Sound conservation and management relies on solid evidence, and the best way to select evidence is through scientific peer review. Oceans Initiative has led or collaborated on more than 90 scientific publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles and technical reports.
Featured Publication
Science — July 7, 2022 — Vol 377, Issue 6602
Noise from deep-sea mining may span vast ocean areas
To protect the deep sea, we must better understand it. Our new research in Science aims to see how noise from seabed mining can travel across the ocean, with unknown environmental consequences. We partnered with The Pew Charitable Trusts and researchers from Curtin University, University of Hawaii, and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology to model the noise from proposed mine sites in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. These waters are home to incredible biodiversity, including species yet to be discovered. Our models indicate that noise from just one mining operation will propagate through the water column. Together, noise from mines at all proposed contract areas may span millions of square kilometers.
This PDF is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science on 7 July 2022 377.6602, DOI: 10.1126/science.abo2804.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
2024
Rob Williams, Erin Ashe, Kimberly A. Nielsen, Hendrik H. Nollens, Stephanie Reiss, Katherine Wold, and Joseph K. Gaydos, 2024. Respiratory Intervals and Swimming Speed as Remotely Sensed Health Metrics in Free-Ranging Killer Whales (Orcinus orca). Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Natalie C Mastick, Amy M Van Cise, Kim M Parsons, Erin Ashe, Rob Williams, Jasmine N Childress, Holly Fearnbach, John Durban, Candice Emmons, Brad Hanson, Dan Olsen, Chelsea L Wood. Widespread parasite infections in living resident killer whales in the Northeast Pacific ocean. bioRxiv, 2024.07. 10.602791
Daniel W Linden, Richard M Pace III, Lance P Garrison, Jeffrey A Hostetler, Amy R Knowlton, Veronique Lesage, Rob Williams, Michael C Runge. A multistate capture-recapture model to estimate reproduction of North Atlantic right whales. bioRxiv, 2024.04. 13.589367
Rob Williams, Robert C. Lacy, Erin Ashe, Lance Barrett-Lennard, Tanya M. Brown, Joseph K. Gaydos, Frances Gulland, Misty MacDuffee, Benjamin W. Nelson, Kimberly A. Nielsen, Hendrik Nollens, Stephen Raverty, Stephanie Reiss, Peter S. Ross, Marena Salerno Collins, Raphaela Stimmelmayr, Paul Paquet, 2024. Warning sign of an accelerating decline in critically endangered killer whales (Orcinus orca). Communications Earth & Environment 5, 173
Benjamin W Nelson, Eric J Ward, Daniel W Linden, Erin Ashe, Rob Williams, 2024. Identifying drivers of demographic rates in an at-risk population of marine mammals using integrated population models. Ecosphere 15(2): e4773
Kathleen A McKeegan, Kate Clayton, Rob Williams, Erin Ashe, Stephanie Reiss, Andrea Mendez‑Bye, Vincent M Janik, Thomas Goetz, Matthew Zinkgraf, Alejandro Acevedo‑Gutiérrez, 2024. The effect of a startle‑eliciting device on the foraging success of individual harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Scientific Reports
Yu Kanaji, Rob Williams, Alexandre N. Zerbini, Trevor A. Branch, 2024. Density dependence only affects increase rates in baleen whale populations at high abundance levels). Journal of Applied Ecology
2023
Ryan A Jones, Jillian M Sills, Mitzi Synnott, Jason Mulsow, Rob Williams, Colleen Reichmuth, 2023. Auditory masking in odobenid and otariid carnivores. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Daniel W Linden, Jeffrey A Hostetler, Richard M Pace III, Lance P Garrison, Amy R Knowlton, Veronique Lesage, Rob Williams, Michael C Runge. A multistate capture-recapture model to estimate cause-specific injury and mortality of North Atlantic right whales. bioRxiv, 2023.10. 15.562416
Patton et al., 2023. A deep learning approach to photo–identification demonstrates high performance on two dozen cetacean species. Methods in Ecology and Evolution
2022
Rob Williams*, Christine Erbe*, Alec Duncan, Kimberly Nielsen, Travis Washburn, Craig Smith. 2022. Noise from deep-sea mining may span vast ocean areas. Science 377.6602: 157-158. *—These authors contributed equally to this work.
