Dugong aerial survey, Gulf of Carpentaria, 2007

This survey provides the first synopsis of the distribution and abundance of the dugong in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The estimate of the dugong population in the Gulf of Carpentaria from the 2007 survey is much lower than previous estimates for the Northern Territory 16846 + 3259 in 1985 and 23336 + 3040 in 1994 and higher than the previous estimate for Queensland 4266 + 657 in 1997 (see Saalfeld and Marsh 2004). There are methodological reasons for these differences: (1) the methodology used to correct for availability bias was different for the 1991 and 1997 Queensland surveys; (2) the methodology used to correct for both availability and perception bias was different for the 1994 Northern Territory surveys; and (3) the previous surveys had been conducted at different times and so the results were likely confounded by movements between survey regions.