Do you remember our previous blog about dolphins begging for food handouts from humans? If not, have a look-back to see how the dolphins Backpack and Fingers have changed since the early research in Cockburn Sound in 1990s: Beggars.

Backpack and his alliance partner Fingers have been observed begging for food by approaching humans on boats and jetties, a behaviour that puts them at heightened risk of entanglement and boat strike (Donaldson et al. 2010).

Fingers entangled

In early December 2012, we observed Fingers with a new injury on the leading edge of his dorsal fin. The wound was most likely caused by a strike from a boat propeller while Fingers was begging for food.

Then, in February 2013, we spotted Fingers with fishing line entangled around his right tail fluke.

As of June 2013, the fishing line was still attached to his fluke. The line is now entangled on both flukes and is digging deep into his skin and blubber.

Fingers with fishing line entangling his tail fluke seen in February 2013 and late May 2013

The following underwater video was recording using a GoPro Hero mounted on a pole cam. Note that we monitor dolphins from the platform of our research vessel only: 

Fingers is usually observed in Cockburn Sound and other coastal areas (includes the Inner Harbour area in Fremantle), but occasionally ventures into the Swan Canning Riverpark with his alliance partner Backpack.

Each year, many marine animals become entangled in marine debris leading to serious injury or death. Entanglement can restrict their movement and lead to starvation, infection, amputation, drowning, and increased vulnerability to predators.

Gizmo with his mother Tupac (Dec 2012)

Last year, Gizmo – a calf – had fishing line entangled around his dorsal fin for two months before officers from Water Police and DEC successfully disentangled him in June.

Everyone can help prevent this kind of mortality by taking their rubbish home, using biodegradable fishing line and never feeding marine wildlife.

The Coastal and Estuarine Dolphin Project (CEDP) collects photo-identification, behavioural, and longitudinal data to support the long-term conservation of bottlenose dolphins in metropolitan waters of Perth, Western Australia.

This research is made possible through the support of a variety of corporate, government, and community partners including volunteers from the Dolphin Watch project, Fremantle Ports, and the Swan River Trust.

 

 For related references please see:

Donaldson, R., Finn, H. and Calver, M., 2010. Illegal feeding increases risk of boat-strike and entanglement in bottlenose dolphins in Perth, Western Australia. Pacific Conservation Biology 16: 157-161.

Workshop title: An Introduction to Using GIS in Marine Mammal Research

Hosted by: Flinders University, Murdoch University and ‘GIS in Ecology‘

Two workshops, funded by the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, are planned to build expertise in the Australian marine mammal research community in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present geographically referenced data related to marine mammal ecological studies. Geographic Information Systems are rapidly becoming an indispensable component of marine mammal ecological research. Applications range from the design of monitoring surveys, to species distribution modelling, spatial conservation prioritization and forecasting of global change impacts. However, how to correctly use and apply GIS in ecological research is not necessarily straight-forward. Researchers unfamiliar with the methods face a steep learning curve and this can limit the potential impacts of research projects. These workshops will give established and upcoming Australian marine mammal researchers the practical hands-on skills to apply current state of the art GIS methods towards pure and applied marine mammal research.

Workshop # 1:

Dates: 15^th –19^th of July, 2013
Location: Adelaide, South Australia.
Venue: Stamford Grand Adelaide, Glenelg

 Workshop # 2:

Dates: 22^nd – 26^th of July, 2013
Location: Fremantle, Western Australia.
Venue: The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, WA

Costs:

There are no fees for attendance at the workshops. Lunch, tea and coffee will be provided. Attendees will be responsible for their own travel to workshop venues and accommodation.

Applications:

Applications close on 20^th June 2013.

Please send a one page overview of how this workshop would assist you in your current and future research activities focussed on marine mammals.

Please note: the number of workshop participants will be limited to maximum 15-20 people. Successful applicants will be notified on 30^th June.

Admission requirements:

The workshops are aimed at postgraduate students, academics and government agency representatives who are just starting to use GIS in their research or have little or no existing knowledge of this subject area. Participants will be selected by relevance to their research and priority will be given to those who are directly involved in marine mammal research and conservation in Australia.

To attend this course, you must bring your own Windows laptop computer and have a fully licensed copy of ArcGIS software (the course will primarily be taught based on ArcGIS 10.1, but ArcGIS 10 and 9.3 will also be supported), and a licence for the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension pre-installed on it. There are two options for getting ArcGIS software on your computer if people don’t have an institutional licence. One is to download a free 60 day trial version from ESRI from here, and the other is to get what is known as a home licence from here. It addition, you will also need to have spread sheet software, such as Excel, on your computer.

