Associate Professor Rebecca Dunlop
Associate Professor in Physiology & Associate Professor in Physiology
School of the Environment
+61 7 54601 963
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+61 7 54601 963
Researcher biography
Originally from Ireland, Rebecca Dunlop completed her BSc (Honours) degree in Environmental Biology followed by her PhD in fish neuroethology, both from The Queen's University of Belfast. She migrated Australia in 2004 to undertake a post-doc in humpback whale social communication at UQ. This research resulted in a number of highly cited papers, solidifying her international reputation as a leader and expert in large whale communication and social behaviour. She then began lecturing in the School of Veterinary Science in 2010, mainly in animal physiology and moved to the School of the Environment in 2021 to take up a lecturing position in animal behaviour and physiology.
Research
Rebecca's research interests are in animal physiology, behaviour, and communication. She mainly works on humpback whales, though has worked on bottlenose dolphins, beaked whales, pilot whales, and false killer whales. Her lab focuses on four main research areas: cetacean acoustic communication, hearing, and behaviour; the effects of noise on humpback communication, behaviour, and physiology; humpback whale social behaviour; and endocrine physiology in cetaceans. Her past and current PhD students and honours students all work within these core research areas.
She has been a P.I in several large collaborative projects aimed at determining the effects of noise on large whale behaviour and hearing in large whales. Understanding underwater noise impacts on marine mammals is a scientific area that is growing due to interest from the Navy, Oil and Gas companies, the vessel industry and from other ocean stakeholders such as whale watching companies. As part of this, she led the first humpback whale hearing experiments funded by the U.S Navy.
Her current work relates to offshore wind farm developments and their potential effects on recovering marine mammal populations, developing a reliable acoustic whale deterrent device for shark and fishing nets, and assessing, and mitigating for, the collision risk between migrating humpback whales and shipping.
Publications
Book Chapters
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Houser, Dorian (2024). Using Playback Experiments to Estimate the Hearing Range and Sensitivity in Humpback Whales. The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. (pp. 647-661) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-50256-9_44
Gannon, William L., Dunlop, Rebecca, Hawkins, Anthony and Thomas, Jeanette A. (2022). Collecting, documenting, and archiving bioacoustical data and metadata. Exploring animal behavior through sound. (pp. 87-110) edited by Christine Erbe and Jeanette A. Thomas. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-97540-1_3
Dunlop, Rebecca, Gannon, William L., Kiley-Worthington, Marthe, Hill, Peggy S. M., Wessel, Andreas and Thomas, Jeanette A. (2022). Vibrational and acoustic communication in animals. Exploring animal behavior through sound. (pp. 389-417) edited by Christine Erbe and Jeanette A. Thomas. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-97540-1_11
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2022). Humpback whales: a seemingly socially simple whale with communicative complexity. Ethology and behavioral ecology of mysticetes. (pp. 223-246) edited by Christopher W. Clark and Ellen C. Garland. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-98449-6_10
Erbe, Christine, Dunlop, Rebecca and Dolman, Sarah (2018). Effects of noise on marine mammals. Effects of anthropogenic noise on animals. (pp. 277-309) edited by Hans Slabbekoorn, Robert J. Dooling, Arthur N. Popper and Richard R. Fay. New York, NY, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8574-6_10
Lewandowski, Jill, Luczkovich, Joseph, Cato, Douglas and Dunlop, Rebecca (2016). Summary report panel 3: Gap analysis from the perspective of animal biology: Results of the panel discussion from the third international conference on the effects of noise on aquatic life. The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II. (pp. 1277-1281) edited by Arthur N. Popper and Anthony Hawkins. New York, United States: Springer New York LLC. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_161
Cato, Douglas H., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., McCauley, Robert D., Kniest, Eric, Paton, David and Kavanagh, Ailbhe S. (2016). Addressing challenges in studies of behavioral responses of whales to noise. The effects of noise on aquatic life II. (pp. 145-152) edited by Arthur N. Popper and Anthony Hawkins. New York, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_17
Harcourt, Robert, Marsh, Helene, Slip, David, Chilvers, Louise, Noad, Mike and Dunlop, Rebecca (2015). Marine mammals, back from the brink? Contemporary conservation issues. Austral ark: the state of wildlife in Australia and New Zealand. (pp. 322-353) edited by Adam Stow, Norman Maclea and Gregory I. Holwell. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Journal Articles
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Houser, Dorian S. (2025). A predicted humpback whale hearing curve based on modified behavioral observation audiometry data. Current Biology, 36 (2), 549-554. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.11.068
McNamara, Riona M. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2025). Changes in call rate and call level of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in response to seismic air guns. Marine Environmental Research, 211 107415, 107415. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107415
