Pittwater Life November 2020 Issue

News
Living Ocean
riding a wave
of innovation
success
Local volunteer group
Living Ocean has
achieved global
recognition for its worldleading
animal tracking
software, which was initially
developed to track humpbacks
migrating up and down the
east coast of Australia, and
is now being used to study
wolves in Canada and polar
bears in the Arctic, as well
as birds, bees and butterflies
across the globe.
Living Ocean was
established in 2010; cofounder
and Palm Beach
resident Robbi Newman
explains it is his colleague,
IT guru Bill Fulton, who
had developed the Behayve
software.
“He did a lot of work in
America with some of the big
international computer firms,
and also was involved with
some of the American marine
environmental organisations,
because of his fascination for
marine mammals.
Back in 2004, Fulton
and environmentalist Sam
Barripp began an annual
survey of migrating whales
off Sydney, using a runabout
to record their tracks as well
as the water temperature
and depth with the intent to
discover the factors which
influenced whales in a
limited geographic area.
Fulton developed a
software called WhaleTrack,
but because it wasn’t
configurable, he went on to
build the completely new app,
Behayve, which integrates
tracking, behaviour and
environmental conditions, as
well as providing real-time
feedback on events as they
occur. Fulton and Barripp
have been working with
Living Ocean since 2014,
when the latter merged forces
with the Whale and Seal
Foundation.
It was the data collected
with Behayve in 2017 that
enabled Living Ocean to
secure the postponement
of seismic testing by
the petroleum company
leaseholder in the PEP
(Petroleum Exploration
Permit) 11 zone, after it
confirmed the seismic survey
location was on the southern
migration track of the
humpback whales.
“Also, Living Ocean’s data
has assisted Save Our Coast
and Surfrider Australia in
their campaigns for the
removal of the PEP 11 zone,”
adds Newman.
In 2019, the Behayve
app was launched to the
research and citizen science
community at the World
Marine Mammal Conference
in Barcelona.
“The Behayve app is already
in use by 130 research
teams worldwide, even in
COVID-restricted times – in
USA, Canada, Mexico, UK,
Germany, Russia, Australia,
New Zealand and others,”
says Fulton.
GOOD USE:
LJ Hooker Palm
Beach has loaned
Living Ocean a boat
to conduct research.
But to do their research
the Living Ocean volunteers
need to be out on the water,
and it’s David and Diana
Scott Edwards of LJ Hooker
Palm Beach who have made
that possible by giving them
free use of their 18 foot Iluka
Class boat, when it’s not being
used to show clients around
the Pittwater.
“It’s sensational that the
Edwards’ have lent us the
boat,” says Newman. “They’re
doing it because they care.”
Because it’s a small boat,
the team only go offshore in
calm weather.
“Because the whales are
migrating south, depending
on the conditions we usually
head up to Cape Three Points
and from there go out to pick
them up coming down the
coast, and once we find a pod
we follow it for as long as
we’re allowed. There are time
limits and strict state and
federal regulations.
“We’ve discovered that
humpback whales don’t use
sonar to navigate, but they
follow the same route year
after year – the mothers and
calves staying close to the
coast and the others taking
advantage of the east coast
current and swimming
further offshore.”
The vast volume of
research that Living Ocean
has gathered has resulted
in the organisation being
invited to participate as a full
partner in a study by Griffith
University and several South
African Universities to model
the effects of climate change
on southern hemisphere
whales.
Living Ocean also collects
data on microplastic for
AUSMAP and Fulton is
developing a microplastic app
for AUSMAP data collection.
AUSMAP is a nation-wide
citizen science initiative,
surveying Australian
beaches and waterways
for microplastic pollution.
AUSMAP is creating maps of
microplastic hotspots around
Australia, with the aim
that its findings will enable
communities and government
to implement behaviour
change, regulate industry
and develop better waste
management systems.
“It’s phenomenal,” says
Newman, “that this software
developed here on the
Northern Beaches is going
global.”
– Rosamund Burton
News
20 NOVEMBER 2020
The Local Voice Since 1991
The Local Voice Since 1991
NOVEMBER 2020 21