Centre for Marine Science & Technology - CMST, Curtin University

09/04/2026

We are very grateful for the ongoing support of the Australian High Commission in Mauritius. And thank you for your recent visit to our office in Port Louis, where Noreen Blaukat and Anouska Geerowar showed off their marine research on blue whales and coral reefs.

06/02/2026

Beaked whale feeding buzzes off northwestern Australia. Always cool if one finds and learns something about these cryptic species.

Beaked whales are elusive deep-diving odontocetes, and their distribution and foraging ecology remain poorly documented in Australian waters. This study present

31/01/2026

After years of searching for the mystery whale that sings the "spot call", we think it might be the pygmy right whale. Read up on the evidence here, and on the distribution and seasonality of the pygmy right whale in general.

The pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata) is one of the least studied mysticete species. To shed light on its geographic and seasonal distribution, we compiled archival acoustic recordings from 26 si...

07/01/2026

Machine Learning Methods for the Detection of Antarctic Minke Whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in East Antarctica and Western Australia. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70118
Congratulations, Aimee O'Hara, on getting your first PhD chapter published. All, the detector code is publicly available, see the link at the end of the paper.

16/12/2025

The intricacies of acoustic indices: what works and what doesn't and how to go about it. Check out this new paper by Juan Carlos Azofeifa Solano:

Parameter choices in acoustic analyses (sampling frequency, FFT size and window overlap) strongly influence multivariate soundscape separation. Using terrestrial and coral reef recordings, we show th...

17/11/2025

🚨New publication alert!

In collaboration with Centre for Marine Science & Technology - CMST, Curtin University, MMF Research associate and PhD Candidate Amber Crittenden has just published her most recent thesis chapter, Acoustic identity: Linking signature whistles and visual identification in a threatened dolphin population.

Acoustic identity is an essential element of dolphin interaction, achieved through the production of a “signature whistle” unique to each individual. These whistles are often complex and emitted repetitively. Using distinct whistle characteristics, researchers have identified 22 unique signature whistles within acoustic recordings collected in the presence of 57 Burrunan dolphins.

The identified signature whistles were found to be associated with clusters or pairs of Burrunan dolphins, as the highly social nature of dolphin population structures prevents individuals from being recorded separately. Further, female dolphins and dolphins exhibiting transient behaviours were found to have very similar signature whistles. Identification of these signature whistles in acoustic datasets recorded passively will allow for improved population monitoring and ultimately conservation management.

You can find the link to the publication in our bio, or comment 🐬 and we’ll send you the link to the paper directly.

Love Our Lakes
Friends of the Gippsland Lakes

14/11/2025

What a successful week it’s been for CMST at the Acoustics2025 conference in Joondalup, WA. Amber, Juan Carlos, and Ciara each presented a synthesis of their entire PhD thesis (just prior to submission)—Amber on Burrunan dolphin acoustics, Juan Carlos on coral reef soundscapes, and Ciara on Omura’s whale bioacoustics. Aimee presented her PhD chapter on Antarctic minke bioduck sounds and Andrew his PhD chapter on biologging pygmy blue whales. Narissa showed off her Master’s research on comparative terrestrial, aquatic, and marine soundscapes. Heath spoke about his Bachelor’s research on the sound of New Year’s fireworks in air and under water. Chong showed us the first Australian sealion audiogram. Evgeny tracked blue and Omura’s whales by distributed acoustic sensing with fibre-optic telecommunications cables. Cristina presented her undergraduate student’s (Jason) work on source levels of pilot boats. Christine gave Paul’s talks on the geographic and seasonal distribution of Australian pygmy right whales and on the confusing mysticete downsweeps. Rob demonstrated biophonic cues in marine soundscapes. Sasha impressed with the multi-decade decline in mysticete call frequencies. Alec gave a keynote address on the history of underwater acoustics over the past 25 years. Finally, Amber won the best student presentation award and Christine was promoted to Fellow of the Australian Acoustical Society.

06/11/2025

Follow the rope to find out who's connected to whom

31/10/2025

We are hiring! An offshore fieldwork specialist. To maintain our acoustic equipment, design and build moorings, manage field deployments, and join in data analysis, publication, presentation, and student support. Join us on the adventure beneath the waves! Closing 21 Nov.

Our mission is to transform lives and communities through education and research. Curtin employees form a unique and diverse community committed to innovative research and student learning. Find out about our current job vacancies and we look forward to receiving your application.

10/10/2025

CMST/COEST are excited to have been invited by the Mauritian Government and Australian High Commission in Mauritius to participate in Les Assises de l’Océan. Meeting the Hon. Fabrice David, Junior Minister, Ministry of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries was an honour. Christine was proud to present on “Bridging Marine Science, Technology, and Policy in the Blue Economy Sector” and to chair the session on ICT. Curtin University

08/10/2025

https://curtin.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eF1QCurxS4nwmhw

Please consider helping Brodee with her PhD chapter on the value of blue whales.

11/09/2025

Publication Alert!

|| Southern right whale residency, site fidelity and
date of calving off southern Australia (1991–2021) ||

Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) residency, site fidelity and date of calving were assessed
using three decades (1991–2021) of shore‐based photo‐identification data collected at the Head of
Bight (HOB) in the Great Australian Bight, South Australia. Females with calves exhibited prolonged
seasonal residency up to 3.5 months, while unaccompanied adults were more transient. Over time,
mean within‐year residency declined significantly for both groups.