Publications & Outputs

Journal articles:

Arnold, P.W. (1997). Occurrence of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Rpt Int. Whal. Comm. 47: 419-424.

Birtles, R.A., Arnold P.W. & Dunstan, A. (2002). Commercial swim programs with dwarf minke whales on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia: some characteristics of the encounters with management implications. Australian Mammalogy, 24: 23-38.

Valentine, P.S., Birtles, R.A., Curnock, M., Arnold, P.W. & Dunstan, A. (2004). Getting closer to whales – passenger expectations and experiences, and the management of swim with dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Management 25: 647–655.

Arnold, PW, Birtles, RA, Sobtzick, S., Matthews, M & Dunstan, A (2005). Gulping behaviour in rorqual whales: underwater observations and functional interpretation. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 51 (2): 197-220. ISSN 0079-8835. Brisbane, QLD.

Arnold, P.W., Birtles, R.A., Dunstan, A., Lukoschek, V. & Matthews, M. (2005). Colour patterns of the dwarf minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata sensu lato: description, cladistic analysis and taxonomic implications. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 51(2): 277-307.

Dunstan, A., Sobtzick, S., Birtles, A. & Arnold, P. (2007). Use of videogrammetry to estimate length to provide population demographics of dwarf minke whales in the northern Great Barrier Reef. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 9(3): 215-223.

Stoeckl, N., Birtles, A., Farr, M., Mangott, A., Curnock, M. & Valentine, P. (2010). Live-aboard dive boats in the Great Barrier Reef: their regional economic impact and the relative values of their target marine species. Tourism Economics, 16 (4): 995-1018.

Mangott, A., Birtles R. A. & Marsh, H. (2011) Attraction of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp.) to vessels and swimmers in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – the management challenges of an inquisitive whale. Journal of Ecotourism, 10 (1): 64-76.

Book chapters:

Arnold, P.W. (2008). Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). In Van Dyck & Strahan (Eds). The Mammals of Australia, 3rd Edition (pp.795-796), New Holland, Australia.

Arnold, P.W. (2008). Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni). In Van Dyck & Strahan (Eds). The Mammals of Australia, 3rd Edition (pp.798-799), New Holland, Australia.

Birtles,.A. & Arnold, P.W. (2008). Dwarf minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). In Van Dyck & Strahan (Eds). The Mammals of Australia, 3rd Edition (pp.792-794), New Holland, Australia.

Dunstan, A. & Birtles, A. (2008). Up Close and Personal: The Minke Whale Encounter. Chapter in Dunstan, A., The Great Barrier Reef Undersea Experience. GRO-SET Publishing, Melbourne.

Birtles, A. & Mangott , A. (2011) Highly interactive behaviour of inquisitive dwarf minke whales. In Simmonds & Brakes (Eds). Whales and Dolphins: cognition, culture, conservation and human perceptions. Earthscan publications.

Technical & Government reports:

Arnold, P. & Birtles, A. (1999). Towards sustainable management of the developing dwarf minke whale tourism industry in northern Queensland. CRC Reef Research Centre, Technical Report #27.

Birtles, A., Arnold, P., Curnock, M., Valentine, P. & Dunstan, A. (2001). Developing ecologically sustainable minke whale tourism (1999-2001). Final Report to the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage (Environment Australia), November 2001.

Birtles, R.A., Valentine , P. & Curnock, M. (2001). Tourism based on free-ranging marine wildlife. Opportunities and responsibilities. Wildlife Tourism Research Report Series: No.11. Status Assessment of Wildlife Tourism in Australia Series. CRC Sustainable Tourism. 62pp.

Birtles, R.A., Valentine, P., Curnock, M., Arnold, P.W. & Dunstan, A. (2002). Incorporating visitor experiences into ecologically sustainable dwarf minke whales tourism in the northern Great Barrier Reef. CRC Reef Technical Report No. 42. CRC Reef Research Centre, Townsville. Available online: http://www.reef.crc.org.au/publications/techreport/techrep42.html

Birtles, A., Arnold, P., Valentine, P., Barnett, B. & Dunstan, A. (2002). Sustainability indicators and other information needed to assess ecological sustainability of dwarf minke whale-swimmer interactions. Report to the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee, SC/55/WW11; 22pp.

Birtles, A., Valentine, P., Curnock, M., Mangott, A. Sobtzick, S., & Marsh, H. (2010). Dwarf Minke Whale Tourism Monitoring Program (2003-2008): Final Report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 21 June 2010, 117pp.

Industry Code of Practice:

Birtles, A., Arnold, P., Curnock, M., Salmon, S., Mangott, A., Sobtzick, S., Valentine, P., Caillaud, A. & Rumney, J. (2008). Code of Practice for dwarf minke whale interactions in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Australia.

PhD theses:

Gedamke, J. (2004). Minke whale song, spacing, and acoustic communication on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. PhD thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Curnock, M.I. (2010). Mechanisms for assessing the sustainability of swimming-with-whales tourism in the Great Barrier Reef. PhD thesis, James Cook University.

Mangott, A.H. (2010). Behaviour of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp.) associated with a swim-with industry in the northern Great Barrier Reef. PhD thesis, James Cook University.

Sobtzick, S. (2010). Dwarf minke whales in the northern Great Barrier Reef and implications for the sustainable management of the swim-with whales industry. PhD thesis, James Cook University.

