Dr. David P Robinson

MMF Research Associate

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david[@]sundive.com.au

Research Interests

David is a marine ecologist who has worked with many species of marine megafauna, particularly whale sharks, leopard (zebra) sharks, and sea turtles. David founded the Sharkwatch Arabia initiative, Cape Byron Leopard Shark Project, and is a founding member of the original Qatar Whale Shark Research Project. For twelve years David helped to run the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project based out of the Burj Al Arab Aquarium in Dubai. David has focused a lot of his past research on ecology and satellite telemetry of whale sharks and sea turtles in the Arabian Gulf region. Now based in Byron Bay in Australia, as one of the owners of Sundive Byron Bay, David has started the Sundive Research initiative which is currently focused on the local ecology of leopard sharks, wobbegong sharks, and sea turtles.

Education

2016 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, UK
The ecology of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman

2004 Master of Science with Merit
The University of Leeds, UK
Biodiversity & Conservation
Thesis title: Factors affecting Emergence Success Rates of Leatherback Turtles at Estacion Las Tortugas, Costa Rica.

1999 Bachelor of Science with Honours
The University of Liverpool Liverpool, UK
Marine Biology
Thesis title: Relative Growth, Handedness and Conflicts in Fiddler Crabs.

Biography

David is a founding member of the original Qatar Whale Shark Research Project that began in 2011. David completed his PhD studying the ecology of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in 2016, focusing on whale sharks encountered in Al Shaheen, Qatar. David has a long history working in Qatar and has significant experience collaborating with the Qatar Ministry of Environment and multiple private stakeholders from industry and academia based in Qatar to produce successful and relevant research.

In addition to the Qatar Whale Shark Project, David is also the founder of his own educational and citizen science initiatives' Sharkwatch Arabia' and the 'Cape Byron Leopard Shark Project'. The community and educational aspect of the projects engaged citizens of the region and help them understand sharks and shark ecology. David's research and work have been covered in media, such as National Geographic, New Scientist, CNN, Sky News, and the BBC, including a feature piece on the BBC's Wild Arabia series.

Between 2006 and 2018, David worked as the Assistant Curator for the Burj Al Arab aquarium. Part of his role was to help run the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project (DTRP). David has participated in public speaking at various international shark conferences and workshops worldwide and was involved in the recent IUCN Red List assessment for the whale shark. David was a member of the Scientific Committee for the Fourth International Whale Shark Conference held in Doha in 2016. David moved to New South Wales, Australia, in 2018 and is co-owner of Sundive Byron Bay and has recently started the 'Sundive Research' initiative to help collect data on local marine ecology in Byron Bay.

Current MMF projects

David is based in Byron Bay, Australia where, in the summer months, possibly the largest known aggregation of leopard sharks in the world occurs. David is currently building baseline data on the aggregation with a view to expanding the project in the coming years.

Media

Virgin Birth | New Scientist

"Virgin Birth" Record Broken by Hotel Shark | National Geographic

The Seas of Arabia | National Geographic

Sea turtles are surviving–despite us | National Geographic

Whale shark satellite tagged off Qatar coast | Gulf News

The Seas of Arabia | National Geographic

Join David in the field!

Featured papers

Satellite tracking of rehabilitated sea turtles suggests a high rate of short-term survival following release. Robinson DP, Hyland K, Beukes G, Vettan A, Mabadikate A, Jabado RW, Rohner CA, Pierce SJ, & W Baverstock. PLoS ONE.

Limited latitudinal ranging of juvenile whale sharks in the Western Indian Ocean suggests the existence of regional management units. Prebble CEM, Rohner CA, Pierce SJ, Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Bach SS, & Trueman CN. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Satellite tagging highlights the importance of productive Mozambican coastal waters to the ecology and conservation of whale sharks. Rohner CA, Richardson AJ, Jaine FRA, Bennett MB, Weeks SJ, Cliff G, Robinson DP, Reeve-Arnold KE, & Pierce SJ. PeerJ.

Undersea constellations: The global biology of an endangered marine megavertebrate further informed through citizen science. Norman BM, Holmberg JA, Arzoumanian Z, Reynolds SD, Wilson RP, Rob D, Pierce SJ, Gleiss AC, de la Parra R, Galvan B, Ramirez-Macias D, Robinson D, Fox S, Graham R, Rowat D, Potenski M, Levine M, Mckinney JA, Hoffmayer E, Dove ADM, Hueter R, Ponzo A, Araujo G, Aca E, David D, Rees R, Duncan A, Rohner CA, Prebble CEM, Hearn A, Acuna D, Berumen ML, Vazquez A, Green J, Bach SS, Schmidt JV, Beatty SJ, & Morgan DL. BioScience: bix127

Some like it hot: Repeat migration and residency of whale sharks within an extreme natural environment. Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Bach SS, Rohner CA, Jabado RW, Ormond R, & SJ Pierce. PloS ONE 12: e0185360

Satellite tagging of rehabilitated green sea turtles Chelonia mydas from the United Arab Emirates, including the longest tracked journey for the species. Robinson DP, Jabado RW, Rohner CA, Pierce SJ, Hyland KP, Baverstock WR. PLoS ONE 12: e0184286

Population structure, abundance and movement of whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Robinson DP, Jaidah MY, Bach S, Lee K, Jabado RW, Rohner CA, March A, Caprodossi S, Henderson AC, Mair JM, Ormond R & SJ Pierce. PLoS ONE.

Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, aggregate around offshore platforms in Qatari waters of the Arabian Gulf to feed on fish spawn. Robinson DP, MY Jaidah, RW Jabado, K Lee-Brooks, NM Nour El-Din, AA Al Malki, K Elmeer, PA McCormick, AC Henderson, SJ Pierce, RFG Ormond. PLoS ONE 8: e58255

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