Blue Whale Acoustic Monitoring Report
August 2025 - Australia
Client: Woodside Energy Limited
JASCO Applied Sciences (Australia) Pty Ltd (JASCO) was contracted by Woodside Energy Limited (Woodside) to conduct an acoustic monitoring program on the North West Shelf (NWS), with stations deployed at Scott Reef and North West Cape, off Western Australia. The primary purposes of the program were to provide information on the presence of Eastern Indian Ocean (EIO) pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) and to characterise the soundscape and the acoustic presence of other marine mammal species in the area. EIO pygmy blue whales have breeding grounds in Indonesia and feeding grounds around the subtropical frontal zone off southern and south western Australia (Double et al. 2014). The pygmy blue whale migration corridor passes along the west coast of Australia, including through areas monitored in this program (Scott Reef and North West Cape) and is classified as a Biologically Important area (BIA).