Dunlop, Rebecca, Gumley, Emma, McGrath, Ella Holding and Noad, Michael (2025). Southern Ocean humpback whales are shifting to an earlier return migration. Scientific Reports, 15 (1) 22859, 1-15. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-07010-9
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Houser, Dorian S. (2025). Humpback whale masked hearing thresholds in noise measured with modified behavioral observation audiometry. Communications Biology, 8 (1) 932, 1-9. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08349-5
Ovsyanikova, Ekaterina, McGovern, Barry, Hawkins, Elizabeth, Huijser, Léonie, Dunlop, Rebecca and Noad, Michael (2025). Balance between stability and variability in bottlenose dolphin signature whistles offers potential for additional information. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 157 (4), 2982-2993. doi: 10.1121/10.0036433
Dunlop, Rebecca and Noad, Michael (2024). Male humpback whales switch to singing in the presence of seismic air guns. Communications Biology, 7 (1) 1232, 1232. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06908-w
Linsky, Jacob M. J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and McMichael, Lee A. (2024). Blubber gene expression and cortisol concentrations reveal changing physiological stress in a Southern Ocean sentinel species. Marine Environmental Research, 199 106596, 106596. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106596
Owen, Kylie, Thompson, Ross M., Donnelly, David, Noad, Michael, Bury, Sarah J., Pinkerton, Matthew H. and Dunlop, Rebecca (2024). Southern Ocean humpback whale trophic ecology. II. Influence of fasting and opportunistic feeding on skin stable isotope values of migrating whales. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 734, 157-171. doi: 10.3354/meps14539
Dunlop, Rebecca (2024). Use of a behavioural response method to assess the risk of collision between migrating humpback whales and vessels. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 199 115986, 115986. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115986
Linsky, Jacob M. J., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and McMichael, Lee A. (2024). A novel RT‐qPCR health assay reveals differential expression of stress and immunoregulatory genes between the seasonal migrations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Molecular Ecology, 33 (2) e17209, e17209. doi: 10.1111/mec.17209
Girola, E., Dunlop, R. A. and Noad, M. J. (2023). Singing humpback whales respond to wind noise, but not to vessel noise. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290 (1998) 20230204, 20230204. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0204
Dunlop, Rebecca and Frere, Celine (2023). Post-whaling shift in mating tactics in male humpback whales. Communications Biology, 6 (1) 162, 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04509-7
Allen, Jenny A., Garland, Ellen C., Garrigue, Claire, Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2022). Song complexity is maintained during inter-population cultural transmission of humpback whale songs. Scientific Reports, 12 (1) 8999, 1-9. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12784-3
Wang, Althea, Dunlop, Rebecca, Allavena, Rachel and Palmieri, Chiara (2022). Gender representation on journal editorial boards in the field of veterinary sciences. Research in Veterinary Science, 148, 21-26. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2022.05.001
Booth, Cormac G., Brannan, Naomi, Dunlop, Rebecca, Friedlander, Ari, Isojunno, Saana, Miller, Patrick, Quick, Nicola, Southall, Brandon and Pirotta, Enrico (2022). A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91 (10), 1948-1960. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13787
Girola, E., Dunlop, R. A. and Noad, M. J. (2022). Singing in a noisy ocean: vocal plasticity in male humpback whales. Bioacoustics, 32 (3), 1-24. doi: 10.1080/09524622.2022.2122560
Linsky, Jacob M. J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and McMichael, Lee A. (2022). A mammalian messenger RNA sex determination method from humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) blubber biopsies. Royal Society Open Science, 9 (9220556) 220556, 220556. doi: 10.1098/rsos.220556
Palmieri, Chiara, Dunlop, Rebecca and Allavena, Rachel E. (2022). The pandemic penalty on female researchers in veterinary pathology. Veterinary Pathology, 59 (6), 3009858221087640-1063. doi: 10.1177/03009858221087640
Indeck, Katherine L., Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2022). Humpback whale adult females and calves balance acoustic contact with vocal crypsis during periods of increased separation. Ecology and Evolution, 12 (2) e8604, e8604. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8604
Cusano, Dana A., Paton, David, Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2021). Socially complex breeding interactions in humpback whales are mediated using a complex acoustic repertoire. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 665186. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.665186
Indeck, Katherine L., Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2021). The conspecific avoidance strategies of adult female-calf humpback whales. Behavioral Ecology, 32 (5), 845-855. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arab031
Liu, Xinyue, Dunlop, Rebecca, Allavena, Rachel and Palmieri, Chiara (2021). Women representation and gender equality in different academic levels in veterinary science. Veterinary Sciences, 8 (8) 159, 1-11. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8080159
Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2021). The eavesdropping risk of conspicuous sexual signaling in humpback whales. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 75 (8) 124, 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s00265-021-03048-7