International participants must hold a valid visa for their stay in Australia over the duration of the course and meet the University’s English Language requirements.

Course Presenter:

Dr. Mike Tetley

Dr. Michael Tetley is an ecologist with a background in species distribution modelling and marine spatial planning. He holds a PhD in Marine Biology from Bangor University with experience mapping the habitats of minke whales within the North Atlantic including Scotland, Iceland and Canada. At present his work mainly involves bridging the gap between ecological research on mapping of species ecological needs and the evidence requirements of global marine spatial planning activities. He has been a GIS In Ecology-trained instructor since January 2012.

Course Outline:

The workshops will comprise lectures (including presentation of case studies), demonstrations, and practical work especially data processing and analysis. The focus will be on practical hands-on application, and on understanding the problems that arise when conducting and analysing data from real studies. The course will be based on an existing standard data set, however, participants will be encouraged to consider and discuss how it could be applied to their own data sets.

Finally, each participant will receive a uniquely numbered certificate of completion from GIS in Ecology. These certificates are embossed to prevent their fraudulent reproduction and a copy of the certificate number provided to each participant is retained by GIS in Ecology so that its authenticity can be verified on request. Thus, any potential employers can be sure that someone has completed the training that they claim to have completed, giving confidence in the validity of these certificates.

Accommodation options for participants:

Adelaide

• Stamford Grand Adelaide in Glenelg
• Glenelg Beach Hostel: 5 minute walk to the Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel
• Best Western Ensenada Motor Inn & Suites: 5 minute walk to Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel
• Buffalo Motor Inn: 5 minute walk to the Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel
• Glenelg Holyday apartments: 5 minute walk to the Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel
• Comfort Inn Haven Marina: 10 minute walk to the Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel
• Taft Motor Inn: 10 minute walk to the Stamford Grand Adelaide Hotel

Fremantle, Western Australia

• Esplanade Hotel Fremantle
• Terrace Central B&B Hotel: a seven minute walk from the Esplanade Hotel:
• Backpackers Inn: a six minute walk to the Esplanade Hotel:
• Pirates Backpackers: a two minute walk to the Esplanade Hotel.
• Fremantle Village Caravan Park: 3.5 kms from the Esplanade Hotel, 10 minutes by car or 20 minutes by bus and a short walk:
• Callan Apartments: a variety of apartments available close to Fremantle:

Contact Information:

South Australia Workshop

Guido J. Parra: guido.parra@flinders.edu.au
Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab
School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University

  Western Australia Workshop

Lars Bejder: l.bejder@murdoch.edu.au
Cetacean Research Unit
School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University

 Sponsor:

Australian Marine Mammal Centre

I am now in the third year of my PhD and I am blogging from Duke University, North Carolina. I have been taking post-graduate classes that focus on habitat modelling and geospatial analysis.  I will be applying the skills I have learnt here to analyse our dolphin data that we have collected in Bunbury, Western Australia as a part of the South West Marine Research Program. It has been a great opportunity to be a student at Duke and to learn from and work with lead researchers; Associate Prof. Patrick Halpin, Prof. Dean Urban and Dr Dave Johnston. I have enjoyed being in a new environment and watching the season change from winter to spring. 

Duke University Chapel and campus squirrels

North American Wood duck and Canada goose at Duke

The daffodils and cherry blossoms bloomed in spring

Whilst I have been at Duke University, the dolphin research has continued in Bunbury, south west Australia. Dolphin surveys are traversed along zig-zag transect lines covering a study area of 540km². Interestingly, when our research associate, Krista Nicholson, took over in January, there were several dolphins observed with emaciated body conditions. The calves, “Bana”, “Chippy”, “Milkyway” and “Magic”, displayed post-nuchal depressions on their heads, which is also colloquially known as “peanut heads”. However, the reason for why these calves are in poor body condition is not known.

The study area with transect lines around the city of Bunbury, south west Australia.

One of these calves, Chippy, may have a poor body condition because it’s mother “Lunchbox” went missing in early December. Lunchbox was a successful mother and had raised three previous calves, “Popper”, “Bistro” and “Esky”. Lunchbox remained with her calves for around four years before the calves became independent. However, Chippy is less than two years old, so it would still most likely need to rely on Lunchbox. Instead, Chippy has been seen close by with sub adults “Calypso” and “Koomba”. However, in February Chippy was bitten by a shark and has not been re-sighted since.

