West Coast Of Australia Research Articles

Distribution of southern sting nematode, Ibipora lolii (Nematoda: Belonolaimidae), on turfgrass in Australia and its taxonomic relationship to other belonolaimids

Molecular evidence from sequences of three regions of ribosomal DNA (partial SSU, ITS-1, 5.8S and ITS-2, and D2/D3 expansion segments of LSU) is presented to show that the two belonolaimids described from turfgrass in Australia (Ibipora lolii and Morulaimus gigas) are identical. Morulaimus gigas is therefore considered a junior synonym of I. lolii. The decision to place the nematode in Ibipora rather than Morulaimus is supported by molecular studies which showed that I. lolii is not closely related to Morulaimus or Carphodorus, two belonolaimid genera that are only found in Australia. Survey data are presented to show that I. lolii is widespread on turfgrass around Newcastle in New South Wales and in Perth, Western Australia, where the infested area is increasing rapidly, largely because the nematode is being spread in planting material. Ibipora lolii damages all turfgrass species but is particularly damaging to kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum), the main grass used for sporting fields and recreational areas in warm regions of Australia. Data from an experiment in pots also show that the nematode multiplies to damaging levels on sugarcane. Symptoms on grasses are similar to those caused by the sting nematode, Belonolaimus longicaudatus, in south-eastern USA, but because the two nematodes are taxonomically different, I. lolii is referred to as the southern sting nematode. Ibipora lolii was not found in surveys of natural vegetation on the east and west coasts of Australia, suggesting that it is an introduced species, possibly originating in South America or the Caribbean, where other Ibipora species are found.

“Changed as to a tiger”: Considering the Wreck of the <em>Batavia</em>

WHEN THE SUN ROSE OVER THE HOUTMAN ABROLHOS archipelago eighty kilometers off the west coast of Australia on Friday, 12 June 1629, it revealed a man clinging to a bowsprit spar of a wrecked ship. Cornelisz had spent two days alone on the Batavia as the waves and the coral joined forces to rip apart the hull. Eight days previously, the Dutch East India Company retourschip had struck the Morning Reef with all her canvas set and, in the words of the Cambridge historian Mike Dash, had impaled herself on the half-hidden reef that had been lying in her path (5). On the day of the wreck, around 280 crew, passengers, and Company employees had been ferried to a small, stark island, which they would name Batavia's Graveyard (now Beacon Island). Forty belligerent men remained on the ship, raiding the grog stores and becoming drunk and disorderly. In a carnivalesque turn, characteristic of sailors' behavior after shipwreck, they donned officers' uniforms taken from the Great Cabin and broke open the chests of Company coin. Only when the ship beneath them began to give way did they finally head for the safety of the islands.Cornelisz alone remained on board. Like most sailors and passengers on seventeenth-century ships, he could not swim. He gazed with horror at the churning blue waters beneath him and at the treacherous reef into which the ship had ploughed a deep, ragged trench. He could not get up the courage to let go. Eventually, the choice was taken from him. The bowsprit broke apart and Cornelisz fell into the shallows amidst swirling driftwood and other debris from the wreck. He arrived on Batavia's Graveyard to the relief of the assembled castaways. Commendeur Francisco Pelsaert and Ariaen Jacobsz, the Batavia's skipper, along with 38 others, had set off for Batavia (Jakarta) in the ship's longboat shortly after the wreck. Their departure had been clandestine for they knew that the desperate survivors, fearing for their future on these stark, weather-beaten islands, might swamp the small vessel. Traitor's Island to the south was named by those who remained to mark this betrayal. As Under-Merchant on the voyage, Cornelisz was the most senior Company representative remaining, and he seemed a godsend.Three and a half months later, Cornelisz was executed, along with several young men he had gathered about him to do his bidding. First his hands were hacked off with a hammer and chisel; then he was hanged from the rudimentary gallows erected on Seal Island at the orders of Pelsaert, who had returned from Batavia in a VOC jacht, the Sardam, to rescue the survivors.Under torture, Cornelisz confessed to ordering his henchmen to murder 96 men and boys in the employ of the Company, 12 women and 7 children. When victims were drowned, their remains were left to drift away with the currents. Those who were strangled, stabbed to death, or hacked with cutlasses or axes were buried in shallow graves. The sentence passed on the self-styled Captain-General of the castaways by the VOC tribunal was the most severe that it could impose. In his summary of Cornelisz's crimes, read out just prior to the hanging, Pelsaert struggled to come to terms with the Under-Merchant's depravity. Jeronimus Cornelisz of Haarlem, aged about 30 years, apothecary, and late under Merchant of the ship Batavia, has misbehaved himself so gruesomely and has gone beyond himself, yea has even been denuded of all humanity and has been changed as to a tiger (qtd. in Drake-Brockman 172). In 2010, I traveled to the Abrolhos archipelago in the obscure hope that the place would guide my reflections on scholars' accounts of Cornelisz's transformation, if such it was. I also found myself enmeshed in more personal reflections on the recalcitrance of the past.Our flight out of Geraldton Airport to the landing strip on East Wallabi is delayed for much of the morning. A series of squalls are sweeping in from the south-west and the pilot is loath to confront the crosswinds. …

