THE PROJECTS

The foundation information of the local dolphin population is relatively unknown. There are a number of vital questions which need to be answered to ensure an essential understanding for effective protection, conservation and management. These questions have been defined and prioritised with structured methodologies for data collection, storage, manipulation and analysis. The end result has been the development of two major projects currently undertaken by the DDC research staff within Koombana Bay and the surrounding waterways. Each project has been designed to collect the necessary data to fulfil the research aims and objectives.

Dorsal Fin Identification Project Cataloguing of Dorsal Fin photographs for identification purposes. The very first step is to develop a clear understanding of the dolphins' basic population dynamics. The ID project provides a clear list of the individual dolphins allowing an understanding of the population’s size and dolphin relations. With this baseline information, many other research projects can be introduced.

Population Dynamics Project During every Research expedition and sightseeing trip, information on the dolphins and other relevant parameters are collected by our research staff. This information includes dolphin numbers, positions, times and activity, weather and sea state variables, boating traffic etc. This project can give us a great deal of preliminary information to develop current and future projects. At the basic level, this project allows us to have a snap shot on the dolphins' movements and group sizes, and by using the ID catalogue it becomes a powerful method of understanding the population dynamics of the dolphins. This information will also give us a good understanding of their patterns of movement and where dolphins prefer to spend their time. And by identifying the marine habitat types within the Bunbury area, identification on the dolphins preferred habitats can be achieved.