Dr Phil Clapham, Professor Adam Pack, Distinguished Professor Peter Harrison, Dr Lyndon Brooks and Dr Wally Franklin as Co-Authors, are pleased to announce the publication of Dr Trish Franklin's paper on humpback whale behaviour in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia: CITATION: Franklin, T., Franklin, W., Brooks, L., Harrison, P., Pack, A.A., and Clapham, P.J. 2021. Social Behaviour of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Hervey Bay, Eastern Australia, a Preferential Female Stopover During the Southern Migration. Frontiers in Marine Science 8: 1761. ABSTRACT: Agonistic competitive social behaviour in humpback whales [Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781)] has been extensively studied and reported in previous research. However, non-agonistic social behaviour in humpback whale pods has not been systematically studied. We investigated the social behaviour of 3,949 humpback whale pods over a period of 14 years during August, September, and October in Hervey Bay (Queensland, eastern Australia), a preferential female stopover early in the southern migration. Modelling and analyses of the data examined the factors influencing the occurrence and timing of non-agonistic social behaviour pods, agonistic competitive pods and newly associated pods. Non-agonistic social behaviour was observed more frequently during August when mature females, including early pregnant and resting females, co-occur and socially interact with immature males and females. Overall, relatively few mature males visit Hervey Bay. Agonistic competitive behaviour was observed with increasing frequency during September and October when mother-calf pods, with few escorts predominated. Mother-calf pods in Hervey Bay spent most of their time alone involved in maternal care. Agonistic competitive behaviour is related to the decreasing numbers of potentially oestrous females toward the end of the season. Non-agonistic social behaviour and agonistic competitive behaviour were more frequently observed in larger and newly associated pods. Overall, non-agonistic social behaviour pods were more prevalent than agonistic competitive social behaviour pods. The results of this study substantiate that non-agonistic social behaviour may be more prevalent than aggressive agonistic social behaviour in site-specific locations and habitats, depending upon the classes and timings of humpback whales using such habitats. The paper was published open access in 'Frontiers in Marine Science - Marine Megafauna' in the research topic ’Sociality in the Marine Environment’ and can be downloaded from: Front. Mar. Sci., 03 December 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.<https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.652147> PDF’s are also available from Dr Wally Franklin, email: wally.franklin@scu.edu.au<mailto:wally.franklin@scu.edu.au> The body of work on Hervey Bay humpback Whales, Authored or Co-Authored by Dr Trish Franklin, is available at: Google Scholar: https://bit.ly/3mpYOH6 and ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3253-4053 Memoriam Dr Trish Franklin: After a year-long illness Dr Trish Franklin passed peacefully in the company of Family at Hervey Bay Hospital on the 6th September 2021, three-months prior to the publication of the above citation. Trish’s interest in Cetacea began in the mid-1970’s stimulated by a life-long Friend Peter Shenstone. After reading widely and learning the full impact of commercial whaling on all the Great Species of Whales between 700AD and 1976, Trish decided to establish an environmental organisation in the late-1970s to raise awareness about Cetacea. However, Trish’s desire was delayed while She completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honours, at La Trobe University in Melbourne; studying early interaction between Europeans and indigenous people of the Wotjobaluk Nation in the Wimmera (Franklin 1984<https://www.dropbox.com/s/0uzdwp6zvsa5lgt/EBENEZER_%C2%A9Patricia_Franklin_1984_01-09-15.pdf?dl=0>) and became involved in the Re-enactment of the Voyage of the First Fleet between 1984 and 1988 (https://bit.ly/3qqDYca). Participation in both processes had direct bearing on Trish’s interest in Cetacea; for that story see a speech Trish and Wally gave in 2016 (https://bit.ly/3mt0RdI). Upon completion of the Fleet Project in 1988, Trish finally established ’The Oceania Project<https://www.oceania.org.au/footer_stuff/corporate.html>’ and Trish and Wally undertook an exploratory expedition to Hervey Bay in 1989. Trish immediately decided to commit herself to a long-term photo-identification study of Hervey Bay humpback whales and between 1992 and 2017 Trish’s systematically observed, photographed and recorded the behaviour of Hervey Bay humpback whales for ten-weeks each season aboard ’The Oceania Project’s Annual Whale Research Expditions<https://www.oceania.org.au/expedition/expedition.html>'. In 2002 Trish was invited by Emeritus Professor Peter Baverstock to commence a PhD at Southern Cross University, which Trish completed in 2012 (Franklin 2012<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Trish-Franklin/publication/271206403_The_social_and_ecological_significance_of_Hervey_Bay_Queensland_for_eastern_Australian_humpback_whales_Megaptera_novaeangliae/links/55d9507b08aec156b9ac34bb/The-social-and-ecological-significance-of-Hervey-Bay-Queensland-for-eastern-Australian-humpback-whales-Megaptera-novaeangliae.pdf>). Trish published four major papers from Her work in Hervey Bay, Marine Mammal Science (Franklin et al. 2011<https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00430.x>). Canadian Journal of Zoology (Franklin et al. 2018<https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2017-0086>); Jounal of Cetacean Research and Management (Franklin et al. 2020<https://journal.iwc.int/index.php/jcrm/article/view/186>) and Frontiers of Marine Science (Franklin et al. 2021<https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.652147/full>). In 2019 Trish and Wally were invited as Keynote speakers to the World Whale Conference held in Hervey Bay and told their story of 'Thirty-years with the Humpback Whales of Hervey Bay: An Inspirational Journey<https://www.dropbox.com/s/6831b71l5s3dvqb/World%20Whale%20Conference_Keynote_Trish_Wally_Franklin.pdf?dl=0>’. In late-2019 Trish decided to return and settle in Hervey Bay to continue research and advocacy for the humpback whales of Hervey Bay she has passionately and powerfully studied over thirty-years. The Hervey Bay Whale Watch Industry, Hervey Bay Tourist Industry and Hervey Bay Community paid tribute to the life and work of Dr Trish Franklin, see: Tribute to Dr Trish Franklin Hervey Bay ‘Paddle Out for Whales’ 12th September 2021, 7News (1min 15s) : https://bit.ly/39hcuNU <https://bit.ly/39hcuNU> Tribute to Dr Trish Franklin ‘Creating Waves’ 18th September (Long, see early part): https://bit.ly/3aA1EDn Tribute to Dr Trish Franklin WIN News Hervey Bay 24th September (2m 4s): https://www.dropbox.com/s/yu9ndooaxxnhfa4/Dr_Trish_Franklin_WIN_Tribute_24-9... Fraser Coast Business & Tourism Awards, 2021 - John Craig-Gardiner Award to Dr Trish Franklin, 5th November 2021: https://businessandtourismawards.com.au/2021-winners/ <https://businessandtourismawards.com.au/2021-winners/> [cid:FC4C8E94-CDEA-4A32-AAC6-38F5997BE11B] Trish and I shared an incredible sixty-years of life together, half of which we had the privilege of spending among the wonderful Humpback whales of Hervey Bay which, Trish so passionately loved and studied… Memories of each of those sixty-years will sustain me, till we meet again in the Ocean of Great Spirit. Vale My Beloved Trish, Dr Wally Franklin