A comparison of the stock structures of two exploited demersal teleosts, employing complementary methods of otolith element analysis

Complementary methods of otolith element analysis (IRMS of stable isotopes and laser ablation ICP-MS of trace elements) were used to elucidate the stock structures in Western Australia of the exploited demersal West Australian dhufish Glaucosoma hebraicum and Snapper Pagrus auratus. Residency of adults during their most recent part of life and the existence of important nursery locations were investigated by analysing otolith margins and cores, respectively, to evaluate the applicability of current spatial management.Stable oxygen isotope ratios (18O/16O) in both margins and cores of G. hebraicum otoliths increased with latitude and thus decreasing mean annual water temperature. Analyses of δ18O, stable isotope composition (SI; δ18O, δ13C) and trace element composition (TE; 25Mg, 88Sr, 138Ba) in otolith margins of G. hebraicum from four management areas on the west coast of Australia indicated that adults were resident in each area. Analyses of elements in otolith cores demonstrated that, by the early juvenile stage (<1year old), individuals will have recruited to the area where they will remain as adults.Analyses of δ18O and both SI and TE compositions in otolith margins of adult P. auratus indicated residency within each of three large bioregions (Gascoyne, GCB; West, WCB; South, SCB) along the west and south coasts of western Australia. As for G. hebraicum, the data also demonstrated residency at the finer scale, i.e. within the four management areas on the west coast. The lack of a conspicuous pattern in δ18O levels in P. auratus otolith cores implied that adults in each area recruited from a range of nurseries. Although both SI and TE composition demonstrated that there was substantial self-recruitment within the WCB and SCB and within two of the four areas of the WCB, stock(s) of P. auratus at the southern extent of the GCB are likely to be partially reliant on immigration.Elemental signatures in otoliths of G. hebraicum and P. auratus demonstrated that adults in each management area of the WCB could be treated as separate stocks. However, while recruitment of juvenile G. hebraicum to adult stocks would occur primarily from adjacent multiple nurseries within areas of the WCB, adult P. auratus in any one bioregion and at least two of the four areas within the WCB were derived from a range of nurseries, including across area and bioregion boundaries.

Biannual coral spawning decreases at higher latitudes on Western Australian reefs

Seasonal differences in the timing of multi-specific coral spawning between the east and west coasts of Australia may be the result of a genetic legacy or of adaptation to local conditions. Using estimates of the proportions of coral species that spawned in spring and autumn at Ashmore Reef (12°S) and Ningaloo Reef (23°S) in Western Australia, in combination with findings of previous surveys, I examined whether reproductive seasonality varied with latitude. A consistently high proportion of species spawned during the main reproductive season in autumn regardless of latitude. However, there was a clear decrease in the proportion of species spawning in spring, from an average of 49 % at Ashmore Reef (12°S) to 7 % at Ningaloo Reef (23°S). The results of this study suggest that seasonality of coral reproduction in Western Australia reflects environmental gradients and natural selection rather than an inherited genetic legacy.

