potential threats have been identified, there are no obvious explanations to account for their decline. Few studies have specifically investigated effects of shipping on cephalopods, although the literature suggests that shipping noise can cause physical, physiological and behavioural changes in some organisms. The aims of this project were to: (1) undertake a desktop review of related S. apama research including population trends, threats, shipping impacts and management, (2) investigate the potential impacts of shipping on through field/laboratory S. apama experimentation and analysis, (3) incorporate outcomes from experimental research into an integrated model assessing population viability, and (4) discuss associated conservation and management implications for in USG. S. apama For the experimental component of the project, adults and eggs were S. apama collected from False Bay, Whyalla, South Australia and transported to SARDI Aquatic Sciences Centre at West Beach. Eggs were kept in flow-through polystyrene holding tanks and exposed to shipping noise and turbidity on either a twice weekly or fortnightly basis (i.e. relevant to shipping frequency), with appropriate control treatments. Hatching success of eggs and embryonic development (length and weight of hatchlings) were examined for each treatment. Adults were held in individual flow-through conical tanks then placed in a resting respirometer and, after a suitable acclimation period (4 to 6 h), were exposed to reef and shipping noise in random order for approx. 2 h. Oxygen consumption in the chamber was measured to provide an indication of potential stress. Shipping noise and turbidity had no significant effect on hatching success though hatchlings exposed to noise were 3-6% larger than the control group. Increased shipping frequency led to slightly increased hatching success and increased size of hatchlings, although this may relate to increased handling and movement of eggs in these treatments. Turbidity had no significant effect on hatching success or embryonic development. Given the lack of effect of these factors on hatching success it was not possible to incorporate these variables into a demographic model. Shipping noise also had no effect on the metabolic rate of adult This S. apama. research only investigated the effect of one component of sound, sound pressure. The experiments investigated lethal effects on egg development and sub-lethal effects on embryonic growth and adult metabolism, however shipping noise may
potential threats have been identified, there are no obvious explanations to account for their decline. Few studies have specifically investigated effects of shipping on cephalopods, although the literature suggests that shipping noise can cause physical, physiological and behavioural changes in some organisms. The aims of this project were to: (1) undertake a desktop review of S. apama related research including population trends, threats, shipping impacts and management, (2) investigate the potential impacts of shipping on S. apama through field/laboratory experimentation and analysis, (3) incorporate outcomes from experimental research into an integrated model assessing population viability, and (4) discuss associated conservation and management implications for S. apama in USG. For the experimental component of the project, S. apama adults and eggs were collected from False Bay, Whyalla, South Australia and transported to SARDI Aquatic Sciences Centre at West Beach. Eggs were kept in flow-through polystyrene holding tanks and exposed to shipping noise and turbidity on either a twice weekly or fortnightly basis (i.e. relevant to shipping frequency), with appropriate control treatments. Hatching success of eggs and embryonic development (length and weight of hatchlings) were examined for each treatment. Adults were held in individual flow-through conical tanks then placed in a resting respirometer and, after a suitable acclimation period (4 to 6 h), were exposed to reef and shipping noise in random order for approx. 2 h. Oxygen consumption in the chamber was measured to provide an indication of potential stress. Shipping noise and turbidity had no significant effect on hatching success though hatchlings exposed to noise were 3-6% larger than the control group. Increased shipping frequency led to slightly increased hatching success and increased size of hatchlings, although this may relate to increased handling and movement of eggs in these treatments. Turbidity had no significant effect on hatching success or embryonic development. Given the lack of effect of these factors on hatching success it was not possible to incorporate these variables into a demographic model. Shipping noise also had no effect on the metabolic rate of adult S. apama. This research only investigated the effect of one component of sound, sound pressure. The experiments investigated lethal effects on egg development and sub-lethal effects on embryonic growth and adult metabolism, however shipping noise may
impacts-shipping-cuttlefish.docx