Cusano, Dana A., Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2021). Fuzzy clustering as a tool to differentiate between discrete and graded call types. JASA Express Letters, 1 (6) 061201, 061201. doi: 10.1121/10.0005111
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Braithwaite, Janelle, Mortensen, Lars O. and Harris, Catriona M. (2021). Assessing population-level effects of anthropogenic disturbance on a marine mammal population. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 624981. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.624981
Cusano, Dana A., Indeck, Katherine L., Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2020). Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) social call production reflects both motivational state and arousal. Bioacoustics, 31 (1), 1-24. doi: 10.1080/09524622.2020.1858450
Mingramm, Fletcher M. J., Keeley, Tamara, Whitworth, Deanne J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2020). Blubber cortisol levels in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a measure of physiological stress without effects from sampling. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 291 113436, 113436. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113436
Dunlop, Rebecca A., McCauley, Robert D. and Noad, Michael J. (2020). Ships and air guns reduce social interactions in humpback whales at greater ranges than other behavioral impacts. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 154 111072, 111072. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111072
Indeck, Katherine L., Girola, Elisa, Torterotot, Maëlle, Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2020). Adult female-calf acoustic communication signals in migrating east Australian humpback whales. Bioacoustics, 30 (3), 1-25. doi: 10.1080/09524622.2020.1742204
Mingramm, F. M.J., Keeley, T., Whitworth, D. J. and Dunlop, R. A. (2020). The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Hormones and Behavior, 117 104606, 104606. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104606
Gibson, Catherine Elizabeth, Williams, David, Dunlop, Rebecca and Beck, Suzanne (2020). Using social media as a cost-effective resource in the photo-identification of a coastal bottlenose dolphin community. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 30 (8) aqc.3356, 1702-1710. doi: 10.1002/aqc.3356
Allen, Jenny A., Garland, Ellen C., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2019). Network analysis reveals underlying syntactic features in a vocally learnt mammalian display, humpback whale song. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1917) 20192014, 20192014. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2014
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2019). The effects of vessel noise on the communication network of humpback whales. Royal Society Open Science, 6 (11) 190967, 190967. doi: 10.1098/rsos.190967
Mingramm, Fletcher M. J., Keeley, Tamara, Whitworth, Deanne J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2019). Relationships between blubber and respiratory vapour steroid hormone concentrations in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Aquatic Mammals, 45 (5), 465-477. doi: 10.1578/AM.45.5.2019.465
Mingramm, F.M.J., Dunlop, R.A., Blyde, D., Whitworth, D.J. and Keeley, T. (2019). Evaluation of respiratory vapour and blubber samples for use in endocrine assessments of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.). General and Comparative Endocrinology, 274, 37-49. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.12.015
Noad, Michael J., Kniest, Eric and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2019). Boom to bust? Implications for the continued rapid growth of the eastern Australian humpback whale population despite recovery. Population Ecology, 61 (2), 198-209. doi: 10.1002/1438-390x.1014
Girola, Elisa, Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Cato, Douglas H. (2019). Source levels of humpback whales decrease with frequency suggesting an air-filled resonator is used in sound production. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 145 (2), 869-880. doi: 10.1121/1.5090492
Allen, Jenny A., Garland, Ellen C., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2018). Cultural revolutions reduce complexity in the songs of humpback whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285 (1891) 20182088, 20182088. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2088
Dudgeon, Christine L., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2018). Modelling heterogeneity in detection probabilities in land and aerial abundance surveys in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Population Ecology, 60 (4), 371-387. doi: 10.1007/s10144-018-0631-8
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., McCauley, Robert D., Kniest, Eric, Slade, Robert, Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H. (2018). A behavioural dose-response model for migrating humpback whales and seismic air gun noise. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 133, 506-516. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.06.009
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2018). The communication space of humpback whale social sounds in wind-dominated noise. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144 (2), 540-551. doi: 10.1121/1.5047744
Murray, Anita, Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Goldizen, Anne W. (2018). Stereotypic and complex phrase types provide structural evidence for a multi-message display in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143 (2), 980-994. doi: 10.1121/1.5023680
Dunlop, Rebecca A, Noad, Michael J, McCauley, Robert D, Kniest, Eric, Slade, Robert, Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H (2017). The behavioural response of migrating humpback whales to a full seismic airgun array. Proceedings. Biological sciences, 284 (1869) 20171901, 1-10. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1901
