In the lead up to our Annual Marine Science Forum on the 4th and 5th May, we will feature a post about each of the scientists presenting this year.

Kylie Owen, PhD Candidate, Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland. 

Kylie Owen knew from a very young age that she wanted to study marine biology. While still at school she volunteered on marine mammal research projects around Australia and, as a consequence, has many years of experience as a cetacean observer working with various research techniques and cetacean species all around Australia and in the Antarctic. Kylie completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Zoology and Marine Biology at the University of Melbourne, before moving to Monash University where she completed an honours research project on the diet and foraging ecology of two dolphin species in Victorian waters using stable isotope analysis.

Kylie is currently completing a PhD on the feeding behaviour of humpback whales through the Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory at the University of Queensland. As a part of this, she manages the SURFAH (Surface and Underwater Research of Feeding Australian Humpbacks) project off the coast of Eden, NSW, relying on the use of biotelemetry methods (DTAGs and FastLoc GPS tags) to assess the fine scale 3D movement of the whales and biopsy sampling for dietary analysis using stable isotopes.

Presentation title: The influence of prey species on the feeding behaviour and rate of migratory feeding by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Presentation outline: It is currently believed that humpback whales fast while making annual migrations from from polar feeding grounds to tropical breeding grounds. However, humpback whales are observed to feed off the coast of Eden, NSW each year. This study aims to describe the feeding behaviour of the whales using digital tags and determine how migratory feeding behaviour is influenced by changes in prey species.