Nightmare on Shaw Street: Getting Lost in Shorty’s Private Collection

This article discusses the semiotic and affective affordances of a regional museum on the west coast of Australia’s only island state, Tasmania. Shorty’s Private Collection is a small museum displaying items collected from around the region, with a focus on resuscitated mining materials. The owner also creates figures derived from popular culture from these items. The article uses the methodology of creative non-fiction in order to situate the museum within the marginal community that it engages with, and discusses the museum in terms of Bakhtin’s theory of the grotesque and its potential to both establish and challenge dominant conceptions of the local and the limits of semiotic representation.

Coarse clast ridge sequences as suitable archives for past storm events? Case study on the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia

AbstractPrehistoric storm records are relatively scarce in most parts of the world. This article presents storm records derived from coral rubble‐based geological archives of the Houtman Abrolhos Archipelago located off the west coast of Australia, where the southernmost coral reefs of the Indian Ocean are found. Winter storm swell from the circum‐Antarctic ‘Brave Westerlies’, as well as tropical cyclone waves, have left numerous ridge systems on dozens of islands of the archipelago, all composed of coral rubble from adjacent reefs. At three islands, seven ridge systems were dated by three different methods: U‐series (68 dates), radiocarbon (64 dates), electron spin resonance (7 dates); 139 radiometric dates span the last 5500 years of the Holocene. In contrast to the geomorphological interpretation, the age sequences show ‘inversions’, hiatuses and different ages for the same ridge, all pointing to complicated ridge formation processes. Time gaps, some exceeding 1000 years, are interpreted as phases of erosion and not as phases without storm activity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

An extreme climatic event alters marine ecosystem structure in a global biodiversity hotspot

In 2011 the waters along the west coast of Australia—a global hotspot of biodiversity—experienced an unprecedented (in recorded times) warming event with warming anomalies of 2–4 °C that persisted for more than ten weeks. Now research shows that biodiversity patterns of temperate seaweeds, invertebrates and fishes were significantly different following the warming event.

Reproductive characteristics of the ocean leatherjacket, Nelusetta ayraudi

The ocean leatherjacket (Nelusetta ayrau- di) is one of the largest members of the family Monacanthidae. Distributed throughout inshore waters around the southern half of Australia, this schooling species supports substantial commercial and recrea- tional fisheries. N. ayraudi do not conform to either of the general reproductive modes reported within the family, but exhibit characteristics of both strong social reproductive behaviour and of being promiscuous and polygynous. Sexual dimorphism, with males and females exhibiting differing colouration and body shapes, and ripe ovaries being an order of magnitude larger than ripe testes, are characteristic of social reproductive behaviour and pair spawning. In contrast, high batch fecundity (mean of 320 oocytes per gram of body weight), similar sizes and ages at sexual maturity (350 mm and 2.5 years respectively) and the forma- tion of large spawning aggregations in offshore waters are characteristic of being promiscuous and polygy- nous. Similar to many other coastal marine species off the east and west coasts of Australia, N. ayraudi are partial spawners during the austral winter months with spawning restricted to the part of their distribution that is towards the upper area of the prevailing currents. It is hypothesized that N. ayraudi off eastern Australia have evolved a life-history strategy whereby fish move northwards through time, spawning occurs in these more northern waters and the southerly flowing Eastern Australian Current facilitates dispersal of eggs and larvae southwards. The reproductive characteris- tics described provide various options to fishery managers who wish to enhance the sustainability of the fishery through increased egg production. These include spatial and temporal fishing closures to protect breeding fish during the spawning period, the protec- tion of juveniles through either inshore area closures, improving the selectivity of fishing gears and/or regulated minimum legal lengths.

