An aerial survey for sperm whales off the coast of Western Australia 1963-1965.

1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Bannister
Keyword(s):  
Continental Slope ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Offshore Area ◽  
Direction Of Movement

Objectives, methods, and results of a two-year aerial survey for sperm whales off the coast of Western Australia, 1963-65, are described. Data from commercial whaling operations have been included where appropriate. Sperm whales were found well off the west coast, but only in a narrow strip along the continental slope off the south coast. On both coasts, the main direction of movement was parallel to the coastline and towards Cape Leeuwin. Unexpectedly, whales off the west coast were heading mainly southwards throughout the year. Densities in the offshore area north of Perth were significantly higher than along the continental slope in the same region but similar to those along the continental slope from Perth to Cape Leeuwin. The situation was reversed on the south coast with whales being found, in high densities, only along the continental slope. Off the west coast, there were marked decreases in abundance in winter, with peaks in spring-early summer and autumn; no change in direction of movement could be related to the peaks. Average numbers calculated as present in the survey area at one time were: west coast, c. 1000 whales; south coast, c. 200 whales. South coast data indicate the passage of about 40 whales in one 24 hr period, very similar to results from whaling company aerial spotter data off Albany. The hypothesis of two separate populations of sperm whales off Western Australia is discussed and thought to be unlikely. A small amount of data on baleen whale sightings is recorded.

Relative abundances and size compositions of champagne crabs, Hypothalassia acerba, on two coasts and in different water depths and seasons

2004 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim D. Smith ◽  
Norman G. Hall ◽  
Ian C. Potter
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
Carapace Length ◽  
South Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Spatial Partitioning ◽  
Invertebrate Predators ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Catch Rates

Hypothalassia acerba was sampled seasonally using traps at depths of 35, 90, 145, 200, 255, 310 and 365 m on the west and south coasts of Western Australia. Catch rates peaked at depths of 200 m on the west coast and 145 m on the south coast but at similar temperatures of 16.1–17.1°C. The west and south coast catches contained 69% and 84% males respectively. The carapace length of H. acerba declined significantly by 4 mm for each 100 m increase in depth. The maximum carapace length of males was greater than females on the west coast (135 v. 113 mm) and south coast (138 v. 120 mm). Furthermore, after adjustment to a depth of 200 m, the mean carapace lengths of males were greater than females on both the west coast (96.6 v. 94.6 mm) and south coast (101.5 v. 91.4 mm), with the difference on the south coast being significant (P < 0.001). Thus, in summary, (1) distribution was related to depth and temperature; (2) body size was inversely related to water depth; and (3) males grew larger and were caught in greater numbers than females. There was also evidence that the distribution changed slightly with season and of spatial partitioning by H. acerba and other large deep-water invertebrate predators.

Bass populations and movements on the west coast of the U.K.

1979 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 889-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donovan Kelley
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
Seasonal Migration ◽  
South Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Systematic Pattern ◽  
Discrete Populations

A bass tagging project on the south coast of Anglesey, 1971–5, yielded 86 recoveries from 912 taggings. In addition to expected local movements a systematic pattern of seasonal migration was identified for adults. Fish present in summer moved to south Cornwall for the winter, returning in succeeding summers for spawning. Departure was normally before mid-October. Fish present after that had summered further north (reaching Furness in warm summers). These too moved south as winter advanced, though possibly not reaching Cornwall. A few solitary fish – unfit specimens or members of weak year-classes – appeared to remain through the winter. No evidence was found of movement to, or intermingling with stocks of, the Irish coast; nor, with one exception, the mainland coast of Europe. There was also no indication of movement eastward along the south coast: suggesting discrete populations there from those on the west coast.

scholarly journals Age-based demography and reproduction of hapuku, Polyprion oxygeneios, from the south coast of Western Australia: implications for management

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1164-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey B. Wakefield ◽  
Stephen J. Newman ◽  
Brett W. Molony
Keyword(s):  
Continental Slope ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
South Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
Opaque Zone ◽  
Instantaneous Rate ◽  
Polyprion Oxygeneios ◽  
Age Estimates

Abstract Wakefield, C. B., Newman, S. J., and Molony, B. W. 2010. Age-based demography and reproduction of hapuku, Polyprion oxygeneios, from the south coast of Western Australia: implications for management. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1164–1174. The hapuku, Polyprion oxygeneios, inhabits deep (>100 m) continental slope waters of Western Australia. In all, 1352 P. oxygeneios were collected from the waters along the south coast of Western Australia (ca. 35°S) from 2004 to 2008. The species is gonochoristic, and spawns during the austral winter (May–September). Ages were estimated from counts of opaque zones from thin-sectioned sagittal otoliths. Classification analysis of the outer margin of sectioned otoliths indicated that a single opaque zone is deposited annually. Female P. oxygeneios (n = 630; 535–1114 mm total length, TL) ranged in age from 2 to 35 years and males (n = 691; 521–1004 mm TL) from 2 to 52 years. von Bertalanffy growth models for male and female P. oxygeneios were statistically, but not biologically, different (<5% difference in mean and estimated lengths-at-age). Estimates of the lengths and ages at which 50% of the females and males in the population reached sexual maturity were 760 and 702 mm TL and 7.1 and 6.8 years. The instantaneous rate of natural mortality (M) was estimated to be 0.09. Estimates of the instantaneous rate of fishing mortality (F) were low (0.01–0.05). Harvest rates in 2005 and 2006 were close to estimated sustainable levels. Monitoring of any future increases in catch and effort in continental slope waters in both State- and Commonwealth-managed fisheries is required in order to assess impacts to stock sustainability. Sustainable management would also benefit from improved understanding of possible pan-oceanic recruitment of the species among southern hemisphere populations.

