RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

Annual Reports

Hutchinson EM, Donnelly DM, Nguyen L, Weir J (2024) Research Impact Report 2023.

Nguyen L, Donnelly DM, Weir J (2023) Research Impact Report 2022.

Donnelly DM, Dickie J, Weir J (2023) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2023.

Donnelly DM, Dickie J, Weir J (2022) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2022.

Donnelly DM, Dickie J, Weir J (2021) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2021.

Donnelly DM, Dickie J, Weir J (2020) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2020.

Donnelly DM, Mason S, Dickie J, Weir J (2019) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2019.

Donnelly DM, Mason S, Peters M, McFee J (2018) Two Bays Whale Project Summary 2018.

Donnelly DM, Mason S, Peters M (2017) Two Bays Whale Project Annual Summary 2017.

Donnelly DM, Mason S, Peters M (2016) Two Bays Whale Project Annual Summary 2016.

Donnelly DM, Mason S, Peters M (2015) Two Bays Whale Project Annual Summary 2015.

Reports

Hutchinson EM, Weir J, Dickie J, Flynn AJ, Donnelly DM (2025) More Than a Migratory Corridor: Humpback Whale Feeding and Calving in Bass Strait.

Dolphin Research Institute (2025) Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan 2023-2024 Annual Report – Common Dolphin Data.

Dolphin Research Institute (2024) Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan 2022-2023 Annual Report – Common Dolphin Data.

Dolphin Research Institute (2023) Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan 2021-2022 Annual Report – Common Dolphin Data.

Dolphin Research Institute (2011) Status of Epidermal Lesions in the Resident Port Phillip Dolphins. Report to the Victorian Government, April 2011.

Dunn W & Goldsworthy A (1998) Report and recommendations on the Port Phillip Bay commercial dolphin swim tours. Report to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victorian Government, Victoria, Australia, June 1998.

Dunn W & Goldsworthy A (1997) Report and recommendations on the Port Phillip Bay commercial dolphin swim tours. Report to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Victorian Government, Victoria, Australia, August 1997.

Weir J, Dunn W, Bell A & Chatfield B (1996) An investigation into the impact of dolphin swim ecotours in southern Port Phillip Bay. Report to the Department of Tourism, Federal Government, Australia.

Journal Publications

Hutchings MJ, Wellard R, Donnelly DM et al (2025). Shape variation in the eye patch and dorsal fin of southern hemisphere killer whales (Orcinus orca). Mamm Biol. DOI: 10.1007/s42991-025-00523-w

Hutchings MJ et al (2025), Species Distribution Modeling of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian Waters. Ecology and Evolution 15, no. 7: e71359. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.71359.

Reeves IM et al (2025), Genetic Evidence of Killer Whale Predation on White Sharks in Australia. Ecology and Evolution 15: e70786. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70786.

Owen K. et al (2024) Southern Ocean humpback whale trophic ecology. II. Influence of fasting and opportunistic feeding on skin stable isotope values of migrating whales. Marine Ecology. Progress Series (Halstenbek), 734, 157-171. DOI: 10.3354/meps14539.

Bury S.J. et al (2024) Southern Ocean humpback whale trophic ecology. I. Combining multiple stable isotope methods elucidates diet, trophic position and foraging areas. Marine Ecology. Progress Series (Halstenbek), 734, 123-155. DOI:10.3354/meps14532.

Reeves IM et al (2023) Ancestry testing of “Old Tom,” a killer whale central to mutualistic interactions with human whalers, Journal of Heredity, 114(6), 598–611. DOI 10.1093/jhered/esad058.

Reeves IM et al (2022). Population genomic structure of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian and New Zealand waters. Marine Mammal Science, 38(1), 151–174. DOI: 10.1111/mms.12851.

Donnelly DM, McInnes JD, Jenner KCS, Jenner MM, Morrice M (2021) The first records of Antarctic Type B and C killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Australian coastal waters. Aquatic Mammals 47, 292-302. DOI: 10.1578/AM.47.3.2021.292.

Mason S, Kent CS, Donnelly D, Weir J, Bilgmann K (2016) Atypical residency of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) to a shallow, urbanized embayment in south-eastern Australia. R. Soc. open science 3. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160478.

Owen K, Dunlop R, Donnelly D (2012) Seaweed interactions by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): A form of object play? Aquatic Mammals 38, 418-422. DOI: 10.1578/AM.38.4.2012.418.

Cato DH, Savage M, Dunlop RA, Parnum I, Blewitt M, Gibbs S, Donnelly D, Cleary J, McCauley RD (2010) Acoustic surveying for beaked whales in the Coral Sea as a mitigation measure for naval exercises. OCEANS’10 IEEE SYDNEY 2010. DOI: 10.1109/OCEANSSYD.2010.5603622.

Warren-Smith AB, Dunn WL (2006) Epimeletic behaviour toward a seriously injured juvenile bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops sp.) in Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia. Aquatic Mammals 32, 357-362. DOI: 10.1578/AM.32.3.2006.357.

Poster Presentations

Hutchinson EM, Donnelly DM, Weir J (2024) From outsiders to insiders – The multi-generational success of common dolphins in a shallow embayment. Poster Presentation – Society of Marine Mammalogy Conference, Perth, Australia, November 2024

Mason S, Salgado Kent C, Bilgmann K & Kneist H (2015) Behaviour and fine-scaled seasonal movement of resident short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in an urbanised embayment in southern Australia. Poster Presentation – Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference, San Francisco, USA, December 2015

Mason S, Salgado Kent C, McCauley R, Bilgmann, K & Weir J (2013) In the company of commons: Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) resident to an urbanised coastline. Poster Presentation – Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia, July 2013

Mason S, Weir J & Parsons J (2012) Presence of epidermal lesions in resident southern Australian bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp. in Port Phillip, Victoria. Poster Presentation – Australian Marine Sciences Association-New Zealand Marine Science Society Conference, Hobart, Australia, July 2012

Mason S, Charlton-Robb K & Donnelly D (2009) Common or Uncommon? The unusual presence of short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in a shallow, semi-enclosed embayment in Victoria, Australia. Poster Presentation – Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference, Quebec, Canada, October 2009

Weir J (2001) Case Study: Chaos to sustainability, the management of dolphin tourism in Victoria. Abstract – Nature Tourism and the Environment, Fenner Conference, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, Australia, September 2001.

Bell A, Fairweather P, Wallis R, Dunn W, Goldsworthy A (2000) Historical Observations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. Poster Presentation – Australian Marine Science Association Conference, Sydney, Australia, July 2000.

Dunn W & Goldsworthy A (2000) Behavioural responses of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus ) to dolphin swim tour vessels in southern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Poster Presentation – Australian Marine Science Association Conference, Sydney, Australia, July 2000.

Goldsworthy A & Dunn W (2000) Residency status of a population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in southern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria 1997-1999. Poster Presentation – Australian Marine Science Association Conference, Sydney, Australia, July 2000.