Environmental Management

Our team has a proven track record of successfully delivering towards our clients’ environmental management objectives. Whether it’s in-field monitoring and surveying or desk-based research, advice and reporting, we have the capacity, the knowledge and the expertise to assist you.

Recent Projects

• Provision of vessels and trained dive crews for control and monitoring of crown of thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Client: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
• Development of the National Conservation Management Plan for blue whales in Australian waters. Client: Department of the Environment (DOE), Australia.
• Ground-based estimates of New Zealand sea lion pup production and mark recapture studies of pups at the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. Client: Department of Conservation (DOC), New Zealand (NZ).
• Estimate of the risk of vessel strike to marine mammals in Australian waters. Client: Australian Government.
• Multidisciplinary research programme on the humpback whale breeding grounds of the Great Barrier Reef - photo-ID, genetic analysis and bioacoustics. Joint project with University of Queensland and Oregon State University.
• MMO and PAM Operator services and systems for numerous 3D, VSP, and check-shot seismic surveys in NZ and Australia. Clients include: OMV, PGS, Woodside Energy, RPS, STOS, Chevron, TGS-Nopec, Schlumberger, NZOG, Anadarko, PTTEPAA, Hess, Jan De Nul, BMA, MED.
• Review of multi-beam echo-sounder surveys and potential impacts on marine mammals. Client: Marlborough District Council, NZ.
• Development of the National Recovery Plan for marine turtles in Australian waters. Client: Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPAC), Australia.
• Effects of mussel farm extension on dolphins in the Marlborough Sounds - expert evidence and advice on effects and management options. Client: Admiralty Bay Consortium, NZ.
• Expert advice on the proposal to leave the remains of the MV Rena on Astrolabe Reef - potential impacts on marine mammals. Client: Department of Conservation (DOC), NZ.
• Humpback whale satellite tagging, photo-ID and genetic sampling at the Kermadec Islands. Client: University of Auckland.
• Expert statement and evidence before the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) regarding sand mining off Taranaki. Client: Trans-Tasman Resources.
• Aerial surveys off South Australia to assess the diversity and distribution of cetaceans, with a focus on great whales (e.g. baleen whales plus sperm whale), and in particular blue whales. Client: IFAW.
• Expert statement and evidence before the EPA regarding the potential effects on marine mammals of Chatham Rock Phosphate's proposed marine consent to mine phosphorite nodules on the Chatham Rise. Client: DOC
• Analysis and reporting of all observer data collected during seismic surveys in New Zealand waters under the New Zealand Code of Conduct. Client: DOC.
• Vessel-based surveys for the assessment of the current status of cetaceans and feasibility of a whale watching industry in Samoa. Client: DEH.
• Report to identify and assess the current mitigation techniques for marine mammal and seabird capture employed in set net fisheries domestically and internationally, and recommendations as to their applicability to the New Zealand situation. Client: DOC.

• Technical assessment: Trans-shipping and mother-shipping operations in small pelagic fisheries in Australian waters. Client: Department of the Environment, Australia.
• Provision of a plan to mitigate the potential for collision with bottlenose dolphins – NZOPA Powerboat Race. Client: Far North District Council.
• Pilot studies to test aerial survey methods and land-based survey locations for population surveys of breeding stock ‘D’ of humpback whales (Western Australia). Client: Australian Marine Mammal Centre.
• Provide expert advice on monitoring and research programs for Māui dolphin, associated with offshore activities. Client: Golder NZ.
• Independent review the draft Great Keppel Island Resort Pre-construction Surveying Program. Client: FRC Environmental.
• Monitoring of aquatic ambient noise and the associated pressure impacts on marine megafauna in Port Curtis and Port Alma, East Australia: Gladstone Port Corporation.
• Desktop technical review of marine megafauna detection systems. Client: Chevron.
• Development of a draft coordinated research strategy to collect information required to assess the national conservation status of Australian tropical inshore dolphins. Client: SEWPAC.
• Technical review of the Pluto Turtle Monitoring Plan and lighting audit to assess impacts on turtles, Pluto LNG Project. Client: Woodside Energy.
• A review of the whale, dolphin and seal watching industry in Jervis Bay Marine Park including a review of the current permit system and potential impacts of this commercial industry. Client: NSW Marine Park Authority.
• Provision of a risk assessment and development of a rescue plan for marine mammals potentially caught inside a bund closure at Fisherman’s Landing, Brisbane. Client: Gladstone Port Corporation.
• Vessel-based survey within the Great Barrier Reef to validate modelling data on the identification of breeding grounds in the Great Barrier Reef. Client: Australian Antarctic Division.
• Review of the NZ Guidelines for Minimising Acoustic Disturbance to Marine Mammals from Seismic Survey Operations and Reference Document with respect to new research findings, international best practice and recent legislation changes within NZ. Analysis and reporting of submissions on the review. Client: DOC.
• Assessment of the environmental impacts of a proposed pearl oyster operation on whales, dolphins and turtles, Port Stephens, NSW. Environmental impact assessment report including appearing in the NSW Land and Environment Court as an expert witness in relation to this case. Client: NSW Department of Environment and Conservation.