“Lunchbox’s” calf , “Chippy”, with a peanut head which is a sign of poor body condition.

In addition to Chippy’s shark bite, there have been eight other confirmed shark bites on dolphins over the summer season. There were different degrees of severity of the bites and none were fatal. The bites were on the adults “Star”, “Smiley”, “Frenchy” and an unidentified dolphin; on the juvenile “Enigma” and on the calves “Splinter” and “Len”.

“Shredder’s” calf, “Splinter”, with a shark bite.

During this birthing season, which coincide with the warmer waters, eight new calves were born; “Diver”, “Vampire”, “Venus”, “Biro”, “Nova”, “Isma”, “Topping” and “Dori”. Dori is the calf of “Mrs Iruka”, which means Japanese for dolphin. Mrs Iruka is a “begging” dolphin that approaches boats in the hope for free food, for example from the off cuts from fisherman. Unfortunately, Mrs Iruka has also been bringing Dori close to boats. This behaviour is not a natural dolphin behavior and can cause that dolphins become conditioned to humans, resulting in heightened risk of boat strike, ingestion of fishhooks and entanglement in fishing lines. To avoid any negative outcomes please do not feed or touch wild dolphins.

“Mrs Iruka” and her calf “Dori” approaching the research vessel

Our Austral summer season is now complete (December- February). We were on the water for 154 hours, encountered 81 dolphin groups and collected 45 benthic sampling images. Krista and I would like to thank our assistants that helped during this time; Virginie (Switzerland), Kim (Netherlands), Katrina (Shetlands), Victoria (England), Elena (England), Grainne (Ireland), Lauren (Australia) and Eloisa (Australia).  Thank you and good luck to you all in the future. I would also like to thank Krista for all her hard work over the past months which rounds out the data collection portion of my PhD. Now it’s time to analyse and write my thesis!

The research for the South West Marine Research Program is made possible through the support from our funding partners, including, the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bemax Cable Sands, BHP Billiton Worsley Alumina, Bunbury Port Authority, City of Bunbury, Cristal Global, Department of Environment and Conservation, Iluka, Millard Marine, Naturaliste Charters, Newmont Boddington Gold, South West Development Commission and WAPRES.

With preparations well underway for upcoming fieldwork in the Kimberley 2013, MUCRU Phd candidate Alex Brown takes a moment to reflect on the events of the final few weeks of fieldwork on the Dampier Peninsula late last year…

Following a very fruitful 5 weeks in Cygnet Bay, our Kimberley inshore dolphin team moved across to the more windswept west coast of the peninsula. Here, the large tidal embayment of Beagle Bay and its adjacent waters were selected as our next study site in the quest to collect baseline information on the poorly understood dolphins of this area. We started the month as a team of three, with  Jenny Smith (USA) and Dominic Clarke (UK) now ‘old hands’ at the helm/lens/laptop. A couple of weeks later we were back to full numbers as recently graduated Dr. Conor Ryan (Ireland) joined us for the remainder of our stay.

Dom, Conor, Jenny (L-R). Photo: Alex Brown.

Our base for the month was Arrow Pearl Ltd’s remote facility on the southern shore of the Bay. With operations there currently limited to a small team developing an oyster hatchery, there was plenty of space and facilities to support our crew. Aside from being logistically favourable, this area of relatively shallow coastal water and adjacent mangroves looked promising habitat for inshore dolphins. Further encouragement was provided by reports of dolphin sightings by locals, including some snubfins seen further offshore.

The boat ramp at high tide. Photo: Alex Brown.

In contrast to Cygnet Bay, though, it was immediately apparent that this was a much more exposed stretch of coast. The inner regions of the bay were similarly mangrove-lined and intertidal, but the outer sections of the bay and adjacent coast were a mix of reefy headlands, long sandy beaches and rocky cliffs – all subject to the force of ground swells and wind waves rolling in from the west. Vast dunes stretched inland from the southern shore of the bay, while rocky cliffs guarded the northern entrance.

Unfortunately, our first couple of weeks at the site were something of a struggle against the weather. The wind had now comfortably settled into the ‘build-up’ pattern of westerlies increasing throughout the day – a most unfavourable direction on a more open, west-facing coast. Add to this an ever-present groundswell, and frequently widespread cloud cover.  Not the best conditions for spotting dolphins! Not bad for humpback whales, though, of which there were a few stragglers passing through on their way south.

