Dugong Dugon ) Management in the Kimberley

Integrating Indigenous knowledge and survey techniques to develop a baseline for dugong ( Dugong dugon ) management in the Kimberley

Peter Bayliss, Marlee Hutton & project team (CSIRO staff, Indigenous rangers, consultants)

WAMSI Kimberley Research Node: final project update

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Talk outline • Recap of North Kimberley WAMSI dugong project (2014 – 2017). Peter o Indigenous Knowledge & research partnerships o Aims of research • Mapping baseline distribution & abundance of dugongs by aerial survey • Trial movements study using satellite tags • Integrating Indigenous Knowledge & scientific knowledge • South Kimberley survey extension (May 2017) – results. Marlee o Baseline distribution & abundance (filling the knowledge gaps) o Comparison dugong density Roebuck Bay between 2009 & 2017 • Combining North & South Kimberley survey data. Peter • Future management, research & monitoring priorities. All - Marlee facilitates 2

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Overview of dugong project

(Peter)

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 The Kimberley dugong project

In partnership with North Kimberley rangers groups to support their Healthy Country Plans, IPA management and present & future co-managed marine parks

BalanggarraWunambal Dambimangari Bardi Jawi Gaambera (Uunguu) 3 Background

• Management of dugong populations (in co-managed marine parks or sea country) will need to address combined risks from increasing pressures from development, people & climate change.

• All risks, including potential for unstainable customary harvests, need to be placed into perspective using monitoring & assessment frameworks that combines scientific & Indigenous knowledge (the “two-tool box” approach).

• Indigenous rangers in the Kimberley already adopt the “Healthy Country Planning” process: where management targets for saltwater country identified & in some places monitoring programs for priority species have been in place for several years (e.g. marine turtles in Uunguu & Dambi country).

5 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 North Kimberley Sea Country & existing WA marine parks

North North Kimberley Marine Kimberley Marine Park Park

Lalang-garram/ Camden Sound Marine Park

Horizontal Falls Marine Park

6 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Project aims

• Develop long-term research partnerships with the Balanggarra, Wunambal Gaambera Dambimangari & Bardi Jawi Kimberley Native Title and associated ranger groups.

• Develop methods to integrate Indigenous & scientific knowledge of dugongs to work out how best to monitor and manage populations.

• Determine regional-scale patterns of dugong distribution & abundance in the Kimberley using aerial survey methods, & in partnership with Indigenous rangers (i.e. establish a baseline to assess future changes & provide essential training).

• Initiate a long-term dugong movement study to better understand habitat use in relation to seagrass condition & other factors.

7 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Dugongs & seagrass

Where to start? Basically - where you find seagrass you’ll find dugongs

Seagrass is found in shallow coastal waters generally < 20m depth

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 “First-pass” seagrass map of Kimberley coastal waters

Landsat 8 mosaic Kimberley coastal waters

Preliminary benthic vegetation map (un-validated) Janet Anstee CSIRO 2015 9

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Cultural maps of dugongs were combined with scientific data (seagrass map & 20m bathymetry) to design a more efficient survey

• More survey transects/effort located over cultural sites, predicted seagrass areas & in shallow waters (<20m).

• Cost savings ~ 35% less survey time.

Survey blocks & transects

10 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Dugongs counted in 200m-wide transects either side of the plane

11 Dugongs & snubfin dolphins sometimes confused ID issue where get both together

Snubfin Dolphins – large Dugongs – dispersed individuals hang out tight groups together, with close mother-calf pairs

12 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Other marine mammals, turtles & manta rays counted

False killer whale Bottlenose Dolphins Manta Rays

Australian Humpback Whales Humpback Dolphins Turtles

Spinner dolphins 13 Aerial Survey Training Course for NK – a big hit (4 - day course held on-country: Gambimerri – Uunguu ranger station)

Theory and practical training, 2 certified TAFE level courses (working safely around aircraft & basic air navigation) 14 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 NK - Aerial Survey Training Course - August 2015

15 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Dugong movements & diving behaviour

Trial satellite tagging study in North Kimberley with Bardi Jawi & Dambimangari rangers – August 2017

ARGOS satellite

16 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Capture & tagging dugongs

Rodeo capture method with chase & process boats, spotter plane.