Elizabeth A McHuron, Stephanie Adamczak, John PY Arnould, Erin Ashe, Cormac Booth, W Don Bowen, Fredrik Christiansen, Magda Chudzinska, Daniel P Costa, Andreas Fahlman, Nicholas A Farmer, Sarah ME Fortune, Cara A Gallagher, Kelly A Keen, Peter T Madsen, Clive R McMahon, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Dawn P Noren, Shawn R Noren, Enrico Pirotta, David AS Rosen, Cassie N Speakman, Stella Villegas-Amtmann, Rob Williams, 2022. Key questions in marine mammal bioenergetics. Conservation Physiology
Erin Ashe, Philip S. Hammond, 2022. Effect of matching uncertainty on population parameter estimation in mark-recapture analysis of photo-identification data. Mammalian Biology
Catherine F. Lo, Kimberly A. Nielsen, Erin Ashe, David E. Bain, Andrea Mendez-Bye, Stephanie A. Reiss, Laura T. Bogaard, Marena Salerno Collins, Rob Williams, 2022. Measuring speed of vessels operating around endangered southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Salish Sea critical habitat. Marine Pollution Bulletin
Inge van der Knaap, Erin Ashe, Dave Hannay, Asila Ghoul Bergman, Kimberly A. Nielsen, Catherine F. Lo, Rob Williams, 2022. Behavioural responses of wild Pacific salmon and herring to boat noise. Marine Pollution Bulletin
Margaret C Siple, André E Punt, Tessa B Francis, Philip S Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J Long, Jeffrey Moore, Maritza Sepúlveda, Randall R Reeves, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Gísli Víkingsson, Paul R Wade, Rob Williams, Alexandre N Zerbini, 2022. mmrefpoints: Projecting long-term marine mammal abundance with bycatch. Journal of Open Source Software
2021
Rob Williams, Robert C. Lacy, Erin Ashe, Ailsa Hall, Stéphane Plourde, Ian H. McQuinn, Véronique Lesaged, 2021. Climate change complicates efforts to ensure survival and recovery of St. Lawrence Estuary beluga. Marine Pollution Bulletin
Rob Williams, Erin Ashe, Laurel Yruretagoyena, Natalie Mastick, Margaret Siple, Jason Wood, Ruth Joy, Roland Langrock, Sina Mews, Emily Finne, 2021. Reducing vessel noise increases foraging in endangered killer whales. Marine Pollution Bulletin
Paul R. Wade, Kristy J. Long, Tessa B. Francis, André E. Punt, Philip S. Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Jeffrey E. Moore, Randall R. Reeves, Maritza Sepúlveda, Genoa Sullaway, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Margaret C. Siple, Gísli A. Víkingsson, Rob Williams and Alexandre N. Zerbini, 2021. Best practices for assessing and managing bycatch of marine mammals. Frontiers in Marine Science , vol. 8 , 757330.
Rob Williams, Erin Ashe, Ginny Broadhurst, Michael Jasny, Dyna Tuytel, Margot Venton, Tim Ragen, 2021. Destroying and Restoring Critical Habitats of Endangered Killer Whales. BioScience.
Putu Liza Kusuma Mustika, Rob Williams, Hanggar Prasetio Kadarisman, Andri Oktapianus Purba, I Putu Ranu Fajar Maharta, Deny Rahmadani, Elok Faiqoh, I Made Iwan Dewantama, 2021. A rapid assessment of the marine megafauna biodiversity around South Bali, Indonesia. Frontiers in Marine Science.
Erin Ashe, Rob Williams, Alexandra Morton, and Philip S. Hammond, 2021. Disentangling Natural and Anthropogenic Forms of Mortality and Serious Injury in a Poorly Studied Pelagic Dolphin. Frontiers in Marine Science.
Erin Ashe, Rob Williams, Christopher Clark, Christine Erbe, Leah R. Gerber, Ailsa J. Hall, Philip S. Hammond, Robert C. Lacy, Randall Reeves and Nicole L. Vollmer, 2021. Minding the Data-Gap Trap: Exploring Dynamics of Abundant Dolphin Populations Under Uncertainty. Frontiers in Marine Science.
