Expertise and research interests
After growing up on the outskirts of New York City and obtaining a bachelor's degree in biology from Wesleyan University, I went to graduate school at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the Ocean Sciences department. Here I worked on a range of marine mammal and acoustics projects (primarily impacts of man-made sound on marine mammals) before focusing on my dissertation research on minke whale acoustic behaviour and remote acoustic tracking of singer movements on the Great Barrier Reef. I began working at the Australian Antarctic Division in 2004. My position has a dual focus of 1) providing scientific advice to inform Australia's policy position at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and attending the IWC- Scientific Committee; and 2) conducting acoustic research on cetaceans in the Southern Ocean. In addition, a large focus of my work is to provide scientific advice regarding the potential impact of man-made sound on marine mammals.
My research interests focus on using underwater sound to monitor cetaceans throughout the world's oceans. While the ocean typically filters light from the water column within tens of meters, sound has the potential to travel hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres underwater. I am primarily interested in the use of passive acoustics (listening) to learn about marine mammal behaviour, movements, distribution, habitat utilization, and in refining acoustic surveying techniques for use in abundance estimates. Remote acoustic techniques like these are particularly useful to address broad population level questions like presence, seasonality, relative abundance and distribution of marine mammals in the Southern Ocean where conditions often make other means of research difficult.
Selected publications
Boyd, I., R. Brownell, D. Cato, Chris Clark, D.P. Costa, P. Evans, J. Gedamke, R. Gentry, R. Gisiner, J. Gordon, P. Jepson, P. Miller, L. Rendell, M. Tasker, P. Tyack, E. Vos, H. Whitehead, D. Wartzok, W. Zimmer (2008). The effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals: A draft research strategy. European Science Foundation Marine Board Position Paper 13. 24 pp.
Childerhouse, S., Gales, N., Baker, C.S., Bass, C., Berggren, P., Bickham, J., Breiwick, J., Brownell, R., Carlson, C., Charrassin, J-B., Cipriano, F., Clapham, P., Collins, T., Cooke, J., Cossi, B., Dinter, W., Engel, M., Findlay, K., Fortuna, C., Funahashi, N., Gedamke, J., et al. (2005) Comments on the Government of Japan's Proposal for a Second Phase of Special Permit Whaling in Antarctica (JARPA II). International Whales Commission Scientific Committee, Korea, 2005: SC/57/022.
Costa, D.P., D.E. Crocker, J. Gedamke, P.M. Webb, D. Houser, S. Blackwell, D. Waples & B.J. LeBoeuf. (2003) Effects of the ATOC sound source on the diving behavior of northern elephant seals. J. Acoust. Soc. Am.113(2): 1155-1165.
Costa, D.P., D.E. Crocker, D.M. Waples, P.M. Webb, J. Gedamke, D. Houser, P.D. Goley, B.J. LeBoeuf, and J. Calambokidis. (1998) The California Marine Mammal Research Program of the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate experiment: Potential effects of low frequency sound on distribution and behavior of marine mammals. Taking a Look at California's Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future.O.T. Magoon et al. (ed.) American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, 1998, vol. 2, pp. 1542-1553 .
Croll, D.A., C.W. Clark, A. Acevedo, B. Tershy, S. Flores, J. Gedamke and J. Urban. (2002) Bioacoustics: Only male fin whales sing loud songs. Nature 417: 809.
Gedamke, J., and S.M Robinson (in press). Acoustic survey for marine mammal occurrence and distribution off East Antarctica (30-80°E) in January-February 2006. Deep Sea Research II.
Gedamke, J., D.P. Costa, and A. Dunstan. 2001. Localization and visual verification of a complex minke whale vocalization. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109(6): 3038-3047.
Gedamke, J., Gales, N., Hildebrand, J., Wiggins, S. (2007) Seasonal occurrence of low frequency whale vocalisations across eastern Antarctic and southern Australian waters, February 2004 to February 2007 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission-Scientific Committee, Paper SC/59/SH5.
Gedamke, J., Robinson, S., Gales, N. (2006) Acoustic survey of marine mammal distribution and occurrence in the waters of East Antarctica (30-80°E) during the Austral Summer of 2006. 2006 Meeting of the International Whaling Commission-Scientific Committee, Paper SC/58/17.
