Fishing line and plastic endangering young dolphins

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A leading Perth dolphin researcher is urging fishers to be extra vigilant with the proper disposal of fishing lines and hooks after seeing several of the marine mammals in Cockburn Sound caught up in discarded line.

Dr Delphine Chabanne, from Murdoch University’s Harry Butler Institute, said she had seen two young bottlenose dolphins within about eight months that had line wrapped tightly around their bodies. Others had been seen caught in line in previous years.

“We want people to understand the harm fishing line and other pollutants cause to marine animals, including dolphins,” Dr Chabanne said.

“Many of the animals recorded with fishing gear entanglement are calves or juveniles and as they grow the lines dig into their skin.“

Dr Chabanne, who is also researching dolphin behaviour as part of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution Westport Marine Science Program, said she feared what researchers saw from boats was the tip of the iceberg.

“More individuals may have injuries from fishing line gear that’s not always visible to us.  As an example, we don’t always get to see the pectorals and tail fin, or fluke, of individuals which makes it difficult to evaluate the full extent of fishing gear impact on dolphins.”

Dr Chabanne said the risk of fishing lines to the animal varied but it could result in death.

“There are some dolphins that manage to get rid of the line by themselves with minimal harm to their bodies but for others, the injuries are too serious and they die, which can be a slow process.”

Some dolphins had been euthanised when their injuries were considered too serious.

Dr Chabanne said line wasn’t the only danger to the animals.

“I have seen a dolphin with a plastic bag around its dorsal fin. If this was to become stuck around its blowhole it would suffocate,” Dr Chabanne said. “Plastic too is a problem when it breaks up into microplastics which are ingested by fish, the main diet of dolphins.”

Studying the elusive syngnathids of the Sound

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Dozens of Perth divers and keen underwater photographers are helping research into the seahorses and pipefishes of Cockburn Sound and Owen Anchorage as part of a project which will also see water-borne DNA tested for evidence of the beautiful but elusive animals.

The project forms part of the WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program and Dr Glenn Moore, the Curator of Fishes at Western Australian Museum, is leading a research team looking into the diversity and distribution of syngnathids, a family of highly specialized and often cryptic fishes that also includes seadragons.

The fish have national protection under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999.

“They are one of the most challenging groups of fish to survey,” Dr Moore said.

“We can’t run fine nets over the reef because they get caught up and the fish are difficult to spot diving, so we are using multiple methods including looking at historical records.”

“We are using as many data sources as we can to try and compile as much information as possible about the syngnathids in the Sound.”

Dr Moore said citizen scientists had so far uploaded more than 1,000 images to an online portal along with the location where the fish were spotted.

He said one limitation of citizen scientists was they tended to head towards common dive areas where seahorses were well known but the information was still valuable.

Environmental DNA testing will also start soon on water collected from Cockburn Sound to add to information about their distribution.

“We have done some water sampling and we will do eDNA work in the next few months.

“We have frozen water samples and these will be analysed at a specialist laboratory at Curtin University.

“We are hoping we can start to build a picture of their distribution and habitat preferences,” Dr Moore said.

He said part of the eDNA work involved building a DNA library.

“You need to have something to match the eDNA to when we are doing the analyses.

“We need to get DNA from specimens we are looking for and that is a challenge because we don’t get to collect all the species we know are there.”

Dr Moore said most syngnathids lived in shallow coastal waters and were especially reliant on habitats well represented in Cockburn Sound, including seagrass, filter-feeder communities, shallow detritus, reefs and artificial structures.

He said the distribution, habitat preferences and abundance, particularly of seahorses and pipefish, wasn’t well known but the research aimed to find out more with the aim of improving their protection.

Photos: Western Australian Museum

Big pods and ‘fearless mums’ among the dolphins of Kwinana Shelf

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A dolphin with a distinctive white flash and a female bearing the scars of a shark bite, likely suffered while protecting her calf, were among about 120 individual dolphins recorded by researchers in the Kwinana Shelf area last year.

Dr Delphine Chabanne, from Murdoch University’s Harry Butler Institute, is leading the project which forms part of the WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program and involves monitoring dolphin distribution from Woodman Point to James Point within Cockburn Sound.

The dolphins that were recorded included 24 calves under two years of age.

The research team did the surveys from a boat travelling along parallel lines, 500 metres apart.

Dr Chabanne said 55 percent of the non-calf dolphins were re-identified from the last survey work between 2011 and 2015, indicating there are long term dolphin residents in Cockburn Sound.

“The long-term connection with other resident communities is also supported with four of the Swan Canning estuary resident male dolphins observed interacting with dolphins in Cockburn Sound,” Dr Chabanne said.

