Monitoring coastal dolphins within the Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program: final report of the dolphins team in the megafauna expert group

Abstract

Three species of coastal dolphins are commonly found throughout the Great Barrier Reef (the Reef), the Australian snubfin dolphin, Orcaella heinsohni, the Australian humpback dolphin, Sousa sahulensis, and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops aduncus. This report focuses on these three species, acknowledging that many other cetacean species also inhabit the Reef. This report is a desktop study that includes current status of the relevant elements of the Reef, priority indicators for monitoring, potential sources of data, assessment of the adequacy of existing monitoring activities and recommendations for the design of an integrated monitoring program as a component of RIMReP.