Pacific Islands Region

It’s been a very busy but rewarding few months as I’m almost at the end of the 1st year for a new cetacean research project here in Fiji. The major aim of this project was to document the different species of whales and dolphins present in waters proximal to our two land-based study sites. However, particular focus was given to the Endangered Oceania humpback whale due to historical records for the area as well as the timing of our surveys with their peak migration. In addition to these land-based surveys, time was spent on the water collecting dorsal fin and fluke images, and recording song. There was also a strong emphasis on building national capacity, engaging volunteers, and raising awareness.

More than 250 hours were spent conducting land-based observations with over 60 volunteers engaged in this work. One of the highlights of the survey was the documentation of more than 80 Endangered humpback whales, including numerous mother-and-calf pairs. These numbers represent an increase on previous reports. The team was also pleased to record the first sighting of a pygmy sperm whale in Fijian waters. In addition, minke whales, short-finned pilot whales, resident spinner dolphins, and sperm whales were also observed by the survey team.



WDCS International is partnering with the Fiji Government Fisheries Department, WWF and the University of the South Pacific for this 3-year project. Funding for the project is coming primarily from the Australian Government’s Indian Ocean and Pacific Islands Cetacean Conservation and Research Fund. Partnership and additional support for this year’s project came from FIVS, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, and Flinders University. In all, it was a very successful project. Once I catch up on sleep … I’m sure that I’m probably looking forward to next year!

Posted on behalf of Cara Miller

WDCS is working with the Fiji Fisheries Department, WWF, the University of the South Pacific, SPREP and the Australian Government to undertake humpback whale migrations surveys and cetacean diversity research in the Fiji Islands. A group of 17 Fisheries Officers, ngo's, researchers, students, community members and volunteers set sail on the traditional Pacific boat, the Uto ni Yalo with the Fiji Islands Voyaging Society to the project sites in Levuka and Makogai last Friday morning. Conditions were relatively calm and there was much excitement as the group made the 8 hour crossing to Levuka. Excitement increased as a minke whale was encountered along the trip.

Since surveys have started there have been many cetacean sightings. The Makogai site has seen numerous humpback whale pods every day and have also managed to collect some fluke identification images. The Levuka crew has also been busy. They have seen numerous large pods of spinner dolphins, a minke whale, a sperm whale and also have made a tentative record of a pygmy or dwarf sperm whale. This is the first record for diminuitive sperm whales in Fijian waters. Levuka has also been visited by numerous pods of humpbacks including a mother and calf pair. The Levuka researchers have also managed to collect some humpback whale song recordings aboard the Uto ni Yalo. These early survey results demonstrate a great start to the project. We anticipate more valuable results ... and are hoping that the weather will continue to be excellent for whale and dolphin sightings.

Spinner dolphins have a predictable daily cycle of resting in shallow coral reef systems or bays during the day and then moving offshore to forage on mesopelagic fish and squid in the evening. From our research to date WDCS has confirmed that our study site, Moon Reef (Fiji) as one of these day-time resting habitats for a small, resident pod of spinner dolphins. However, there are many other coral reefs nearby this reef so this begs the question: What’s so special about Moon Reef? There are two particular reasons we’re interested in this question. Firstly, we know that the day-time resting activity that we’ve observed at Moon Reef is critical for their survival. Therefore, we consider Moon Reef an important resting habitat for this population. Secondly, through our own observations and many discussions with local villagers and fishermen we know that Moon Reef is used on a very regular and frequent basis, whereas the surrounding reefs are not. Therefore, we want to know why this reef is being chosen and not others.

In partnership with Flinders University (http://www.flinders.edu.au/science_engineering/biology) we began an environmental characterization of both Moon Reef and nearby Horseshoe Reef (which we chose for comparison purposes) last year. Using a CTD (Conductivity, temperature and depth) sensor we were able to get measurement profiles (taken every ½ metre from the surface to the seafloor) of temperature, chlorophyll-a, turbidity and salinity both inside and outside of each reef. After finding some initial differences we decided to repeat these surveys last month but this time using a sampling scheme on a much finer scale. In addition, we organized for staff from the Institute of Marine Resources from the University of the South Pacific (http://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=imr) to undertake some biological diversity surveys on fish, invertebrates, and coral species in the two reefs also.





