Dr Will Rayment, Our staff, Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, New Zealand

Contact

Office 310 Castle Street, room 210
Tel +64 3 479 8304
Email will.rayment@otago.ac.nz

Academic qualifications

BA Oxford
MSc University College London
PhD University of Otago

Research interests

Ecology and conservation biology of cetaceans
Capture-recapture methods and analyses
Species-habitat relationships
Efficacy of Marine Protected Areas and MPA networks

Will is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.
Coastal People: Southern Skies

He Kitenga: Auckland Islands: Baleen barometers outlines recent work combining aerial photography and computer software to measure the condition of southern right whales.

Teaching

MARI 112 Global Marine Systems – course co-ordinator
MARI 302 Biology and Behaviour of Marine Vertebrates
MARI 401 Advanced Methods in Marine Science
MARI 429 Coastal Marine Environment – joint course co-ordinator
MARI 431 Antarctic and Southern Ocean
OCEN 301 Practical and Field Oceanography
ZOOL 418 Conservation Biology of Marine Mammals

Postgraduate students

Will Carome MSc: Investigating potential effects of tourism on Hector's dolphins in Akaroa Harbour
Toby Dickson MSc: Aerial photogrammetry and a size structure analysis of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) at Kaikoura, New Zealand
Rosa Edwards MSc: Habitat use and foraging ecology of broadnose sevengill sharks in Southern New Zealand
Max Harvey, MSc: Investigating the ecology and effects of tourism on a small population of Hector’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) found in Porpoise Bay, New Zealand
Michael Heldsinger Msc: Investigating the effect of marine reserves on shark distribution in southern New Zealand
David Johnston PhD: Sentinels of the Southern Ocean: southern right whales ( Eubalaena australis) as indicators of oceanic productivity
Gaby Keeler-May, PhD: Undaria pinnatifida management and control in Southern New Zealand
Rob Lewis, MSc: Population demographics of sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) in Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island
Moss Thompson, MSc: Pup survival of the New Zealand sea lion on the Otago Coast
José Emilio Trujillo Moyano, PhD: Insights into neonate reef sharks' vulnerability to predation: a behavioural, physiological and ecological approach
María Jesús Valdés Hernández, PhD: Effect of mussel farms on Hector’s dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori, at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand: an ecosystem perspective
Lindsay Wickman, PhD: The current status of the population of Hector's dolphins at Banks Peninsula: an update on survival rates, reproductive rates, and population size
Hannah Williams, MSc: Abundance and distribution of Hector's dolphins in Otago and effectiveness of current protection measures

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Publications

Bennington, S., Rayment, W., Currey, R., Oldridge, L., Henderson, S., Guerra, M., … Johnston, D., … Slooten, L., & Dawson, S. (2020). Long-term stability in core habitat of an endangered population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): Implications for spatial management. Aquatic Conservation. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/aqc.3460

Wickman, L., Rayment, W., Slooten, E., & Dawson, S. M. (2020). Recommendations for estimating mark rate of cetaceans in photo-ID research: A critique of field sampling protocols and variance estimation. Marine Mammal Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/mms.12723

Guerra, M., Wing, L., Dawson, S., & Rayment, W. (2020). Stable isotope analyses reveal seasonal and inter-individual variation in the foraging ecology of sperm whales. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 638, 207-219. doi: 10.3354/meps13255

Brough, T., Rayment, W., Slooten, E., & Dawson, S. (2020). Spatiotemporal distribution of foraging in a marine predator: Behavioural drivers of hotspot formation. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 635, 187-202. doi: 10.3354/meps13198

Lewis, R., Dawson, S., & Rayment, W. (2020). Estimating population parameters of broadnose sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) using photo-ID capture-recapture. Journal of Fish Biology, 97, 987-995. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14453

Chapter in Book - Research
Journal - Research Article
Journal - Research Other

Chapter in Book - Research

Thomson, P. G., Cannell, B. L., Ghadouani, A., Fraser, M. W., & Rayment, W. J. (2019). Monitoring ocean and estuary health. In E. J. Techera & G. Winter (Eds.), Marine extremes: Ocean safety, marine health and the blue economy. (pp. 87-105). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Tregenza, N., Dawson, S., Rayment, W., & Verfuss, U. (2016). Listening to echolocation clicks with PODs. In W. W. L. Au & M. O. Lammers (Eds.), Listening in the ocean: New discoveries and insights on marine life from autonomous passive acoustic recorders. (pp. 163-206). New York: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3176-7_7

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Journal - Research Article

Christiansen, F., Dawson, S. M., Durban, J. W., Fearnbach, H., Miller, C. A., Bejder, L., … Rayment, W., Leunissen, E., … Moore, M. J. (2020). Population comparison of right whale body condition reveals poor state of the North Atlantic right whale. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 640, 1-16. doi: 10.3354/meps13299

