Oceans are filling up with rubbish, pollutants and traffic. Marine animals like sea turtles get sick from eating plastic, struck by boats or strand. Whales become entangled in ropes, dolphins get hit by boats, turtles gasping frantically for air, whales desperately thrashing their tails to remove rope, exhausted seabirds with stomachs filled of plastic floating on the surface. One of Australia's most populated coastlines, the Gold Coast is in danger to become a death trap for marine life.
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With your help we continue building our marine rescue and research program.
Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure present and future generations of the community have access to enjoy, appreciate and care for whales and dolphins.
We aim for better protection of marine mammals by improving understanding about marine mammals through the research of whale & dolphin abundance, distribution, behaviour and movement patterns and through establishment of community involvement and outreach.
We acknowledge and pay respects to the Yugambeh people of the Gold Coast, Quandamooka people from Moreton Bay and the Gubi Gubi people of the Sunshine Coast and all their descendants both past and present. We also acknowledge the many Aboriginal people from other regions as well as Torres Strait and South Sea Islander people who now live in the areas and have made an important contribution to the protection and well being of the land and sea.
We collect, analyse and publish information on whales and dolphins
for the public with the support of our community members.
Background
We can only make a difference if we know how…. It is therefore crucial to determine how whales & dolphins use their habitat and turn the information into effective protection. Even though the population of Humpback Whales is slowly recovering they are still an endangered species in some countries and a threatened species in Australia - like many other marine megafauna. Increasing coastal development and expected current shifts with climate change are putting new challenges on the survival of marine mammals. Their life cycles are closely bound to the seasonal changes of ocean currents and temperatures. Expected shifts in ocean physics require fast adaptation. Any additional stress during their migration phase could have undue negative effects. Because of their presence in shallow coastal waters they may be susceptible to disturbance from boating and impairment of near-shore waters from coastal development. The whale watching industry has become a multi-million Dollar industry in Australia, and, like any other industry, should be based on sound sustainable and environmental principles. Such environmental management principles can only be put in place if there is sufficient knowledge about the required conditions for the well-being of whales & dolphins. As a consequence the investigation of fine scale habitat use of whales & dolphins is timely and in our hands.
Aims
We aim to protect resting areas for whales and reduce impacts on dolphins.
We investigate the value of southeast Queensland as a migration, resting and opportunistic feeding ground for whales.
We involve whale & dolphin watching enthusiasts and the whale watching industry in whale research and provide a community engagement hub for marine sciences and participation through land and boat based surveys
We measure spatial distribution of currents, temperature, bathymetry, salinity, turbidity during whale migration within 25 km offshore.
We analyse the relationship between movement of whales & dolphins and physical water properties.
We reduce impacts of urbanisation on the behavioural response of whales & dolphins (shark nets, boats, dredging, pollution, debris, constructions).
We observe individual life histories, social role, habitat use, reproductive status and mating systems
We provide adaptation strategies and a contact for all whale & dolphin releated matters on the Gold Coast and beyond in relation to impacts of coastal development on marine megafauna.
Methods
Surveys - Visual surveys are established through land, boat and aerial based observation along southeast Queensland recording abundance, distribution and behaviour of Humpback Whales and other marine life. The information gathered during the surveys are analysed for abundance and distribution, relationship to physical parameters and behaviour.
Video recording - A video recording system, documents on the behaviour of individuals and allows establishing of short term tracks by collecting speed, depth, temperature and direction. CATS tagging systems is used as a data collector to investigate short term behavioural changes.
Acoustics - Certain frequencies of sound are recorded by hydrophones at varies locations along the shoreline
Skin & blow biopsy - Whale flakes (whale skin that is shed off naturally) are collected from the water for skin biopsy and exhaled breath collected. This provides a health status identification (stress indicator).
Water properties -Water column profile data (current velocity and direction) are collected by ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers). We undertake spot downcasts of CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth), salinity, light penetration, turbidity, chlorophyll and turbulence.
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