Anthropogenic Threats and Conservation Needs of Blue Whales, Balaenoptera musculus indica, around Sri Lanka

Table 1

Prioritization of threats to Northern Indian Ocean pygmy blue whales in Sri Lankan waters (categories and descriptions based on Regan et al. [113]).

Threat	Severity	Scope	Immediacy	Description
Ship strike	High	Moderate	High	Moderate-to-severe, imminent threat for a significant proportion of population
Incidental catch	Moderate	Low	High	Moderate threat for a small proportion of population
Oil and gas development	Moderate	Low	High	Moderate threat for small proportion of population
Pollution	Moderate	Low	High	Moderate threat for small proportion of population
Whale-watching	Low	Low	High	Low severity threat for a small proportion of population (but rapidly increasing)
Climate change	Low	Low	Moderate	Low severity threat for a small proportion of population but increasing
Direct catch	Very low	Very low	Insignificant	Not a current threat