About us

The Australian Marine Mammal Centre is based in Hobart in the Australian Antarctic Division's Science Branch. The  Centre has 16 staff and students plus an extensive research community throughout Australia, representing over 20 institutions. A stakeholder advisory committee and a marine mammal scientific committee work with the Centre's staff to review priority research needs and ensure cross-jurisdictional integration of the work program.

The Centre was originally established with funding from the Australian Government's Commonwealth Environment Research Facility program and existing staff and resources from the Australian Antarctic Division's marine mammal research group.

The key functions of the Centre are to:

• provide timely and strategic advice and support to the Government on marine mammal matters, including interactions between seismic surveys and whales, fisheries and marine mammals and dugong hunting
• provide the research and conservation initiatives for the International Whaling Commission, including representation at the Scientific Committee and, where necessary, other related meetings and conventions (e.g. Convention on Migratory Species, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources)
• manage a marine mammal grants scheme on a competitive, annual cycle for strategic and prioritised marine mammal research (over the past two years over $1.6 million has been invested to fund about 26 priority marine mammal projects)
• run workshops and conferences to advance the Government's priorities in marine mammal conservation
• develop and manage a series of centralised marine mammal databases and applications to support the management of human and marine mammal interactions