Gibbs, Nadine J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Gibbs, E. John, Heberley, Joseph A. and Olavarría, Carlos (2017). The potential beginning of a postwhaling recovery in New Zealand humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science, 34 (2), 499-513. doi: 10.1111/mms.12468
Allen, Jenny A., Murray, Anita, Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Garland, Ellen C. (2017). Using self-organizing maps to classify humpback whale song units and quantify their similarity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 142 (4), 1943-1952. doi: 10.1121/1.4982040
Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Mack, Amelia K. (2017). Changes in humpback whale singing behavior with abundance: Implications for the development of acoustic surveys of cetaceans. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 142 (3), 1611-1618. doi: 10.1121/1.5001502
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., McCauley, Robert D., Scott-Hayward, Lindsay, Kniest, Eric, Slade, Robert, Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H. (2017). Determining the behavioural dose-response relationship of marine mammals to air gun noise and source proximity. Journal of Experimental Biology, 220 (16), 2878-2886. doi: 10.1242/jeb.160192
McGrath, Nicky, Dunlop, Rebecca, Dwyer, Cathy, Burman, Oliver and Phillips, Clive J. C. (2017). Hens vary their vocal repertoire and structure when anticipating different types of reward. Animal Behaviour, 130, 79-96. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.05.025
Erbe, Christine, Dunlop, Rebecca, Jenner, K. Curt S., Jenner, Micheline-N. M., McCauley, Robert D., Parnum, Iain, Parsons, Miles, Rogers, Tracey and Salgado-Kent, Chandra (2017). Review of underwater and in-air sounds emitted by Australian and Antarctic marine mammals. Acoustics Australia, 45 (2), 179-241. doi: 10.1007/s40857-017-0101-z
Kavanagh, Ailbhe S. , Noad, Michael J. , Blomberg, Simon P. , Goldizen, Anne W. , Kniest, Eric, Cato, Douglas H. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2017). Factors driving the variability in diving and movement behavior of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): implications for anthropogenic disturbance studies. Marine Mammal Science, 33 (2), 413-439. doi: 10.1111/mms.12375
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2017). Potential motivational information encoded within humpback whale non-song vocal sounds. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 141 (3), 2204-2213. doi: 10.1121/1.4978615
Kavanagh, Ailbhe S., Owen, Kylie, Williamson, Michael J., Blomberg, Simon P., Noad, Michael J., Goldizen, Anne W., Kniest, Eric, Cato, Douglas H. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2017). Evidence for the functions of surface-active behaviors in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science, 33 (1), 313-334. doi: 10.1111/mms.12374
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Cato, Douglas H. (2016). A spatially explicit model of the movement of humpback whales relative to a source. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 27 (1). doi: 10.1121/2.0000296
Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Noad, Michael J. (2016). The “risky” business of singing: tactical use of song during joining by male humpback whales. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70 (12), 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s00265-016-2218-8
Williamson, Michael J., Kavanagh, Ailbhe S., Noad, Michael J., Kniest, Eric and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). The effect of close approaches for tagging activities by small research vessels on the behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science, 32 (4), 1234-1253. doi: 10.1111/mms.12324
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). Changes in vocal parameters with social context in humpback whales: considering the effect of bystanders. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70 (6), 857-870. doi: 10.1007/s00265-016-2108-0
Owen, Kylie, Kavanagh, Ailbhe S., Warren, Joseph, Noad, Michael J., Donnelly, David, Goldizen, Anne W. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). Potential energy gain by whales outside of the Antarctic: prey preferences and consumption rates of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Polar Biology, 40 (2), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s00300-016-1951-9
Kavanagh, Ailbhe S., Goldizen, Anne W., Blomberg Simon P., Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). Factors affecting the reliability and validity of behavioural datasets: Assessing the impact of observers' experience and native language on studies of wild animals. Aquatic Mammals, 42 (1), 1-11. doi: 10.1578/AM.42.1.2016.1
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., McCauley, Robert D., Kniest, Eric, Slade, Robert, Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H. (2016). Response of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to ramp-up of a small experimental air gun array. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 103 (1-2), 72-83. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.12.044
Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). The effect of vessel noise on humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, communication behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 111, 13-21. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.10.002
Godwin, Elise M., Noad, Michael J., Kniest, Eric and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). Comparing multiple sampling platforms for measuring the behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science, 32 (1), 268-286. doi: 10.1111/mms.12262