Being tourists. Photo: Alex Brown.

Despite the frustrating conditions, we persevered. After 2 weeks we had explored a considerable area and completed two transects. Bottlenose dolphins were proving to be numerous and widespread, with single individuals and groups of up to 20 animals observed both within the bay and along the open coast. Humpback dolphins were also observed, although on just a couple of occasions where they kept their distance. Snubfins had yet to be observed.

Dugong within Beagle Bay. Photo: Alex Brown

Other life on the water appeared abundant: large shoals of baitfish were being bombarded from all directions by terns, brown boobies, trevally and mackerel tuna; manta rays were seen on several occasions; dugong were regularly observed to the south of the bay; and even a few crocs swam past the farm.

Conor’s arrival coincided with our first day on the water without dolphins (so much for the luck of the Irish). Fortunately this proved to be a rare occurrence, and good numbers of bottlenose dolphins continued to be encountered throughout the area. The poor weather persisted, but so did our patience, and on our 28^th (and last!) day on the water we completed our final transect of the area after a total of 145 hours on the water.

Bait ball chaos throughout the bay. Photo: Alex Brown.

Bottlenose dolphins. Photo: Alex Brown.

Over the course of the trip, we identified 91 different bottlenose dolphin individuals. By comparison, our first visit to Cygnet Bay yielded just 37 bottlenose individuals. We also reached double figures for biopsy samples from this species – adding to a now considerable collection for the Dampier Peninsula as a whole. 

The number of photo-identified humpback dolphins was much lower, at 10 individuals; 6 of these were mothers with calves. Unfortunately no snubfins were encountered. 

With each passing day it seemed to get hotter and more humid. The wet season was very much on its way; storm clouds often ballooned over the land as the day progressed, and at night the horizon was filled with silent flashes of distant lighting. Fortunately the heavens opened just twice, leaving the road to Broome relatively dry and civilised for our departure.

A pair of adult female humpback dolphins. Photo: Dominic Clarke.

Despite the disappointing lack of snubfins and low numbers of humpback dolphins, we will return to Beagle Bay this May to give it another crack of the whip. The predominantly easterly winds of the early dry season will almost certainly afford us better spotting conditions, and provide a glimpse into any potential seasonality in dolphin occurrence.

Hats off to Dom, Conor and Jenny for putting up with the heat and the early starts – 04:45 am is awfully early to be launching a boat! We’re grateful to Steve Arrow and colleagues at Arrow Pearl Ltd, for the use of their facilities at very reasonable rates, and also to the Clipper Pearls hatchery crew (and Boon!) for making us welcome. These thanks are also extended to BJ and Angela for the boating advice, crab and fish sent our way, not to mention Wayne, Renée and Frazer for making the long journey south more comfortable.

Green tree frogs, aka green bathroom frogs! Photo: Alex Brown.

Noisy neighbours – little corella. Photo: Alex Brown.

Boon – watching over camp. Photo: Alex Brown.

We’re pleased to announce the publication of the following article in the latest issue of Pacific Conservation Biology (abstract below):

Brown, A., Bejder, L., Cagnazzi, D., Parra, G. and Allen, S. 2012. The North West Cape, Western Australia: A Potential Hotspot for Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins Sousa chinensis? Pacific Conservation Biology 18: 240-246.

It is widely documented that the waters off the North West Cape of WA are important for several species of marine megafauna, including whale sharks, turtles and migrating humpback whales. However, little is known of dolphin populations in this region and, in fact, the wider northwest coast of WA. Information on humpback dolphin populations specifically is lacking throughout the majority of their range in Australia.

Humpback dolphin mother and calf at Ningaloo. Photo: Alex Brown.

This paper provides a synthesis of data collected by MUCRU researchers and collaborators around the North West Cape in 2010, and is the first publication specific to humpback dolphins in Western Australia.

From a limited survey effort, we provide preliminary evidence that the near-shore waters of this region might represent an important area for humpback dolphins, an insufficiently known species close to the south-western limit of its range. Given the development pressures facing the region, and it’s proximity to a World Heritage listed Marine Protected Area, we recommended further, structured investigations into the importance of the North West Cape for humpback dolphins.

PDF copies are available online through Pacific Conservation Biology, or by request to lead author Alex Brown (alex.brown@murdoch.edu.au).

