Monash University doctoral researcher, Kate Charlton-Robb announced to the World media that a new dolphin species has been discovered living in the waters of Port Phillip Bay and the Gippsland Lakes on the south coast of Australia.
"We're very pleased to announce that yes it is a new dolphin species, and I have called it Tursiops Australis," Ms Charlton-Robb said in an Australian radio interview.
The Burrunan Dolphin
According to Ms Charlton-Robb these Tursiops Australis dolphins are genetically unique from any other dolphins on the planet. "They will be known as the Burrunan dolphin, meaning 'large sea fish of the porpoise kind' in Aboriginal languages" she said.
Researchers compared dolphin skulls and their DNA to establish that this was indeed a whole new species of dolphin living in the southern waters of Australia.
This is a particularly exciting discovery for researchers as only three new dolphin species have been recognized since the late 1800s. This species of dolphin has a snubby nose and a graduation of grey colour patterning and what Ms Charlton-Robb calls "a falcate dorsal fin". "They are a bit of a combination of the two formerly recognised bottlenose dolphins." she told ABC radio.
Right Under Our Bottle Noses
How long this new species of dolphin have been in the Southern waters of Australia is unknown. But it's a very exciting discovery for the scientific world and for dolphin lovers and environmentalists alike.
"This animal has been living right under our noses for so many years and just with combining those two different technologies, with looking at the skull morphology and the DNA, you know there's still really exciting discoveries to be made," Ms Charlton-Robb told Radio Australia.
Could There Be More Burrunan Dolphins in Australian Waters?
Before this new discovery was made there were 45 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises that have been seen in Australian waters. Some of them live there permanently and others visit from time to time.
Now this new species of just 150 dolphins has been discovered more research is needed to determine if more populations of the Burrunan dolphin could be living in other waters in Australia.
Fortunately in Australia the Government sees dolphin, porpoise and whale conservation as a priority and is a world leader in their conservation and protection not just in Australia but internationally as well.
Ms Charlton-Robb emphasized the importance of conservation with the discovery of this fairly small population. "It would be a shame to discover something and then and lose it. So we really are working hard to try and protect and conserve these animals," she said.
The results of this discovery of the pod of Burrunan dolphins have been published in the scientific journal PlosONE .
Sources:
- The Brisbane Times - accessed 16 September 2011
- The Melbourne Age - accessed 16 September 2011
- ABC Radio Australia - 16 September 2011
- ABC News Australia - accessed 17 September 2011
- Kate Charlton-Robb, Lisa-ann Gershwin, Ross Thompson, Jeremy Austin, Kylie Owen, Stephen McKechnie - A New Dolphin Species, the Burrunan Dolphin Tursiops australis sp.nov., Endemic to Southern Australian Coastal Waters. PLusONE Research Article, published 14 Sep 2011 10.1371/journal.pone.0024047
- Whales, dolphins and porpoises in Australia home page - accessed 17 September 2011
Maggie Lawrence - Maggie is an award winning copywriter, screenwriter and film maker. She has also written sitcoms and a children's book.
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