The Australian fur seal is an ecologically important marine mammal in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Despite legislative protection, it is increasingly exposed to anthropogenic impacts, and if current trends continue, overall population abundance will decline. Seal Rocks, Victoria, the species’ largest and most visited breeding colony, is presumed to be more habituated to vessel visitation compared to other Australian fur seal colonies. However, this has never been tested, and the noise produced by vessel visitation and its impact remains unknown.
The overall aim of this study is to determine the impact of vessel noise on the Seal Rocks colony, and to assess whether the current management strategy at the site is adequate, by developing an acoustic impact model of vessel visitation. The methodology of the model will be discussed, and preliminary comparisons of health parameters from pups sampled during peak and off-peak visitation, including haematological parameters and body condition index, will be presented. It is critical to understand the response of the population to varying levels of vessel noise and visitation in different seasons (peak or off-peak) in the context of varying health, stress and reproductive status to better inform adaptive management strategies for this population.