Abstract:

Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins Sousa chinensis (Humpback Dolphins hereafter) are listed as ‘near threatened’ on an international level and ‘migratory’ in Australian waters. There is limited information on Humpback Dolphins in Western Australian State waters, where the species remains unlisted. This lack of knowledge hinders the management and conservation of the species in a region of rapidly increasing coastal development. We conducted opportunistic boat-based surveys in April 2010 and present data on the location, size and composition of Humpback Dolphin groups encountered in the near-shore waters around the North West Cape, Western Australia. A total of 42 groups were encountered in a variety of habitats during 145 h on the water over ca. 80 km coastline. Group size ranged from 1 to 15, with a mean (± SE) of 5.3 (± 0.48) individuals. A total of 54 Humpback Dolphins were identified from photographs of the unique markings on their dorsal fins. The lack of a plateau in the cumulative discovery curve of identified individuals over the duration of the study suggests that only a subset of dolphins in the area was identified. This region is close to the south-western limit of the species’ Australian distribution and appears to represent an important location for Western Australian Humpback Dolphins. In light of increasing anthropogenic activity around the North West Cape and Exmouth Gulf, these preliminary findings from a limited survey effort indicate that further research into this population is required.

Since 2009, when six Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins died in the Swan Canning Riverpark, researchers with the Coastal & Estuarine Dolphin Project (CEDP) have undertaken research aimed at ensuring the long-term conservation of bottlenose dolphins in metropolitan waters of Perth.

This publication provides information on the Swan Canning Riverpark resident population of dolphins based on research conducted a decade ago (2001-3).Analyses of ranging, occupancy, and association patterns indicate that the resident community should be recognised as a provisional management unit, pending the outcome of further research.

Abstract

 Identifying appropriate management units is vital for wildlife management. Here we investigate one potential management unit – resident communities of bottlenose dolphins – using information from ranging, occupancy, and association patterns. We identify a resident community of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in the Swan Canning Riverpark, Western Australia based on: ranging patterns, sighting rates, Lagged Identification Rates (LIR), and three measures of social affinity and structure (Simple Ratio Index, preferred dyadic association analyses, and Lagged Association Rates (LAR)). The analyses yielded an estimated ‘community size’ of 17-18 individuals (excluding calves). High seasonal sighting rates (> 0.75 sightings per season) and a long mean residence time (ca. nine years) indicated year-round residency. The model best-fitting the LIR (emigration and mortality) also supported this. The social structure of dolphins was species-typical, characterized by significant dyadic associations within age-sex classes (permutation test; P < 0.001), stronger associations among adult males than among adult females (LAR males > LAR females), and temporally stable associations (LAR > null LAR). Constant companions or long-lasting association models best explained adult male and female LARs. While behavioural information identified a resident community in the Riverpark, genetic and demographic information is needed to assess its appropriateness as a management unit.

You can download the PDF through the Pacific Conservation Biology journal website.

Alternatively, you can contact the following co-authors:

Delphine Chabanne, Cetacean Research Unit, Murdoch University

Hugh Finn, Cetacean Research Unit, Murdoch University

Lars Bejder, Cetacean Research Unit, Murdoch University

My final field season saw the monthly intensive boat-based photo-identification surveys come to an end after two years of data collection. We now concentrate our efforts on collecting theodolite tracking data in both Kealakekua Bay and Kauhako Bay, increasing our focal follow data and continuing to collect more bioacoustic data from our bottom-mounted loggers.

Theodolite
A theodolite is a surveyors instrument that, when used with a laptop computer running the program Pythagoras, can be used to determine the GPS coordinates of spinner dolphin groups, vessels and swimmers in the bays from land. Every five minutes we record the position of the dolphin group within the bay and the computer saves this information, along with behavioural data, to a database. We can then use these data to determine the movement and behavioural patterns of the dolphin group within the bay. In addition, every 10 minutes, we also record the position of swimmers, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and boats within 300 m of focal dolphin group.

Kealakekua Bay
To get to our theodolite station in Kealakekua Bay we walk down the path leading to the the Captain Cook monument. It takes about 40 minutes to walk to the theodolite station, however this GOPRO video is speeded up 10X and is a little shorter:
Up until January 2013, we have collected 189 hours of spinner dolphin theodolite tracks in Kealakekua Bay with an average track length of 8 hours 20 minutes. However, this does not include the numerous hours we’ve waited on the cliff top for the dolphins when they didn’t enter they bay.

