Julian Tyne

Hawaii
MUCRU, in collaboration with Dave Johnston (Duke University Marine Lab, North Carolina) and David Lusseau (University of Aberdeen, Scotland) aims to collect baseline data on the local abundance, distribution and behaviour of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) using a suite of modern visual and acoustic techniques in four resting bays in Hawaii. These data will then be used to investigate the effects of human interactions on the spinner dolphins and assess the effectiveness of time area closures as a mitigation approach. Read more about the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin Project.

Shark Bay, Western Australia
Tool use in cetaceans has only been documented in one population – the bottlenose dolphin population in Shark Bay, WA. It is believed some of these dolphins use marine sponges as a protective glove for their rostra when they probe for prey in the substrate. All “spongers” are maternally related – they share the same mitochondrial DNA, which is transmitted only through the female line. MUCRU members are collaborating with Dr. Michael Krützen (University of Zürich) and Assoc. Prof. William Sherwin (University of New South Wales) to discern whether tool-use is a genetic trait, governed by ecological factors or transmitted culturally (through social learning by offspring from their mothers). My research explores the possible correlations between locations of the sponge-carrying dolphins and the density and distribution of marine sponges along transect lines in the western gulf of Shark Bay.