Owen, Kylie, Dunlop, Rebecca A., Monty, Jason P., Chung, Daniel, Noad, Michael J., Donnelly, David, Goldizen, Anne W. and Mackenzie, Thomas (2016). Detecting surface-feeding behavior by rorqual whales in accelerometer data. Marine Mammal Science, 32 (1), 327-348. doi: 10.1111/mms.12271
Owen, Kylie, Warren, Joseph D., Noad, Michael J., Donnelly, David, Goldizen, Anne W. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2015). Effect of prey type on the fine-scale feeding behaviour of migrating east Australian humpback whales. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 541, 231-244. doi: 10.3354/meps11551
Rekdahl, Melinda L., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Goldizen, Anne W., Garland, Ellen C., Biassoni, Nicoletta, Miller, Patrick and Noad, Michael J. (2015). Non-song social call bouts of migrating humpback whales. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 137 (6), 3042-3053. doi: 10.1121/1.4921280
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., McCauley, Robert D., Kniest, Eric, Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H. (2015). The behavioural response of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to a 20 cubic inch air gun. Aquatic Mammals, 41 (4), 412-433. doi: 10.1578/AM.41.4.2015.412
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Cato, Douglas H. and Noad, Michael J. (2014). Evidence of a Lombard response in migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 136 (1), 430-437. doi: 10.1121/1.4883598
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Cato, Douglas H., Noad, Michael J. and Stokes, Dale M. (2013). Source levels of social sounds in migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 134 (1), 706-714. doi: 10.1121/1.4807828
Rekdahl, Melinda L., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Goldizen, Anne W. (2013). Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 133 (3), 1785-1795. doi: 10.1121/1.4789941
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., Cato, Douglas H., Kniest, Eric, Miller, Patrick J. O., Smith, Joshua N. and Stokes, M. Dale (2013). Multivariate analysis of behavioural response experiments in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Journal of Experimental Biology, 216 (5), 759-770. doi: 10.1242/jeb.071498
Cato, Douglas H., Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., McCauley, Robert D., Gales, Nicholas J., Kent, Chandra P.Salgado, Kniest, Hendrik, Paton, David, Jenner, K.Curt S., Noad, John, Maggi, Amos L., Parnum, Iain M. and Duncan, Alec J. (2013). A study of the behavioural response of whales to the noise of seismic air guns: Design, methods and progress. Acoustics Australia, 41 (1), 88-97.
Owen, Kylie, Dunlop, Rebecca and Donnelly, David (2012). Seaweed interactions by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a form of object play?. Aquatic Mammals, 38 (4), 418-422. doi: 10.1578/AM.38.4.2012.418
Hedley, Sharon L., Bannister, John L. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2011). Abundance estimates of Breeding Stock ‘D’ Humpback Whales from aerial and land-based surveys off Shark Bay, Western Australia, 2008. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Special Issue 3), 209-221.
Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A., Paton, D. and Cato, D. H. (2011). Absolute and relative abundance estimates of Australian east coast humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Special Issue 3), 243-252.
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Cato, Douglas H. and Noad, Michael J. (2010). Your attention please: Increasing ambient noise levels elicits a change in communication behaviour in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 277 (1693), 2521-2529. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2319
Smith, J.N., Goldizen, A. W., Dunlop, R. A. and Noad, M. J. (2008). Songs of male humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, are involved in intersexual interactions. Animal Behaviour, 76 (2), 467-477. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.013
Dunlop, Rebecca A. and Mellor, Adam (2008). Probable acoustic recordings of sperm whales (physeter macrocephalus) along the north antrim coast, Northern Ireland. Biology and Environment, 108 (3), 135-141. doi: 10.3318/BIOE.2008.108.3.135
Dunlop, R.A., Cato, D.H. and Noad, M. J. (2008). Non-song acoustic communication in migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Marine Mammal Science, 24 (3), 613-629. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00208.x
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., Cato, Douglas H. and Stokes, Dale (2007). The social vocalization repertoire of east Australian migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 122 (5), 2893-2905. doi: 10.1121/1.2783115
Dunlop, R., Millsopp, S. and Laming, P. (2006). Avoidance learning in goldfish (Carassius auratus) and trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and implications for Pain perception. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 97 (2-4), 255-271. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2005.06.018
Dunlop, R. and Laming, P. (2005). Mechanoreceptive and nociceptive responses in the central nervous system of goldfish (Carassius auratus) and trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Journal of Pain, 6 (9), 561-568. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2005.02.010
Dunlop, R. A., Laming, P. R. and Smith, T. E. (2004). The stress of four commercial farming practices, feeding, counting, grading and harvesting, in farmed rainbow trout, oncorhynchus mykiss. Marine And Freshwater Behaviour And Physiology, 37 (3), 179-192. doi: 10.1080/10236240400006133
Conference Papers
Dunlop, Rebecca (2024). Testing Hearing in Baleen Whales. Acoustics 2024: Acoustics in the Sun, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 6 - 8 November 2024. Toowong, QLD Australia: Australian Acoustical Society.
