs all hands on deck
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
Summary
The extensive territorial waters of Australia and New Zealands (NZ) (over 8 million km2 for Australia and a further 4 million km2 for NZ) are home to approximately 49 species of whales and dolphins, 11 species of seals and the dugong. Within Australia, at least eight species are listed as threatened, though there is insufficient information on a further 25 to determine their conservation status, while in NZ eight species are listed as threatened. The relationship between humans and Australasia’s marine mammals is culturally diverse and has changed significantly in recent years. Dugongs and stranded whales have been important both spiritually and as a source of nutrition to some Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders for thousands of years; seals and whales had a similar role for Maori in NZ. In recent history, exploitation of baleen whales, elephant seals and fur seals was an important driver for much of the earliest European settlement of Australasia. The success of the whaling and sealing industries came at the expense of marine mammal populations, leading to the near extirpation of many species by the mid twentieth century. In more recent decades there has been a fundamental shift in public attitudes towards marine mammals, in particular the great whales and dolphins. All marine mammals are protected within Australia and NZ waters. Traditional hunting of dugongs is legal in Australia for Native Title holders.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Austral ArkThe State of Wildlife in Australia and New Zealand, pp. 322 - 353Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
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