Satellite tags - GPS & dive data obtained every 6 hrs through ARGOS satellite link . Deployed 5/8 tags, retrieved 3 that detached. Harness stays attached for 6 months max until zinc bolt corrodes, or the weak link breaks if tether becomes caught in mangrove/coral.

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 17 Males Female

GPS detections & trajectories of 4 male & 1 female dugongs over different tracking periods (10 - 78 days).

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Adult female F1 Talbot BayAdult August female 2016 (F1)– 2 weeks

14 days tracking Montgomery Reef Cumulative distance 325 km Mean 23.2 km / day Distance from capture point 70 km

Raft Point

Talbot Bay 20 km

AMSA July 2017: Session 9 - wamsi dugong project YoungYoung or sub adult-adult male male (M4)M4 Pender Bay Aug 2016 – 78 days Key findings: • dugongs capable of moving very large distances over short periods of time – awesome. • They cross jurisdictional- governance boundaries so are a “shared” cultural resource & a joint responsibility across Native Title groups & all levels of government. 20 km • Local & regional management scales are important - need BOTH approaches to manage dugongs. 20

AMSA July 2017: Session 9 - wamsi dugong project How to combine Indigenous Knowledge with scientific data to help identify important dugong areas in the Kimberley

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Combine 3 separate knowledges sources of dugongs: Indigenous Knowledge (hunting sites); seagrass extent (% cover) and aerial survey abundance data

Seagrass Dugong mapping surveys

Note: all maps & data can be continuously updated with new & improved knowledge – called “adaptive monitoring & Indigenous Knowledge management”

22 Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Combined knowledge map of important dugong places

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Results of South Kimberley survey (May 2017)

(Marlee)

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Aerial survey coverage of dugongs in Australia & Torres Strait Remaining gap was Broome to Port Hedland – surveyed in May 2017

North Kimberley WAMSI & Torres Woodside Dampier P & Strait Roebuck Bay surveys NT

GoC

GBR GAP Roebuck Bay & 80 Mile Beach SEQ Moreton Shark Bay – Ningaloo - Exmouth Bay 25 Survey blocks & transects

Actual flight paths 5-km data grid (25 km 2 cells)

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 DUGONG sightings from all recent surveys in South Kimberley–Pilbara coastal waters (Broome to Exmouth Gulf): Woodside Sept. 2009 survey for B1; DBCA South Kimberley survey May 2017; and dugongs sighted during the DBCA dolphin surveys in May 2015 and May-June 2016 (Holly Raudino pers.comm.). 27

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 DUGONGS: Close-up of dugong sighting map for Blocks 1-3. B1 compares Woodside Sept. 2009 sightings with May 2017. SNUBFIN DOLPHIN sightings May 2017. 28

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 DUGONG abundance “hotspots” SNUBFIN Dolphin abundance “hotspots”

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Location of DUGONG CALVES sighted during aerial surveys in the Kimberley-Pilbara region between 2009 and 2017.

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Comparison of dugong numbers & density July 2009 & May 2017 (~8 y apart) Estimates not significantly different (n = 32 trans). Vertical lines SE bars.

Numbers B1 Roebuck Bay Density (nos.km -2) B1 Roebuck Bay

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Sightings of OTHER DOLPHINS & their ABUNDANCE HOTSPOTS

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Sightings of TURTLES & their ABUNDANCE HOTSPOTS

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 SEA SNAKE ABUNDANCE HOTSPOTS (Woodside 2009 data)

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Combining North & South Kimberley surveys

(Peter)

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Aerial survey blocks in the Kimberley (n = 12)

Total area = 67,153 km 2 North K = 33,165 km 2 South K = 26, 835 km 2

Surveyed 5,060 km 2 or about 8% of whole area

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Estimated number of dugongs & their relative density in the North and South Kimberley and combined.

