DOLPHINS — SWAN RIVER
962. Hon ALISON XAMON to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to the article in the Western
Suburbs Weekly dated 22 August, titled ''Deadly dolphin virus''.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house what research has been undertaken to investigate the
cause of the five dolphin deaths reported to date?
(2) Does the
minister believe this poses a further threat to the existing population of the
Swan River dolphins?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has a formal
partnership with Murdoch University for ongoing necropsy and pathology
investigations. Dolphin necropsies were undertaken in association with a PhD
research project that is examining dolphin health. Necropsies were undertaken
on the five dolphins, which included testing for morbillivirus.
(2) The Swan
Canning Riverpark is currently home to 19 resident dolphins plus six calves. These
dolphins are a subpopulation of a larger
metapopulation of Indo–Pacific bottlenose dolphins that frequent the
coastal and estuarine waters near Perth. The size of the riverpark
dolphin subpopulation has been relatively stable over the last 10 years, after
recovering from the 2009 mortality event. Seven of the eight adult females in
the population were present when morbillivirus occurred in 2009 and therefore
may have some level of immunity to the disease.