From 2nd January 2013 the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) in Hawaii began new management action for Kealakekua Bay by placing a moratorium on kayaks and some other vessels until March 31st 2013. This provided us with the opportunity to collect land based movement and behavioural data on the spinner dolphin groups in Kealakekua Bay with reduced interactions, mainly from kayaks. This 35 second GOPRO time-lapse video shows a day in the life of Kealakekua Bay from the theodolite station, one frame taken every minute over a period of 9 hours 30 mins.

Recently the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have migrated from Alaskan waters to the Hawaiian Islands to breed. From our theodolite station we have seen a number of humpback whales in the bay with some spectacular breaching.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching in Kealakekua Bay

Humpback mother and calf below our theodolite station in Kealakekua Bay

Focal Follows
We continue to collect boat-based behavioural and human interaction data from our group focal follows. Leaving Honokohau Harbour, we head north until we encounter a group of spinner dolphins. We then photograph the dorsal fins of the group and then begin collecting behavioural and human interaction data. These data will allow us to provide details on the human interactions on spinner dolphins outside their resting bays. During our group focal follows we have seen some of the individuals that we recognise from photographing them in the resting bays, e.g. Mascot, who we have photographed in Kauhako, Honaunau, Kealakekua and Makako Bays.

Mascot north of Honokohau Harbour

We have seen some individuals with fresh scarring from fishing line and hooks.

Fishing line injury

Fishing hook injury

In addition we have seen spinner dolphins, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) interacting on a number of occasions.

Pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata)

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris)

Acoustic Loggers
This field season we removed two of our bottom mounted acoustic loggers from Honaunau Bay and Makako Bay. However, we are still collecting bioacoustic data from our bottom-mounted acoustic loggers in Kealakekua Bay and Kauhako Bay. Since the loggers were deployed in 2010 we have collected over 4Tb (Terrabytes) of bioacoustic data. Using these data in combination with the theodolite data we will be looking at the types of sounds the spinner dolphins make in different behavioural states. This, in turn, may tell us if the dolphins are being disturbed during human interactions. For example, Ken Norris, who began researching Hawaiian spinner dolphins in the 70s and 80s hypothesized that during rest, the spinner dolphins were acoustically silent.

While we have been collecting our acoustic data we came across a group of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) just north of Kauhako Bay.

Pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata)

A little bit of sad news:

The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world. As a consequence it is listed as endangered under the endangered species act and on the ICUN Red List. A juvenile male Hawaiian monk seal K68/69, was found lying on a northern beach with breathing difficulties. Alex Abe, one of my volunteers and I, helped the local Marine Mammal Response Network to capture the seal and transport it to the local NOAA office in preparation for a flight to Oahu for treatment. Unfortunately, the young seal had ingested a fishing hook and didn’t survive surgery.

K68/69 juveniile Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) injured from ingesting a fishing hook

Supervisors
Finally, in early December three of my supervisors, Ken Pollock, Dave Johnston and Lars Bejder paid a visit to Kona. We went out on the boat and saw spinner dolphins in Kealakekua Bay and Makako Bay, in addition to a humpback whale traveling north past Kailua Bay. It was a very productive visit as we were able to sit down and thrash out our initial spinner dolphin abundance estimate paper, which we hope to present at the Pacific SRG meeting in San Diego from April 2-4 2013 and to submit for publication very soon.

It wasn’t all work though…

Ken, Hawaiian shirt and mai tai

Dave and his beer

Lars, Hawaiian shirt and mai tai

Assistance and assistants
I would like to say a big thank you to Justin Viezbicke, Hawaii Island Programs Coordinator for the loan of the theodolite and tripod, to Chris Gabriel, Susan Rickards and Suzanne Yin of the Hawaiian Marine Mammal Consortium for the loan of their thodolite tripod and to McCandless Ranch for letting us setup out theodolite on their land.

And, by no means least, all my assistants that have helped me out during this field season Bob Gladden, Tasha Boerst, Amy Brossard, Nicole Penkowski, Laura Bray, Virginie Wyss, Lonneke Ijsseldijk, Daniella Hanf, Dan Hazel, Laura Cunningham, Sophia Gelibter, Audrey Archer, Stephanie Petrus, Katrina Nikolich, Mariel ten Doeschate, Brigid McKenna, Rosie Blackburn, Alexandrea Abe, Laura McCue, Tory Johnson and Becky Ingram.

