Scientific Literature: Searchable Database

In 1992 the IWC agreed to maintain the Indian Ocean Sanctuary (IOS) indefinitely but to review its status in 2002. The paper lists a number of developments since 1992 that may be relevant to discussions of the scientific aspects of the sanctuary provision. These include: new techniques for studying cetaceans, an increased awareness of climate change and improved understanding of large-scale oceanographic processes, the development of whale-watching in several Indian Ocean coastal states, the revelations of previously unreported whale catches, and initiatives related to cetaceans by other intergovernmental organisations in the region. Discussions about the southern limit of the IOS were addressed in 1994 by the adoption of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary with a contiguous boundary at 55 degrees S.