Friday, June 7, 2024 Data collected by tour companies operating in Antarctica is bolstering conservation measures for whales and seals along the region’s Peninsula. The Voluntary Cetacean and Pinniped Sightings Programme (V-CaPS), initiated in 2022 by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), tasks field staff on IAATO operator vessels with documenting whale and seal sightings and sharing this information with the association to map wildlife presence around the western Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. Since its launch in the 2022-23 Antarctic season, the data gathered through V-CaPS has already contributed to improved protections for whales, implemented by all IAATO operators along the Antarctic Peninsula.
These measures include a trial extension of the Gerlache Strait whale slow-down zone, established by IAATO in 2019, and the introduction of a new slow-down zone around the South Shetland Islands and the Elephant Island group in 2023. IAATO Executive Director Gina Greer, said : “The V-CaPS Programme is an example of how our membership is utilizing its in-depth knowledge, obtained through extensive experience in the region, to support the protection of wildlife. “IAATO Operators have shared their observations anecdotally for years, but the V-CaPS Programme enables us to collate that data more formally and allows us to make more informed decision s to protect the wildlife in Antarctica.
” For over two centuries, marine mammals in.