André E. Punt, Maritza Sepúlveda, Margaret C. Siple, Jeffrey Moore, Tessa B. Francis, Philip S. Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J. Long, Doris Oliva, Randall R. Reeves, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Gísli Víkingsson, Paul R.Wade, Rob Williams, Alexandre N. Zerbini, 2021. Assessing pinniped bycatch mortality with uncertainty in abundance and post-release mortality: A case study from Chile. Science Direct Fisheries Research
Philip S Hammond, Tessa B Francis, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J Long, Jeffrey E Moore, André E Punt, Randall R Reeves, Maritza Sepúlveda, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Margaret C Siple, Gísli Víkingsson, Paul R Wade, Rob Williams, Alexandre N Zerbini, 2021. Estimating the Abundance of Marine Mammal Populations. Frontiers in Marine Science.
Richard M. Pace III, Rob Williams (joint first author), Scott D. Kraus, Amy R. Knowlton, Heather M. Pettis, 2021. Cryptic mortality of North Atlantic right whales. Conservation Science and Practice, a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.
Moore, J., Heinemann, D., Francis, T., Hammond, P., Long, K.J., Punt, A.E., Reeves, R., Sepulveda, M., Sigurðsson, G.M., Siple, M., Víkingsson, G., Wade, P., Williams, R., Zerbini, A.N. (2021). Estimating bycatch mortality for marine mammal stock assessment: concepts and best practices. Frontiers in Marine Science, 1793.
2020
Rob Williams, Danielle Cholewiak, Christopher Clark, Christine Erbe, John George, Robert Lacy, Russell Leaper, Sue Moore, Leslie New, E.C.M. Parsons, Howard Rosenbaum, Teri Rowles, Mark Simmonds, Raphaela Stimmelmayr, Robert Suydam, Andrew Wright, 2020. Chronic ocean noise and cetacean population models. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management.
André E Punt, Margaret Siple, Tessa B Francis, Phillip S Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J Long, Jeffrey E Moore, Maritza Sepúlveda, Randall R Reeves, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Gísli Vikingsson, Paul R Wade, Rob Williams, Alexandre N Zerbini, 2020. Can we manage marine mammal bycatch effectively in low‐data environments? Journal of Applied Ecology, British Ecological Society.
Lauren M. Kuehne, Christine Erbe, Erin Ashe, Laura T. Bogaard, Marena Salerno Collins, and Rob Williams, 2020. Above and below: Military Aircraft Noise in Air and under Water at Whidbey Island, Washington. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering.
André E Punt, Margaret Siple, Tessa B Francis, Phillip S Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J Long, Jeffrey E Moore, Maritza Sepúlveda, Randall R Reeves, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Gísli Vikingsson, Paul R Wade, Rob Williams, Alexandre N Zerbini, 2020. Robustness of potential biological removal to monitoring, environmental, and management uncertainties. ICES Journal of Marine Science.
André E. Punt, Margaret Siple, Guðjón Már Sigurðsson, Gísli Víkingsson, Tessa B. Francis, Sandra M. Granquist, Philip S. Hammond, Dennis Heinemann, Kristy J. Long, Jeffrey E. Moore, Maritza Sepúlveda, Randall R. Reeves, Paul R. Wade, Rob Williams, and Alexandre N. Zerbini, 2020. Evaluating management strategies for marine mammal populations: an example for multiple species and multiple fishing sectors in Iceland. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
Colleen Reichmuth, Jillian M Sills, Arial Brewer, Lisa Triggs, Rebecca Ferguson, Erin Ashe, Rob Williams 2020. Behavioral assessment of in‑air hearing range for the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). Polar Biology.
Silviya V Ivanova, Steven T Kessel, Mario Espinoza, Montana F McLean, Caitlin O’Neill, Justin Landry, Nigel E Hussey, Rob Williams, Svein Vagle, Aaron T Fisk 2020. Shipping alters the movement and behavior of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), a keystone fish in Arctic marine ecosystems. Ecological Applications 30 (3).
2019
Vollmer, N. L., Ashe, E. , Brownell, R. L., Cipriano, F. , Mead, J. G., Reeves, R. R., Soldevilla, M. S. and Williams, R. 2019. Taxonomic revision of the dolphin genus Lagenorhynchus. Marine Mammal Science.