Conference presentations:

Curnock, M., Birtles, A., Valentine, P., Arnold, P. & Dunstan, P. (2006). Mechanisms for assessing the sustainability of the swim-with-dwarf minke whales tourism industry in the northern Great Barrier Reef. Poster presentation: (1) National Whale and Dolphin Research Conference, Adelaide 21–22 February 2006; (2) 2006 Ecotourism Australia International Conference, Townsville, 30 October – 3 November 2006. (3) CAUTHE 2007 Conference, Sydney, 11-14 February 2007.

Mangott, A., Birtles, A., Arnold, P. & Curnock, M. (2006). The management of day boat operations in the dwarf minke whale swim-with industry in the Great Barrier Reef. Poster presentation: (1) National Whale and Dolphin Research Conference, Adelaide 21–22 February 2006; (2) 2006 Ecotourism Australia International Conference, Townsville, 30 October – 3 November 2006.

Sobtzick, S., Birtles, A., Arnold, P. & Dunstan, A. (2006). Colour patterns and photo-identification of dwarf minke whales. Poster presentation: (1) National Whale and Dolphin Research Conference, Adelaide 21–22 February 2006; (2) 2006 Ecotourism Australia International Conference, Townsville, 30 October – 3 November 2006.

Sobtzick, S., Dunstan, A., Birtles, A. & Arnold, P. (2006). Size estimation and population demographics of dwarf minke whales in the northern Great Barrier Reef. Poster presentation: (1) National Whale and Dolphin Research Conference, Adelaide 21–22 February 2006; (2) 2006 Ecotourism Australia International Conference, Townsville, 30 October – 3 November 2006.

Mangott, A., Birtles, A. & Marsh (2007). Interacting dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp.) – spatial and temporal distribution of breathing animals in the vicinity of tourism vessels and their swimmers. 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals (Poster presentation), 29 Nov to 3 Dec 2007, Cape Town, South Africa.

Sobtzick, S., Birtles, A. & Marsh, H. (2007) Evaluating the potential of whalewatching tourists to provide robust data for photo-identification of dwarf minke whales in the Great Barrier Reef. 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals (Poster presentation), 29 Nov to 3 Dec 2007, Cape Town, South Africa.

Curnock, M., Birtles, A. & Valentine, P. (2008). Developing Sustainability Objectives and Indicators for swim-with-minke whales tourism in the Great Barrier Reef. CAUTHE 2008 Conference (Working paper & poster presentation), 11-14 February 2008, Gold Coast.

Curnock, M., Birtles, A. & Valentine, P. (2011). Mechanisms for assessing the sustainability of swim-with-whales tourism in the Great Barrier Reef. Third Australian National Network in Marine Science Conference, Perth, 29 November – 1 December 2011, UWA.

Sobtzick, S., Birtles, A. & Marsh, H. (2011). Using opportunistic photo-identification data of cetaceans to deliver first estimates of population size – the example of dwarf minke whales in the northern Great Barrier Reef. Third Australian National Network in Marine Science Conference, Perth, 29 November – 1 December 2011, UWA.

Other student theses:

Curnock, M. (1998). A Comparison of Japanese and Non-Japanese Scuba Divers’ Experiences and Perceptions of the Great Barrier Reef, with a Focus on Dwarf Minke Whale-Diver Interactions. JCU B.Admin (Tourism) Honours Thesis.

Matsukura, Y. (1998). Japanese Scuba Divers on the Great Barrier Reef. Master of Tourism Thesis.

O’Neill, F. (2000). Ecologically Sustainable Management of Human-Minke Whale Interactions: Visitor Experiences with Dwarf Minke Whales in the Northern Great Barrier Reef. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis. 95 pp.

Smith, L. (2000). Evaluating Interpretation for Managing Dwarf Minke Whale – Human Interactions in the Great Barrier Reef. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Simoes, A. (2001). Managing Cetacean Tourism: a comparison between Whale Watching in the Azores (Portugal), Brazil and Australia. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Komiya, M. (2002). Interpretation for Japanese Ecotourists: a case study of swim-with minke whale tourism in the GBR. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Hawthorn, D. (2003). Exploring the practical application of Sustainability Indicators for nature-based tour operators: a case study in interpretation and the swim-with-dwarf minke whale industry on the northern Great Barrier Reef. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Hasling, J. (2003). Meet the Minkes: Creating an Interpretation Package which emphasizes personal connections between humans and whales. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Sjursaether, G. (2003). Involving tourism operators in the ecologically sustainable management of their industry: Developing a Sightings Network for the GBR minke whale ecotourism industry. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Vintges, T. (2003). Passenger involvement in monitoring the behaviour of the dwarf minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata: a study on the commercial swim-with-whales program in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Mangott, A. (2004). The management of day-boat operations in the dwarf minke whale swim-with industry in the northern GBR. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Sobtzick, S. (2004). Length measurements of Dwarf minke whales in the northern GBR using underwater videogrammetry. Diploma in Marine Biology, Rostock University, GDR (equivalent of MSc).

Miller, D. (2005). Towards sustainable use of ecologically important natural resources by an economically important tourism industry in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A study of the live-aboard dive industry in northern Queensland. JCU PhD Thesis.

McDonough, K. (2007). Evaluating Ecotourism: A Case Study of Undersea Explorer. JCU Master of Tourism Thesis.

Bossy, S. (2011). Monitoring minke whales from tourist vessels: effort, precision and bias. MAppSci. Thesis, James Cook University.

Manabe, W. (2011). Effects of environmental factors on the occurrence of dwarf minke whales (Balaenoptera acutotostrata subspecies) in the northern Great Barrier Reef. MAppSci. Thesis, James Cook University.

Watson, C. (2011). Expanding Photographic Identification Efforts in Dwarf Minke Whale Research. Graduate Diploma Thesis, James Cook University.