Noad, Michael and Dunlop, Rebecca (2023). Humpback whales increase the length of their songs during nearby airgun operations. Acoustics 2023, Sydney, NSW Australia, 4-8 December 2023. Melville, NY, United States: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/10.0022891
Dunlop, Rebecca, Noad, Michael and Houser, Dorian (2023). Using behavioural response experiments to measure humpback whale hearing in noise. Acoustics 2023, Sydney, NSW Australia, 4-8 December 2023. Melville, NY United States: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/10.0022751
McCauley, Robert, Cato, Douglas H., Dunlop, Rebecca and Noad, Michael (2023). Measurements of a 20, 440, and 3130 cubic inch air gun or array off Peregian Beach Queensland and Dongara Western Australia highlight small and large scale inhomogeneous sound propagation environments. Acoustics 2023, Sydney, NSW Australia, 4-8 December 2023. Melville, NY, United States: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/10.0023019
Dunlop, Rebecca (2018). The communication space of humpback whale social sounds in vessel noise. 176th Meeting of Acoustical Society of America 2018 Acoustics Week in Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada, 5-9 November 2018. Melville, NY, United States: Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/2.0000935
Noad, Michael J. and Dunlop, Rebecca A. (2016). Marine mammals and the impacts of anthropogenic noise: considerations for the design of large acoustic behavioural response studies such as BRAHSS. Second Australasian Acoustical Societies Conference (ACOUSTICS 2016), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 9-11 November 2016. Australian Acoustical Society.
Dunlop, Rebecca, Noad, Michael and Cato, Douglas (2013). Modification of humpback whale social sound repertoire and vocal source levels with increased noise. ICA 2013: 21st International Congress on Acoustics, Montréal, QC, Canada, 2-7 June, 2013. Melville, NY, United States: Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/1.4799213
Cato, Douglas H., Noad, Michael, Dunlop, Rebecca, McCauley, Robert D., Kniest, Hendrik, Paton, David, Kent, Chandra P. Salgado and Jenner, Curt S. (2013). Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns. ICA 2013 Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 2 - 7 June 2013. Melville, NY United States: Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/1.4800994
Noad, Michael, Dunlop, Rebecca and Cato, Douglas (2012). The Lombard effect in humpback whales. Acoustics 2012 Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 13-18 May 2012. Melville, NY, United States: Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/1.4709026
Cato, D., Dunlop, R., Noad, M., McCauley, R., Salgado Kent, C., Kniest, H., Paton, D., Noad, J. and Jenner, C. (2012). Studies of the effectiveness of ramp-up as a mitigation method in impacts of noise on marine mammals. 11th European Conference on Underwater Acoustics, Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K., 2-6 July 2012.
Cato, Douglas H., Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., McCauley, Robert D., Gales, Nicholas J., Salgado Kent, Chandra P., Kniest, Hendrik, Paton, David, Jenner, K. Curt S., Noad, John, Maggi, Amos L., Parnum, Iain M. and Duncan, Alec J. (2012). Project BRAHSS: behavioural response of humpback whales to seismic surveys. 2012 Annual Conference of the Australian Acoustical Society (AAS2012), Freemantle, WA, Australia, 21 - 23 November 2012. Sydney, Australia: The Australian Acoustical Society.