Williams, R., Veirs, S., Veirs, V., Ashe, E., Mastick, N. 2019. Approaches to reduce noise from ships operating in important killer whale habitats. Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Herr, H., Kelly, N., Dorschel, B., Huntemann, M., Kock, K.H., Lehnert, L.S., Siebert, U., Viquerat, S., Williams, R., Scheidat, M. 2019. Aerial surveys for Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) reveal sea ice dependent distribution patterns.
2018
Erbe, C., Williams, R,. Parsons, M., Parsons, S.K., Hendrawan, I.G., Dewantama, I.M.I., 2018. Underwater noise from airplanes: an overlooked source of ocean noise. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 137:656-661.
Williams, R., Erbe, C., Dewantama, I.M.I., Hendrawan, I.G. 2018. Effect on ocean noise: Nyepi, a Balinese day of silence. Oceanography, 31(2), https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.207.
Hall, A.J., McConnell, B.J., Schwacke, L.H., Ylitalo, G.M., Williams, R., Rowles, T.K. 2018. Predicting the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on cetacean populations through impacts on immunity and calf survival. Environmental Pollution, 233:4-7-418.
Veirs, S., Veirs, V., Williams, R., Jasny, M., Wood, J. 2018. A key to quieter seas: half of ship noise comes from 15% of the fleet. PeerJ Preprints 6:e26525v1
Bedriñana‐Romano, L., Hucke‐Gaete, R., Viddi, F.A., Morales, J., Williams, R., Ashe, E., Garcés‐Vargas, J., Torres‐Florez, J.P., Ruiz, J., 2018. Integrating multiple data sources for assessing blue whale abundance and distribution in Chilean Northern Patagonia.
2017
Lacy, R. C., Williams, R., Ashe, E., Balcomb III, K.C., Brent, L.J.N., Clark, C.W., Croft, D.P., Giles, D.A., MacDuffee, M., Paquet, P.C. 2017. Evaluating anthropogenic threats to endangered killer whales to inform effective recovery plans. Nature. Scientific Reports 7, Article: 14119.
Williams, R., Ashe, E., Gaut, K., Gryba, R., Moore, J.E., Rexstad, E., Sandilands, D., Steventon, J., Reeves, R.R. 2017. Animal Counting Toolkit: a practical guide to small-boat surveys for estimating abundance of coastal marine mammals. Endang Species Res 34:149-165.
Pettorelli, N., Nagendra, H., Rocchini, D., Rowcliffe, M., Williams, R., and others. 2017. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation: three years on. Remote Sens. Ecol. Conserv.
Williams, R., Lacy, R., Ashe, E., Hall, A., Lehoux, C., Lesage, V., McQuinn, I., Plourde, S. 2017. Predicting responses of St. Lawrence beluga to environmental change and anthropogenic threats to orient effective management actions. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS). 2017. 44.
Donovan, C.R., Harris, C.M., Milazzo, L., Harwood, J., Marshall, L. and Williams, R. 2017. A simulation approach to assessing environmental risk of sound exposure to marine mammals. Ecology and evolution, 7:2101-2111.
Fox, C.H., Huettmann, F., Harvey, G.K.A., Morgan, K.H., Robinson, J.,Williams, R., Paquet, P.C. 2017. Predictions from machine learning ensembles: marine bird density and distribution on Canada’s Pacific coast. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 566: 199-216.
2016
Rob Williams, Matthew G. Burgess, Erin Ashe, Stephen D. Gaines, Randall. R. Reeves. 2016c. US seafood import restriction presents opportunity and risk. Science 354.6318: 1372-1374.
Rob Williams, Jeff Moore, Catalina Gomez-Salazar, Fernando Trujillo, Louise Burt. 2016a. Searching for trends in river dolphin abundance: Designing surveys for looming threats, and evidence for opposing trends of two species in the Colombian Amazon. Biological Conservation 195, 136-145.
Williams, R., Thomas, L., Ashe, E., Clark, C.W., Hammond, P.S., 2016b. Gauging allowable harm limits to cumulative, sub-lethal effects of human activities on wildlife: A case-study approach using two whale populations. Marine Policy 70, 58-64.