We are now in the process of putting all this data together as we try and describe the important resting habitat of spinner dolphins in Moon Reef. That said, we are also not discounting that there may be other factors at play here such as the social culture of the dolphins or perhaps predator avoidance.

We will keep you updated.

My first field trip of the year for the Moon Reef spinner dolphin project took place in late February. The study site is about a 3-hour ride from Suva and we were fortunate to have some great weather conditions during our trip. I took two assistants with me on this trip: Neema Nand, a Fisheries Officer for the Fiji Department of Fisheries (in the marine research division) and Waisea Naisilisili who is a long-term field technician for the Fiji office of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

I’ve managed to secure funding for six bi-monthly research survey trips for this project this year. On each I’ll be taking two local assistants (university staff or students, government officers, local ngo’s etc) to assist in building awareness on this work and to deliver training in cetacean research methods. We’ll be conducting standard photo-identification and behavioural observations during these surveys to address questions related to population size estimation, site-fidelity, calving patterns, population ‘closure’, annual and seasonal trends in the use of the reef, and quantification (and daily cycle) of resting behaviour. My new hydrophone should arrive in the next couple of weeks so we’ll also be adding acoustic recordings to this work soon. In addition, there will be two complimentary projects (on habitat assessment and group surfacing behaviour) that will be undertaken later in the year.






We’re also hopeful to conduct some focal follows in the late afternoon as the dolphins depart the reef so that we can try and learn more about the location of the night-time foraging grounds of this pod. We did one such follow this trip. We followed the pod south from Moon Reef and watched them playfully surf the waves for quite a while before they disappeared in the blink of an eye to their evening destination. Perhaps the new hydrophone will help us next time?

Lastly, the February trip was also particularly noteworthy as I saw the smallest spinner dolphin calf I’ve ever seen. I’d guess it to be only a month old.

Lately the Fiji Islands Voyaging Society has been sailing around using a very unique vessel: a double-hulled canoe, known as a waka. Wakas are a traditional type of Pacific Island boat that can range in size from small, unornamented vessels for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to 40 metres in length. The Fiji Islands Voyaging Society is interested in paddling these wakas as a way to preserve the culture and traditions of early Pacific Voyagers – and are currently in training for a long-haul trip to Hawai’i next year.

During their travels it’s likely that the Voyagers will come across some interesting whales and dolphins … possibly adding to the understanding of cetacean diversity in Fiji. With this information gap (and the Voyagers thirst for knowledge) in mind WDCS and WWF convened a workshop last Friday to give some detailed instructions about cetacean species identification. We focused on the 30 Pacific species (see www.wdcs.org/publications under Science) including numerous large baleen whales (i.e., fin, Bryde’s and minke whales), toothed whales (i.e., sperm whale, melon-headed whale, false killer whale, short-finned pilot whale) and a whole host of dolphins (i.e., spinner, spotted, Fraser’s and Risso).

My approach was to draw the Voyagers attention to particular features and characteristics that are key for identification, such as head shape, whether flukes are raised when diving, colour patterns, dorsal and pectoral fin shape, group size, unique behaviour, and body size. Emphasis was made on simply observing and documenting these features and then working out later which species it was most likely to be.



We also spent time talking about how to describe various types of behaviours, cetacean acoustics, and data collection. Participants were mildly surprised (yet eager to show their knowledge) when I gave them a pop quiz at the end! The interesting sightings of the Voyagers will be documented within the Fijian national cetacean sightings database that is being compiled by the Fiji Fisheries Department staff with support from WDCS and WWF.

It was great to meet these adventurous Voyagers and I look forward to hearing about their future Pacific journeys and cetacean sightings.