Journal of Cetacean Research and Management

The JCRM is an open access peer-reviewed publication containing original scientific papers on the conservation and management of whales, dolphins and porpoises. The Journal is accompanied by an annual Supplement which contains the report of the IWC Scientific Committee meeting and intersessional workshops held during the relevant period. There are also a number of topic-based Special Issues.

SOWER Special Issue

2024-03-08

We launch a new Special Issue to share and promote data gathered during the IWC’s Southern Ocean Whale Ecosystem Research (SOWER) programme which ran from 1978/79 to 2008/09.

Call for papers - whale tagging

2024-03-04

We plan to launch a new Special Issue on whale tagging & welcome papers on the following topics: 

  • Development of cetacean tracking methods and technology;
  • Assessment of the potential effects of telemetry instruments on the behaviour, physiology, health, reproduction and/or survival of cetaceans;
  • New ecological findings from cetacean tracking;
  • Application of telemetry methods to improve cetacean conservation and management

Deadline for submissions: 30 August 2024.

Report of the Scientific Committee 2022

2023-03-01

The report of the Scientific Committee meeting held virtually from 25 April to 13 May 2022. The report and its annexes are available here.

The meeting followed an extended programme to take advantage of the online format with over 500 scientists participating around the world.

We look forward to resuming in-person Scientific Committee meetings in 2023.

Report of the Scientific Committee 2021

2021-06-22

The report of the Scientific Committee meeting held virtually from 27 April to 14 May 2021. The report and its annexes are available here.
Due to COVID-19 the meeting was again held online with a revised format building upon lessons learnt last year. To allow for more in-depth discussions on specific topics a number of pre-meetings and workshops were held immediately prior to the main meeting which was itself extended by a week. Whilst this allowed a larger portion of the agenda to be addressed, a number of technical discussions were postponed.

The meeting and its pre-meetings were attended by a record 550 cetacean scientists breaking last year’s record with around triple the usual attendance for an in-person event

IWC Conservation Committee - Intersessional 2020

2020-09-11

This meeting of the Conservation Committee was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions and the postponement of the in-person meeting of IWC68 (originally scheduled for September 2020) until Autumn 2021. The remote meeting, drew on experience from the approach taken by the Scientific Committee in May 2020 and addressed the issues that most urgently needed to be progressed or for which decisions were required before the end of 2020, but did not cover all of the Conservation Committee agenda. Read more

The meeting report can be downloaded here

Vol. 24 (2023): JCRM

A peer-reviewed journal publishing original scientific research on the conservation and management of whales, dolphins and porpoises around the world. 

Published: 2023-02-21

Development of a new SNP panel for bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)

Amy Baird, Craig George, Robert Suydam, Mary Georges, Alesha Rimmelin, John Bickham

13-27

Habitat preference of common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Skjálfandi Bay, Iceland

Aleksandra Lechwar, Marianne Rasmussen, Charla Basran, Sinéad Collins

29-46

Correcting the 2019 survey abundance of Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead whales for disturbance from powered skiffs

Geof Givens, J. Craig George , Robert Suydam , Barbara Tudor , Andrew Von Duyke , Brian Person

47-61

Year-round presence of Northern and Southern Hemisphere blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) at the Galapagos Archipelago

Judith Denkinger, Annie B. Douglas, Douglas Biggs, Richard Sears, Martin Narvaez, Daniela E. Alarcon

63-76

Short-beaked common dolphins of Dilek Peninsula National Park, South Aegean Sea: Preliminary results on group structure, spatial distribution, behavioural patterns, whistle characteristics and behavioural context

Aylin Akkaya, Tim Awbery, Patrick Lyne, Hannah Schartmann, Kayla Nease, Caroline Haas, Anne Le Henaff, Beth Murray, Laura Rudd, Belen Yıldırım, Ayşe Oruç

77-93

Spatio-temporal trends in cetacean strandings and response in the south-western Indian Ocean: 2000-2020

Stephanie Plön, Stephanie Norman, Pierre-André Adam, Norbert Andrianarivelo, Santosh Bachoo, Gill Braulik, Tim Collins, Vanessa Estrade, Owen Griffiths, Gelica Inteca, Nasreen Khan, Sophie Marinesque, Emma Mederic, Michael Mwang’ombe, Jennifer Olbers, Lea Ramoelintsalama, Katie Reeve-Arnold, Diana Rocha, Angie Gullan, Anjara Saloma, Els Vermeulen, Hugues Vitry, Chris Wilkinson, Violaine Dulau

95-119

Injuries in cetaceans in the Strait of Gibraltar: an update for the period 2016-2020

Eva-Maria Hanninger, Jörn Selling, Katharina Heyer, Patricia Burkhardt-Holm

143-160

Short Communication: First-documented humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) photo-identification match and round-trip migration between Iceland and the Turks and Caicos Islands

Cathy E. Bacon, Katharine A. Hart, Ted Cheeseman, Lee Munson, Marianne H. Rasmussen, Valerie Chosson, Charla J. Basran

161-168

Short Communication: First documented migration of an Icelandic humpback whale mother and calf pair from the West Indies breeding grounds

Charla Basran, Valerie Chosson, Andre Williams , Nikola Simpson , Sydni Anne Long , Flordespina Dodds, Marianne H. Rasmussen, Julia A. Horrocks

205-208

Abundance estimates of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Irish coastal waters using mark-recapture and citizen science

Miguel Blázquez , Nick Massett, Pádraig Whooley, Joanne O'Brien, Frederick Wenzel, Ian O'Connor, Simon Berrow

209-225

Socioeconomics and management of small cetacean bycatch in Ghana

Samuel K. K. Amponsah, Berchie Asiedu , Andrews Apraku, Lesley Ntim , Pierre Failler, Samuel Henneh , William Amekor , Rachael Ackah , Koen Van Waerebeek

227-239

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The IWC has a long history of publication. Over 1700 scientific papers have been published by the IWC since the 1950s. JCRM was launched in 1999 to replace the scientific component of the Reports of the International Whaling Commission (RIWC) which is now also online with the aim of publishing original and quality papers that advance scientific knowledge and contribute to the conservation and management of cetacean species. An important feature of the Journal is that it encourages submissions from scientists worldwide including those for whom English is not their first language and from developing countries. JCRM is, of course, peer reviewed and has been supported by over 200 referees whose scrutiny has helped build the reputation and circulation of the journal.