The team photographed the animals, noted their GPS coordinates and recorded water temperature and depth at the locations.

“One of the challenges was to make sure we have photographs for all dolphins when the groups are large,” Dr Chabanne said.

“We were seeing 15 to 35 dolphins in a pod, sometimes breaking into smaller groups then re-joining before breaking again into smaller groups all in less than 30 minutes. This fission-fusion behaviour is typical in bottlenose dolphins.”

Dolphin with shark bite mark on fin. Photo: Delphine Chabanne

Dr Chabanne said ‘Tippy’, one of the adult females, had a damaged dorsal fin from a shark bite.

“The females are more vulnerable to being attacked because the sharks will often target the calves and the mothers will work very hard to protect them.”

The first time ‘Tippy’ was recorded with fresh shark bites, her calf was only two months old. Two weeks later, ‘Tippy’ had suffered from further shark bites. The next time she was seen, unfortunately, her calf had disappeared.

Predation by other animals is not the only risk. Dr Chabanne said researchers spotted at least two calves with fishing lines around their bodies or pectorals.

Dr Chabanne said ’Tippy’, was first recorded in the early 1990s and is believed to be close to 40 years old. In fact, several individual dolphins observed in Cockburn Sound during the last year are between 30 and 40 years old.

Another female called ‘Jinx’, with a distinctive white mark on her back, is believed to be close to 30 years old and gave birth to a new calf this year.

Dr Chabanne said the average life expectancy for a female in the wild was 40 years, with males often not surviving beyond 35 because of fighting and riskier behaviour such as venturing into less protected areas.

The researchers are looking at where the dolphins in the Kwinana Shelf area spend most of their time during the year and working out why they are in certain areas.

Dr Chabanne said data was collected over four seasons to see how dolphins responded to changes in the environment.

Underwater symphony of noisy shrimp and whistling dolphins

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Waves crashing, boats motoring and seabirds squawking are what we typically hear at the beach.

But a WAMSI research team at Cockburn Sound is listening to the soundscape underwater and recording everything from the ‘popping’ noise of tiny snapping shrimp to fish sounds and whistling dolphins.

Vessels travelling across the water are also picked up.

Dr Iain Parnum, from Curtin University’s Centre for Marine Science and Technology, is part of a research team that has been using underwater microphones, known as hydrophones, which are linked to a recording device and lowered into the water.

“We put them in the water and leave them on the seafloor for several months at a time, so we have this continual data,” Dr Parnum said.

“We are trying to understand the underwater soundscape of Cockburn Sound.”

“We want to characterise different sounds that can be heard, how loud they are and how that soundscape changes through the year.”

He said it was also useful for locating different species and information will be shared with other researchers involved in the WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program.

“Probably in coastal areas like this, one of the main sounds is anthropogenic or human caused.

“We are monitoring places where they have typically been finding dolphins but also areas where they haven’t.  We want to know what the overall sound levels in those areas are, if they are overwhelming and making it difficult for dolphins to communicate.”

“Everyone sees dolphins and it’s always nice to see them, but you also hear them chatting away underwater.

“We need to understand what the baseline sounds in the Sound are.”

The team is yet to record mulloway, but Dr Parnum said they’re a fish that has a distinctive sound.

“Sometimes if there’s enough of them, they like to gather together to do choruses particularly after sunset.”

Man with recording equipment on boat.

Research team member Malcolm Perry works on underwater sound recording equipment.

“That is something we have seen in other sites,” Dr Parnum said.

Other WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program scientists are doing related research on the hearing physiology of animals in the area including little penguins, and the behavioural response of fishes to underwater noise.

Dolphin dreams a reality for WAMSI scientist

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On International Women’s Day, March 8, WAMSI Science Coordinator Dr Kelly Waples reflects on her career

As a young girl in beachside California, Kelly Waples dreamt of being a dolphin trainer from the first time she visited a marine aquarium. Her interest soon shifted from spectacle to science but a passion for the marine mammals remained.

Dr Waples, now a Principal Scientist for Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and a Science Coordinator for Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI), ultimately did her doctoral research on rehabilitating and releasing captive dolphins.

“I was always interested in dolphin behaviour, but as I spent more time in the field, I became interested in applying what we learn about these animals to conservation questions,” Dr Waples said.

“The opportunity to work on a dolphin release came up and I jumped at the chance to return to Australia and participate in what was, at the time, a groundbreaking project.”

She described finishing her PhD and moving to Australia as a time when her career hit a crossroads.

