Dwarf minke whale tourism monitoring program (2003--2008)

This report provides a comprehensive account of interactions with dwarf minke whales by swimming-with-whales (SWW) endorsed vessels in the Cairns/Cooktown Management Area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park over the period 2003 to 2008. Results presented in this report are primarily based on analyses of Great Barrier Reef tourism industry-collected Whale Sighting Sheets. Key management processes and outcomes, arising from bi-annual stakeholder workshops (held pre- and post-season) during the 2003–2008 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority-funded Dwarf Minke Whale Tourism Monitoring Program are also summarised and discussed. During the latter three years of this program, three PhD studies (by Mangott, Sobtzick and Curnock) contributed significantly to our knowledge of this unique aggregation of dwarf minke whales, their interactions with humans in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the sustainable management of these interactions. Some of the key findings of these three PhD studies are included in this report

Tuning the Optical and Structural Properties of Halide Perovskite by PbS Quantum Dot Additive Engineering for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performances

The combination of inorganic PbS quantum dots (QDs) and lead halide perovskite in one nanocomposite is considered as a promising approach to overcoming the limitations of metastable perovskites. However, to date, only a few examples of improved optoelectronic perovskites are realized with such materials. One of the keys to unraveling the full potential offered by the PbS QDs/perovskite material is the ability to purposefully modulate the interfacial electronic energy levels by changing the PbS QDs capping shell. Herein, this approach to adjust the offsets of the energy levels of the perovskite is demonstrated. To prepare the perovskite films with embedded PbS QDs, the organic capping of QDs is exchanged by a halide perovskite shell. Film properties are correlated to the structural changes of the soft perovskite matrix and their optical properties. Interestingly, this approach can be used to adjust the energy levels in the whole nanocomposite film, without changing the original bandgap, and thus paves the way for novel functional materials for optoelectronic devices. The applicability of this method is exemplified by fabricating solar cells with the perovskite nanocomposite, observing that the introduction of PbS/FAPI QDs into FAPI matrix boosts the average performance from 17.9% to 18.9% (21.3% champion device)

Managing the swimming-with-dwarf minke whales tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: developing collaboration between managers, industry and researchers

Each austral winter a unique aggregation of an undescribed subspecies of whale occurs at the edge of the east Australian continental shelf in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The occurrence of these whales, now recognised as dwarf minkes (Balaenoptera acutorostrata\ud subspecies), in remote offshore areas of the GBRMP to the north of Cairns, was first documented in the 1980s via reports from an emerging scuba dive tourism industry. Increasing reports during the early 1990s revealed that in-water interactions were occurring between these whales and\ud scuba divers at sites along the Ribbon Reefs, and that the interactions appeared to be initiated and voluntarity maintained by the whales. In 1996, researchers began working with dive tour operators to study this little known whale, as well as the interactions between whales and\ud swimmers to ensure that the interactions were not harmful to the whales. Due to the remoteness of the interactions and the infrequency of an enforcement presence, a voluntary Code of Practice for managing the whale-swimmer interactions was developed in 1999 to assist the industry to self-regulate and minimise its potential impacts on the whales. In the same year annual workshops commenced involving dive tourism operators, GBRMP managers and researchers, to review research findings and discuss management issues associated with a growing swim-with-whales tourism industry. In 2003 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority capped the industry and issued special permits to nine tourism operators, effectively establishing the world’s first fully-permitted swimming-with-whales tourism industry. A six-year research and\ud monitoring program commenced in 2003, with bi-annual workshops held to review findings and address management concerns, involving all key stakeholders. This paper examines the key processes and drivers affecting the development of this unique collaborative management model\ud and evaluates current and future challenges for the sustainable management of this swimming-with-whales tourism industry

Understanding the Social and Economic Values of Key Marine Species in the Great Barrier Reef: MTSRF Project 4.8.6(a) Final Report, June 2010 with a section focusing on marine turtles

The research reported in this document was conducted by a group of researchers within the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF) Program 8 (led by Dr Colin Simpfendorfer), under Project 4.8.6 (led by Professor Bruce Prideaux).\ud \ud The specific task addressed by this group's activities relate to Research Task 4.8.6 (a):\ud To identify relative social and economic values of key marine species, including large fish around tourist facilities.\ud \ud This report constitutes the Final Report of that research task, and also includes a section dedicated to the socio-economic values of marine turtles in relation to scuba diving tourism in the Far Northern Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Section 6). The following\ud sub-sections of this introduction provide a brief overview of the methodological approaches used to meet the goals of the project, with more specific details provided in the main body

Code of Practice for dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

This Code of Practice provides information for any person likely to be involved in an encounter with a dwarf minke whale whilst in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, in particular swimming-with-whales endorsed tourism operators and their passengers

Ulva lactuca as a functional ingredient and water bioremediator positively influences the hepatopancreas and water microbiota in the rearing of Litopenaeus vannamei

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) is increasingly recognized as a means to improve the sustainability of aquaculture and to mitigate its environmental impact. Macroalgae can play an important role in IMTA and here a six-week feeding trial was conducted to examine the efficacy of Ulva lactuca as a functional food ingredient and a water bioremediation agent in Litopenaeus vannamei aquaculture. Treatments including a diet with 4% algae or algal bioremediation of recirculating rearing water, either alone or in combination, had significant positive influences on the daily growth of the shrimp. Overall, the combination of feeding shrimp with the algal diet and rearing them the algal bioremediation system resulted in twice the specific growth rate (SGR, 4.92 ± 0.4% day⁻¹) compared to feeding a control diet in a flow through system (SGR 2.41 ± 0.3% day⁻¹). Both the algal bioremediation system and the algal diet promoted the establishment of known aquaculture probiotics, including Agarivorans, Sphingomonas, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Peredibacter and Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms, and suppressed or decreased potential pathogens, such as Vibrio alginolyticus and Photobacterium sp. The significant increase of known probiotic bacteria as well as the suppression of potential pathogens in both the shrimp hepatopancreas and the cultivation water provide strong evidence that the use of macroalgae as feed supplement, prebiotic treatment and bioremediation agent has the potential to stimulate animal growth and contribute to the overall health of the aquaculture environment