Kylie Owen

Curator

Contact

Phone: +46 (0)8 519 551 13
E-mail: kylie.owen@nrm.se

Responsibilities

Responsible for the national monitoring program for harbour porpoise abundance and distribution, including assessment of trends in population detection rates. Research on harbour porpoises, including the impact of human activities such as underwater noise and fisheries on porpoise presence and behaviour. Expert advice to support to authorities in administrative matters concerning porpoises.

Research fields

Cetacean ecology, cetacean behaviour, foraging ecology, movement ecology, biotelemetry, dietary analyses, passive acoustic monitoring.

Projects

• Swedish national monitoring program for harbour porpoise abundance and distribution.
• A thriving Baltic Sea – harbour porpoises and underwater noise.
• TANGO project.
• PAL project
• SAMBAH II project.
• Scientific advisory committees.
• Live porpoise reports

Other profession rolls

Swedish delegate in ASCOBANS and HELCOM Expert Group on Marine Mammals (EGMAMA). Member of the HELCOM Indicator Group on harbour porpoise abundance and distribution.

Guest Investigator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA

Adjunct Researcher, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia

Education

PhD, The University of Queensland, Australia, 2014.

Project: The feeding behaviour of humpback whales while on migration: methods, driving factors and its importance to whale ecology.

First Class Honours, Monash University, Australia, 2009.

Project: Foraging ecology and diet of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in coastal Victoria, Australia.

Bachelor of Science (majoring in Zoology and Marine Biology), The University of Melbourne, Australia, 2007.

Publications

Peer reviewed articles

Nui J, Carlström J; Andersson M; Lalander E; Adler S, Owen K (In Review) Peaks in continuous noise, relative to predicted wind-generated noise, result in lower detection rates of a marine mammal species. Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Nagaraj H, Owen K, Lea M, Miller BS (In Review) Acoustic analysis of crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) vocalizations in the Southern Kerguelen Plateau Region of East Antarctica. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Pirotta V, Owen K, Donnelly D, Braiser MJ, Harcourt R (2021) First evidence of bubble-net feeding and the formation of ‘super-groups’ by the east Australian population of humpback whales during their southward migration. Aq. Cons. Early view.

Owen K, Sköld M, Carlström J (2021) An increase in detection rates of the critically endangered Baltic Proper harbor porpoise in Swedish waters in recent years. Cons. Sci. Pract. 3(8): e468.

Owen K, Saeki K, Warren JD, Bocconcelli A, Wiley DN, Ohira S, Bombosch A, Toda K, Zitterbart DP (2020) Natural dimethyl sulfide gradients would lead marine predators to higher prey biomass. Comm. Bio.4(1):1-8.

Zitterbart DP, Smith HR, Flau M, Richter S, Burkhardt E, Beland J, Bennet L, Cammareri A, Davis A, Holst M, Kniest E, Lanfredi C, Michel H, Noad M, Owen K Pacini A, Boebel O (2020) Scaling the laws of thermal imaging-based whale detection. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology. 37: 807–824.

Owen K, Andrews R, Baird R, Schorr G, Webster D. (2019) Lunar cycles and day length influence the diving behaviour and habitat use of short-finned pilot whales around the main Hawaiian Islands. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 629: 193-206.

Andrews RD, Baird RW, Calambokidis J, Goertz CEC, Gulland FMD, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Hooker SK, Johnson M, Mate B, Mitani Y, Nowacek DP, Owen K, Quakenbush LT, Raverty S, Robbins J, Schorr GS, Shpak OV, Townsend FI, Uhart M, Wells RS, Zerbini AN (2019) Best practice guidelines for cetacean tagging. J. Cet. Res. Man. 20: 27–66.

Okane D, Koveke E, Tashima K, Saeki K, Maezono S, Nagahata T, Hayashi N. Owen K, Zitterbart D, Ohira S, Toda K (2019) High sensitivity monitoring device for onboard measurement of dimethyl sulfide and dimethylsulfoniopropionate in seawater and oceanic atmosphere. Anal. Chem. 91: 10484-10491.

Owen K, Jenner KCS, Jenner, MNM, McCauley RD, Andrews RD (2018) Water temperature correlates with baleen whale foraging behaviour at multiple scales in the Antarctic. Mar. Fresh. Res. 70: 19-32.

Owen K, Jenner M, Jenner C, Andrews R (2016) A week in the life of a pygmy blue whale: swimming efficiently increases the risk of ship strike. Anim. Biotel. 4:17.

Owen K, Kavanagh AS, Warren JD, Noad MJ, Donnelly D, Goldizen AW, Dunlop RA (2016) Potential energy gain by whales outside of the Antarctic: prey preferences and consumption rates of migrating humpback whales. Polar Biol. 40: 277-289.

Owen K, Dunlop RA, Monty JP, Chung D, Noad MJ, Donnelly D, Goldizen AW, Mackenzie T (2016) Detecting surface-feeding behavior by rorqual whales in accelerometer data. Mar. Mam. Sci. 32: 327-348.

Kavanagh AS, Owen K, Williamson MJ, Blomberg SP, Noad MJ, Goldizen AW, Kniest H, Cato DH, Dunlop RA (2016) Evidence for the functions of surface-active behaviours in humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Mar. Mam. Sci. 33: 313-334.

Owen K, Warren JD, Noad MJ, Donnelly D, Goldizen AW, Dunlop RA (2015) Effect of prey type on the fine-scale feeding behaviour of migrating east Australian humpback whales. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 541: 231-244.

Miller BS, Barlow J, Calderan S, Collins K, Leaper R, Olson P, Ensor P, Kelly N, Peel D, Donnelly D, Andrews-Goff V, Olavarria C, Owen K, Rekdahl M, Schmidt N, Wadley V, Gedamke J, Gales N, Double MC (2015) Validating the reliability of passive acoustic localisation: a novel method for encountering rare and remote Antarctic blue whales. Endang. Spec. Res. 26: 257-269.

Owen K, Donnelly D (2014) The most southerly worldwide sightings of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata). Mar. Biol. Rec. 7: e46.

Double MC, Barlow J, Miller BS, Olson P, Andrews-Goff V, Leaper R, Ensor P, Kelly N, Wadley V, Lindsay M, Peel D, Calderan S, Collins K, Davidson M, Deacon C, Donnelly D, Olavarria C, Owen K, Rekdahl M, Schmitt N, Gales N (2013) Cruise report of the 2013 Antarctic blue whales voyage of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership. Rep. Intern. Whal. Comm. Report Number SC/65a/SH21.

Owen K, Donnelly D, Dunlop R (2012) Seaweed interactions by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): a form of object play? Aquat. Mam. 38: 418-422.

Owen K, Charlton-Robb K, Thompson R (2011) Resolving the trophic relations of cryptic species: an example using stable isotope analysis of dolphin teeth. PLOS ONE 6: e16457.

Charlton-Robb K, Gershwin L, Thompson R, Austin J, Owen K, McKechnie S (2011) A new species of dolphin, the Burrunan dolphin Tursiops australis sp. nov., endemic to southern Australian coastal waters. PLOS ONE 6: e24047.