PhD candidate Kate Sprogis is taking habitat modeling courses at Duke University, USA while research associate Krista Nicholson continues to collect dolphin data for the SWMRP
Whales, flying fish, sea lions and dolphins galore
During our spring field season (Sept-Nov) in Bunbury, Western Australia, we were on the water for over 130 hours and encountered 64 groups of dolphins. Spring is an exciting time to conduct fieldwork because humpback whales pass on their southern migration. During this time, mother and calves pass closer to shore than on their northern [...]
WA Winter Wanderers
Where do adult male dolphins go during winter off Bunbury, Western Australia? We hypothesise that they move offshore, helping to explain their larger home ranges. Here, Kate Sprogis reports on her winter field season.
“Fish tales” from the SWMRP
Over the past 1.5 years, I have been carrying out dolphin surveys for my PhD in Bunbury, Western Australia, as part of the South West Marine Research Program. During this time my assistants and I have been boating for over 550 hours. Spending this much time on the water allows us to experience some amazing dolphin behaviour, such as feeding [...]
Update from Bunbury: male dolphins, lots of calves and hammerhead sharks
It has been over a year since Kate began her PhD project as part of the South West Marine Research Program. Her project is investigating the habitat use and population dynamics of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Bunbury. Here are some of the recent highlights.
Bunbury summer dolphin transects complete
Summer season field work complete Over the summer season (December- February) we encountered 62 dolphin groups. We were on the boat for 25 days (> 144 hours), completing: Six replicates of each of the Inshore, Backbeach and Buffalo Beach transects; and Three replicates of the Busselton, Backbeach offshore and Buffalo Beach offshore transects (see study [...]
Bunbury spring surveys complete
During this time, we were on the boat for 21 days and we encountered 65 groups of dolphins.
Dolphin Discovery Centre Open Day
Last weekend the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre hosted an open day highlighting the South West Marine Research Program.
Bunbury dolphin winter surveys complete – including observation of recent shark bite
We were on the water for a total of 18 full days during our winter season and completed six transects.
Six cycles within one season
One cycle constitutes completing three transect routes that cover the study area, which usually takes three days.