Cato, Douglas, McCauley, Robert, Noad, Michael, Dunlop, Rebecca, Kniest, Hendrick, Gales, Nicholas, Salgado Kent, Chandra, Paton, David, Noad, John, Jenner, Curt, Duncan, Alec and Maggi, Amos (2012). Acoustic issues in studies of behavioral response of humpback whales to seismic ramp-up and hard start. Acoustics 2012 Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 13-18 May 2012. doi: 10.1121/1.4709029
Dunlop. Rebecca (2012). High resolution data from DTAGS on the response of humpback whales to noise from seismic air guns. Acoustics 2012 Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 13-18 May 2012. Melville, NY, United States: Acoustical Society of America. doi: 10.1121/1.4709322
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J. and Cato, Douglas H. (2012). Behavioral response studies: Problems with statistical power. Second International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, Cork, Ireland, 15-20 August 2010. New York, United States: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-7311-5_65
Noad, Michael, Cato, Douglas, Dunlop, Rebecca and McCauley, Robert (2011). Measuring behavioural impacts of seismic surveys on humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Australian Marine Sciences Association 48th Annual Conference, Fremantle, Australia, 3-7 July 2011. Australian Marine Sciences Association.
Kavanagh, Ailbhe S., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Goldizen, Anne W. and Noad, Michael J. (2011). Measuring natural behavior in migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Tampa, FL, United States, 27 November - 2 December 2011.
Cato, D.H., Noad, M.J., Dunlop, R.A., McCauley, R.D., Gales, N.J., Salgado Kent, C.P., Paton, D., Kniest, H. and Noad, J. (2011). Behavioural responses of Australian humpback whales to seismic surveys. 4th conference on the Effects of Sound in the Ocean on Marine Mammals, Amsterdam, 5-8 September 2011.
Rekdahl, M., Dunlop, R., Goldizen, A. and Noad, M. (2011). Sequence analysis of non-song social calls in migrating humpback whales. Society for Marine Mammalogy 19th Biennial Conference, Tampa, United States, 27 November - 3 December 2011.
Dunlop, R., Noad, M. and Cato, D. (2011). Behavioural response studies in large marine mammals. Australian Marine Sciences Association, 48th Annual Conference, Fremantle WA, 3-7 July 2011.
Cato, D.H., Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A., McCauley, R., Salgado Kent, C., Gales, N. J., Kniest, H., Noad, J. and Paton, D. (2011). Behavioural responses of Australian humpback whales to seismic surveys. 161st meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, United States, 23-27 May 2011.
Cato, Douglas H., Dunlop, Rebecca A., McCauley, Robert D., Noad, Michael J., Parnum, Iain M., Savage, Mark, Gibbs, Susan, Donnelly, David and Blewett, Michelle (2011). Listening to ocean sounds: using underwater acoustics to study marine animals. Australian Marine Sciences Association 48th Annual Conference, Fremantle, Australia, 3-7 July 2011. Australian Marine Sciences Association.
Cato, Douglas H., Savage, Mark, Dunlop, Rebecca A., Parnum, Iain, Blewitt, Michelle, Gibbs, Sue, Donnelly, David, Cleary, Jane and McCauley, Robert D. (2010). Acoustic surveying for beaked whales in the Coral Sea as a mitigation measure for naval exercises. OCEANS'10 IEEE Sydney, OCEANSSYD 2010, Sydney, NSW, 24 27 May 2010. Piscataway, NJ United States: I E E E. doi: 10.1109/OCEANSSYD.2010.5603622
Rekdahl, M. L., Dunlop, R. A., Goldizen, A. W. and Noad, M. J. (2010). Temporal variability in the social vocalization repertoire of humpback whales migrating off the east coast of Australia.. 24th Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Stralsund, Germany, 20-25 March 2010.
Cato, D., Noad, M. J., McCauley, R.D., Dunlop, R. A. and Gales, N. (2010). Behavioural Response Study with airguns and humpback whales.. APPEA National Environment Conference, Coolum, Australia, Aug 31 – Sep 2 2010.
Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A., Cato, D. H. and McCauley, R. D. (2009). Australian acoustic behavioural response studies.. International Behavioral Response Study Workshop, Lerici, Italy, April 14-15 2009.
Cato, D.H., McCauley, R. D., Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A. and Gales, N. J. (2009). Proposal for a series of Controlled Exposure Experiments with air guns and Australian humpback whales. 3rd Intergovernmental Conference: The Effects of Sound in the Ocean on Marine Mammals, Lerici, Italy, 7-9 September 2009.
Dunlop, R. A., Noad, M. J., Cato, D. H., Miller, P. J. and Stokes, M. D. (2009). Playback experiments on the east coast of Australia. 3rd Intergovernmental Conference: The Effects of Sound in the Ocean on Marine Mammals, Lerici, Italy, 7-9 September 2009.
Smith, J., Goldizen, A., Dunlop, R., Cato, D. and Noad, M. (2007). Variation in humpback whale song within a social context. 17th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammology, Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November - 3 December, 2007. Abstracts of the 17th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammology.
