From tilen.genov at gmail.com Sat May 1 12:44:03 2010 From: tilen.genov at gmail.com (Tilen Genov) Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 21:44:03 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Dolphin research courses in Slovenia Message-ID: Dear list members, apologies for cross-posting. Summer Dolphin Research Courses in Slovenia Morigenos ? marine mammal research and conservation society is organizing Summer Dolphin Research Camps in July, August and September 2010, where you can assist in the research programme of the Slovenian Dolphin Project. Morigenos is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization, dedicated to the research and protection of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and conservation of the marine environment. More information on Morigenos can be found at www.morigenos.org. The list of scientific publications by Morigenos can be seen at http://www.morigenos.org/index.php?path=Publications Slovenian Dolphin Project is a long-term research, monitoring and conservation programme, focusing on bottlenose dolphins (*Tursiops truncatus *) in Slovenian and adjacent waters (north Adriatic) since 2002. Research activities focus on dolphin distribution, abundance, social structure, habitat use, feeding habits, fishery interactions and tourism impact. Summer Dolphin Research Camps offer interested people to join Morigenos team for 10 days and participate in research activities. This includes boat surveys, land watches, theodolite tracking, photo-identification, behavioural observations, lectures and training. Food and accommodation are provided at Morigenos research base. Anyone above the age of 16 can participate, regardless of nationality or field of expertise. No previous experience is required. Apart from research activities, the participants share everyday duties and chores with the team members. Detailed information on Summer Dolphin Research Camps can be found at http://www.morigenos.org/index.php?path=Raziskovalni_tabori_delfini Applications There is no selection. Applications are treated on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Please send an e-mail to morigenos at morigenos.org for registration, preferred dates and possible questions. ********************************************* Tilen Genov Morigenos - marine mammal research and conservation society Jarska cesta 36/a SI-1000 Ljubljana Slovenia morigenos at morigenos.org www.morigenos.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From giovanni.bearzi at gmail.com Mon May 3 02:56:58 2010 From: giovanni.bearzi at gmail.com (Giovanni Bearzi) Date: Mon, 03 May 2010 11:56:58 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Biomass removal by dolphins and fisheries in a Mediterranean Sea coastal area: Do dolphins have an ecological impact on fisheries? Message-ID: The following article has just become available online: Biomass removal by dolphins and fisheries in a Mediterranean Sea coastal area: do dolphins have an ecological impact on fisheries? Bearzi G., Agazzi S., Gonzalvo J., Bonizzoni S., Costa M., Petroselli A. 2010. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.1123 ABSTRACT 1. Dolphins are often claimed to compete with fisheries, including through removal of substantial biomass. To calculate the biomass removed by fisheries and the degree of resource overlap with dolphins in a coastal area of Greece, estimates of dolphin abundance based on photographic capture-recapture were combined with an assessment of fishing effort and catch. 2. The estimated total biomass consumed annually by local dolphin populations - 15 short-beaked common dolphins and 42 common bottlenose dolphins - was 15.5 and 89.8 tonnes, respectively. The total biomass removed by the local fishing fleet (307 fishing boats) was 3469.2 tonnes, i.e. about 33 times greater than that removed by dolphins. 3. Dolphins removed 2.9% of the total biomass, fisheries 97.1%. Nine purse seiners (representing only 3% of the active fishing fleet) were responsible for 31.9% of biomass removal. Similarity of biomass composition between dolphins and fisheries was expressed by a Pianka index of 0.46 for common dolphins and 0.66 for bottlenose dolphins. 4. Overlap differed according to fishing gear. Common dolphin overlap was higher with purse seiners (0.82), and lower with beach seiners (0.31), bottom trawlers (0.11) and trammel boats (0.06). There was virtually no overlap with longliners (0.02). Bottlenose dolphin overlap was higher with trammel boats (0.89) and bottom trawlers (0.75), and lower with longliners (0.38), purse seiners (0.24) and beach seiners (0.18). There was minimal overlap (0.12) between the two dolphin species. 5. This study suggests that ecological interactions between dolphins and fisheries in this coastal area have minor effects on fisheries. Conversely, prey depletion resulting from overfishing can negatively affect dolphins. Fisheries management measures consistent with national and EU legislation are proposed. --- A pdf copy can be obtained from the journal's web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123394774/abstract or from me: giovanni.bearzi at gmail.com _____________________________________________________ Giovanni Bearzi, Ph.D. President, Tethys Research Institute Viale G.B Gadio 2, 20121 Milano, Italy http://www.tethys.org/giovanni_bearzi.htm http://www.tethys.org/ _____________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From emma.webb at biscay-dolphin.org.uk Sat May 1 03:49:32 2010 From: emma.webb at biscay-dolphin.org.uk (Emma Webb) Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 11:49:32 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] Cetacean Identification Workshops Message-ID: Cetacean & Seabird Identification Workshops ? LAST FEW PLACES REMAINING MARINElife is delighted to announce that we still have a few places remaining for our June 2010 Cetacean & Seabird Identification Workshops on the P&O cruiseferry ?Pride of Bilbao? travelling across the fantastic Bay of Biscay. Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP) has been conducting whale, dolphin and seabird surveys of the English Channel and Bay of Biscay each month, year-round continuously since 1995. BDRP is an award-winning project within the established charity MARINElife that aims to further the conservation of whales, dolphins, seabirds and other marine life through scientific study and educational activities. Because of the work we have undertaken, the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay is now recognised as one of the most important areas in the world for whales and dolphins! Come and join some of the most experienced cetacean and seabird researchers in the UK for a fully interactive workshop where you will learn all the basic skills needed to observe and identify these fantastic animals at sea. This workshop is ideal for anyone with a general interest in marine wildlife, students studying Marine Biology or similar subjects, people who want some firsthand experience of field work as well any prospective Marine Mammal Observers (MMO?s). Workshop Dates: 3-6 June 2010 12-15 June 2010 18-21 June 2010 Cost is ?145 per person based on two people sharing a 2 bunk inside cabin. For more information or to book a place, please visit our website at www.biscay-dolphin.org.uk/blueoceansafaris/biscay.php#IDWorkshops or email us on info at biscay-dolphin.org.uk or call Emma on 01621 856536. Kind Regards Emma Webb Community & Operations Officer marine_life_logo Conserving Marine Wildlife through Research & Education Marinelife Ltd Email: emma.webb at marine-life.org.uk Visit us at: www.marine-life.org.uk Registered Charity Number: 1110884 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 3347 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ashadevos at gmail.com Sun May 2 20:18:38 2010 From: ashadevos at gmail.com (Asha de Vos) Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 11:18:38 +0800 Subject: [MARMAM] Portable echosounder for blue whale research in Sri Lanka Message-ID: Hi Everyone I am just wondering if anyone knows of a PORTABLE echosounder to look for krill patches and trace blue whale movements underwater? This is for my PhD research off Sri Lanka where I will be working off small boats. Any help will be amazing and much appreciated. Thank you Asha -- ><((((?>`?.??.???`?.?.???`?...?><((((?>?. `?.??.???`?.?????`?.. ><((((?>`?.??.???`?.?.???`?...?><((((?> Asha de Vos 0094 77 302 1711 Sri Lanka The tropics 0061 450 140 192 Australia The subtropics -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jrichardson at miami.edu Mon May 3 06:52:33 2010 From: jrichardson at miami.edu (Richardson, Jill L) Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 09:52:33 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] Master's of Professional Science - Marine Mammal Science Track Message-ID: <738C953EF58ECE4A85C6C42B51FEBE5F1920914489@MBX04.cgcent.miami.edu> We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to new, exciting graduate degree programs in Marine Science (Marine Mammal Science) that will be offered this Fall (2010) at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS): the Master's of Professional Science (MPS). The MPS is an innovative graduate degree at the University of Miami intended for students who seek advanced training in the marine science and conservation fields, as well as the development of workplace skills highly valued by employers. The MPS program prepares students for science careers in business, government, or non-profit organizations where employment demands are growing. The curriculum is structured to allow students to complete their degree in as little as 12 months, with the training and real-world experience necessary for employment in entry to mid-level positions in today's professional job market. The curriculum combines rigorous study in select areas of marine and atmospheric science with interdisciplinary coursework in business, public health, communications, law and other professional domains. In place of a research-based thesis, all MPS students complete a 3-6 month internship in a business, government, or public sector enterprise, where they learn to apply their skills in a "hands-on" setting. All MPS graduates must complete 30 credits, consisting of 24 credits of graduate coursework and 6 credits of internship training. Please be advised that this program is self-funded, and standard University of Miami tuition rates (i.e. per credit) apply. The deadline for applications for the Fall semester is June 1, 2010. Tracks to be offered in the Fall 2010 include: Marine Science * Marine Mammal Science * Coastal Zone Management * Fisheries Science * Aquaculture * Oceans and Human Health * Tropical Marine Ecology For more information and application instructions, please visit our web page - http://mps.rsmas.miami.edu/ From sheri.woods at oregonstate.edu Mon May 3 12:08:46 2010 From: sheri.woods at oregonstate.edu (Sheri Woods) Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 12:08:46 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] Post-doc position Message-ID: 4/8/2010 Postdoctoral Position in 'Genomic Diversity of Endangered Whales', Marine Mammal Institute and Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Oregon State University The Marine Mammal Institute offers a full-time (1.0 FTE), 12-month, fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Cetacean Conservation and Genetic Laboratory, under the direction of Prof. Scott Baker. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with the senior scientist and graduate students in developing methods for 'reduced representation', genomic sequencing of individual right whales using Illumina (short-read, pair-end reads) or similar next-generation technologies. The project requires laboratory skills for preparing genomic DNA for the reduced-representation sequencing and bioinformatics skills for de novo assembling and alignment of orthologous contigs. The resulting high-resolution, 'genomic profiles' will be used to estimate the effective size of this critically endangered population and to identify individuals harboring unique genetic diversity or that might represent currently unknown subpopulations. To avoid depletion of valuable tissue samples, the project will evaluate the use Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) in preparation for the genomic sequencing. In addition to the primary research responsibilities, duties will include mentoring of graduate students, preparation of manuscripts for publication and the organization and curation of large datasets. The applicant is required to have a Ph.D. in biological sciences with expertise in population genetics, molecular ecology or bioinformatics. Experience with the Linux operating system and computer programming is desirable. Salary will be commensurate with experience and there is potential for annual renewal depending on funding. To apply for this position: please send (by email, with subject header "Genomic diversity postdoc application") a cover letter describing previous training and research interests, a CV, copies of publications and the names and contact information for 3 professional references to: Sheri Woods OSU Marine Mammal Institute Hatfield Marine Science Center 2030 SE Marine Science Drive Newport, OR 97365 Email: sheri.woods at oregonstate.edu Web site: http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/ Closing date: June 15, 2010 or until the position is filled Position available July 1, 2010 ----------------------------------------------------------- Sheri Woods Program Assistant Marine Mammal Institute OSU-HMSC 2030 SE Marine Science Drive Newport, OR 97365 Ph: 541-867-0133 Fax: 541-867-0128 email: sheri.woods at oregonstate.edu http://mmi.oregonstate.edu From Michael.Simpkins at noaa.gov Tue May 4 08:47:08 2010 From: Michael.Simpkins at noaa.gov (Mike Simpkins) Date: Tue, 04 May 2010 11:47:08 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] NOAA Requests Comment on Fish Imports and Marine Mammals Message-ID: <4BE0417C.1050905@noaa.gov> Dear MARMAM list members, NOAA is requesting public comment on options for implementing parts of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that address the incidental catch of marine mammals in foreign fisheries. The Federal Register notice (available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-10158.pdf) describes the options the United States is considering for assessing whether foreign fisheries whose products are exported to the United States meet U.S. standards to protect marine mammals while fishing. The notice also describes options for working with countries to reduce their fisheries? effects on marine mammals through capacity building, training, and technology transfer. ?A large portion of the fish Americans consume is imported,? said Eric Schwaab, NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA?s Fisheries Service. ?With this notice, we are looking for ways to lessen the effects of fishing on marine mammals worldwide, and to level the playing field for our own fishermen, who take many protective measures when fishing to ensure the survival of marine mammal species.? Commercial fishermen in the United States must comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other laws and regulations that often specify what kind of fishing gear they can use, as well as how, when, and where fishing can take place, in order to reduce the number of marine mammals killed or injured by fishing gear. However, marine mammals are found around the world and interact with a wide variety of fisheries. International collaboration through exchange of technology and information may help control and minimize effects on marine mammals. In this initial phase, NOAA is looking to gather as much information on the subject as possible. If NOAA moves forward in creating regulations on this subject, the public will have additional opportunities to comment. Members of the public are invited to comment by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on June 29, 2010 via electronic comment at www.regulations.gov, fax (301-713?2313) or mail (mail to: Director, Office of International Affairs, Attn: MMPA Fish Import Provisions, NMFS, F/IA, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910). From natalie.ashford-hodges07 at imperial.ac.uk Wed May 5 03:41:09 2010 From: natalie.ashford-hodges07 at imperial.ac.uk (Ashford-Hodges, Natalie) Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 11:41:09 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] Looking for data on testes mass in marine mammals Message-ID: Dear Marmammers, I'm a masters student at Imperial College in the UK looking for data for my research thesis. I'm investigating factors which influence interspecific variations in testes mass in marine mammals. In order to do this study I need information on body mass and testes mass during the breeding season from as many marine mammal species as possible. While I have data for some cetacean species from publications, I am having problems locating similar data for pinnipeds, sirenians and other marine mammals. As a result, I was wondering if anyone could suggest any data sources for these species (or any additional data from cetaceans), especially unpublished data or reports, which I could use to help with my project? Thanks very much for your help! Best wishes Natalie -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rosen at zoology.ubc.ca Mon May 3 08:54:00 2010 From: rosen at zoology.ubc.ca (David Rosen) Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 08:54:00 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] Deadline - Comparative Nutrition Society meetings Message-ID: <370908C3-CDC6-4CFC-9686-53E47B80B5B6@zoology.ubc.ca> REMINDER - ABSTRACT DEADLINE 15 MAY 2010 EIGHTH BIENNIAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE COMPARATIVE NUTRITION SOCIETY Westward Look Resort, Tucson, Arizona, USA, 6-10 August 2010 The eighth biennial meeting of the Comparative Nutrition Society (CNS) is scheduled for 6-10 August, 2010 in Tucson, AZ. CNS is a society created to foster communication among laboratory and field scientists from various disciplines with interests in comparative nutrition. The interests represented in the society include, but are not limited to, the disciplines of nutrition, physiology, metabolism, biochemistry, animal science, wildlife and marine biology, ecology, and all taxa including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. CNS meetings are a unique experience, bringing together a rare mixture of scientists and professionals from a variety of fields. The collegial nature of the meetings also makes it a perfect experience for graduate students. Our entire meeting ? talks, meals, and social events ? will be in a group setting, so that we will have plenty of time for in-depth discussions, renewing old friendships, and establishing new collaborations. This year?s symposium will be held in the unique location provided by the Westward Look Resort set at the base of the striking Santa Catalina Mountains (www.westwardlook.com) in Tucson, Arizona. This unique location provides a wealth of outdoor activities before and after the sessions. Please see our website (www.cnsweb.org) to register and submit abstracts. Students should click on ?Student competitions? for information on travel and presentation awards. To make lodging reservations, please call the reservations department at the resort directly at 1-800-722-2500, and identify yourself as from ?The Comparative Nutrition Society?. Sorry, on-line reservations are not available. Deadline for abstract submission is 15 May 2010. We look forward to seeing you in August! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From TWIMMER at DAL.CA Thu May 6 03:57:27 2010 From: TWIMMER at DAL.CA (Tonya Wimmer) Date: Thu, 06 May 2010 07:57:27 -0300 Subject: [MARMAM] Dr. Jon Lien Message-ID: <20100506075727.17693kut1ek5ireo@wm2.dal.ca> Hi everyone, I'm sure most of you have heard about the passing of Dr. Jon Lien on April 15th. For those of us who knew him, he truly was an inspiration. I just wanted to let you know there is public memorial website where you can read the wonderful stories and tributes people are posting about Jon and post some yourself: http://www.thanksjon.ca/ There is also a wonderful feature about him and his amazing work at: http://www.cbc.ca/nl/features/jonlien/ Jon inspired, mentored and supported many of us - he will be missed. Cheers, Tonya "From space, the planet is blue. From space, the planet is the territory, not of humans, but of the whale" - Heathcote Williams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tonya Wimmer, MSc. Species Conservation Manager World Wildlife Fund Canada, Halifax 902-482-1105 ext. 32 & NS Marine Animal Response Society 1-866-567-6277 & Dalhousie University, Halifax http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/tw/tonya.