Guerra, M., Dawson, S., Sabadel, A., Slooten, E., Somerford, T., Williams, R., Wing, L., & Rayment, W. (2020). Changes in habitat use by a deep-diving predator in response to a coastal earthquake. Deep Sea Research Part I, 158, 103226. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2020.103226

Brough, T., Rayment, W., Slooten, E., & Dawson, S. (2019). Fine scale distribution for a population of New Zealand's only endemic dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) shows long-term stability of coastal hotspots. Marine Mammal Science, 35(1), 140-163. doi: 10.1111/mms.12528

Brough, T., Rayment, W., & Dawson, S. (2019). Using a recreational grade echosounder to quantify the potential prey field of coastal predators. PLoS ONE, 14(5), e0217013. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217013

Webster, T. A., Van Parijs, S. M., Rayment, W. J., & Dawson, S. M. (2019). Temporal variation in the vocal behaviour of southern right whales in the Auckland Islands, New Zealand. Royal Society Open Science, 6, 181487. doi: 10.1098/rsos.181487

Leunissen, E. M., Rayment, W. J., & Dawson, S. M. (2019). Impact of pile-driving on Hector's dolphin in Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 142, 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.03.017

Housiaux, J. A., Hepburn, C. D., & Rayment, W. J. (2019). Seasonal variation in occurrence of the sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, in two inshore habitats of southern New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 46(1), 48-60. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2018.1482930

Davidson, A. R., Rayment, W., Dawson, S. M., Webster, T., & Slooten, E. (2018). Estimated calving interval for the New Zealand southern right whale (Eubalaena australis). New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 52(3), 372-383. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2017.1397034

Leunissen, E. M., Webster, T., & Rayment, W. (2018). Characteristics of vocalisations recorded from free-ranging Shepherd's beaked whales, Tasmacetus shepherdi. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 144(5), 2701-2708. doi: 10.1121/1.5067380

Donnelly, D. M., Ensor, P., Gill, P., Clarke, R. H., Evans, K., Double, M. C., Webster, T., Rayment, W., & Schmitt, N. T. (2018). New diagnostic descriptions and distribution information for Shepherd's beaked whale (Tasmacetus shepherdi) off Southern Australia and New Zealand. Marine Mammal Science, 34(3), 829-840. doi: 10.1111/mms.12478

Rayment, W., Webster, T., Brough, T., Jowett, T., & Dawson, S. (2018). Seen or heard? A comparison of visual and acoustic autonomous monitoring methods for investigating temporal variation in occurrence of southern right whales. Marine Biology, 165, 12. doi: 10.1007/s00227-017-3264-0

Torres, L. G., Rayment, W., Olavarría, C., Thompson, D. R., Graham, B., Baker, C. S., … Carroll, E. L. (2017). Demography and ecology of southern right whales Eubalaena australis wintering at sub-Antarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand. Polar Biology, 40(1), 95-106. doi: 10.1007/s00300-016-1926-x

Johnston, D. R., Rayment, W., Slooten, E., & Dawson, S. M. (2017). A time-based method for defining associations using photo-identification. Behaviour, 154(9-10), 1029-1050. doi: 10.1163/1568539X-00003455

Guerra, M., Hickmott, L., van der Hoop, J., Rayment, W., Leunissen, E., Slooten, E., & Moore, M. (2017). Diverse foraging strategies by a marine top predator: Sperm whales exploit pelagic and demersal habitats in the Kaikōura submarine canyon. Deep Sea Research Part I, 128, 98-108. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr.2017.08.012

O'Connell-Milne, S., Savage, C., & Rayment, W. (2016). The influence of commercial harvesting on parasite infection in the bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi. Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, 73, 982-989. doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0401

Webster, T. A., Dawson, S. M., Rayment, W. J., Parks, S. E., & Van Parijs, S. M. (2016). Quantitative analysis of the acoustic repertoire of southern right whales in New Zealand. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 140(1), 322-333. doi: 10.1121/1.4955066

Twist, B. A., Hepburn, C. D., & Rayment, W. J. (2016). Distribution of the New Zealand scallop (Pecten novaezealandiae) within and surrounding a customary fisheries area. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 73(2), 384-393. doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsv228

Dittmann, S., Dawson, S., Rayment, W., Webster, T., & Slooten, E. (2016). Hector's dolphin movement patterns in response to height and direction of ocean swell. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 50(2), 228-239. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2015.1119165

Twist, B. A., Rayment, W. J., & Hepburn, C. D. (2016). Movement patterns of adult scallops (Pecten novaezealandiae) within a customary fisheries reserve: Implications for fine scale spatial management. Fisheries Research, 174, 160-166. doi: 10.1016/j.fishres.2015.09.020

O'Connell-Milne, S. A., Poulin, R., Savage, C., & Rayment, W. (2016). Reduced growth, body condition and foot length of the bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi in response to parasite infection. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology & Ecology, 474, 23-28. doi: 10.1016/j.jembe.2015.09.012

