Dear Colleagues, The scientific article "Effects of whale-watching activities on southern right whales in Encounter Bay, South Australia" is published in the journal Marine Policy. It is free to download, and you can access it on Research Gate or from this link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105525.
Authors: Kate R. Sprogis, Dirk Holman, Patricia Arranz and Fredrik Christiansen. Abstract: Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) are listed as Endangered under the Australian EPBC Act 1999. They migrate to shallow, coastal waters during the winter to mate, calve and nurse their young. During this time, they are easily accessible to the boat-based whale-watching industry. The aim of the study was to determine if whale-watching at 300 m distance affects the behaviour of southern right whales. To achieve this, behavioural focal follows on mother-calf pairs were conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the presence and absence of a commercial whale-watching vessel. There was no significant effect of phase (control, before, during, after) on the whales' respiration rate, swim speed, nursing rate and duration, maternal rate of active behaviours, tactile contact or calf pectoral fin contact. There was a significant reduction in resting between control and after phases, for both mothers (from 62 to 30%) and calves (from 16 to 1%). At 300 m distance and slow speed, vessel noise was measured to be slightly above ambient noise at the lower TOL0.25 kHz band, however, vessel noise was masked by ambient noise within the higher frequency TOL2-10 kHz bands. A factor which may have contributed to a decline in resting after whale-watch approaches, was an increase in vessel speed upon departure, which consequently increased vessel noise. Based on this, we recommend that vessels maintain a slow speed (e.g., ≤10 knots) within 1 km distance from the whales whilst conducting whale-watch activities. Citation: Sprogis, K.R., Holman, D., Arranz, P., Christiansen, F., 2023. Effects of whale-watching activities on southern right whales in Encounter Bay, South Australia. Marine Policy. 150:105525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105525. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Kind regards, Kate, Dirk, Patricia and Fredrik. Kate Sprogis, PhD Research Fellow Great Southern Marine Research Facility Albany campus WA 6330 Australia kate.spro...@uwa.edu.au [UWA on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/KateSprogis>[UWA on Instagram]<https://www.instagram.com/katesprogis/>[UWA on Linked In]<linkedin.com/in/kate-sprogis-23abb58b>[cid:image005.png@01D93BA8.70DA00A0]<http://www.katesprogis.wordpress.com/> [cid:image006.png@01D93BA8.70DA00A0] [cid:image007.jpg@01D93BA8.70DA00A0] Recent publications: * Sprogis, K.R., Sutton, A.L., Jenner, M.N., McCauley, R.D., Jenner, K.C.S. 2022. Occurrence of cetaceans and seabirds along the Indian Ocean 110°E meridian from temperate to tropical waters. Deep Sea Research (Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2022.105184 * Sprogis, K.R., and Parra, G.J. 2022. Coastal dolphins and marine megafauna in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia: informing conservation management actions in an area under increasing human pressure. Wildlife Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR22023
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