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Fisheries

Blue Whales & Krill Distribution in the Otway Basin

Client: Jeremy Colman, Woodside Energy Ltd

Woodside Energy Ltd scheduled exploratory gas drilling at two locations off the coast of south western Victoria for May and June 2001. As part of the test drilling process Woodside wished to undertake a research project to survey and investigate blue whales, which are known to inhabit the area during summer and autumn. The project was also aimed at ensuring compliance requirements set by Environment Australia were met.

Spatial Vision, in partnership with Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (ARI), undertook this research project to establish the extent to which krill, blue whales and cold water upwellings were spatially associated.

Spatial Vision managed all spatial data aspects associated with this project. This included sea surface temperature spatial analysis and it was Spatial Vision’s responsibility to organise, transform and prepare the raw AAV imagery into daily and period averages for statistical analysis by ARI.

A sample of the maps showing sightings around the one of the test sites

The incidence of blue whales and krill aggregations were logged during seventeen aerial surveys, between April 14 and June 3, 2001. Remotely sensed satellite images were used to estimate spatial variation in sea surface temperature on each of these survey occasions.

The impact of environmental conditions and distance from aircraft on the detectability of blue whales and krill was assessed. Changes in the distribution and abundance of krill were spatially analysed with blue whale sightings from the aerial surveys. The effect of sea surface temperature was also assessed on the krill aggregations in the survey area.

Throughout the project, Woodside were provided with high quality map products for project tracking and reporting. Also provided were a suite of geospatial datasets and customised data tables together with a final project report.

Demonstrated Capabilities

In depth knowledge and experience in sourcing data from a variety of federal and state agencies
Remote sensing imagery conversion and enhancement
Development of automated procedures for survey data geocoding
Development of survey result visualisation products with a 24 hour turn-around
Development of spatial and temporal pattern analysis methodologies
Effective working relationship with researchers in providing spatial information and analysis support to research outcomes
In depth knowledge of spatial analysis methodologies that assisted in the collation of the final report
High-quality graphic support to research reports.