The Coastal and Estuarine Dolphin Project (CEDP) collects photo-identification, behavioural, and longitudinal data to support the long-term conservation of bottlenose dolphins in metropolitan waters of Perth, Western Australia.

The beggars

The illegal feeding of dolphins is a key conservation issue for dolphins in the Perth area. Finn et al. (2008) reported 14 dolphins resident in Cockburn Sound exhibiting behaviours indicative of being conditioned to human interaction by food reinforcement (e.g., approaching and remaining in close proximity to the research boat). Analysis of scarring rates found that dolphins that interacted with humans for food (i.e., “beggars”) are at greater risk of entanglement and boat strikes than other dolphins (Donaldson et al. 2010). Donaldson et al. (2012) also found that social learning influenced whether dolphins learned to interact  with humans for food, particularly among male associates.

In our winter 2012 season, the adult male Backpack – not previously known as a beggar – has approached close our research boat on three different occasions (once in Cockburn Sound and twice in the Swan Canning Riverpark).

Backpack is an old male (first seen in 1993), resident in Cockburn Sound and recently observed up to Freshwater Bay in the Swan Canning Riverpark. He mainly associates with Fingers, another old male (first seen in 1993) who has also shown similar ‘begging’ behaviour. This apparent change in their behaviour has two components:

1- The recent exhibition of ‘begging’ behaviour by both dolphins (neither was reported as a “beggar” dolphins during previous studies dating back to 1993); and

2- The recent expansion of their home range with observations of the two in the middle sections of the Swan Canning Riverpark.

 

Backpack begging

Summary of winter 2012 surveys

Product catching a fish

During our winter 2012 season, we encountered 31 groups of dolphins (compared to 24 during our previous winter season) in 5 cycles (a cycle is completed when the four areas – Cockburn Sound, Owen Anchorage, Gage Road, and the Swan Canning Riverpark – are surveyed). Group encountered doubled in winter 2012 (n = 6 in winter 2011 and n = 13 in winter 2012). However, we identified more individuals in winter 2011 (n = 182) than in winter 2012 (n= 127).

Tupac & her calf Gizmo

In addition, we surveyed the Swan Canning Riverpark 4 more times (i.e., not part of a cycle) and encountered 13 dolphin groups.

Among the dolphin we observed within the Swan Canning Riverpark were: Blackwall; Tworakes & her calf Zari; Print & Extreme (a suspected male alliance); Tupac & her calf Gizmo (who has recovered well from his entanglement); and Resource & her calf Product .

The Minister for Environment, Bill Marmion, has made his determination on the Appeals Against Report and Recommendations: Browse Liquefied Natural Gas Precinct (Report 1444). The result of the appeals process has been the amendment and addition of conditions on the approval of the Browse LNG development. As appellants, we (the undersigned members of the Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit) do not believe that the conditions placed on the approval adequately address our primary concerns.

The potential impacts of the Browse LNG development on coastal dolphin species occurring in the James Price Point region have not been appropriately assessed. The EPA report itself, acknowledges that there are species of dolphins that occur in the region that were not identified in the initial environmental monitoring, and the Strategic Assessment Report. Surprisingly, the EPA have judged any potential impacts ‘manageable’ despite the absence of reliable data.

It is explicit in Report 1444 that when assessing a strategic proposal, “Sufficient detail should be available to allow the EPA to conclude that…2. Significant deleterious impacts at the population level on important components of the biota are not likely. This explicitly recognises that there may be deleterious impacts to individual organisms, but they should not be likely to have an impact on the long term viability of the population” (Pp. ii and 159). Therefore the EPA required information on these populations prior to judging whether or not any impacts might affect the long-term viability of those populations, and should not be advocating that these data be collected after approving the development.

The following two conditions now placed on the development make it clear that sufficient data were not available to assess the impact of the Browse LNG development prior to approval:

A condition is added to provide a framework to fill knowledge gaps for whales, dolphins, dugongs, turtles and sawfish, which would include the following: … the proponent shall prepare a Marine Fauna Survey and Research Program, for approval by the CEO on advice of the DEC, to improve the knowledge of marine fauna off James Price Point and hence to guide management and planning processes so as to minimise impacts at the individual level and ensure conservation at the population level.

With respect to dugongs, a condition is added requiring that sophisticated scientific approaches are applied to estimate impacts on dugongs in further dugong studies.

