Understanding pygmy blue whale movement and distribution off north Western Australia

Dr Michele Thums has a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of Tasmania and a Bachelor of Science with first-class honours in Zoology from the University of Sydney. She is a senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). Her research uses animal borne telemetry, survey data and a range of quantitative methods, usually involving data synthesis to understand the movement, distribution and important habitats of threatened and migratory species of marine megafauna in northern Australia. She has significant experience in leading large collaborative projects on these subjects involving industry, government and research institutions. For example, she is a co-leader of Theme A – Threatened and Migratory Species of the National Environmental Science Program’s (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub and she developed and led Theme 3, Threatened Species of the North West, in the North West Shoals to Shore Research Program (NWSS) funded by Quadrant Energy.

Dr Luciana Ferreira received her PhD from the University of Western Australia in 2017. She is currently a postdoctoral scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) with the NWSS research program. She is responsible for the development and application of models to distribution and movement data of marine megafauna (principally large cetaceans, sea turtles and sharks) in North West Australia and understanding key environmental drivers and overlap with anthropogenic threats.

Curt and Micheline Jenner have conducted exploratory research into whale population biology and distribution since 1987 and their strengths lie in designing and conducting scientific studies in remote, ocean regions with logistically demanding conditions. They have published over 60 peer reviewed papers on cetaceans, receiving for their work the distinctions of AM (Order Australia), the Explorers Clubs’ prestigious Lowell Thomas Award and Australian Geographic’s Lifetime of Conservation Award. The Jenners own and operate a 250-tonne ice class research vessel, Whale Song, and their research has been the subject of numerous documentaries and a best selling book, Life Among Whales.

Dr Danielle Harris is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM), University of St. Andrews. One of CREEM’s research focuses is the development of statistical methods for estimating wildlife population abundances and densities, which are often required for management and conservation efforts. Dr Harris is currently a co-investigator (Co-I) on a project exploring cetacean acoustic behaviour and density estimation. From 2012 to 2019, Dr Harris was a postdoctoral research fellow acting as a co-principal investigator or Co-I on seven large-scale collaborative projects, all linked to cetacean density estimation from passive acoustic data, in particular focusing on new technologies and opportunistic monitoring platforms. She has been a member of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership’s Acoustic Trends Working Group since 2013, which focuses on acoustic monitoring of blue and fin whales, and was also a visiting research fellow at Cornell University between 2018 and 2020.

Andrew Davenport holds a Bachelor of Science (Coastal and Marine) from Curtin University. Since completing his degree, he has been working for and remains at the Centre for Whale Research, Oceanwise Australia, as a research assistant and research officer, respectively, since 2018. He has also conducted fieldwork for Curtin University’s Centre for Marine Science and Technology as a research assistant. In late 2020, Andrew became a director of New Growth Australia and a research scientist for TerraWise Australia. He has expertise in geospatial analysis, experimental design, GIS, statistics and field-based environmental sciences, applied to a range of projects including marine and coastal ecology, marine mammal biology and carbon sequestration. Andrew aspires to contribute to economic and environmentally sustainable solutions to current issues facing people.

Dr Virginia Andrews-Goff has a PhD in Marine Ecology from the University of Tasmania. She is a marine mammal research scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division, undertaking research and providing scientific and technical advice to conserve and manage whales. She focuses on the movement of whales by analysing data transmitted by satellite tags, using these movements to characterise important habitat and to reveal how whales move through and use their environment. This information is critical to the data-driven management and conservation of whales, especially as populations continue to recover post-whaling and increasingly face new threats such as vessel strike, fishery entanglement and climate-mediated variability in the marine environment.

From inter-tidal snails to great whales (with a lot of birds in between), Mike Double’s research career has been diverse. He started with a degree in genetics and zoology at Leeds University that was quickly followed by doctoral and postdoctoral research at Leicester University and the Australian National University (ANU). Following studies on fairy-wrens and albatrosses at ANU, Mike moved to the Australian Antarctic Division of the now Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Currently Mike leads the Wildlife Ecology and Management Section within the AAD and led Australia’s scientific delegation to the International Whaling Commission. Mike frequently provides technical advice to the department, state governments and regulators on the conservation management of cetaceans and other marine mammals.

Luciana Moller is an associate professor in Marine Biology at the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University of South Australia. She is the research leader of the Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab and Deputy Head of the Molecular Ecology Lab at that institution. She is also a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group. She received her PhD in Environmental Studies from Macquarie University, Sydney, and BSc (Biological Oceanography) from the Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil.

Catherine Attard was awarded a PhD in 2014 at Macquarie University, Sydney, for work on blue whale conservation genetics. She became a lecturer and researcher in molecular ecology at Flinders University, Adelaide, till mid-2019 and currently has academic status at Flinders University. She is a member of the Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab and the Molecular Ecology Lab at Flinders University.

Dr Kerstin Bilgmann has been working in the field of marine mammal science since 1997. She was awarded a PhD at Macquarie University in Sydney and a MSc at Cologne University in Germany. Over the last decade, Kerstin has been a member of the Cetacean Ecology Behaviour and Evolution Lab (CEBEL) at Finders University, Adelaide, and has been leading the Marine Vertebrate Conservation and Evolution Lab (MVCEL) at Macquarie University, Sydney. She currently holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at Macquarie University. Kerstin is an expert in marine mammal ecology, evolution and behaviour. She specialises in genomic analyses, satellite telemetry and aerial survey distance sampling methodologies to answer conservation and management relevant questions.

Dr Paul Thomson is a biological oceanographer with a PhD from the University of Tasmania. He previously worked for the Australian Antarctic Division but for the past 10 years has worked as a postdoctoral researcher and a senior research engineer with the IMOS Ocean Glider Facility at the University of Western Australia. He has previously served on the executive of the Australian Marine Science Association and remains a member to this day.

Professor Robert McCauley began his science career in 1987 working in the area of underwater acoustics, receiving his PhD in 2001 from James Cook University. Rob has been working at Curtin University since 1996 developing hardware, software, techniques and analytical approaches for passive acoustic monitoring and understanding impacts of man-made sound on marine fauna. Along with John Bannister and others, Rob began working on pygmy blue whales in the Perth Canyon in 1999 and has since had a passion for understanding their population dynamics and singing behaviour in the wider Australian context.