Senigaglia, V., Christiansen, F., Bejder, L., Gendron, D., Lundquist, D., Noren, D.P., Schaffar, A., Smith, J.C., Williams, R., Martinez, E., Stockin, K., Lusseau, D., 2016. Meta-analyses of whale-watching impact studies: comparisons of cetacean responses to disturbance. Marine Ecology Progress Series 542, 251-263.
Tyne, J.A., Loneragan, N.R., Johnston, D.W., Pollock, K.H., Williams, R., Bejder, L., 2016. Evaluating monitoring methods for cetaceans. Biological Conservation 201, 252-260.
Beerman, A., Ashe, E., Preedy, K., Williams, R., 2016. Sexual segregation when foraging in an extremely social killer whale population. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 70, 189-198.
2015
Williams, R., Erbe, C., Ashe, E., Clark, C.W., 2015a. Quiet(er) marine protected areas. Marine Pollution Bulletin 100, 154-161.
Williams, R., Wright, A.J., Ashe, E., Blight, L.K., Bruintjes, R., Canessa, R., Clark, C.W., Cullis-Suzuki, S., Dakin, D.T., Erbe, C., 2015b. Impacts of anthropogenic noise on marine life: Publication patterns, new discoveries, and future directions in research and management. Ocean & Coastal Management 115, 17-24.
Best, B.D., Fox, C.D., Williams, R., Halpin, P., Paquet, P.C., 2015. Updated marine mammal distribution and abundance estimates in British Columbia. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 15, 9-26.
Browne, M.A., Underwood, A.J., Chapman, M.G., Williams, R., Thompson, R.C., van Franeker, J.A., 2015. Linking effects of anthropogenic debris to ecological impacts. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 282, 20142929.
Scott-Hayward, L.A.S., Mackenzie, M.L., Ashe, E., Williams, R., 2015. Modelling Killer Whale Feeding Behaviour Using a Spatially Adaptive Complex Region Spatial Smoother (CReSS) and Generalised Estimating Equations (GEEs). Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics 20, 305-322.
Pettorelli, N., Nagendra, H., Williams, R., Rocchini, D., Fleishman, E., 2015. A new platform to support research at the interface of remote sensing, ecology and conservation. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.
2014
Williams, R., Ashe, E., Blight, L., Jasny, M., Nowlan, L., 2014a. Marine mammals and ocean noise: Future directions and information needs with respect to science, policy and law in Canada. Marine Pollution Bulletin 86, 29-38.
Williams, R., Clark, C.W., Ponirakis, D., Ashe, E., 2014b. Acoustic quality of critical habitats for three threatened whale populations. Animal Conservation 17, 174-185.
Williams, R., Erbe, C., Ashe, E., Beerman, A., Smith, J., 2014c. Severity of killer whale behavioral responses to ship noise: A dose-response study. Marine Pollution Bulletin 79, 254-260.
Williams, R., Grand, J., Hooker, S.K., Buckland, S.T., Reeves, R.R., Rojas‐Bracho, L., Sandilands, D., Kaschner, K., 2014d. Prioritizing global marine mammal habitats using density maps in place of range maps. Ecography 37, 212-220.
Williams, R., Kelly, N., Boebel, O., Friedlaender, A.S., Herr, H., Kock, K.H., Lehnert, L.S., Maksym, T., Roberts, J., Scheidat, M., Siebert, U., Brierley, A.S., 2014e. Counting whales in a challenging, changing environment. Sci. Rep. 4.
Erbe, C., Williams, R., Sandilands, D., Ashe, E., 2014. Identifying modeled ship noise hotspots for marine mammals of Canada’s Pacific Region. PLoS ONE 9, e89820.
Higham, J., Bejder, L., Williams, R., 2014. Whale-watching: sustainable tourism and ecological management. Cambridge University Press.
2013
Williams, R., Vikingsson, G.A., Gislason, A., Lockyer, C., New, L., Thomas, L., Hammond, P.S., 2013. Evidence for density-dependent changes in body condition and pregnancy rate of North Atlantic fin whales over four decades of varying environmental conditions. ICES Journal of Marine Science 70, 1273-1280.
Ashe, E., Wray, J., Picard, C.R., Williams, R., 2013. Abundance and Survival of Pacific Humpback Whales in a Proposed Critical Habitat Area. PLoS ONE 8, e75228.
