Summary
The review of southern hemisphere minke whales is currently a priority work item within the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee (SC). Reliable abundance estimation is an important component of the review process. Estimates of minke whale abundance from the Circumpolar series of surveys have been complicated by an apparently unexplained trend towards a decline in the data from the third, and as yet incomplete series. The possible reasons for this declining trend are still under discussion within the IA Sub Committee. The circumpolar survey vessels can only enter as far as 6/10 ice concentration. Minke whales have been reported within the pack ice on many surveys (Taylor 1957; Condy 1977; Parker 1978; Leatherwood, Todd et al. 1982; Naito 1982; Ainley 1985; Ensor 1989; Ichii 1990; Joiris 1991; Plotz, Weidel et al. 1991; Ribic, Ainley et al. 1991; van Franeker 1992; Aguayo-Lobo 1994; Thiele and Gill 1999). The proportion of minkes within the pack ice in summer has not been quantified. Paper SC/53/IA14 presented an attempt to estimate the proportion of minke whales within the pack ice in summer using extrapolations from data collected on other surveys(Naito 1982; Ainley 1985).The IA sub committee noted the lack of data on minke whale distribution in the pack ice and encouraged the analysis of data such as the APIS (Antarctic Pack Ice Seal) circum-Antarctic surveys. Here we have analysed the results of the annual Southern Ocean Cetacean Ecosystem Program (SOCEP) cetacean survey, which in 1999/2000 was conducted with the Australian APIS effort off East Antarctica.