Publications by authors named "Kate Sprogis"
Quantifying the energy expenditure of animals is critical to understanding the cost of anthropogenic disturbance relative to their overall energy requirements. We used novel drone focal follows (776 follows, 185 individuals) and aerial photogrammetry (5372 measurements, 791 individuals) to measure the respiration rate and body condition loss of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) on a breeding ground in Australia. Respiration rates were converted to oxygen consumption rate and field metabolic rate (FMR) using published bioenergetic models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisturbance from whale-watching can cause significant behavioural changes with fitness consequences for targeted whale populations. However, the sensory stimuli triggering these responses are unknown, preventing effective mitigation. Here, we test the hypothesis that vessel noise level is a driver of disturbance, using humpback whales () as a model species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn 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.
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- Researchers linked stereo-laser photogrammetry with demographic data to study length-at-age growth curves of bottlenose dolphins in south-western and Shark Bay, Australia.* -
- They found a strong correlation between total length and a specific body measurement, allowing for the estimation of sizes of 203 known-age dolphins using laser techniques.* -
- The study revealed significant differences in adult sizes between the two populations, likely due to adaptations to different water temperatures, emphasizing the value of non-invasive methods for understanding marine species for conservation efforts.*
Article Synopsis
- * This study examines how different levels of survey effort affect the estimation of abundance, home range sizes, and reproductive output in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins over three years in Western Australia.
- * A significant reduction in survey effort (by 50%) led to important declines in data quality, including a potential 36% drop in population estimates, increased time needed for home range analysis, and missing one-third of annual calving events, emphasizing the critical role of consistent survey intensity in wildlife studies.
Large-scale climate modes such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence population dynamics in many species, including marine top predators. However, few quantitative studies have investigated the influence of large-scale variability on resident marine top predator populations. We examined the effect of climate variability on the abundance and temporary emigration of a resident bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) population off Bunbury, Western Australia (WA).
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