Survey area Date Numbers + SE % SE Density + SE

North Kimberley 1 2015 10,513 497 4.7 0.29 0.01

South Kimberley 2 2017 2,087 197 9.4 0.08 0.01

TOTAL 12,600 535 4.2 0.20 0.01

1Includes Woodside 2009 Dampier Peninsula survey = 779 + 118 dugongs

2North Kimberley has 5 x number of dugongs than South Kimberley 46

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 DUGONG ABUNDANCE HOTSPOTS in the Kimberley

Red colours have the highest abundance & blue colours the lowest, with a colour-abundance range in between (orange, yellow & grey).

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 SNUBFIN DOLPHIN sightings & their abundance hotspots in the Kimberley

Gap

Dampier Peninsula = aerial survey gap for snubfins; however boat & other sightings exist 49

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 OTHER DOLPHIN sightings & their abundance hotspots in the Kimberley

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 TURTLE sightings & their abundance hotspots in the Kimberley

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Recommendations for long-term monitoring of the “health” of dugong populations in the Kimberley – local vs. regional populations 1. Design a regular boat-based monitoring program for local dugong populations at a number of representative Kimberley sites, 2 in each sea country = 16 permanent sites (& include turtle & seagrass); use drones or small helicopters for local surveys if boat surveys don’t work because animals too wary. 2. Design a long-term aerial survey monitoring program for each sea country/co-managed marine park that integrates data from regular local surveys using boats, drones or helicopters (key Qs: do we survey small areas ~ 2 years & do a Kimberley-wide fixed wing aerial survey every 10 years? Probably more cost-effective to use helicopters in small areas (e.g. Roebuck Bay MP). 3. Fixed-wing aerial survey has serious limitations in estimating “true” abundance – if a key management need design a Close Kin genetics study to complement all of the above. 42

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Kimberley Node – KISSP presentation Dugongs 1.2.5 Sept 2016 Feedback session – where to next?

• Indigenous engagement & participation • Research partnership with CSIRO & others

(Marlee)

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Feedback session – what are the priority management, monitoring & research needs for dugongs & their seagrass habitats?

• What are the key management, research & monitoring priorities for Kimberley dugongs? • Which ones did the dugong project address & which ones didn’t it address? • What things are important to you in designing a monitoring program for dugongs? • How can TEK of dugongs be shared to contribute to dugong management at regional levels, not just locally? • What training programs are needed to participate in research and monitoring of marine animals and their habitats? Including managing data, working up numbers and reporting results? • Where do we go from here? All ideas needed/welcome. CSIRO wants to help build on this work and continue our research partnerships a long way into the future. 44

Dugong project wrap -up Kimberley - October 2017 Acknowledgments

Traditional Owners from Balanggarra, Wunambal Gaamera, Dambimangari and Bardi Jawi. The Kimberley Land Council.

Thomas Grounds/Tom Nagle, Tom Vigilante, Jarrad Holmes/James Mansfield, Daniel Oades/Phil McCarthy, Tom Holyoake/Frank Weisenberger (ex-KLC) – Project Advisory Committee for North Kimberley dugong proejct.

DBCA marine parks & WAMSI partners (Stuart Field & Kelly Waples).

Emma Woodward, TJ Lawson, Rich Pillans, Mat Vanderklift, Andy Steven (CSIRO); Glen Dunshea, Daniella Hanf & David Waayers (EMS Pty Ltd); Richard Campbell (NT NLC).

Dugong project wrap-up Kimberley - October 2017 Kimberley Node – KISSP presentation Dugongs 1.2.5 Sept 2016