Dr Brian Miller: BSc (Hons), PhD
Research interests
I am a marine mammal acoustician, and this means that I develop and use specialised underwater listening devices and software to detect and locate sounds produced by marine mammals. I started working in this field in 2003 at Boston University’s Hearing Research Center by investigating the mechanics of cetacean (dolphin and whale) auditory systems. For my PhD at Otago University, I conducted 3D acoustic tracking of sperm whales in Kaikoura, New Zealand, and I also developed passive acoustic software for measuring individual growth in sperm whales. Since 2011 I have been working at the Australian Antarctic Division as part of the Australian Marine Mammal Centre. My work is focused on understanding the role and recovery of large whales throughout the Southern Ocean. In addition to Antarctic research, I also provide scientific advice on the effects of man-made underwater noise on marine mammals around Australia and Antarctica.
My main acoustic research tools in the Southern Ocean are sonobuoys and autonomous moored-acoustic recording devices (also known as whale recorders). I use sonobuoys to locate and track blue and fin whales in real-time during vessel based surveys. These acoustic tracking methods, which we developed for the IWC-SORP Antarctic Blue Whale Project, provide a reliable and efficient way to find and study critically endangered Antarctic blue whales. Moored acoustic recorders provide continuous sound recordings for an entire year for each deployment at each recording site. These long-term underwater recordings can give us insight into the distribution, habitat usage, and seasonal trends in vocal behaviour of more than a dozen Antarctic marine mammal species — each known to produce distinctive underwater sounds. These long-term recordings are especially useful for learning about blue, fin, and sperm whales, since these species are very vocal, but are otherwise not frequently encountered.
Current projects
- Conservation and management of Australian and Antarctic whales — post-exploitation status, distribution, foraging ecology and their role in the Southern Ocean ecosystem (#4600)
- Antarctic baleen whale habitat utilisation and linkages to environmental characteristics (#4101)
- Population abundance, trend, structure and distribution of the endangered Antarctic blue whale (#4102)
International/national collaborations
- International Whaling Commission — Southern Ocean Research Partnership (IWC-SORP)
- Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS): Capability Working Group on blue and fin whale acoustic trends
- Curtin University — Centre for Marine Science and Technology
- University of Queensland — Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory
- NOAA Fisheries — Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Key outcome areas
- International Whaling Commission (IWC)
- Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
- Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP)
- Australian State and Commonwealth Government and stakeholders
Related links
- Noisy sperm whales forage to the beat (Australian Antarctic Magazine 34, 2018)
- Mapping Antarctic blue whale hotspots (Australian Antarctic Magazine 32, 2017)
- Acoustic technology provides insights into blue whale behaviour. (Australian Antarctic Magazine 28, 2015)
- Sound science finds Antarctic blue whale hotspots. (Australian Antarctic Magazine 28, 2015)
- Australia’s successful Antarctic blue whale voyage (27 March 2013)
- Listening to the blues (Australian Antarctic Magazine 23, 2012)
Publications
BS Miller and EJ Miller (2018). The seasonal occupancy and diel behaviour of Antarctic sperm whales revealed by acoustic monitoring. Sci. Rep., 8, 5429. doi:10.1038/s41598-018–23752-1
BS Miller, S Calderan, D Gillespie et al. (2016). Software for real-time localization of baleen whale calls using directional sonobuoys: A case study on Antarctic blue whales. JASA-EL. 139(3):EL83–EL89. doi:10.1121/1.4943627
BS Miller, J Barlow, S Calderan, K Collins et al. (2015). Validating the reliability of passive acoustic localisation: a novel method for encountering rare and remote Antarctic blue whales. Endang. Species Res. 26:257–269 doi:10.3354/esr00642
See more of Dr Miller’s publications on ResearchGate.