Gedamke, J., Gales, N., Hildebrand, J., Wiggins, S. (2006) Seasonal occurrence of low frequency whale vocalizations in waters of East Antarctica, February 2005-February 2006. 2006 Meeting of the International Whaling Commission-Scientific Committee, Paper SC/58/18.
Gedamke, J. (2005) Sounds of the 'silent world'. Pyper, W. (ed.) Australian Antarctic Magazine 9 (Spring 2005). 14-15.
Gedamke, J. (2005) Australia. Progress Report on Cetacean research, January 2004 to December 2004, with Statistical Data for the Calendar Year 2004 2005 meeting of the International Whaling Commission - Scientific Committee, Paper SC/57/ProgRepAustralia.
Gedamke, J. (2006) Australia. Progress Report on Cetacean Research, January 2005 to December 2005, with Statistical Data for the Calendar Year 2005 2006 meeting of the International Whaling Commission - Scientific Committee, Paper SC/58/ProgRepAustralia.
Gedamke, J. (2007) Australia. Progress Report on Cetacean Research, January 2006 to December 2006, with Statistical Data for the Calendar Year 2006 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission - Scientific Committee, Paper SC/59/ProgRepAustralia.
Gedamke, J., Frydman, S., Gales, N. (2008) Risk of Baleen Whale Hearing Loss from Seismic Surveys: Preliminary Results from Simulations Accounting for Uncertainty and Individual Variation 2008 IWC-Scientific Committee SC/60/E9.
Gedamke, J. (2008) Progress Report on Cetacean Research, January 2007 to December 2007, with Statistical Data for the Calendar Year 2007 2008 IWC-Scientific Committee Paper SC/60/ProgRepAustralia.
Le Boeuf, B.J., D.P. Costa, S.B. Blackwell, D.E. Crocker, P.M. Webb, J. Gedamke, and J. Grayson (2000) Respiration and heart rate at the surface in northern elephant seals. J. Exp. Bio. 203: 3265-3274.
Nicol, S., Kawaguchi, S., Jarvis, T., Williams, G., Bindoff, N., Thiele, D., Schwarz, J., Davidson, A., Wright, S., Gedamke, J., Thompson, P (2006) An overview of a large ecosystem survey of the South West Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean (CCAMLR Division 58.4.2). CCAMLR WG-EMM-06/15.
Nicol, S., Kawaguchi, S., Jarvis, T., Williams, G., Bindoff, N., Thiele, D., Schwarz, J., Davidson, A., Wright, S., Gedamke, J., Thomson, P. (2006) The BROKE-West ecosystem survey of the South West Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean (CCAMLR Division 58.4.2) - a summary of activities. 2006 Meeting of the International Whaling Commission-Scientific Committee, Paper SC/58/E27.
Palazzo, J.T., Augustowski, M., Barreto, A.S., Engel, M., Gales, N., Garcia, R., Gedamke, J., Groch, K.R., Iniguez, M., de Lima, R.P., Marcondes, M.C., Oosthuizen, H., Sironi, M., Tossenberger, V. (2007) The South Atlantic: A Sanctuary for Whales International Whaling Commission IWC-57-4.
Thalmann, S., R. Gales, M, Greenwood, and J. Gedamke. (2008). A new technique to re-float and rescue stranded sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Marine Mammal Science 24(4): 949-955.
Van Waerebeek, K., Baker, A.N., Félix, F., Gedamke, J., Iñiguez, M., Sanino, G.P., Secchi, E., Sutaria, D., van Helden, A., Wang, Y. (2007) Vessel collisions with small cetaceans worldwide and with large whales in the Southern Hemisphere, an initial assessment Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals 6: 43-69.
Van Waerebeek, K., Baker, A.N., Félix, F., Gedamke, J., Iñiguez, M., Sanino, G.P., Secchi, E., Sutaria, D., van Helden, A., Wang, Y. (2006) Vessel collisions with small cetaceans worldwide and with large whales in the Southern Hemisphere; building a standardized database 2006 Meeting of the International Whaling Commission-Scientific Committee, Paper SC/58/BC6.
