australis as “Critically Endangered” in 2008 (Reilly et al. 2008). Here we report on sightings of these whales since 1964, the first resighting between years of a known individual, the occurrence of additional sightings in coastal waters off northwestern Isla Grande de Chiloé (Isla de Chiloé), Chile, the southernmost sighting of a cow-calf pair, the first documented record of likely reproductive behavior in these whales, and future research

needs. A photographic catalog of identified individuals from Chile was developed based on photographs collected by the authors, with contributions from the Chilean Navy (Directemar), Ecoceanos Center, the Natural Science and Archeological Museum RG-7388 in vitro of San Antonio, and members of the Chile National

Marine Mammal Sighting Network (Chile NMMSN). Photographs were taken opportunistically and the oldest pictures are from 1984. Photographic documentation increased significantly after 2003 when the Chile NMMSN was established by Centro de Conservación Cetacea to archive right whale sightings. NMMSN participants include a wide range of coastal communities, maritime authorities, media, and tourist companies. Sighting data include date, location, group size, group composition, and contributor. Whenever possible, individual whales are photo-identified to record the callosity patterns found on the lower lip and rostrum (Payne et al. 1983) and any unusual skin pigmentation on the head or back (Patenaude selleck chemical 2003). Categories used to describe unusual pigmentation patterns are: white-blaze when an animal has an selleck screening library unpigmented area with edges that remain white through its life, gray-morph,

or partially albino when animals are mostly white as calves and gray or brownish gray as adults (Schaeff et al. 1999). Most of the photographs are opportunistic and do not show enough of the callosity pattern to differentiate among individuals; but can be used to confirm the species and location. Selection of photographs to be included in a photo-identification catalog is based on the quality of the photograph and the number of visible features used in identification. However, we included any photograph with sufficient quality that showed at least some of the features required for individual identification in the photo-ID catalog because of the difficulty in collecting photographs of southern right whales in the eastern South Pacific. The catalog is divided into three sections: left-side profiles; right-side profiles; and top-view profiles. When an animal was identified by its callosity patterns and, if applicable, also by its unusual skin pigmentation pattern, it was compared to the master catalog to determine whether it was a new or unknown individual. Whenever a match was found or suspected, the photographs were double checked by other southern right whale researchers to confirm the match.