Dr Christine Fury has over 14 years experience with marine mammals and recently completed (2009) her PhD at Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre under the supervision of Professor Peter Harrison. Previously, Christine did her marine zoology degree through the University of Queensland and achieved first class honours for a research project on the role that parasites play in marine mammal strandings, supervised by Associate Professor Tom Cribb. It was through this project that Christine required the skill in performing post mortems on marine mammals, particularly dolphins. She continues to perform post mortems on marine mammals found along the northern New South Wales for the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre and NPWS and conducts regular necropsy and stranding workshops.

While in Queensland, Christine conducted research on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), dugongs, humpback whales and coral reef fish. After her honours she worked full time for Dr Alexandra Grutter at The University of Queensland as a research assistant for over 2 and a half years. They researched the ecology of cleaner fish and coral reef fish and frequently conducted fieldwork at Lizard Island Research Station. She moved to Southern Cross University in 2003 to conduct her PhD project on bottlenose dolphins in estuaries in northern NSW.

View Christine's photo gallery

Research Project

Christine's PhD project, completed in 2009, is titled 'Abundance, behaviour and habitat use of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in the Richmond and Clarence Rivers, northern NSW.' This study provided the first published data on Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins abundance estimates, site fidelity, individual ranging patterns, habitat use, flood impacts and sexual segregation patterns over a 3-year period in the Clarence River and Richmond River estuaries in northern New South Wales, Australia. The primary objective of this research was to determine the population dynamics and habitat use patterns of bottlenose dolphins that use these two subtropical estuaries, and to find any determinants that influence their habitat use of the areas. Since there had been no previous research on these dolphin populations, baseline data on each population was needed, followed by exploration of the habitat use patterns of the dolphins. Subsequently, factors that changed their habitat use of the area could then be determined, such as flood events and the associated water quality changes that resulted in the dolphins leaving the estuaries and the spatial sexual segregation patterns that were demonstrated in the Clarence River estuary.

Publications

Fury, CA. (2009) 'Abundance, behaviour and habitat use of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in the Richmond and Clarence Rivers, northern NSW' PhD thesis, Southern Cross University, School of Environmental Science and Management, 212 pages.

Harrison, PL., Burns, D., Fury, C., Luker, G., Dempster, P. and Groenhout, R. (2009) Conservation and values - Global cetacean summary report. Commissioned by Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2008) Abundance, site fidelity and range patterns of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in two Australian subtropical estuaries. Marine and Freshwater Research 59:1015-1027.

Harrison, PL., Fury, C., Burns, D., Luker, G., Dempster, P. and Groenhout, R. (2008) Conservation and values: Global cetacean snapshot - A progress report. Commissioned by Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (in prep.) Fresh is not always best - Impact of flood events on dolphin occupancy patterns. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (in prep.) Spatial sexual segregation by bottlenose dolphins in estuaries, linked to water depth and male aggressive herding. Behavioural Ecology.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (in prep.) The effect of seasons, behaviours and tides on the habitat use of Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in two Australian estuaries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.

Fury, CA. and Grutter, A. (2003). Preliminary results for a study on parasite removal using chemical baths and the effect of captivity on the ectoparasites of coral trout Plectropomus leopardus. In: John N. A. Hooper and Narelle Hall and Bernard M. Degnan, Proceedings of the Annual Conference on the Australian Marine Sciences Association. Marine Biocomplexity: The 2003 Annual Conference of the Australian Marine Sciences Association, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, (78). 9-11 July 2003.

Fury, CA. (2000). Helminths of delphinid cetaceans. Honours thesis (1st class honours). The University of Queensland; Brisbane, Queensland, 73 p.

Conference Presentations

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2007) Spatial sexual segregation & herding behaviour by Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) from two Australian estuaries. Society of Marine Mammals Biennial Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, oral presentation.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2007) Population dynamics, behaviour, and residency patterns of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in two subtropical estuaries in Australia. Society of Marine Mammals Biennial Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, poster presentation.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2007) Population size & distribution of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) inhabitating the Clarence & Richmond Rivers. New South Wales Coasts Conference, Yamba, oral presentation.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2006) Flood events and their impact on Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in two Australian estuaries. European Cetacean Society Conference, Gyndia, Poland, oral presentation.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2006) Habitat use of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in estuaries: not all estuaries are created equal. National Research Partnerships Workshop, Adelaide, South Australia, oral presentation.

Fury, CA. and Harrison, PL. (2006) Flood events and their impact on Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in two Australian estuaries. PRAXIS Postgraduate Research Conference, Southern Cross University, Lismore, oral presentation.

Fury, CA., Harrison, PL., Gartside, D. and Ross, G. (2004) Dolphins in estuaries: not all estuaries are created equal. National Research Partnerships Workshop, Ballina, NSW, poster presentation.

Fury, CA. and Grutter, A. (2003) Parasite removal using chemical baths and the effect of captivity on the ectoparasites of coral trout Plectropomus leopardus. Australian Marine Science Association National Conference, Brisbane, QLD, poster presentation.

Updated: 25 July 2010