Kyhn, L.A., Tougaard, J., Beedholm, K., Jensen, F.H., Ashe, E., Williams, R., Madsen, P.T., 2013. Clicking in killer whale country: Narrow-band, high-frequency biosonar clicks of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli). PLoS ONE 8, e63763.
Thys, T., Williams, R., 2013. Ocean sunfish in Canadian Pacific waters: Summer hotspot for a jelly-eating giant? Oceans – San Diego, 2013, 1 – 5.
2012
Christine Erbe, Alexander MacGillivray & Rob Williams. 2012. Mapping cumulative noise from shipping to inform marine spatial planning. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters 132(5), EL423-EL428.
Kristin Kaschner, Nicola Quick, Becci Jewell, Rob Williams & Catriona Harris. 2012. Global coverage of cetacean line-transect surveys: status quo, data gaps and future challenges. PLoS ONE 7(9): e44075. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044075
2011
Meike Scheidat, Ari Friedlaender, Karl-Hermann Kock, Linn Lehnert, Olaf Boebel, Jason Roberts & Rob Williams. 2011. Cetacean surveys in the Southern Ocean using icebreaker-supported helicopters scheidat polar biology 2011. Polar Biology 34:1513-1522.
Rob Williams, Martin Krkošek, Erin Ashe, Trevor A. Branch, Steve Clark, Philip S. Hammond, Erich Hoyt, Dawn P. Noren, David Rosen & Arliss Winship. 2011. Competing Conservation Objectives for Predators and Prey: Estimating Killer Whale Prey Requirements for Chinook Salmon. PLoS ONE 6(11): e26738. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026738
Rob Williams, Sharon L. Hedley, Trevor A. Branch, Mark V. Bravington, Alexander N. Zerbini, & Ken P. Findlay. 2011. Chilean Blue Whales as a Case Study to Illustrate Methods to Estimate Abundance and Evaluate Conservation Status of Rare Species . Conservation Biology 25:526-535.
Rob Williams, Shane S. Gero, Lars Bejder, John Calambokidis, Scott D. Kraus, David Lusseau, Andy J. Read & Jooke Robbins. 2011. Underestimating the Damage: Interpreting Cetacean Carcass Recoveries in the Context of the Deepwater Horizon/BP Incident. Conservation Letters4:228-233.
Rob Williams, ErinAshe & Patrick D. O’Hara. 2011. Marine mammals and debris in coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62:1303-1316.
2010
Erin Ashe, Dawn Noren & Rob Williams. 2010. Animal behaviour and marine protected areas: incorporating behavioural data into the selection of marine protected areas for an endangered killer whale population. Animal Conservation 13:196-203.
Rob Williams & Patrick O’Hara. 2010. Modelling ship strike risk to fin, humpback and killer whales in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11:1-8.
Rob Williams, Tom Okey, Scott Wallace & Vince Gallucci. 2010. Shark aggregation in coastal waters of British Columbia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 414:249-256.
2009
Rob Williams & Len Thomas. 2009. Cost-effective abundance estimation of rare animals: Testing performance of small-boat surveys for killer whales in British Columbia. Biological Conservation 142:1542-1547.
Rob Williams& Dawn Noren. 2009. Swimming speed, respiration rate and estimated cost of transport in killer whales. Marine Mammal Science 25:327-350.
Rob Williams, David Lusseau & Phil Hammond. 2009. The role of social aggregations and protected areas in killer whale conservation: the mixed blessing of critical habitat. Biological Conservation 142:709-719.
Rob Williams*, David Bain, David Lusseau & Jodi Smith. 2009. Effects of vessel traffic on behaviour patterns of individual southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Endangered Species Research 6:199-209. (* – Joint first-authorship.)
David Lusseau, David Bain, Rob Williams & Jodi Smith. 2009. Vessel traffic disrupts foraging behaviour of southern resident killer whales. Endangered Species Research 6:211-221.
2008
Rob Williams, Anna Hall & Arliss Winship. 2008. Potential limits to anthropogenic mortality of small cetaceans in coastal waters of British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65(9):1867-1878.
2007
Rob Williams & Len Thomas. 2007. Distribution and abundance of marine mammals in the coastal waters of BC, Canada. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 9(1):15-28.
Len Thomas, Rob Williams & Doug Sandilands. 2007. Designing line transect surveys for complex survey regions. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 9(1):1-13.