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Michael.fontaine at u-psud.fr Thu May 6 00:36:21 2010 From: Michael.fontaine at u-psud.fr (Michael C Fontaine) Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 09:36:21 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Demo-genetic history of European porpoises Message-ID: Dear MARMAMERS, I am happy to announce you the release of our new paper on harbour porpoises published in the Proc. R. Soc. B online before print May 5, 2010, doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0412 : Genetic and historic evidence for climate-driven population fragmentation in a top cetacean predator: the harbour porpoises in European water Micha?l C. Fontaine, Krystal A. Tolley, Johan R. Michaux, Alexei Birkun, Jr, Marisa Ferreira, Thierry Jauniaux, ?ngela Llavona, Bayram ?zt?rk, Ayaka A ?zt?rk, Vincent Ridoux, Emer Rogan, Marina Sequeira, Jean-Marie Bouquegneau, and Stuart J. E. Baird Abstract: Recent climate change has triggered profound reorganization in northeast Atlantic ecosystems, with substantial impact on the distribution of marine assemblages from plankton to fishes. However, assessing the repercussions on apex marine predators remains a challenging issue, especially for pelagic species. In this study, we use Bayesian coalescent modelling of microsatellite variation to track the population demographic history of one of the smallest temperate cetaceans, the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in European waters. Combining genetic inferences with palaeo-oceanographic and historical records provides strong evidence that populations of harbour porpoises have responded markedly to the recent climate-driven reorganization in the eastern North Atlantic food web. This response includes the isolation of porpoises in Iberian waters from those further north only approximately 300 years ago with a predominant northward migration, contemporaneous with the warming trend underway since the ?Little Ice Age? period and with the ongoing retreat of cold-water fishes from the Bay of Biscay. The extinction or exodus of harbour porpoises from the Mediterranean Sea (leaving an isolated relict population in the Black Sea) has lacked a coherent explanation. The present results suggest that the fragmentation of harbour distribution range in the Mediterranean Sea was triggered during the warm ?Mid-Holocene Optimum? period (approx. 5000 years ago), by the end of the post-glacial nutrient-rich ?Sapropel? conditions that prevailed before that time. The full text is freely available at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/04/30/rspb.2010.0412.full Best wishes, Michael -- PhD Michael C. Fontaine UMR CNRS/Universite Paris Sud/AgroParisTech 8079 Universite Paris-Sud, Bat. 360 F-91405 Orsay cedex FRANCE Phone +33169155662 Fax +33169154697 E-Mail: michael.fontaine at u-psud.fr Personal webpage: http://users.skynet.be/fb683753/michaelcfontaine/Home.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rebecca.wellard at oceanpark.com.hk Wed May 5 20:17:19 2010 From: rebecca.wellard at oceanpark.com.hk (Rebecca Wellard) Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 11:17:19 +0800 Subject: [MARMAM] Dolphin Research Internship at Ocean Park, Hong Kong Message-ID: <4B9E0EF39083064DB6B7CC93F1A2E1A4010AC46E6810@MS01.oceanpark.com.hk> Internships Available at Ocean Park, Hong Kong Full-time unpaid internships are currently being offered by the Acoustic Research Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute of the National University of Singapore in collaboration with Ocean Park Hong Kong. The ARL conducts studies on the cognitive and sensory capabilities of bottlenose dolphins living at Ocean Park with a focus on echolocation and underwater acoustics. Interns receive intensive hands-on experience by participating in all aspects of the ongoing research and laboratory activities, including assistance in the daily research sessions with the dolphins, data processing and analysis, and also assisting with projects administrative and maintenance requirements. Interns should have at least two years of university experience. Individuals from all types of academic disciplines are welcome to apply. Selection is competitive and is based on the applicant's statement of interest, prior experience, academic record, and letters of reference. The Internship period begins September 2010 and ends December 2010. Starting and finishing time can be slightly adjusted for conflicting university schedules. Visa arrangements will need to be made for successful international applicants. There is no charge for the internship. Interns are responsible for their own room and board. For successful applicants a small stipend can be provided. To apply please submit the following: 1) Statement of Interest 2) Academic records 3) Three letters of reference 4) Curriculum Vitae Please send applications to rebecca.wellard at oceanpark.com.hk with "Dolphin Research Internship" in the subject line. -------------------------------- Rebecca Wellard Research Department Ocean Park Cooperation Aberdeen, Hong Kong Email: rebecca.wellard at oceanpark.com.hk Please think GREEN before printing this e-mail. Disclaimer: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you have received this in error, please delete it from your system. If you require assistance, please contact us at opc at oceanpark.com.hk Beginning 1 January 2006, Ocean Park raises its conservation commitment further by donating part of the admission to Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (www.opcf.org.hk) to support its research projects and public awareness programmes for wildlife conservation in Asia. From emily at dolphins.org Tue May 4 08:01:14 2010 From: emily at dolphins.org (Emily Guarino) Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 11:01:14 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] Dolphin Research Internships Message-ID: Dolphin Research Internships Dolphin Research Center (DRC) is currently accepting applications for Research Interns for the Fall term. DRC is a not-for-profit education and research facility, home to a family of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions. DRC is located on Grassy Key, in the heart of the Florida Keys. Internships at DRC are an exciting way to develop career skills as well as an opportunity to get "behind the scenes" to see how a marine mammal facility operates. Research interns participate in DRC's ongoing behavioral and cognitive research projects, giving them broad exposure to a variety of research methodologies. Interns receive extensive on-the-job training in observing marine mammal behavior, collecting observational data, working with research equipment, and assisting with experimental research sessions. Specific job duties include: * Collecting observational behavioral data * Preparing stimuli for cognitive research sessions * Assisting in setting up and tearing down equipment for cognitive research sessions * Operating video equipment * Entering or scanning data into the computer for analysis * General support of the facility through participation in the volunteer resource pool (facility maintenance, bird care, assisting with public programs, guest interactions, etc.) Publications: Jaakkola, K., Fellner, W., Erb, L., Rodriguez, A. M., & Guarino, E. (2005). Understanding the concept of numerically "less" by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Comparative Psychology. Jaakkola, K., Guarino, E., Rodriguez, M., Erb, L., & Trone, M. (2010). What do dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) understand about hidden objects? Animal Cognition, 13, 103-120. Internships require a minimum of a 16-week commitment, 40 hours per week. The internship is unpaid, and interns are responsible for providing their own housing. DRC will provide assistance in locating housing and/or matching up interns and volunteers desiring roommates. Successful candidates will be ready and willing to learn, self-motivated, and flexible. Prior research experience is recommended but not required. The deadline to apply is *** June 1st***. To apply, you must download the application available at www.dolphins.org. Click "Research", and then "Internship Information". The application, and all associated materials (resume, transcript, and letters of rec.) must be mailed to DRC. -------------------------------- Emily Guarino Administrative Director of Research emily at dolphins.org Dolphin Research Center 58901 Overseas Hwy. Grassy Key, FL 33050 www.dolphins.