An Overview of Recent Marine Mammal Research in Australia(Part Two Natural History Study)

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概要

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• In the 16 years since John Ling published an overview of cetacean research in Australia, there has been considerable information emerge on the biology of marine mammals. Several books have been published, and workshops held, reviewing aspects of marine mammal biology in Australia. For cetaceans, there have been numerous studies on live animals, human impacts and ecology. Some museum collections have expanded considerably yet there are many difficulties in funding museum work. For pinnipeds, there is a good knowledge of distribution and abundance. There have been recent attempts by the Australian government to co-ordinate data and specimen collecting from stranded marine mammals. Research into animal husbandry and medicine of marine mammals is restricted to the few oceanaria that still keep cetaceans and pinnipeds. Two dugongs are captive, with some information available on husbandry, growth and development. Collecting data on the pathology and toxicology of wild marine mammals has been carried out by some researchers but correlating the two is difficult because of specimen decomposition in most cases. Some new information on the anatomy and physiology of Australian marine mammals has been made available in recent years. One of the areas of increasing research effort is that of natural history and ecology. Diet has been researched in traditional and new ways, with a view to understanding the trophic position that pinnipeds hold in the ecosystem and the possibility of competition with commercial fisheries. Considerable emphasis has been placed in recent years on research that will benefit species management, in particular the direct and indirect effects of human activities. Workshops are held to refine ways of disentangling large whales but little effort is made to research ways of avoiding small cetacean entanglements. Studies have been made of dolphin/finfish farm entanglements and some recommendations adopted on how to reduce mortalities. A growing field of pinniped research involves determining the future impact of the increasing population of the New Zealand Fur Seal on commercial fisheries and finfish aquaculture. Taxonomic research includes morphologic and genetic studies of Australian marine mammals. Recent examples include: Orcaella, Tursiops, Delphinus and Balaenoptera acutorostrata (dwarf form) with studies in progress on Sousa. Members of the family Otariidae have been revised in a world-wide context.

• 国立科学博物館の論文

著者

• Kemper Catherine

  Vertebrates Department, South Australian Museum

• Kemper Catherine

  South Australian Museum

関連論文

• Marine Mammal Collections in Australia(Part One Collection Building)
• An Overview of Recent Marine Mammal Research in Australia(Part Two Natural History Study)

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