Marine ecology

The Centre has expertise in the following areas:

  • Marine mammal science
  • Effects of anthropogenic sound on marine fauna

Marine mammal science

whale
Breaching humpback whale

Our research focuses on the distribution, abundance, and dynamics of marine mammals occurring along the coasts of Australia. We conduct marine mammal focused research (including impact assessments) and investigate the nature of changes in aspects such as ecology, behaviour, and vocalization from three broad groups of marine mammals: pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), dolphins, and whales, in order to understand the causes for these changes.

CMST solves ecological and environmental problems through a technical and multidisciplinary based approach using a team of scientists and engineers with expertise across a range of disciplines (biology, physics, statistics, engineering, and computer science).  The collaborative nature of CMST has made possible the acquisition of long term behavioural and ecological data sets collected at key sites through a multitude of techniques and platforms. As a result, many of our projects are aimed at solving significant and broad scoping problems, having significant implications internationally.

Capabilities

Our capabilities fall into the following categories:

  • Laboratory and field-based work
  • Experimental design
  • Hardware products (acoustics and stereovision)
  • Software development
  • Data analysis, statistical modelling, and interpretation

Clients

Our partners or clients include:

  • Australian Antarctic Division
  • Chevron
  • Woodside
  • Dept of Defence
  • DSTO
  • Centre for Whale Research

Collaborating institutions

References Selected publications

Erbe C, McPherson C (2012) Acoustic characterisation of bycatch mitigation pingers on Queensland Shark Control nets. Endang Species Res 19 (2):109-121. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00467

Williams R, Erbe C, Ashe E, Beerman A, Smith J (2014) Severity of killer whale behavioural responses to ship noise: A dose-response study. Mar Pollut Bull 79:254-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.12.004

Wellard R, Lightbody K, Fouda L, Blewitt M, Riggs D, Erbe C (2016) Killer whale (Orcinus orca) predation on beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.) in the Bremer Sub-Basin, Western Australia. PLOS ONE 11 (12):e0166670. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166670

Jacobs E, Wei C, Erbe C, Mann J (2025) Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins. R Soc Open Sci 12 (7):241900. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.241900

Sidenko E, Parnum I, Gavrilov A, McCauley R, Erbe C (2025) Year-round acoustic presence of beaked whales (Ziphiidae) far offshore off Australia’s Northwest Shelf. J Mar Sci Eng 13 (5):927. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13050927