PASTURE SEED MIXTURE FOR HIGH RAINFALL DISTRICTS

1937 ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
A. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
The North ◽  
Seed Mixture ◽  
Rainfall Map

In dealing with this subject it is essential to define the high rainfall districts, and on, perusing a rainfall map it was found, contrary to expectations, that the greater part of the North Island, as represented by the Auckland Province and Taranaki, has a rainfall of over 50 inches per annum. In the same category falls the West Coast of the South Island and all of Stewart Island.

scholarly journals Has the fishery contributed to a major shift in the distribution of South African sardine?

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 1676-1688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet C. Coetzee ◽  
Carl D. van der Lingen ◽  
Laurence Hutchings ◽  
Tracey P. Fairweather
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
South Coast ◽  
The West ◽  
Natal Homing ◽  
Distinct Unit ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Sardine Population

Abstract Coetzee, J. C., van der Lingen, C. D., Hutchings, L., and Fairweather, T. P. 2008. Has the fishery contributed to a major shift in the distribution of South African sardine? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1676–1688. A major shift in the distribution of South African sardine (Sardinops sagax) has resulted in a significant spatial mismatch in fishing effort vs. fish abundance in recent years. The sardine fishery started on the west coast during the 1940s, and processing capacity there increased rapidly. This trend together with increases in annual landings continued up to the early 1960s, but then the fishery collapsed as a consequence of overfishing. The population then recovered steadily during the 1980s and 1990s, coincident with, but perhaps not entirely attributable to, the inception of conservative management practices, to support catches similar to pre-collapse levels. Since 2001, however, most of the sardine population has been situated on South Africa’s south coast, far from processing facilities. Fishing effort has increased concomitantly on that coast, particularly during the past three years, reflecting the continued decline in the abundance of sardine on the west coast. Three hypotheses explaining the change in the distribution of sardine have been proposed: (i) intensely localized (i.e. west coast) fishing pressure depleted that part (or functionally distinct unit) of the population; (ii) the shift was environmentally induced; and (iii) successful spawning and recruit survival on the south coast contributed disproportionately more towards the bulk of recruitment, and progeny spawned there now dominate the population and exhibit natal homing. The first of these hypotheses is evaluated, and management implications of the shift discussed.

Breeding biology and movements of Australian sea-lions, Neophoca cinerea, off the west coasst of Western Australia

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
NJ Gales ◽  
AJ Cheal ◽  
GJ Pobar ◽  
P Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Sea Lion ◽  
The West ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Sea Lions ◽  
Neophoca Cinerea

The Australian sea-lion, Neophoca cinerea, has a 17-18-month breeding cycle on islands off the west coast of Western Australia. Buller, North Fisherman and Beagle Is are the main pupping sites, with several very small colonies (n> 3) at the Abrolhos Is. The 4-5-month pupping seasons are synchronised at North Fisherman and Beagle Is, but the sea-lions from Buller I. breed one month later and those from the Abrolhos Is two months earlier. Pup production and pup mortality were highly variable between seasons over which observations were recorded: 129 pups were born at the main breeding sites in early 1988, the mortality in the first five months was 7.1%, whereas 181 pups were born in late 1989 of which 24.3% died. Pups remain in the vicinity of their natal islands for the first 4-5 months of life before leaving, perhaps on foraging trips, with their mothers. Most return to their natal island, although others haulout on islands up to 27 km away. Some male N. cinerea congregate in bachelor colonies on islands adjacent to the Perth metropolitan region during the non-breeding season and migrate up to 280 km north each breeding season. The status of the isolated, west-coast N. cinerea population is unknown. The current high level of human pressure on sea-lion terrestrial habitats and their food resources indicate a need for further monitoring of this species.

Bass nurseries on the west coast of the U.K.

1986 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donovan Kelley
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Dicentrarchus Labrax ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
The United Kingdom

INTRODUCTIONPresence of O-group bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), has been recorded for a number of estuaries and tidal backwaters in the south of the United Kingdom, including the tidal Thames (Wheeler, 1979), the outer Thames at Southend (Murie, 1903), the Medway (Van den Broek, 1979), Langstone Harbour (Reay, 1973), the Dart (Dando & Demir, 1985), and the Tamar (Hartley, 1940). The author has found them, additionally, in Chichester Harbour and in the Cuckmere (Sussex), Teign and Tavy estuaries. Correspondents have reported them from the estuaries of the Blackwater (Cox), Crouch (Wiggins), Lynher (Gee) and Fal (Melhuish); also from the Fleet backwater in Dorset (Fear). It may be inferred that all estuaries and tidal backwaters on the south and south-east coasts of the U.K. constitute bass nurseries, in some degree.*

III.—Sketch of the Geology of Ice Sound and Bell Sound, Spitzbergen

1876 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Nordenskiöld
Keyword(s):  
West Coast ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
High Mountains ◽  
The South ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
The West ◽  
Limited Space ◽  
Northerly Direction

Ice and Bell Sounds are two large fiords opening out on the west coast of Spitzbergen, which cut deep into the country, both in an easterly direction towards Stor Fiord, and in a northerly direction towards the south part of Wijde Bay. The shores of the Sounds are for the most part occupied by high mountains, precipitous towards the sea, nearly free from snow during the summer, whose sides, being bare of vegetation, offer the observer an uncommonly favourable opportunity for studying the geological structure of the rocks. Within an excecdingly limited space one meets here with a succession of strata belonging to a great many different geological periods, and rich in fossils, both of the vegetable and animal kingdom.

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