Variation in outer blubber lipid concentration does not reflect morphological body condition in humpback whales.

An animal's body condition provides valuable information for ecophysiological studies, and is an important measure of fitness in population monitoring and conservation. While both the external body shape of an animal and its internal tissues (i.e.

Impact of pile-driving on Hector's dolphin in Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand.

Several dolphin species occur close inshore and in harbours, where underwater noise generated by pile-driving used in wharf construction may constitute an important impact. Such impacts are likely to be greatest on species such as the endangered Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori), which has small home ranges and uses this habitat type routinely. Using automated echolocation detectors in Lyttelton Harbour (New Zealand), we studied the distribution of Hector's dolphins using a gradient sampling design over 92 days within which pile-driving occurred on 46 days.

Characteristics of vocalisations recorded from free-ranging Shepherd's beaked whales, .

Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) are among the least studied of all the large mammals. This is especially true of Shepherd's beaked whale (), which until recently had been very rarely sighted alive, with nothing known about the species' acoustic behaviour. Vocalisations of Shepherd's beaked whales were recorded using a hydrophone array on two separate days during marine mammal surveys of the Otago submarine canyons in New Zealand.

Underwater noise levels of pile-driving in a New Zealand harbour, and the potential impacts on endangered Hector's dolphins.

Impact pile-driving generates loud underwater anthropogenic sounds, and is routinely conducted in harbours around the world. Surprisingly few studies of these sounds and their propagation are published in the primary literature. To partially redress this we studied pile-driving sounds in Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand, during wharf reconstruction after earthquake damage.