CEBEL

14/10/2026

🐬 Where dolphins live matters, but a favourite habitat isn't always a safe habitat.

Coastal dolphins share their habitats with intense human activities, making understanding where and when they occur essential for conservation.

Our latest publication in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, led by CEBEL's Dr Kennadie Haigh, analysed 27 years of monitoring data (1993–2020) to investigate long-term and seasonal habitat use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in South Australia's Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary.

🔎 And the results reveal some fascinating patterns! 👇

🐬 Four persistent hotspots! Dolphins consistently favoured Angas Inlet, North Arm, Light Passage and Outer Harbour over multiple decades.

🌦️ Seasons matter! Dolphins used the sanctuary year-round, but their distribution shifted seasonally, with different hotspots becoming more important at different times of the year.

📍 Long-term habitat preferences! Despite decades of urban pressures, dolphins continued to favour the same key areas.

💡 Why does this matter?

Many of these hotspots overlap with boating, industrial activities and other human pressures.

Our findings highlight an important conservation challenge: persistent habitat use doesn't necessarily mean a habitat is safe. Areas providing valuable resources may also expose dolphins to elevated risks, potentially creating ecological traps.

Identifying these hotspots can inform targeted habitat protection, seasonal management and monitoring, highlighting the value of long-term research for conservation.

👏 Huge congratulations to Kennadie on this fantastic achievement, and a special thank you to Mike Bossley and Aude Steiner for their invaluable contributions to the long-term dataset that made this research possible!

📄 Read the open-access paper here: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.70474

Haigh, K., Parra, G. J. & Möller, L. (2026). Persistent Hotspots and Seasonal Habitat Use of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins in an Urban Marine Protected Area.

📸 Photos courtesy of Mike Bossley.

28/09/2026

🎓🐬 Two new PhDs in the CEBEL family! 🎉🥳

A HUGE congratulations to Dr Kennadie Haigh and Dr Charlie White on the official conferral of their PhDs! 🎓🎓👏

This is an incredible milestone and a testament to years of hard work, dedication, perseverance, and passion for marine mammal science! 🐬🌊

We couldn't be prouder of everything you've achieved, and it has been an absolute privilege to be part of your PhD journeys, watching you grow as researchers and make your own contributions to the field.

From the challenges of fieldwork to the long hours of data analysis, writing, and everything in between, you've earned those three letters after your names!

Congratulations, Dr Haigh and Dr White! 🥂🎉 We can't wait to see where your scientific journeys take you next!

CEBEL represent! 🐬💙

26/09/2026

🌊 CEBEL PhD student Cristina Vicente recently represented Flinders University at the conference of the Spanish Society for Cetaceans in Málaga, Spain, with support from the Flinders University Student Association (FUSA).

Cristina presented findings from her PhD research on the health and demography of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary population, project funded by the South Australian Department for the Environment and Water.

She joined researchers and conservation practitioners from across Spain and beyond. The conference provided a fantastic opportunity to learn about ongoing cetacean research and conservation projects across the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions, exchange ideas with fellow scientists, and connect with the broader marine mammal research community.

Well done, Cristina, on representing CEBEL and sharing your research at this important forum for cetacean science and conservation! 🐬🌊

04/09/2026

🌊 CEBEL representing at AMSA 2026! 🐬

A big congratulations to CEBEL students Caitlin Nicholls, Chloe Edwards, Riley West-Thompson and Michelle Newman, who attended and presented their research this week at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2026 Conference – Marine Science with Impact in Canberra.

It’s fantastic to see our students sharing their work, connecting with the wider marine science community and showcasing the breadth of research happening across CEBEL.

And an extra-big congratulations to Michelle Newman, who took home the Sea World Foundation – Best Student Oral Presentation Prize 🏆 for her talk on Habitat Suitability Modelling for Dolphin Conservation in South Australia! 🐬🌊

A brilliant achievement and very well deserved!

Well done team, CEBEL represent! 💪🐬

02/09/2026

27/08/2026

🎓🐬 PhD THESIS SUBMITTED! 🐬🎓

A huge congratulations to CEBEL PhD student Anna Christie, who has officially submitted her PhD thesis on the spatial geometry of dolphin groups! 🎉👏

Combining high-resolution drone imagery, machine learning and photogrammetry, Anna investigated how dolphins organise themselves within groups and how group size, age composition and behaviour shape both group-level geometry and the positions individuals occupy within the group.

It has been fantastic to see this body of work come together, and we couldn’t be prouder of Anna for reaching this major PhD milestone. Congratulations on all the hard work, persistence and science that went into getting here! 🥂🐬

And the story isn’t finished yet… keep watching this space for some exciting papers from Anna’s PhD coming out soon! 👀📄

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, check out Anna’s first data chapter, published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology:

Christie, A. I., Colefax, A. P., White, C., & Parra, G. J. (2026). Distance defines us: determining dolphin group membership through analysis of inter-individual distances. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 80(5), 65. doi: 10.1007/s00265-026-03743-3

Congratulations, Dr-to-be Christie! 🎓🐬🌊

26/08/2026

14/08/2026

14/08/2026

The SMM2026 plenary program is here!

This year’s speakers bring together perspectives from across marine mammal science, from conservation and field biology to evolution, ecology, and communication.

Guided by the theme "ONE OCEAN, ONE FUTURE: Advancing Marine Mammal Science for Ecosystem Health" these plenaries will explore where our field has been, where it is heading, and how science can help us respond to the rapidly changing ecosystems marine mammals depend on.

Expect big-picture thinking, decades of experience, new ideas, and perspectives from across the Americas and beyond, all brought together in San Juan this October.

Plenary sessions are always a highlight of the Biennial, and we can’t wait to share these conversations with the SMM community.

Learn more about the speakers here: https://www.smmconference.org/plenary-speakers/. Which one are you most interested in? Let us know in the comments!

26/06/2026

Congratulations to our PhD student Cristina Vicente! 🐬🐬🐬

Cris won the 3 Minute Thesis Heats in our College (Science and Engineering) with her engaging presentation, “When Flipper is Sick – A Health Study of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary.”

Cris’ work highlights the importance of marine health research and her 3-minute thesis talk showcased her outstanding communication of complex ideas in a compelling and accessible way. Cris will be competing in the University-wide semi final on 14 July.

Well done and good luck! 🐬🐬🐬