Report of the Second Workshop on The Biology and Conservation of ...

(2) Identification <strong>of</strong> key habitats.(3) By-catch.In addition, it was recommended during <strong>the</strong>discussion that studies should be carried outon <strong>the</strong> behavior <strong>of</strong> humpback and bottlenosedolphins in response to pingers (acoustic alarmsto warn marine mammals away from entanglingfishing gear) and on <strong>the</strong> acoustic range <strong>of</strong> pingers(McPherson et al. 1999). Such work has alreadybeen conducted for wild dugongs, which did notexhibit a behavioral response to <strong>the</strong> pingers (pers.comm. to Marsh by Amanda Hodgson, 2002).Present and potential whale and dolphinwatching operationsCurrently <strong>the</strong>re are no marine mammal watchingoperations in Australian waters <strong>of</strong> SE Asia. Dueto <strong>the</strong> remote and largely uninhabited nature <strong>of</strong>this area <strong>the</strong> potential for development <strong>of</strong> suchan industry is low. However, <strong>the</strong>re is potential fortourist activities centered in Ningaloo Reef MarinePark and Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, toexpand fur<strong>the</strong>r north in tourist destinations suchas Broome and Darwin.2.1.2 BruneiNo new information was available to <strong>the</strong>workshop.2.1.3 CambodiaBeasley provided an update based on Doc. 34Species and distributionTen species are known from Cambodia (Appendix2). These are summarized separately for <strong>the</strong>Mekong River and <strong>the</strong> coast <strong>of</strong> Cambodia:Mekong RiverBased on dedicated surveys during 2001 andprevious surveys conducted by Baird in 1997,<strong>the</strong> Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin populationappears to be very small, with seasonal variationin distribution. During <strong>the</strong> dry season, <strong>the</strong> entireMekong River population may be confined to <strong>the</strong>river section from Kratie to <strong>the</strong> Laos/Cambodiaborder (Beasley and Phay Somany 2002, Baird1997). During <strong>the</strong> wet season, <strong>the</strong> population isknown to range widely throughout <strong>the</strong> river system—south to at least Phnom Penh (Beasley 2002)and up major river systems, such as <strong>the</strong> Sekongand Sesan Rivers (Baird and Mounsouphom 1994,1997; Beasley and Phay Somany 2002). Based oninterviews conducted by Baird (1994, 1999) <strong>the</strong>rewere only a few reports <strong>of</strong> very small numbers<strong>of</strong> dolphins from near Siam Reap on TonleSap Great Lake in <strong>the</strong> mid-1990s (pers. comm.from Nao Thuok, Director General, Department<strong>of</strong> Fisheries). Based on <strong>the</strong>se interviews andthrough experience gained during bird surveysconducted by dedicated Wildlife ConservationSociety researchers based at Tonle Sap Great Lake(Goes and Hong 2002), <strong>the</strong> dolphin apparently nolonger occurs in significant numbers (if at all) in<strong>the</strong> lake.Coastal marine mammalsNo information on coastal species in Cambodianwaters was available at <strong>the</strong> 1995 workshop. Beasleyreported that based on research during 2001, Tenmarine mammal species have been recorded fromCambodian marine waters.(1) Finless porpoise: Eight sightings during2001. Sighted in Kompong Som Bay and coastalwaters along Koh Kong Province. Previouslysighted near Thai/Cambodian border by Nelson(1999).(2) Irrawaddy dolphin: Most frequently sightedcetacean in recent surveys <strong>of</strong> Cambodian coastalwaters. Important areas appear to be coastalwaters <strong>of</strong> Koh Kong Province, Kompong Som Bayand Ream National Park. Twenty sightings during18 CMS Technical Series Publication Nº 9 - 2005