Rekdahl, M. L., Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A. and Goldizen, A. (2007). The acoustic behaviour of provisioned and non-provisioned bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Moreton Bay, Australia. 17th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November- 3 December 2007.
Rekdahl, M. L., Noad, M. J., Dunlop, R. A. and Goldzien, A. (2007). Comparisons of acoustic behaviour between wild provisioned and wild unprovisioned bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Moreton Bay, Australia. 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November - 3 December, 2007. Society for Marine Mammalogy.
Dunlop, R.A., Cato, D. and Noad, Michael J. (2007). Changes in vocal amplitude during social interactions in the Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town, South Africa, 29 November - 3 December 2007. South Africa: Beta Products cc.
Dunlop, Rebecca A., Noad, Michael J., Cato, Douglas H. and Stokes, M. Dale (2006). Look who's talking: Social communication in migrating humpback whales. Fourth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan, Hawaii, United States, 28 November - 2 December 2006. Lancaster, Pa., U.S.: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/1.4776866
Noad, M J, Dunlop, R A, Cato, H., Stokes, D, Miller, P. and Biassoni, N. (2006). Humpback whale social sounds: Sources levels and response to playback. Fourth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan, Hawaii, 28 November - 2 December 2006. US: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/1.4787051
Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Cato, Douglas H., Stokes, M. Dale, Miller, Patrick and Biassoni, Nicoletta (2006). The Humpback Whale acoustic research collaboration studies on the use of sound by humpback whales. Fourth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan, Hawaii, 28 November - 2 December 2006. Lancaster, Pa.: American Institute of Physics. doi: 10.1121/1.4786573
Cato, D.H., Noad, M. J., Stokes, M. D., Dunlop, R. A., Smith, J., Miller, P. J., Biassoni, N., Kniest, H., Noad, J, Thode, A. and Deane, G.B. (2006). Humpback Whale Acoustic Research Collaboration studies on the use of sound by humpback whales.. 151st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Providence, RI, 5-9 June 2006.
Dunlop, R. A., Noad, M. J. and Cato, D.H. (2005). Widespread and contextural use of social communication in migrating Humpback whales. The 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego, California, USA,, 12-16 December, 2005. California, USA: Socy. for Marine Mammalogy.
Krzyszvzyk, E., Dunlop, R. A., Paton, D., Noad, M. J. and Goold, J. (2005). Breaching by Humpback Whales during migration off the East Coast of Australia. The 16th Biennial Conf. on the Biology of Marine Mammals, California, USA, 12-16 December 2005. California, USA: Socy. for Marine Mammalogy.
Noad, M. J., Cato, D.H. and Dunlop, R. A. (2005). Spacing function for song in Humpback whales. The 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego, California, USA, 12-16 December, 2005. USA: Socy. for Marine Mammalogy.
Smith, J., Noad, M. J. and Dunlop, R. A. (2005). Male Humpback whales sing more while escorting females than with other males. The 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego, California, 12-16 December 2005. USA: Society for Marine Mammalogy.
Research Report
Noad, Michael J., Dunlop, Rebecca A., Paton, David and Cato, Douglas H. (2008). An update of the east Australian humpback whale population (E1) rate of increase. Santiago, Chile: International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee.
Data Collections
Dunlop, Rebecca (2025). Humpback frequency-dependent hearing in environmental noise behavioural response and acoustic data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/9e04b26
Dunlop, Rebecca (2025). Visual survey data east coast Australian humpback whales, Peregian Beach, 2003 to 2024. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/f7a3432
Dunlop, Rebecca (2025). Acoustic survey data September/October 2003 to 2024, Peregian Beach. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/413d598
Johnson, Liam, Dunlop, Rebecca, Noad, Michael and Johnson, Liam (2025). Supplementary material. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/cbdbfce
Dunlop, Rebecca and Noad, Michael (2025). HHARC hearing in humpback whales final dataset. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/cf55816
Dunlop, Rebecca (2024). Behavioural response of Australian humpback whales to seismic surveys 2010 to 2015 : 3 hr summary data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/901b6b8
Linsky, Jake, Dunlop, Rebecca and Noad, Michael (2022). A mammalian mRNA sex determination method from humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) blubber biopsies_Data. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/3f8d326
Dunlop, Rebecca (2022). Male humpback whale breeding behaviour 1997 to 2015. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/99e5e62
Dunlop, Rebecca, and Noad, Michael (2021). The eavesdropping risk of conspicuous sexual signalling in humpback whales. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/0a11259