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Thea.Johanos-Kam at noaa.gov Fri May 7 13:31:22 2010 From: Thea.Johanos-Kam at noaa.gov (Thea Johanos-Kam) Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 10:31:22 -1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Hawaiian Monk Seal Field Research Positions for 2010-2011 winter season Message-ID: <4BE4789A.3000602@noaa.gov> The Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) works closely with The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center through a cooperative agreement with the University of Hawaii, and will be accepting applications for the upcoming 2010-2011 winter field research season to study the endangered Hawaiian monk seal at Laysan Island and possibly other locations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This work is part of a long-term annual Hawaiian monk seal population monitoring and conservation program by NMFS which includes: conducting trend counts; tagging seals; identifying individual seals by tags, scars, natural markings, and applied bleach marks; monitoring reproduction, survival, injuries, entanglements, migration, performing necropsies; collecting scat & spew samples for food habitat, parasite load, and hormonal analysis; collecting tissue samples for DNA analysis; collecting & removing debris capable of entangling seals and other wildlife. Behavior data are also collected. In addition, researchers will periodically handle, weigh, and administer de-worming medication to immature seals at Laysan, and possibly other sites in an effort to increase seal condition and survival by removing parasite loads. For general information about the program, visit this website: http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/psd/ Employment will be from mid-July through May, or for a subset of this period (from mid-July through January). The number of positions and/or continuation of the program is subject to funding. The first weeks of employment are spent in Honolulu training and packing, and the final weeks are also spent in Honolulu to clean up gear and summarize data. Travel to Honolulu and food and lodging while in Honolulu are not provided; a listing of potential housing options is available. Transportation between Honolulu and the field site, and food and lodging in the field are provided. Field work is accomplished by a 4 member team in a remote camp at Laysan Island. Researchers live in wall tents, and the site is accessible by ship (4 day travel; 1,300 km from Honolulu). Field work at other possible sites is accomplished by 2-4 member teams in remote camps. Researchers live in either wall tents or buildings. All sites are accessible by ship (2-8 day travel; 830-2,300 km from Honolulu), and two are accessible by plane. Few supply opportunities exist and outside communication is limited. Employment will be provided by JIMAR, which hires its program and scientific staff through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). To search and apply for RCUH positions, refer to the following website: http://www.rcuh.com/ **NO LATER THAN MAY 19 OR MAY 21, 2010 (DEPENDING UPON POSITION) BUT SOONER IS BETTER* * *IMPORTANT:* Please specify in your cover letter the period you are available, remote field experience, animal handling experience, and boating skills. The job postings for the JIMAR PIFSC Biological Research Assistant recruitment (for Field Camp Assistant) and JIMAR PIFSC Biological Technician recruitment (for Field Camp Leader) are below. Each position needs to be applied for separately. Please apply directly to RCUH Human Resources following the methods stated in the posting by the closing date. *JIMAR PIFSC BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT -- ID#10218.* Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research. (6) Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), located at the National Marine Fisheries (NMFS), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, and availability of funds. *MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARY: *$1,730.00/Mo. *DUTIES*: Under guidance of field camp leader and/or NMFS personnel, assists in camp preparations, daily maintenance and operation of field camp, and collection of census and life history data on Hawaiian monk seals. Conducts boating operations at multiple-island atolls. Assists with return, repair, and clean-up of field equipment and supplies at the end of camp and with the processing of field data. *PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS: EDUCATION:* High School Diploma or equivalent. *EXPERIENCE:* One to three (1-3) years of field experience, including experience working within small groups in remote settings. Experience with handling of wildlife. *ABIL/KNOW/SKILLS:* Working knowledge of personal computers including use of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Good communication and team skills. Ability to perform data entry. *PHYSICAL/MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS:* Ability to swim. Ability to work in remote locations for extended periods of time. Must be able to work long hours in the sun. Must be able to walk long distances (up to 7 miles) in the sand carrying 25-35 pounds of field gear. Must be able to manually restrain immature seals (up to 200 pounds). Must be able to obtain medical clearance for embarking/working on NOAA research vessels or other appropriate vessels which includes providing proof of required immunizations and/or obtaining the necessary immunizations as required by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. *SECONDARY QUALIFICATIONS:* Prior field experience in a Hawaiian monk seal field camp. Previous experience in field or laboratory studies of marine mammals, previous experience handling marine mammals, previous data entry experience. Prefer applicants interested in pursuing career in marine mammology or related field. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, possess prior experience operating small boats and/or the ability to conduct routine maintenance on small boats. Possess NOAA certification for small boat operations (having completed Motorboat Operators Certification Course (MOCC) and NOAA small boat component training) to work at multiple-island atolls. *_INQUIRIES: Nicole Wakazuru 956-5018 (Oahu). _APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:* The preferred method of applying for a job is through our on-line application process. Please go to www.rcuh.com, click on "Employment" and navigate to "Job Announcements/Apply for a Job." However, if you do not have access to the Internet, you may apply by submitting resume; cover letter including Recruitment ID#, referral source, narrative of your qualifications for position and salary history; names, phone numbers and addresses of three supervisory references and copy of degree(s)/transcripts/certificate(s) to qualify for position by fax (808) 956-5022, mail, or hand-deliver to: Director of Human Resources, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, 2530 Dole Street, Sakamaki Hall D-100, Honolulu, HI 96822 before the closing date. Online applications and faxed documents must be submitted/received by the closing date (11:59 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time). Mailed documents must be postmarked by the closing date. Hand-delivered documents must be received by our HR office by 4 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time. If you have questions on the application process and/or need assistance, please call (808)956-3100. *_CLOSING DATE: May 21, 2010._ *EEO/AA Employer. *JIMAR PIFSC BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TECHNICIAN -- ID#10215.* Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research. (2) Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), located at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIFSC) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, and availability of funds. *MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARY:* $1,871.00. *DUTIES:* Performs daily maintenance and operation of field camp. Collects census and life history data on Hawaiian monk seals. Conducts boating operations at multiple-island atolls. Required to lead other field personnel. Responsible for returning and storing all field equipment and supplies at the end of camp. Collaborates with scientists within NMFS to conduct and analyze field studies on the Hawaiian monk seal in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. *PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS: EDUCATION:* Associate's Degree from an accredited community college in Marine Biology, Biology, Fisheries Oceanography or other related field. *EXPERIENCE:* One to three (1-3) years of field experience, including experience working within small groups in remote settings. Experience conducting research on Hawaiian monk seals. Experience handling monk seals. *ABIL/KNOW/SKILLS:* Working knowledge of personal computers including use of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Good communications skills (both written and oral). Leadership and decision-making skills. Ability to perform data entry. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, must be NOAA certified for small boat operations (having completed Motorboat Operators Certification Course (MOCC) and NOAA small boat component training). Post Offer/Employment Conditions: Must meet the US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration security requirements for working in a federal facility which includes being fingerprinted and having a federal background check performed. Must be able to pass pre-deployment training requirements including field medical training before being deployed to remote island. *PHYSICAL/MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS:* Ability to swim. Ability to work in remote locations for extended periods of time. Must be able to work long hours in the sun. Must be able to walk long distances (up to 7 miles) in the sand carrying 25-35 pounds of field gear. Must be able to obtain medical clearance for embarking/working on NOAA research vessels or other appropriate vessels which includes providing proof of required immunizations and/or obtaining the necessary immunizations as required by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. *SECONDARY QUALIFICATIONS: *Prior field experience in a Hawaiian monk seal field camp. Previous experience in field or laboratory studies of marine mammals, previous experience handling marine mammals, previous data entry experience, prefer applicants interested in pursuing career in marine mammology or related field. Ability to perform basic data analysis. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, possess the ability to conduct routine maintenance on small boats. *_INQUIRIES: Nicole Wakazuru 956-5018 (Oahu). _APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: *The preferred method of applying for a job is through our on-line application process. Please go to www.rcuh.com, click on "Employment" and navigate to "Job Announcements/Apply for a Job." However, if you do not have access to the Internet, you may apply by submitting resume; cover letter including Recruitment ID#, referral source, narrative of your qualifications for position and salary history; names, phone numbers and addresses of three supervisory references and copy of degree(s)/transcripts/certificate(s) to qualify for position by fax (808) 956-5022, mail, or hand-deliver to: Director of Human Resources, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, 2530 Dole Street, Sakamaki Hall D-100, Honolulu, HI 96822 before the closing date. Online applications and faxed documents must be submitted/received by the closing date (11:59 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time). Mailed documents must be postmarked by the closing date. Hand-delivered documents must be received by our HR office by 4 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time. If you have questions on the application process and/or need assistance, please call (808)956-3100. _*CLOSING DATE: May 19, 2010. *_EEO/AA Employer. -- Thea Johanos Lead, Monk Seal Population Assessment Program Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 1601 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 1110 Honolulu, HI 96814-4700 808-944-2174 office 808-941-0307 fax -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aguasonic at gmail.com Fri May 7 09:39:23 2010 From: aguasonic at gmail.com (AguaSonic Acoustics) Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 09:39:23 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] A possible 'echo flag'? Message-ID: Dear MARMAM, While researching ways to classify the clicks of Beaked whales, there appeared a curious feature in one of the metrics being plotted in wavelet space. The original clicks, those coming from the whale, were typically below '1' in this value. Echoes, reflections, were above '1', sometimes by three orders of magnitude. It is possible a new means may be available for distinguishing the original click from its echo(es). Detections supporting this hypothesis are detailed in: http://tinyurl.com/2c72zsb However, it is just a theory until it can be verified. Thus, I am seeking collaboration with someone who would like to take a look at this recording and determine which are the source clicks and which are echoes using existing, conventional methods (that is, polarity or cross-correlation, et cetera). Then we could compare results and see if this new method is useful. Sincerely, Mark Fischer // info at aguasonic.com From scheinin at 013.net Sat May 8 12:16:49 2010 From: scheinin at 013.net (scheinin) Date: Sat, 08 May 2010 22:16:49 +0300 Subject: [MARMAM] Grey whale in Israel! Message-ID: <020401caeee3$0242ce80$06c86b80$@net.il> Earlier today, 09:00 AM, IMMRAC team was alerted to a presence of a whale, a mile and a half off Herzliya Marina. Upon arrival, the ca 13 m long whale was spotted and followed for two hours, southward along the coast. The whale made a continuous series of short (3-5 minute) dives occasionally displaying its flukes. Size, coloration and a distinct dorsal hump with successive small tubercles along the dorsal aspect of the tail stock pointed to it being a sperm whale and excitement was high, it being the first occasion when this species was sighted by IMMRAC staff. Some features being "wrong" with the head and the blow-hole were dismissed and the first report to the Media upon return to shore was of a sperm whale. Closer inspection of the photographs back home showed quite a lot of head in front of an elevated blowhole, flukes unlike those of a sperm whale, unwrinkled and white-patched skin, all leading to the incredible but inescapable conclusion that it was indeed a grey whale! It was last spotted off Jaffa, still in a southward direction. Comments and suggestions of how it got here and what are his chances of surviving would be more than welcome. Aviad Scheinin Dan Kerem Contact e-mail: scheinin at 013.net.il A few pictures are attached crop20100508_Her_Aviad045_.jpg crop20100508_Her_Aviad053_IMMRAC.jpg crop_20100508_Her_Aviad010 copy.jpg 20100508_Her_Aviad074_IMMRAC.jpg Photographs: Dr. Aviad Scheinin __________________________________________________________________ Aviad Scheinin, Ph.D scheinin at 013.net.il http://immrac.haifa.ac.il/ Chairman, IMMRAC - Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance center ECS council member Home address: Tirat Shalom, P.B. 1356, Nes-Ziona 74052, Israel Tel 972-8-9406584 Mobile 052-3571193 __________________________________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image005.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 52785 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image006.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 47645 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image008.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 67844 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image010.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 71084 bytes Desc: not available URL: From blm at smru.co.uk Mon May 10 07:58:43 2010 From: blm at smru.co.uk (Beth Mackey) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:58:43 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] Passive Acoustic Monitoring - Training Course Message-ID: The use of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) is becoming an increasingly important tool in both marine mammal research and applied in industry. It is important that individuals using any passive acoustic monitoring software are properly trained to use the software to maximise its full potential. Feedback from users is also important in the ongoing development of such software. PAMGUARD is currently funded by the OGP E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Program, and has been established to address the fundamental limitations of existing cetacean passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) software capabilities. PAMGUARD seeks to provide open-source PAM software based on a platform-independent (e.g. Windows or Linux), flexible, modular architecture. The open-source aspect of software development is facilitated through the project's presence on SourceForge, where a community of altruistic developers provides extra resources. This community currently includes developers with proven PAM experience from both the UK and the USA. Open development means that the software is free and access to the code is easy and assured. It also allows the code's copyright to be protected in perpetuity so that it cannot readily be closed and commercialised to the detriment of its users. It ultimately means that more people have access for development. This generally speeds up innovations and improves the performance and maintainability of the code. SMRU Ltd are running a PAMGUARD Training course on the 13th and 14th May, in St Andrews. There are still some places available on this course. The course will be lead by Dr Doug Gillespie of St Andrews University, one of the principle architects of the Pamguard software. If you are interested in attending the course please see the Pamguard website for further details: http://www.pamguard.org/training.shtml or email info at smru.co.uk Best wishes Beth Dr Beth Mackey SMRU Limited Scottish Oceans Institute New Technology Centre North Haugh ST ANDREWS Fife KY16 9SR D: + 44 (0)1334 466906 T: + 44 (0)1334 479100 F: + 44 (0)1334 477878 W: www.smru.co.uk http://soi.st-andrews.ac.uk P Please consider whether you really need a hard copy of this email before printing it - thank you. NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY: This message, and any attachments, are intended solely for the addressee and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you believe that you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy this email. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are free from any virus, we advise that, in keeping with good computing practice, the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. SMRU LIMITED is a limited company registered in Scotland, Registered Number: 296937. Registered Office: 5 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 8EJ. Dr Beth Mackey SMRU Limited Scottish Oceans Institute New Technology Centre North Haugh ST ANDREWS Fife KY16 9SR D: + 44 (0)1334 466906 T: + 44 (0)1334 479100 F: + 44 (0)1334 477878 E: blm at smru.co.uk W: www.smru.co.uk http://soi.st-andrews.ac.uk P Please consider whether you really need a hard copy of this email before printing it - thank you. NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY: This message, and any attachments, are intended solely for the addressee and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you believe that you have received this email in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy this email. Although we have taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are free from any virus, we advise that, in keeping with good computing practice, the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. SMRU LIMITED is a limited company registered in Scotland, Registered Number: 296937. Registered Office: 5 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 8EJ. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From J.Tyne at murdoch.edu.au Tue May 11 13:38:06 2010 From: J.Tyne at murdoch.edu.au (Julian Tyne) Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 04:38:06 +0800 Subject: [MARMAM] SEEKING FIELD ASSISTANTS FOR RESEARCH ON HAWAIIAN SPINNER DOLPHINS Message-ID: PROJECT SUMMARY I am seeking experienced research assistants for my PhD field work that aims to a) quantify possible effects of human interactions on spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in resting bays in Hawaii and b) assess the effectiveness of time-area closures as a proposed mitigation tool. This is the first stage of a long-term project on spinner dolphins along the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii by Murdoch University, Western Australia (http://www.cffr.murdoch.edu.au/mucru/ ) and Duke University, North Carolina (http://nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/ ). The project aims to collect baseline data on the local abundance, distribution and behaviour of spinner dolphins using a suite of modern visual and acoustic techniques in five spinner dolphin resting bays in Hawaii. These data will be used to determine residency and fidelity patterns and investigate the possible effects of human interactions on the spinner dolphins and to assess the effectiveness of time-area closures as a mitigation approach. This will assist in determining the long-term viability of the spinner dolphin population and the sustainability and management of the human interactions within the resting bays. FIELD WORK Boat based photo-identification surveys will be conducted in each of four resting bays off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii and at another control site, off the island of Molokai, to evaluate abundance of spinner dolphins before and after the implementation of time-area closures. Where possible, the movements and behaviour of spinner dolphins and boats will be studied from local cliff tops overlooking spinner dolphin resting bays using a digital theodolite. Theodolite data will be used to derive time series of information on activity state, path sinuosity, speed, and synchronicity of schools. Bottom-mounted acoustic recorders will be deployed in two of the resting bays that will also be subject to photo-identification- and theodolite studies described above. Initially, acoustic survey periods will be continuous (no duty cycle) and will coincide with daily visual observations in order to link acoustic detections with the distribution and behaviour of dolphins. Field work will be physically and at times mentally demanding but you will have the opportunity to observe and gain hands-on experience and improve existing skills in relation to theodolite survey techniques, photo-identification, and behavioural observations. This experience will be most useful to students or anyone hoping to pursue a career in behavioural ecology or population biology. Research assistants I am seeking skilled research assistants to commence in July 2010. Assistants will help collect information on spinner dolphin abundance, distribution and behaviour off the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. The field season for 2010 begins in July and will last until December 2010 / January 2011. Because of the training required, applicants must be willing to commit to the project fulltime for a minimum of two months. Applicants willing to participate for longer will be given preference. PREREQUISITES 1. Enrolled in or completed a degree in biology, marine science, animal behaviour or a related field 2. Previous field experience with marine wildlife (photo-identification, theodolite tracking and boat handling skills would be advantageous but not a prerequisite). 3. Be enthusiastic, team oriented, have a positive attitude and good sense of humour as well as a genuine interest in marine mammal science. 4. Be adaptable and patient as fieldwork is highly weather dependent. This means office based work during bad weather and long consecutive days in the field when weather permits. Fieldwork will vary between weekends and weekdays. 5. Be prepared to work long days in a small vessel in small team of three-five people 6. Be able to commit for a minimum of five days a week for two months (though applicants willing to commit for longer will be preferred) Unfortunately, I am unable to provide monetary compensation or living provisions and research assistants will be responsible for travel to Hawaii and their own living expenses. If you are interested, please provide a short CV and cover letter attention of Julian Tyne (j.tyne at murdoch.edu.au ). Julian Tyne PhD Candidate Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit (MUCRU) Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research Faculty of Sustainability, Environmental and Life Sciences Murdoch University South Street, Murdoch, 6150 Western Australia http://www.cffr.murdoch.edu.au/mucru/julian_tyne.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jo.wharam at emulimited.com Mon May 10 07:04:37 2010 From: jo.wharam at emulimited.com (Jo Wharam) Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:04:37 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] Marine Mammal and Seabird Observer posts Message-ID: <4A3FD716064BED4DB201A96264BC5F6414458A@emuocean.ad.emuenv.co.uk> Dear Colleagues, Emu Limited is seeking Marine Mammal and Seabird Observers - see e-mail below. Please circulate to colleagues who may be interested. Please send CVs and direct all queries regarding these posts to emurecruitment at handoverhr.co.uk Kind regards, Jo. Observers - Marine Mammal & Seabird Team Vacancies exist within Emu Limited for full-time Observers to join the Marine Mammal and Seabird Team. These positions will be based at Trafalgar Wharf, Portchester in Hampshire and offshore. The roles will be involved with all aspects of marine mammal and seabird projects including, but not limited to; ? Boat-based visual and acoustic surveys of marine mammals and seabirds. ? Data entry and processing. ? Planning and preparation of fieldwork. ? Report writing and interpretation. The successful applicants will be educated to degree level, or have extensive work experience in this field and demonstrate an interest in the marine environment. They will also have experience of spending long periods at sea, significant experience of boat-based marine mammal and seabird survey techniques, excellent identification skills of marine mammals and seabirds of the UK and Europe, as well as experience of data analysis, report writing and interpretation. JNCC approved Marine Mammal Observer (visual and acoustic) qualifications and a European Seabirds at Sea accreditation would be advantageous. Salary is negotiable, depending on experience, plus an excellent benefits package. The working pattern for this role is 1 month on, 1 month off (further details to be provided at interview). Please apply by sending a CV and covering letter to emurecruitment at handoverhr.co.uk or by post to Emu Limited HR Department, Chase Mill, Winchester Road, Bishops Waltham, Hants, SO32 1AH Please Note: In order to meet the requirements of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, Emu Limited requires that all applicants have the right to work within the UK. Closing Date: 28th May 2010 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2906 bytes Desc: image003.jpg URL: From Alexandre.DeLichtervelde at health.fgov.be Wed May 12 05:07:02 2010 From: Alexandre.DeLichtervelde at health.fgov.be (De Lichtervelde Alexandre) Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 14:07:02 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Availability of (whale) ship strikes folder Message-ID: Please find below a message we would ask you to circulate: "The Belgian Ministry of Environment is happy to inform you about the release of a folder on ship strikes with whales. Ship strikes are now a recognized cause of mortality for whales globally. Every segment of the maritime industry is concerned, as well as sailing boats. The folder commissioned by Belgium includes advice to reduce the risk of collisions with whales. It also provides the link to the ship strikes database developed by the International Whaling Commission which offers an easy to use interface for data entry. Ship strikes are a priority area of work for the International Whaling Commission and other international organizations. The folder is available in six languages and can namely be used by ship strikes contact points, whale stranding networks coordinators and maritime authorities. Link to the folder: http://www.iwcoffice.org/sci_com/shipstrikes.htm Further information and printed copies of the folder can be obtained by contacting Alexandre de Lichtervelde, Chair of the IWC Ship strikes Working Group, at: Alexandre.delichtervelde at health.fgov.be". Yours sincerely. Alexandre de Lichtervelde Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain security and Environment Multilateral and Strategic Affairs Eurostation building (DG5) Room 02C368 Place Victor Horta 40, box 10 B-1060 Brussels Tel +32/(0)2/524 96 17 (direct line) Fax +32/(0)2/524 96 00 Mobile +32/(0)474/496 355 http://www.health.fgov.be NEW !!! Whales and dolphins exhibition in Brussels (till 29 August 2010): http://www.sciencesnaturelles.be/museum/exhibitions/whalesdolphins/flash /files/fr/index.html Disclaimer : https://portal.health.fgov.be/portal/page?_pageid=56,8674425&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From simo_liste at tiscali.it Fri May 7 08:50:10 2010 From: simo_liste at tiscali.it (simo_liste at tiscali.it) Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 17:50:10 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [MARMAM] Volunteer field helpers - Marine mammals research Message-ID: <16769494.417611273247410924.JavaMail.defaultUser@defaultHost> PROJECT: Long term study of southern elephant seals breeding biology POSITION: Volunteer (unpaid) field helper DURATION: 3 months, September-November 2010 PLACE: Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, Southern Atlantic DEADLINE: submit letter of interest + CV by 31st May 2010 Various volunteer field helpers are required for the 2010 field season of a long term project on southern elephant seals carried out by the Elephant Seal Research Group. The field work site is Sea Lion Island (Falkland Islands). More details on the project are available on the research team web site: www.eleseal.org. Successful applicants will receive adequate training and will help with tagging, marking, counts, behavioral observations, handling of pups, and collection of biological sampling. Volunteers will be supervised by the PIs and/or by trained technicians. Previous experience of field work is appreciated but not essential. The field season runs for approximately 3 months, from the beginning of September to the end of November. Only applicants who can stay for the whole season can be taken into consideration. Applicants should pay all expenses required to get to the field work site, and telephone/Internet expenses while at Sea Lion Island. Accommodation at Sea Lion Island is rather basic and self-catering. Applicants will be required to work for the whole length of the day, seven days per week (with half day per week of rest). The work is physically demanding, and it is often carried out in rather bad weather conditions. People without a good tolerance to cold are discouraged to apply. The