This compilation includes 32 sightings of 54 whales from our records or those previously reported (Clarke 1965; Aguayo-Lobo 1974; Aguayo and Torres 1986; Goodall and Galeazzi 1986; Canto et al. 1991; Aguayo et al. 1992; Van Waerebeek et al. 1992, 1998, 2009; Santillán

et al. 2004), plus a subset of the records in Aguayo et al. (2008). Aguayo et al. (2008) compiled 124 sightings of 232 southern right whales from 1964 to 2008 from Chilean waters off the west coast of Chile, selleckchem the Magellan Straits and Beagle Channel and the west Antarctic Peninsula (in the sector claimed by Chile). These were obtained from published reports and recent unpublished data from sightings networks. However, Aguayo et al. (2008) did not include two published sightings from the west coast of Chile (Aguayo

et al. 1992, Brito 1996) and we believe their sightings from the Magellan Straits and Beagle Channel are likely individuals from the Southwest Atlantic population based on the location of the sightings (Goodall and Galeazzi 1986, Gibbons et al. 2006, Belgrano et al. 2008). Also, based on geographical considerations Aguayo et al. (1992) proposed that southern right whales off Chile may feed off the Antarctic Peninsula, but no direct photographic link to that area has been made yet. Therefore, 30 records are not included that were from either the Antarctic or the Magellan Straits and Beagle Channel selleck compound (Aguayo et al. 1992, Akt inhibitor 2008). At present, we believe that only sightings off the Pacific coasts of Chile and Peru can be considered to represent the population in the eastern South Pacific. Also, we excluded seven more of the Aguayo et al. (2008) sightings: two that were attributed to our sighting network but do not exist in our records, three from a sighting network with unconfirmed species identification, and two sightings taken from Aguayo et al. (1992) that are probably not southern right whales. The first misidentification was seven adult whales sighted 20 miles

offshore of Pisagua (19º35′S) on 1 December 1985, apparently feeding on South American pilchard, Sardinops sagax. The second was a group of five adults and three calves sighted 22 miles off Constitución (35º36′S) observed by toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) fishermen on 10 September 1986. These are the only two sightings that report groups larger than four individuals and also the only two reports of right whales offshore. Furthermore, as southern right whales are not known to consume fish, the reports of pilchard or toothfish interaction are inconsistent with right whale foraging ecology, and therefore we did not accept these observations. Finally, Aguayo et al. (2008) included four sightings that should be considered resightings because of close proximity in space and time.