Urian, K., Gorgone, A., Read, A., Balmer, B., Wells, R. S., Berggren, P., … Rayment, W., & Hammond, P. S. (2015). Recommendations for photo-identification methods used in capture-recapture models with cetaceans. Marine Mammal Science, 31(1), 298-321. doi: 10.1111/mms.12141

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., & Webster, T. (2015). Breeding status affects fine-scale habitat selection of southern right whales on their wintering grounds. Journal of Biogeography, 42(3), 463-474. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12443

Carroll, E. L., Rayment, W. J., Alexander, A. M., Baker, C. S., Patenaude, N. J., Steel, D., … Childerhouse, S. (2014). Reestablishment of former wintering grounds by New Zealand southern right whales. Marine Mammal Science, 30(1), 206-220. doi: 10.1111/mms.12031

Guerra, M., Dawson, S. M., Brough, T. E., & Rayment, W. J. (2014). Effects of boats on the surface and acoustic behaviour of an endangered population of bottlenose dolphin. Endangered Species Research, 24(3), 221-236. doi: 10.3354/esr00598

Henderson, S. D., Dawson, S. M., Rayment, W., & Currey, R. J. C. (2013). Are the 'resident' dolphins of Doubtful Sound becoming less resident? Endangered Species Research, 20(2), 99-107. doi: 10.3354/esr00484

Turek, J., Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Rayment, W., & Turek, D. (2013). Distribution and abundance of Hector's dolphins off Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 47(2), 181-191. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2013.771687

Rayment, W., Davidson, A., Dawson, S., Slooten, E., & Webster, T. (2012). Distribution of southern right whales on the Auckland Islands calving grounds. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 46(3), 431-436. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2012.697072

Gormley, A. M., Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Barker, R. J., Rayment, W., du Fresne, S., & Bräger, S. (2012). First evidence that marine protected areas can work for marine mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology, 49(2), 474-480. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02121.x

Elliott, R. G., Dawson, S. M., & Rayment, W. J. (2012). Optimizing T-pod settings and testing range of detection for bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 92(8), 1901-1907. doi: 10.1017/s002531541100035x

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., Scali, S., & Slooten, L. (2011). Listening for a needle in a haystack: Passive acoustic detection of dolphins at very low densities. Endangered Species Research, 14, 149-156. doi: 10.3354/esr00356

Rayment, W., Clement, D., Dawson, S., Slooten, E., & Secchi, E. (2011). Distribution of Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) off the West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, with implications for the management of bycatch. Marine Mammal Science, 27(2), 398-420. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00407.x

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., & Slooten, L. (2010). Use of T-PODS for acoustic monitoring of Cephalorhynchus dolphins: A case study with Hector's dolphins in a marine protected area. Endangered Species Research, 10(1), 333-339. doi: 10.3354/esr00189

Poorbagher, H., Lamare, M. D., Barker, M. F., & Rayment, W. (2010). Relative importance of parental diet versus larval nutrition on development and phenotypic plasticity of Pseudechinus huttoni larvae (Echinodermata: Echinoidea). Marine Biology Research, 6(3), 302-314. doi: 10.1080/17451000903300877

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., & Slooten, E. (2010). Seasonal changes in distribution of Hector's dolphin at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand: Implications for protected area design. Aquatic Conservation, 20(1), 106-116. doi: 10.1002/aqc.1049

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., & Slooten, L. (2009). Trialling an automated passive acoustic detector (T-POD) with Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 89(5), 1015-1022. doi: 10.1017/S0025315409003129

Rayment, W., & Webster, T. (2009). Observations of Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) associating with inshore fishing trawlers at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 43(4), 911-916. doi: 10.1080/00288330909510049

Rayment, W., Dawson, S., Slooten, E., Bräger, S., Du Fresne, S., & Webster, T. (2009). Kernel density estimates of alongshore home range of Hector's dolphins at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand. Marine Mammal Science, 25(3), 537-556. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2008.00271.x

Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Rayment, W., & Childerhouse, S. (2006). A new abundance estimate for Maui's dolphin: What does it mean for managing this critically endangered species? Biological Conservation, 128(4), 576-581. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2005.10.013

Slooten, E., Rayment, W., & Dawson, S. (2006). Offshore distribution of Hector's dolphins at Banks Peninsula, New Zealand: Is the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary large enough? New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research, 40(2), 333-343. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2006.9517425

Slooten, E., Dawson, S. M., & Rayment, W. J. (2004). Aerial surveys for coastal dolphins: Abundance of Hector's dolphins off the South Island west coast, New Zealand. Marine Mammal Science, 20(3), 477-490. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2004.tb01173.x

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Journal - Research Other

Rayment, W. J. (2014). [Review of the book Whales and dolphins of Aotearoa New Zealand]. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 44(2-3), 103-104. doi: 10.1080/03036758.2014.930052

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