island is a wonderful place with a rich and tame wildlife. To apply please send a cover letter describing your interest in the position and a CV or resume to Filippo Galimberti at fil_esrg at eleseal. org, and copy to fil_esrg at prodigy.net.mx. Contact information for one or more references is appreciated but not essential. Thanks. The ESRG team www.eleseal.org Risparmia con Tutto Incluso Light: telefono + adsl 8 mega a soli 14,95 ? al mese.Gratis la Sim Tiscali Mobile con 25 euro di traffico! L'offerta ? valida solo se attivi entro il 06/05/10http://abbonati.tiscali.it/telefono-adsl/prodotti/tc/tuttoincluso_light/?WT.mc_id=01fw From uvicwhalelab at gmail.com Tue May 11 12:25:39 2010 From: uvicwhalelab at gmail.com (UVIC WhaleLab Gmail) Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 12:25:39 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] Whale Research Internships in June! Spaces Available at Discount due to Recent Cancellation - Apply Now! Message-ID: Due to a Recent Cancellation, we are able to offer discounts for our June internships. We're offering our 4-week internship at $200.00 discount and our 2-week internship at $100.00 discount for applications received prior to 17-May. Apply now, spaces are limited!! SEACR MARINE RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS ? SUMMER 2010 The Society for Ecological and Coastal Research - SEACR - is a non- profit organization, established in 1998, dedicated to scientific research on the ecology of near-shore marine systems. SEACR is sponsoring several long-term ongoing research projects on gray whale ecology in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada. The projects are organized and run by the Whale Research Lab of the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (http://www.geog.uvic.ca/whalelab/ ). INTERNSHIPS Enthusiastic individuals with a keen interest in nature and science are invited to discover the challenges of marine field research along Canada's coastal rainforest through SEACR's Marine Research Intern Program! MRIP is a volunteer program where Research Interns assist experienced and dedicated marine biologists and ecologists with their field research. Through MRIP, Research Interns will live and work at a remote research field-station in the coastal rainforest of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, to aid researchers with ongoing field research related to coastal and marine ecology. Internships are offered on a competitive basis, at cost and provide invaluable exposure to boat based field work, the Pacific coastal ocean environment, marine mammal research, intensive training and mentoring in marine ecology, and encouragement to work and play hard! We are offering 2 or 4 week Marine Research Internships for June 2010. There is no deadline to apply. However, approved applications are reviewed and accepted on a first-come, first serve basis and spaces are quite limited. QUALIFICATIONS This internship is an excellent opportunity for an individual working toward a career in marine science to gain practical experience in the field. Ideal candidates possess a personal interest in marine ecology and a commitment to conservation research. Marine research is difficult and challenging work, so being a Research Intern is not for everyone! Those who wish to participate in MRIP must be in good physical health, especially free of back and leg injuries, as the field hours (in the boat and in the lab) can be long - though very satisfying! This is not a program that certifies individuals in field research. It is, however, an experience that delivers a unique opportunity for education, development of field ecology research skills, travel, and enjoyment of wildlife. THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT Flores Island is the home of the Ahousaht First Nations peoples and is nestled in world-famous Clayoquot Sound, in the Pacific Coast rainforest. Flores is an excellent place to learn about marine ecology and the study of nature. Along with learning field and technical skills during the course of work, when the opportunity arises Research Interns may engage in informal talks with graduate students, take hikes along the Wild Side Trail, have beach campfires, and interact with the Ahousaht First Nations peoples. Professors from the University of Victoria, local scientists and previous MRIP researchers will be frequent visitors to the field research station. Flores Island's natural beauty, sandy beaches, and abundant wildlife will keep you enthralled. Being here is the experience of a lifetime. APPLICATION PROCESS & COSTS To qualify as a candidate for the MRIP, see the preaplication process on our website:http://www.geog.uvic.ca/whalelab/seacr-application.html Unlike many other volunteer internship opportunities, SEACR provides and organizes the room and board for our interns at cost. The internship package includes basic accommodations and three meals per day at the research station. Interns and research staff live together and are responsible for cooking and cleaning duties. Rooms are shared with at least one other person. The internship costs do not include transportation to and from the research camp on Flores Island, personal items, or special dietary requirements. A non-refundable $500 deposit is required upon acceptance to MRIP. Two week Internship - $ 2200 Cdn Four week Internship - $ 3400 Cdn If you are interested in applying for a position, please see the details of our application process on our website http://www.geog.uvic.ca/whalelab/seacr-application.html Questions regarding the MRIP application or internships can be directed by email to:UVICwhalelab at gmail.com **************************** Society for Ecological and Coastal Research P.O. Box 35052 Victoria, British Columbia CANADA V8T 5G2 UVICwhalelab at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From b_d_r_i at yahoo.com Wed May 12 11:43:27 2010 From: b_d_r_i at yahoo.com (Bruno Diaz) Date: Wed, 12 May 2010 11:43:27 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [MARMAM] Volunteers needed for dolphin research in Sardinia Island, Italy Message-ID: <110558.61817.qm@web54305.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi everyone,?on behalf of the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI (www.thebdri.com), I am pleased to announce that our centre is currently accepting volunteers applications for the Spring-Summer term (a minimum of 6 days of participation) in Sardinia Island, Italy. The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI is a marine science and education centre committed to conserving the diversity and integrity of marine life to meet the needs of current and future generations. ??We invite you to join our ongoing study of the behaviour, communication and social lives of bottlenose dolphins along the Emerald coast, Sardinia Island, Italy.?Dedicated to those who are interested to participate to dolphin research and conservation campaigns. No background knowledge of biology is required. You will assist researchers with data collection and recording while on the boat, helping to locate and keep track of dolphins, recording behavioural data, environmental information and recording sounds, video or photos.? All expeditions are designed to enhance our awareness of dolphins, other marine life and the marine habitat that surrounds us. Our goal is to have each volunteer depart our centre with a greater understanding and appreciation of the marine environment and the wealth of life it supports. Benefits and advantages of the program: ???- Travel and explore new places?- Get involved in dolphin research?- Gain fieldwork experience?- Learn to analyse and obtain conclusions with the data collected during the fieldwork?- Learn to use different research instruments: GPS, Hydrophone, Secchi disk, digital SLR camera, sonar, camcorder, anemometer, compass, etc?- Help advance our knowledge of bottlenose dolphins to improve their conservation?- Meet interesting people?- Enjoy the outdoors of the beautiful Emerald Coast (Sardinia Island)?- Enjoy the culinary talents of others and express your own.?There is no deadline to apply. However, approved applications are accepted on a first-come, first serve basis. Apply early! Positions are open until filled. Please download the Volunteer opportunities general information at:http://www.thebdri.com/resources/downloads/volunteers.pdf Further information can be found on our website (www.thebdri.com), or by e-mail at education at thebdri.com Bruno Diaz Lopez?Chief Biologist / Director? Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI V.Armando Diaz N?4 07020 Golfo Aranci (SS) Italy www.thebdri.com info at thebdri.com? tel.+ 39 346 081 5414 tel. + 0789 183 1197 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bejaranoac at gmail.com Thu May 13 06:09:27 2010 From: bejaranoac at gmail.com (Adriana Bejarano) Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 09:09:27 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Message-ID: I am summarizing the effects of oil and PAHs on marine mammals and sea turtles to help assist ongoing efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Please contribute by providing any pdf articles related to the subject above. Thank you in advance for your help!. Please send pdfs to abejarano at researchplanning.