Following our meeting with the Appeal Committee, we highlighted that the stated objective of the EPA is to maintain the abundance, diversity, geographic distribution and productivity of fauna at species and ecosystem levels. We believe that, contrary to the stated objective, the EPA and Appeals Committee are simply aiming to ensure that the Browse LNG development will not result in the extinction of a species.

We maintain that the Browse LNG development should not be approved until the proponent has provided adequate information on all marine mammal populations that occur in the region. This would allow the EPA and Federal Environment Minister to make an informed assessment of the likely impacts of the Browse LNG development. This additional information should include: species diversity, population abundance, distribution, habitat use and the degree of connectivity between populations in the region.

Amanda Hodgson PhD, Josh Smith PhD, Lars Bejder PhD, Mike Calver PhD and Simon Allen MSc.

Our specific concerns surrounding the paucity of data upon which the Strategic Assessment Report was based, are detailed in the following documents:

Public submission re Browse SAR (Hodgson et al 2011)

Letter of Appeal – EPA report 1444 (Allen et al 2012a)

Letter to Appeals Committee re Conditions of Consent (Allen et al 2012b)

The information, views and opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors only and do not represent a statement of the University’s official position or policy.

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 migration. This spring we came across 12 humpback whale mum and calf pairs on our coastline transects. On two of these occasions the dolphins were associating with the whales. We also saw three mum and calf pairs of southern right whales, which is interesting, as we did not see any last year. Our whale images have been passed on to the SouWest whale research group for addition to their database.

Southern right whale along back beach, Bunbury.

Spring is also an exciting season because the flying fish come back into our study area. When driving along our transect lines searching for dolphins the boat scares the flying fish and they fly out of the water. We have also witnessed dolphins chasing after flying fish and last month we saw a dolphin leap out of the water and caught a flying fish in the air!

Flying fish, Bunbury, Western Australia.

As spring began, the cuttlefish spawning period was ending. The cuttlefish appear to aggregate around Bunbury during the winter and some dolphins take advantage of this. Since 2007, Dr Holly Raudino and myself have seen several dolphins feeding on cuttlefish after popping out the cuttle bone. This is a specialised feeding technique, which has only been reported previously in Adelaide, Australia.

“Comet” feeding on cuttlefish with her calf, “Milky way”, by her side.

Another, specialised feeding technique, which occurs in Bunbury, is octopus tossing. The dolphins repeatedly toss octopus several meters into the air making sure the octopus becomes limp. We have seen this event on multiple occasions even prior to 2007 from Dolphin Discovery Centre volunteers and SWMRP researchers. Our last occasion to witness this event was in October, where an adult male “Quicksilver” was tossing an octopus. Quicksilver did not appear to be concerned by the boat or the fact that he had a large shark bite on his side of his body.

“Quicksilver” an adult male dolphin tossing octopus.

In addition to “Quicksilver’s” shark bite, we have also recently seen “Gem” a juvenile female and “Harvey” an adult male with shark bites. We keep track of these dolphins and record the healing rate of their scars.

“Harvey” an adult male dolphin with a shark bite.

Apart from sharks, dolphins also have to watch out for other dolphins, especially male alliances. In October, we saw a male alliance approach another male alliance. These alliances greeted head on and began intensely interacting. The dolphins were chuffing (forced exhalations that created a loud sound), splashing and blowing bubble rings. “Razor” and “Star” reared up at “Hockey” and “Shaka” appearing to ram them out of the way.

“Star” and “Razor” rearing up out of the water pushing “Hockey” and “Shaka” out of the way.

 Summer has now begun and from January onwards, Krista Nicholson will be conducting my field data collection for my PhD. Over the spring quarter, I have been given the opportunity to attend classes on habitat modelling at Duke University. My co-supervisor, Dr David Johnston, is a lecturer at Duke University and my PhD thesis is based on habitat modelling so this is a special opportunity. However, I will miss being on the water each month with the dolphins, whales, hammerhead sharks, flying fish, fur seals, sea lions and little penguins.

I would like to thank my recent assistants for all their help; Kim from the Netherlands, Virginie from Switzerland, Thekla from France and a special thank you to Rene from Denmark who left his computer science job to help me out with my computer problems for a month! The research for the South West Marine Research Program is made possible through the funding partners, including, the Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bemax Cable Sands, BHP Billiton Worsley Alumina, Bunbury Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bunbury Port Authority, City of Bunbury, Cristal Global, Department of Environment and Conservation, Iluka, Millard Marine, Naturaliste Charters, Newmont Boddington Gold, South West Development Commission and WAPRES.