MORE THAN BINDIN DIVERGENCE: REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION BETWEEN SYMPATRIC SUBSPECIES OF A SEA URCHIN BY ASYNCHRONOUS SPAWNING

The evolution of reproductive barriers is crucial to the process of speciation. In the Echinoidea, studies have focused on divergence in the gamete recognition protein, bindin, as the primary isolating mechanism among species. As such, the capacity of alternate mechanisms to be effective reproductive barriers and the phylogenetic context in which they arise is unclear. Here, we examine the evolutionary histories and factors limiting gene exchange between two subspecies of Heliocidaris erythrogramma that occur sympatrically in Western Australia. We found low, but significant differentiation between the subspecies in two mitochondrial genes. Further, coalescent analyses suggest that they diverged in isolation on the east and west coasts of Australia, with a subsequent range expansion of H. e. erythrogramma into Western Australia. Differentiation in bindin was minimal, indicating gamete incompatibility is an unlikely reproductive barrier. We did, however, detect strong asynchrony in spawning seasons; H. e. erythrogramma spawned over summer whereas H. e. armigera spawned in autumn. Taken together, we provide compelling evidence for a recent divergence of these subspecies and their reproductive isolation without gamete incompatibility. Western Australian H. erythrogramma may therefore present an intriguing case of incipient speciation, which depends on long-term persistence of the factors underlying this spawning asynchrony.

Australian History: A Long Story

Australia's history is paradoxical. It has some of the oldest rocks on earth, yet its recorded history is relatively brief, usually measured from the first British colony established at what is now the city of Sydney in 1788. Yes, the Dutch and French had landed at a number of sites on the continent before this, but their visits didn't result in any long-term settlements. Also, as I noted in an earlier column (Flannery, 2011), the British pirate William Dampier landed on the west coast of Australia in 1699. When I was there last summer, I visited one of those landing sites, Shark Bay, which according to Alex George (1999) is almost as wild now as it was 400 years ago. One of the thrills of my trip to Western Australia was seeing Dampiera alata in bloom with its beautiful blue flowers (Scott & Negus, 2005). This is one of several plants named for this naturalist who brought plant, insect, and bird specimens back to England.As far as the natural history and, especially, the botany of Australia are concerned, the French actually did more of the early work than the British. And the Dutch were a formidable enough presence that the continent was referred to as

Ocean circulation, Stokes drift, and connectivity of western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus) population

An individual-based model, incorporating outputs of a data-assimilating hydrodynamic model, was developed to investigate the role of ocean circulation in the recruitment processes of western rock lobster ( Panulirus cygnus ) during its 9- to 11-month larval phase off the west coast of Australia. During austral summer, strong northward alongshore winds aid the offshore movement of early-stage model larvae from midshelf hatching sites into open ocean; during austral winter, eastward flows that feed the enhanced Leeuwin Current facilitate onshore movement of late-stage larvae towards nearshore habitats. Stokes drift induced by swells from the Southern Ocean is critical to retain larvae off the west coast. Diurnal migration and temperature-dependent growth are also important. Model larvae hatched in late spring – early summer grow faster because of longer exposure to warm summer temperature, which allows them to be transported towards the coast by the strong onshore flows in winter and reduces their natural mortality. Preliminary source–sink relationship indicates that the population was well mixed off the coast, with higher likelihood of settlement success from hatching sites in the north, mostly due to higher surface temperature. Weighted with the breeding stock distribution, the area between 27.5°S and 29.5°S, including the Abrolhos Islands, is the most important hatching area to the success of settlement.

