Holly Raudino
Meet the council: Holly Raudino, AMS secretary
Holly collecting photo-identification data (individual dorsal fin photos) for the catalogue of humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis) in Dampier Archipelago.
What is your job?
I’m a Senior Research Scientist with the Marine Science Program of DBCA
Tell us about your history
I grew up living close to the coast in Perth's northern suburbs and became curious about the ocean animals with this piquing around 10 during fishing trips with my Dad and I was a bookworm fuelled by the books my Mum got me on marine animals. I started volunteering at the local aquarium as a teenager and did a lot of work experience at places like Monkey Mia and Bunbury mainly centred around dolphins and their behaviour. This led to me doing an Independent Study Contract in Bunbury in the final year of my undergraduate degree at Murdoch University and then an honours project investigating risky interactions between dolphins and people in Monkey Mia. I then went on to work on other marine mammals including blue whales with Centre for Whale Research and then seals on Kangaroo Island, SA and dolphins in Port Stephens, NSW and I did a six-week expedition in Bass Strait mitigating impacts on marine mammals between Victoria and Tasmania from seismic surveys. I returned to WA after a year of working and travelling interstate and did a lot of training with Perth Zoo, CSIRO and guided on whale watch boats as well as working in the Nearer to Nature Program with DBCA (formerly CALM) educating school kids on marine invertebrates and completed a graduate recruitment training from 2003-2006. I worked for about 10 years initially on wetlands and other terrestrial projects as a Zoologist before completing my PhD studying the Bunbury dolphin population between 2007-2012. I then made a successful transition to the Marine Science Program where I’ve worked on marine fauna since, mainly marine mammals (dolphins, dugongs, whales and sea lions). I finally got permanency and a promotion (Senior Research Scientist) last year after almost 20 years on contract with DBCA, 10 of these in the Marine Science Program.
What interesting research/projects have you worked on?
I have been lucky enough to help tag blue whales when I worked with the Centre for Whale Research. They are a particularly challenging species to work on as they feed in deep water the Rottnest Canyon (or Perth Basin) is thousands of metres deep and they surface for a couple of minutes before diving for half an hour at a time. In the few minutes they are on the surface the team is trying to collect photo-ID the unique pigmentation on the lateral side, behaviour, group composition, biopsy and sometimes attach a satellite tag. There is a lot going on in a short period of time.
Snubfin dolphin calf (Orcaella heinsohni)
I studied the bottlenose dolphin population during my PhD almost year round for three years and the dorsal fins that we use to identity individuals became as familiar as friends faces during this time. I modelled the first abundance estimates for this population of ~150-200 individuals. More recently I’ve led research on dolphins in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions on the Australian humpback and snubfin dolphins that are less abundant than bottlenose dolphins. These regions can be really challenging to work in because of weather and the distance i.e. the Montebello Islands is ~80km from the mainland coast but they are some of the most spectacular study sites and it has been thrilling to work on new species. One of the most rewarding aspects is working with Traditional Owners and rangers in their sea country under joint management arrangements in the Kimberley marine parks.
What are your current projects?
I am currently focusing on the population size of the endangered Australian sea lions in the Perth metropolitan area through a Westport-funded project. We will try and estimate absolute abundance for the male portion of the population that uses the metropolitan waters and islands to haul out and recuperate between foraging trips and when not up north breeding. I will also assist in satellite tagging to look at movements and habitat use in this area when at sea and potentially moving up to the breeding colonies in Jurien Bay depending on when we deploy the satellite tags and how long they are retained for (before being moulted off).
Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) uplisted to Endangered under National legislation (EPBC Act) in December 2020. This bull pictured is hauled out on Carnac Island one of the six haul out sites in the metropolitan area where they rest between foraging bouts and 18 month breeding cycle. We are estimating abundance and will be investigating habitat use through satellite tagging in 2022/23.
What do you consider are some of your best achievements?
Mapping humpback dolphin abundance across the Pilbara region and snubfin dolphin distribution across the Kimberley. Both prior to that were species with limited survey effort and data in WA. This has been important in understanding their population status and will help inform their national conservation status.
What is your favourite activity in mammalogy?
Studying behavioural ecology in the field, being on boats in remote areas with Traditional owners and rangers and learning about new species and places.
Do you have an interesting “mammal anecdote”?
I discovered that bottlenose dolphins feed on giant cuttlefish seasonally using a process to ‘handle’ this complex prey and they tear off their head before wearing the cuttlefish body on their rostrum (beak) and popping the cuttlefish bone out and consuming the flesh (more detail in this paper published in my maiden name)
Smith, HC, Sprogis, KR (2016) Seasonal feeding on giant cuttlefish (Sepia apama) by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in south-western Australia. Aust J Zool 64, 8-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ZO15075
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