“It became clear to me that to pursue a career in marine mammal field biology was not going to be easy or provide much in the way of job security.”

A move to wildlife conservation as a coordinator of wildlife management in New South Wales was ultimately a rewarding opportunity.

“I was responsible for coordinating and advising on a range of issues from nuisance flying foxes and possums to whale strandings and oil spills,” Dr Waples said.

“I was lucky to again have a career change when I returned to Perth and joined the Marine Science Program at DBCA.

“I have more of a science coordination role at WAMSI and have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of scientists from various disciplines to participate in research supporting conservation decisions and to advise on a number of marine mammal issues.”

In her role at WAMSI, Dr Waples is back working on a project involving her first research ‘love’- marine mammals.

“I’ve really enjoyed this last year with the opportunity, through the WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program, to be out in the field in our own backyard here in Perth learning more about the endangered Australian sea lions.”

“I’m learning new skills and working with a wide range of fantastic scientists, veterinarians and marine staff.”

Reflecting on International Women’s Day, Dr Waples said while most of her early mentors and colleagues were male scientists it had been heartening to see that change over time with many amazing and dedicated female scientists joining the ranks.

“I hope that I have done my part (improving the gender balance) by championing young female scientists where I can and giving them the advice and support to choose their paths well.”

Beach walkers invited to help penguin research

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A Western Australian Marine Science Institution project led by a scientist from The University of Western Australia is inviting people to help penguin research while getting fit.

Dr Belinda Cannell, from UWA’s Oceans Institute, said the project at Cockburn Sound was seeking volunteers who regularly walk at the beach to record any Little Penguins they find deceased.

She said her research over the past 30 years had shown many people were keen to help scientists and the community better understand the species.

“This will be the second year in a row the project has run, although volunteers also helped with similar research from 2007 to 2009,” Dr Cannell said.

“The feedback is people generally love to have an excuse to be out there doing some exercise, enjoying the environment and helping with important scientific research.”

Volunteers will be asked to walk a section of the Cockburn Sound foreshore, which has been divided into one-kilometre lengths, at least once a week for about a year.

Volunteers took part in more than 300 surveys last year but did not record any dead penguins.

Dr Cannell said the volunteer program was open to all members of the public, from citizen scientists and community groups, to corporate organisations and ocean lovers.

“If we find dead penguins we want to know what caused their deaths and see if there is a seasonal pattern,” Dr Cannell said.

“And importantly we want to identify strategies to protect the species.”

People who are interested in volunteering for the Little Penguin research project can email Dr Cannell here.

Science influences art in a marine-inspired exhibition

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An art exhibition that fuses scientific knowledge with creative inspiration is set to open later this month in Albany.

Immerse will feature artworks by 20 MIX Artists from the Great Southern that showcase a unique art-science collaboration between contemporary artists and marine scientists working in the region.

The waters of the south coast and around Albany are well known for their unique diversity of plants and animals, as well as their productivity, and the works will convey important marine science knowledge and current research from the region to a broad audience.

The Western Australian Marine Science Institution coordinated opportunities for the MIX Artists to learn from marine scientists, through talks and presentations, provision of resources and engagement with marine science students from The University of Western Australia during a field trip. The artists also followed up with ongoing self-research and observation of their environment.

Dr Jenny Shaw, WAMSI Research Director, said it had been particularly interesting to observe how the artists were interpreting their local marine environment.

“It’s been a great opportunity to move science into the community and also see different interpretations of marine research topics,” Dr Jenny Shaw, WAMSI

“The scientists benefit from explaining their work to different audiences and the interest from the artists has been incredibly high, contributing to a shared appreciation for the marine environment.”

The interaction between artists and scientists and the resulting creative process has been well documented and will enable the exhibition audience to learn more about the art-science collaboration.

MIX Artist coordinator Annette Davis said the collaboration had given the MIX Artists fantastic insight into another world and engagement with the scientists have been fundamental as to how the artworks had developed.

“Responding with intuition, curiosity, and imagination, the artists have interpreted their findings through chosen materials and techniques and created individual artworks to help move this understanding into the wider community,” Ms Davis said.

Topics that have inspired the artworks centre around the finely balanced coastal environment and the impact of structural change, such as the threats of plastic pollution and rising sea levels, but also include an emphasis on restoration methods to protect the marine environment.

The pursuit of marine science has inspired some artists.  Catherine Higham has used seagrass and seaweed, on a structure made from willow and bamboo, to make a large-scale listening horn to listen to underwater life.   Another artist used the shapes of scuba diving equipment and scientific data to create a ‘newly discovered’ sea creature, named Scubadeepus data-analyticae, in homage to marine scientists.