Global Diversity Hotspots and Conservation Priorities for Sharks

Sharks are one of the most threatened groups of marine animals, as high exploitation rates coupled with low resilience to fishing pressure have resulted in population declines worldwide. Designing conservation strategies for this group depends on basic knowledge of the geographic distribution and diversity of known species. So far, this information has been fragmented and incomplete. Here, we have synthesized the first global shark diversity pattern from a new database of published sources, including all 507 species described at present, and have identified hotspots of shark species richness, functional diversity and endemicity from these data. We have evaluated the congruence of these diversity measures and demonstrate their potential use in setting priority areas for shark conservation. Our results show that shark diversity across all species peaks on the continental shelves and at mid-latitudes (30–40 degrees N and S). Global hotspots of species richness, functional diversity and endemicity were found off Japan, Taiwan, the East and West coasts of Australia, Southeast Africa, Southeast Brazil and Southeast USA. Moreover, some areas with low to moderate species richness such as Southern Australia, Angola, North Chile and Western Continental Europe stood out as places of high functional diversity. Finally, species affected by shark finning showed different patterns of diversity, with peaks closer to the Equator and a more oceanic distribution overall. Our results show that the global pattern of shark diversity is uniquely different from land, and other well-studied marine taxa, and may provide guidance for spatial approaches to shark conservation. However, similar to terrestrial ecosystems, protected areas based on hotspots of diversity and endemism alone would provide insufficient means for safeguarding the diverse functional roles that sharks play in marine ecosystems.

Synchronous aggregated pseudo-copulation of the sea star Archaster angulatus Müller &amp; Troschel, 1842 (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) and its reproductive cycle in south-western Australia

Mass individual pairing or pseudo-copulation of the sea star Archaster angulatus was observed in November and December 2009, suggesting a late-spring/summer spawning period for this species on the west coast of Australia. Detailed measurements were made on the second of these occasions. Density of sea stars was 1.11 per m2 and 68.5% were in mating pairs. Copulating pairs were mostly male on female, occasionally male on male. There was no difference in size between males and females in mating pairs. No evidence was found to indicate mating and spawning is coincident with lunar or tidal cycles. Females outnumbered males by more than 20%, but the difference in sex ratio was not statistically significant. Analysis of the reproductive cycle revealed that gonad indices reached their peak in October and declined from then until January. Histological sections of gonads confirmed that sea stars are in peak reproductive condition in October and November and are fully spent by January. Males have a much lower (ca. 1/3rd) gonad index than females when each are in peak reproductive condition, the second lowest recorded for any sea star. Pyloric caecae indices showed little annual variation and monthly averages of just 3–4% are among the lowest ever recorded for an asteroid. It is suggested that these characteristics are associated with the copulatory behaviour of the deposit feeding A. angulatus, enabling the species to maintain a high level of fertilisation success while also minimising the allocation of energy to gonad development in habitats with low or variable food availability. However, it is still difficult to explain why a species which ensures a high level of fertilisation by pseudo-copulation also does this en masse and synchronously. One hypothesis is that competition for males and the benefits of having eggs fertilised by multiple males favours both synchrony and aggregation.

Nutrients in an oligotrophic boundary current: Evidence of a new role for the Leeuwin Current

New observations along the continental shelf of Western Australia provide a novel explanation for the established ∼60 years relationship between Leeuwin Current (LC) strength and greater winter nitrate concentrations at 32°S plus the inter-annual variation in the magnitude of the annual, shelf-scale, phytoplankton bloom. The potential source of dissolved nitrogen to support the annual shelf scale phytoplankton bloom was identified as thin layers of an unprecedented areal extent, nitrate concentration and shallow nature that were observed off the northwest of Australia. We propose that the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in these layers enters the LC at depth and then enters the euphotic zone via by three mechanisms: instability that results in a warm core eddy, cooling that deepens the surface mixed layer and shallowing of the thin layer. During the onset of the annual phytoplankton bloom along the west coast of Australia from 22°S to 34°S the poleward flowing LC was clearly evident as a surface intensified ocean boundary current transporting warmer, lower-salinity, greater-silicate waters in a shallow mixed layer rapidly southward. Between 24 and 26°S the core of the LC was present as a 50–100 m deep layer over one or more thin layers, 15–50 m thick, with high nitrate and low dissolved oxygen (DO). These layers were of lower salinity, cooler water with markedly reduced DO, high nitrate concentrations and distinct nitrate:silicate (NO 3:Si(OH) 4) nutrient ratios. As the LC flowed south it cooled and deepened thereby entraining the thin layers of high nitrate water into the euphotic zone. The LC also formed large (greater than 100 km diameter) warm core eddies with a deep surface mixed layer that also entrained nitrate from these thin layers. In some locations as far south as 32°S the LC was still present with the thin layer of high nitrate intact but now within the euphotic zone. Thus, the available evidence suggests the LC arises under conditions that favour rapid and shallow nitrification. This nitrification fuels a shelf-scale bloom on a downwelling favourable coast. Depending upon the rate of nitrification the source of the particular organic matter may be local or delivered from the tropics via horizontal advection in a subsurface layer of the LC.