Williams, R., Leaper, R., Zerbini, A. & Hammond, P.S. 2007. Methods for investigating measurement error in cetacean line transect surveys. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom87: 313-320.
Rob Williams & Erin Ashe. 2007. Killer whale evasive tactics vary with boat number. Journal of Zoology (London) 272(4):390-397.
Rob Williams & Kim Crosbie. 2007. Antarctic whales and Antarctic tourism. Tourism in Marine Environments (Special Issue on Polar Tourism).
2006
Rob Williams& David Lusseau. 2006. A killer whale social network is vulnerable to targeted removals. Biology Letters 2(4):497-500.
Rob Williams, Sharon Hedley & Phil Hammond. 2006. Modelling distribution and abundance of Antarctic baleen whales using ships of opportunity. Ecology and Society11(1).
Rob Williams, David Lusseau & Phil Hammond. 2006. Estimating relative energetic costs of human disturbance to killer whales (Orcinus orca). Biological Conservation 133(3): 301-311.
Alexandra Morton & Rob Williams. 2006. Response of Sea Lice infestation on wild Pink and Chum Salmon smolts to arrival of parasitized wild adult salmon. Canadian Field-Naturalist 120(2): 199-204.
2005
Alexandra Morton, Rick Routledge & Rob Williams. 2005. Temporal patterns of sea louse infestation on wild Pacific salmon in relation to the fallowing of Atlantic salmon farms. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 25: 811-821.
2004
David Lusseau, Rob Williams, Ben Wilson, Kate Grellier, Tim Barton, Phil Hammond & Paul Thompson. 2004. Parallel influence of climate on the behaviour of Pacific killer whales and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Ecology Letters 7: 1068-1076.
Meike Scheidat, Cristina Castro, Janira Gonzalez & Rob Williams. 2004. Behavioural responses of humpback whales to whalewatching boats near Isla de la Plata, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management6(1): 63-68.
2003
Alexandra Morton & Rob Williams. 2003. First report of the sea louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, infestation on juvenile Pink Salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, in nearshore habitat. Canadian Field-Naturalist 117: 634-641.
2002
Rob Williams, David Bain, John Ford & Andrew Trites. 2002. Behavioural responses of male killer whales to a ‘leapfrogging’ vessel. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management4(3): 305-310.
Rob Williams, Andrew Trites & David Bain. 2002. Behavioural responses of killer whales to whale-watching traffic: opportunistic observations and experimental approaches. Journal of Zoology (London) 256: 255-270.
Technical Reports
2023
Michael C. Runge, Daniel W. Linden, Jeffrey A. Hostetler1, Diane L. Borggaard, Lance P. Garrison, Amy R. Knowlton, Véronique Lesage, Rob Williams, Richard M. Pace III, October 2023. A management-focused population viability analysis for North Atlantic right whales. ResearchGate; NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-307
2021
Erin LaBrecque, Lynne Hodge, Erin Ashe, and Rob Willams, January 2021. Overview of incorporating acoustics into Species Distribution Models.
Erin LaBrecque and Lynne Hodge, January 2021. A Review of Species Distribution Models and a Novel Approach to Including Soundscape Information for Species at Risk.
Editorials and Encyclopedia Entries
2011
Rob Williams.2011. Establishing general principles from little truths: lessons from marine mammal research. Journal of Zoology 283:1-2.
2010
Linnell, J.D.C., Rondeau, D., Reed, D.H., Rob Williams, Altwegg, R., Raxworthy, C.J., Austin, J.D., Hanley, N., Fritz, H., Evans, D.M., Gordon, I.J., Reyers, B., Redpath, S. & Pettorelli, N. 2010. Confronting the costs and conflicts associated with biodiversity. Animal Conservation 13:429-431.
2006
Rob Williams & Greg Donovan. 2006. Blue whales. In: Riffenburgh, B. (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Antarctic (v. 1 & v. 2)
Rob Williams& Greg Donovan. 2006. Fin whales. In: Riffenburgh, B. (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Antarctic (v. 1 & v. 2)
Rob Williams & Greg Donovan. 2006. Sei whales. In: Riffenburgh, B. (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Antarctic (v. 1 & v. 2)