Christine Baker’s work, titled Micro Plastic Menu, was inspired by a talk on microplastic contamination in the ocean by UWA’s Dr Harriet Paterson and how it can potentially be transferred through marine food chains.

Immerse will run at the Albany Town Hall from Friday 21 January until Saturday 25 February.   Artists and scientists will talk about the process of this project at a special free event titled Dive In on Saturday 4 February in the Town Hall auditorium.

After being shown in Albany, the exhibition will tour to the Collie Art Gallery, where it will run from 6 May to 11 June.

More information is available here: http://www.mixartists.org/immerse.html

A new blueprint for Western Australian marine research
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A new report to guide Western Australia’s coastal research priorities and initiatives signals a renewed focus for statewide marine science.

The Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) today launched the Blueprint Refresh 2022-2027, identifying opportunities for marine science to improve the sustainable use and management of WA’s coastal and estuarine marine environments.

Developed with advice from WA marine stakeholders, the result is a snapshot of the existing and emerging marine science needs of WA’s marine industries, managers, regulators and the wider community, shaped by changes and advances over the last five years to the marine landscape.

Promoting collaboration across all sectors, WAMSI has identified six major science themes and knowledge gaps to focus marine science investment and activities in Western Australia over the next five years.

WAMSI CEO Dr Luke Twomey said WA’s coastal and estuarine ecosystems were under increasing pressure from cumulative impacts associated with population growth, economic activity, and climate change.

“Strong direction backed by good science is needed to manage these pressures into the future,” Dr Twomey said.

“The Blueprint Refresh is a snapshot based on our collective knowledge, best available information and vision for Western Australian marine science and is aimed at better understanding the needs of the sectors that interact with WA’s marine environments.” Dr Luke Twomey, WAMSI CEO

“It provides the contemporary view to refresh the scientific knowledge required to head into the future and contribute to discussions that will drive change to strategy, practice, and policy across industry, government, and in the community.

Three focus areas emerged from the collective stakeholder input – Traditional Owner participation, accessible data and social engagement – that were considered central to the delivery of any marine science program.

“This Blueprint Refresh provides decision-makers and the community with a clearer understanding of the direction for future blue economic activity in Western Australia, which in-turn provides our marine scientists with the intelligence necessary to focus their future research endeavours,” Dr Twomey said.

Cockburn Sound – home to a surprising diversity of marine species
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Scientists have found an unexpectedly diverse assemblage of marine life living on the seafloor in Cockburn Sound.

The species were identified following surveys of benthic communities in soft sediment and naturally occurring hard substrate as part of a research project that seeks to better understand benthic biodiversity and mitigate environmental impacts in the area.

The research team from the Western Australian Museum and Curtin University carried out a series of scuba-based visual surveys along the Kwinana Shelf, an area which had not been surveyed for some time.

At 12 sites sampled across two seasons, the researchers documented more than 2500 individual specimens on belt transects, including the hairy and porcelain crabs, worm snails, hammer oysters, blue ring octopus and the starry octopus, Octopus djinda, along with purple sponge barnacles, a range of urchins, sea cucumbers and sea stars, as well as eleven different species of scleractinian coral.

Thirty-five sponge species were identified, of which 21 have not previously been collected from Cockburn Sound.

Every individual animal encountered was identified in-situ or collected for identification in the laboratory. Work on the specimens is ongoing, but currently, more than 200 species across eight major marine invertebrate groups have been identified.

Dr Zoe Richards from the Western Australian Museum and Curtin University said “Derbal Nara (as Cockburn Sound is known to the Noongar people) is a nursery for pink snapper but what people might not realise is that one of the reasons the snapper aggregate and spawn there is because there is a huge variety of food sources in the Bay. Animals such as sponges, soft corals and tunicates form microhabitats for crustaceans, molluscs, worms and many other epifauna animals that the snapper prey upon”.

“The unexpected diversity and abundance of the smaller (<5 cm) marine animals has been critical to document in recent times, as this faunal component is vastly understudied on a global scale, an important aspect of food web ecology and consistently reveals species new to science” – Dr. Lisa Kirkendale, Western Australian Museum

Many of these specimens require genetic sequencing to confirm their identification and this is currently underway through the WA Museum’s Molecular Systematics Unit.

Additionally, the Museum has hosted Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University scientists have worked closely with Museum scientists to assist on site who are assisting with the processing of trawl samples that were collected in another phase of the project, and those samples will be used to assess the ecological values of the benthic community.

This research is being carried out under the WAMSI Westport Marine Science Program that will inform the development of Western Australia’s new container terminal.