A long-term aerial survey of right whales of southern Australia is charting the recovery of the species and providing a basis for monitoring the effects of environmental change.

Southern right whales, Eubalaena australis, were hunted almost to extinction in the Southern Hemisphere during the 19th Century. Signs of recovery have been apparent since the 1950s, particularly since the mid-1970s when their harvest was ceased. The rate of recovery has been monitored off southern Australia since 1993 in an annual survey led by WA Museum.