MORETON BAY & GOLD COAST

POPULATION & HUMAN IMPACT STUDY

Bottlenose Dolphins, Moreton Bay, Australia

Bottlenose Dolphins, Moreton Bay, Australia

The waters adjacent to one of Australia’s fastest growing regions, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast are also inhabited by one of the highest diversities of coastal and marine life.  The region has and continues to be extensively modified through urban development and growth of commercial industries, including tourism.  Some recent reports suggest the continual degradation of the water quality in the catchment, which can have major effects on the coastal and marine ecosystems downstream.

The South East Queensland region has one of the highest marine mammal stranding rates in Australia, yet very little research into these populations has been undertaken.  Due to the large number of human activities that are occurring in this area, including, urban development, industrial and commercial industries, regular dredging, tourism and recreational boat traffic, the health of the coastal dolphins is a growing concern.

The DEAP Moreton Bay and Gold Coast study aims to obtain baseline information on the coastal resident and migratory cetacean species.  This study will be the first study to quantify the population status, habitat use and ecology of the marine mammals that inhabit the southern Moreton Bay and Gold Coast region.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that the resident species in this area includes the threatened Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), along with bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus).

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