Spatial Subdivision and Genetic Diversity in Populations on the East and West Coasts of Australia: The Multi-Faceted Case of Nautilus pompilius (Mollusca, Cephalopoda)

The fragmented distribution of Nautilus pompilius and its biology suggest there will be significant genetic divergence and spatial subdivision between east and west Australian populations. Samples were collected from the northern Great Barrier Reef, the Coral Sea, and the Scott Reef off Western Australia. Phylogenetic trees and a minimum spanning tree were developed from these data to elucidate evolutionary relationships. These data demonstrate significant evolutionary separation of each of the three populations into strongly supported discrete clades matching geographic stratification. Within each of the discrete populations, genetic variation is evident. Strong inter-population variation is evident, with discrete geographic clades being recognized for each extant group. The distinct spatial subdivision between east and west Australian populations of Nautilus are related to geographic and physical isolation over evolutionary time, and this has important fisheries management implications. The distinct geographic patterns of genetic structuring demonstrated by these data indicate the existence of discrete eastern and western Australian management units, and as such, these Nautilus populations should be managed discretely, as each has a high conservation value containing unique genetic variation.

Strong genetic subdivision generates high genetic variability among eastern and western Australian populations of Lutjanus carponotatus (Richardson)

Lutjanus carponotatus ranges from the Indian Ocean to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea and is an important species for both commercial and recreational fisheries. Due to its life history characteristics and fishing pressures, L. carponotatus is vulnerable to overfishing and suitable management is essential. This phylogenetic and population genetic study assessed the population genetic structure of L. carponotatus at seven locations in three bioregions in Western Australia (WA) using the mitochondrial DNA control region. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated no genetic differentiation among locations within ( ø CT = 0.051) and among bioregions ( ø SC = −0.026). Phylogenetic analyses indicated no geographic partitioning within WA, though two distinct lineages were found. Within these two lineages there was no significant spatial partitioning, suggesting a panmictic population that can, under current conditions, be managed as a single stock. WA and Great Barrier Reef (GBR) population genetic data were then combined to determine the broad-scale connectivity between the east and west coast of Australia. L. carponotatus from the GBR did differ significantly ( F ST = 0.64, p = < 0.001) from the WA population, indicating the two populations do not exchange any migrants and should be managed as discrete stocks. As an indicator of population resilience, genetic variability was compared among WA and GBR populations of L. carponotatus and we show that the WA population has almost three times the genetic variability of the GBR population, suggesting that it will be better able to adapt to environmental change expected during the 21st century.

Contrasting oceanographic conditions and phytoplankton communities on the east and west coasts of Australia

The composition and dynamics of the phytoplankton communities and hydrographic factors that control them are described for eastern and western Australia with a focus on the Eastern Australian Current (EAC) and Leeuwin Current (LC) between 27.5° and 34.5°S latitude. A total of 1685 samples collected from 1996 to 2010 and analysed for pigments by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed the average TChl a (monovinyl+divinyl chlorophyll a) concentration on the west coast to be 0.28±0.16 μg L −1 while it was 0.58±1.4 μg L −1 on the east coast. Both coasts showed significant decreases in the proportions of picoplankton and relatively more nanoplankton and microplankton with increasing latitude. On both coasts the phytoplankton biomass (by SeaWiFS) increased with the onset of winter. At higher latitudes (>27.5°S) the southeast coast developed a spring bloom (September) when the mean monthly, surface chlorophyll a (chl a) concentration (by SeaWiFS) was 48% greater than on the south west coast. In this southern region (27.5–34.5°S) Synechococcus was the dominant taxon with 60% of the total biomass in the southeast (SE) and 43% in the southwest (SW). Both the SE and SW regions had similar proportions of haptophytes; ∼14% of the phytoplankton community. The SW coast had relatively more pelagophytes, prasinophytes, cryptophytes, chlorophytes and less bacillariophytes and dinophytes. These differences in phytoplankton biomass and community composition reflect the differences in seasonality of the 2 major boundary currents, the influence this has on the vertical stability of the water column and the average availability of nutrients in the euphotic zone. Seasonal variation in mixed layer depth and upwelling on the west coast appears to be suppressed by the Leeuwin Current. The long-term depth averaged (0–100 m) nitrate concentration on the west coast was only 14% of the average concentration on the east coast. Redfield ratios for NO 3:SiO 2:PO 4 were 6.5:11.9:1 on the east coast and 2.2:16.2:1 on the west coast. Thus new production (nitrate based) on the west coast was likely to be substantially more limited than on the eastcoast. Short term (hourly) rates of vertical mixing were greater on the east coast. The more stable water column on the west coast produced deeper subsurface chlorophyll a maxima with a 25% greater proportion of picoeukaryotes.

Geographic variations in the whistles of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) along the east and west coasts of Australia

Macrogeographic variations in the structure and repertoire of whistles from four geographically separated bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) populations from the east and west coasts of Australia were investigated. Microgeographic variations were examined from two adjacent social groups from the same east coast population. Whistles were divided into five different tonal classes; sine, rise, down-sweep, flat and concave. The acoustic parameters of whistles; start, end, low, high and carrier frequencies and the number of inflection points and harmonics were measured and compared. These features were used to identify and define distinct whistle types. Differences in acoustic parameters of whistles between populations varied with the tonal class and the acoustic parameter being tested and were likely to be driven by localized environmental conditions. There were few differences in the acoustic parameters of whistles between social groups which was likely a result of vocal learning and mimicry from intermixing of individuals. There were small percentages of distinct whistle types that were shared between the both intermixing social groups and geographically separated populations, however, the majority of the whistle repertoires were unique. The development of the unique whistle repertoires may be primarily driven by the complex social organization of the bottlenose dolphin.

The search for HMAS Sydney II: Analysis and integration of survivor reports

Summary We describe a novel application of cognitive psychology to the search for HMAS Sydney II and HSK Kormoran. Both ships sank off the west coast of Australia following an engagement during World War II. Tragically and mysteriously, there were no survivors from Sydney and, despite considerable interest in locating both ships, their positions remained unknown until their discovery in March 2008. The main evidence regarding the location of both ships consisted of reports by the German survivors from Kormoran. Working with the Finding Sydney Foundation, the group that ultimately found the ships, we developed a method to extract relevant information from these reports and to integrate it with other physical information and used this method to correctly identify the location of Kormoran to within 5 km. We describe this method and discuss the unique role played by cognitive psychology in solving a previously intractable problem. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Tertiary education: an investigation of location selection criteria and preferences by international students – The case of two Australian universities

This paper identifies and analyzes factors that influence international student selection of universities and the role that education marketing plays in the process. The research for the paper was inspired by work done by Canterbury on education marketing, published in the Journal of Marketing for Higher Education. The study empirically tests key constructs in service marketing. According to Canterbury it is time that higher education marketing theoreticians and practitioners alike looked beyond our similarities to other applications of service marketing to understand how some of our markets and our services might differ. To this end, the current study examines the views of international students undertaking their studies in two universities, one on the east coast and the other on the west coast of Australia. It reports the findings of international students’ choice factors in selecting an Australian university environment.