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gtb7 at st-andrews.ac.uk Fri May 14 01:40:15 2010 From: gtb7 at st-andrews.ac.uk (Gill Braulik) Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 10:40:15 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Two new publications on marine mammals in Iran Message-ID: <003b01caf341$1876c0a0$496441e0$@ac.uk> The following two papers on marine mammals in Iran were published last month. Please email Gillbraulik at downstream.vg if you would like a pdf of either one. Braulik, G. T., Savadkouhi, O. S., Fadakar, S., Mohammadi, H., Brownell Jr., R. L., Reeves, R. R., Nabavi, M. B. and Fernandez, A. 2010. A retrospective investigation of two dolphin mass mortality events in Iran, Autumn 2007. Zoology in the Middle East. 49:13-26. During the autumn of 2007, two mass mortality events involving at least 152 small cetaceans were reported from southern Iran. Both events occurred on the Gulf of Oman coast near the town of Bandar Jask, and were separated by a month in time and more than 170 km in distance. The first event, on 20 September 2007, involved 79 animals, probably all spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris). Dead animals, all exhibiting a similar degree of decomposition, drifted to shore along 13 km of coastline over a period of approximately 24 hours. These circumstances suggest that the mortality was caused by a single acute event at sea. Several carcasses had evidence of traumatic injuries, the stranding event was spatially and temporally coincident with an active fishing ground, and other potentially bycaught and discarded species were found on the beach. This pattern is generally consistent with the hypothesis that the dolphin mortality was caused by fishing operations, although the available data are insufficient to confirm that hypothesis unequivocally. On 24 October 2007 there was a mass stranding of 73 live striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). The striped dolphin is a pelagic species believed to be rare in the Gulf of Oman. The most likely explanation for this mass stranding is that the dolphin group was trapped by a falling tide among the complex sandbanks of the Kangan estuary. Striped dolphins are not normally found in shallow water or near shore, and their occurrence in this area is considered unusual. The factor or factors that caused them to enter this atypical habitat remain unknown. The two mass mortality events involved different species and exhibited many different characteristics; there is no evidence to suggest that they were linked. As the cetacean fauna of Iran is little known, it is hoped that the great national and international interest generated by these events will enhance Iran's capacity and motivation for research and conservation of marine mammals. Braulik, G. T., Ranjbar, S., Owfi, F., Aminrad, T., Dakhteh, S. M. H., Kamrani, E. and Mohsenizadeh, F. 2010. Marine mammal records from Iran. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. 11 (1):49-63. Iran has 1,700km of coastline that borders the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea in the northwest Indian Ocean. Apart from a handful of records, almost nothing is known about which marine mammal species occur in Iranian waters. This review was conducted to fill this information gap. A total of 127 marine mammal records of 14 species were compiled from Iranian coastal waters. Ninety-nine were from the Persian Gulf, 26 from the Gulf of Oman and 2 were of unknown location. Records of finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) (25), Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) (24) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) (22) were by far the most numerous, a probable reflection of their inshore distribution and local abundance. Other species recorded were long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis tropicalis), rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and dugong (Dugong dugon). Records of 26 Mysticetes were compiled, 10 of which were tentatively identified as Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni), 1 possible fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), 3 Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and the remainder were not identified to species. The largest threat to small cetaceans in Iran is likely to be incidental capture in fishing gear. Nine finless porpoises were recorded as bycatch and this and other coastal species may be declining due to unsustainable mortality rates. Some of the world's busiest shipping lanes pass through Iranian waters and ship strikes are likely to be the largest threat to Mysticetes in the area. *************************************** Gill Braulik Sea Mammal Research Unit Scottish Oceans Institute University of St. Andrews St. Andrews, Fife, UK KY16 8LB Mob: +44 7530900550 Research Fellow Pakistan Wetlands Programme House 3, Street 4, Sector F7/2 Islamabad, Pakistan ************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mnoad at uq.edu.au Sun May 16 23:49:40 2010 From: mnoad at uq.edu.au (Michael Noad) Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 16:49:40 +1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Volunteers required for a behavioural response study on humpback whales in Australia Message-ID: <6C62167D152FAD4F91D2D6C8392D1DF007707EE0@UQEXMB1.soe.uq.edu.au> VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR A BEHVIOURAL RESPONSE STUDY ON HUMPBACK WHALES IN AUSTRALIA The Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Lab at the University of Queensland is seeking applications from volunteers for a 5 week Behavioural Response Study (BRS) on humpback whales from September 18 to October 24 this year. The study will examine how humpback whale behaviour is affected by noise from seismic airguns and is the first in a series of studies that will examine this issue over the next 4 years in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Curtin University, and the Australian Marine Mammal Centre. The study will be conducted at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane and follows several successful studies of humpback whale vocalisations and behaviour at the same site during the Humpback whale Acoustic Research Collaboration (HARC). Volunteers are required mainly to conduct land-based observations of the whales as they pass our study site. Approximately 3,000 whales should migrate southwards within 10km of Peregian Beach during the field period making the site ideal for land-based tracking and observations of behaviour. We will also have a fixed hydrophone array moored offshore allowing us to record ambient noise and whale vocalisations and acoustically track singing whales in real time. Some whales will be tagged with Dtags. Although volunteers will be used to help out on the boats, opportunities for volunteers to participate in boat work are limited and most time will be spent doing the land-based observations. Volunteers will also have opportunities to participate in the acoustic recording and tracking of whales. Individual volunteers will spend approximately five hours daily (in two shifts) counting and observing passing whales from the headland. Volunteers will get at least one day off per week, usually during bad weather. Volunteers must be sociable as they will be expected to work and live as part of a team of up to 60 people with shared cooking and cleaning duties. Volunteers must organise and pay for their own transport to the study site (close to Brisbane international airport) but food and accommodation are provided once there. As meals are communal, fussy eaters are discouraged from applying (vegetarians are fine). This project will suit people with a background in science (including recent graduates and graduate students as well as higher level undergraduate students) keen to gain experience in cetacean survey techniques, acoustics and behavioural response studies. Applicants should also be highly motivated and able to concentrate for several hours at a time. Those with previous survey experience, particularly of marine mammals, or a strong mathematical or modelling background, will be preferred. Applicants should reply with an email to Michael Noad (mnoad at uq.edu.au) and Rebecca Dunlop (r.dunlop at uq.edu.au) outlining why they would be suitable for this survey, why they would like to participate, an outline of previous relevant experience, and any other relevant details. The email should include an attached CV and the names and contact details of two professional referees. The closing date for applications is 31 May and successful applicants will be notified during June. The research project is being funded by the Joint Industry Programme on E&P Sound and Marine Life (JIP) (www.soundandmarinelife.org ) and the US Minerals Management Service (www.mms.gov ) as part of a broad investigation into the potential interaction between the sounds that are generated by the offshore petroleum industry and the marine environment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michael Noad BVSc PhD Senior Lecturer, Veterinary Anatomy Leader, Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory School of Veterinary Science The University of Queensland - Gatton Campus, Qld 4343, Australia. P. +61 (0)7 54601876 M. 0416270567 W. http://www.uq.edu.au/vetschool/ceal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wally at oceania.org.au Sun May 16 15:07:54 2010 From: wally at oceania.org.au (Wally Franklin) Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 08:07:54 +1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Humpback Whale Research, Hervey Bay, Australia - Internship Opportunity Message-ID: Humpback Whale Research, Hervey Bay, Australia - Internship Opportunity The Oceania Project, during August-October 2010, is conducting vessel based fieldwork for a long-term study of the behaviour and social organisation of humpback whales in Hervey Bay. The Expedition vessel 'Moon Dancer' is a 12m-power catamaran. [ http://www.oceania.org.au/expedition/research.html ] (Right Click to open links) The Oceania Project is affiliated with Southern Cross University incorporating the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre (SCUWRC) and the Centre for Animal Conservation Genetics (SCU CACG) and is an affiliate of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium (SPWRC). [ http://www.oceania.org.au/footer_stuff/about_us.html ] The focus of the research being undertaken is a long term study of the social behaviour, population dynamics and ecological significance of Hervey Bay for the Area V (E1) humpback whale group. In addition we are investigating genetic relatedness amongst humpbacks in Hervey Bay, the implications for social organisation and reproductive success and the extent to which social behaviour is determined by kinship. There is an opportunity for up to four Interns to participate in the research expedition each week during August-October 2010. Interns live aboard the expedition vessel for a week or more subject to time and budget constraints. The cost per week is $1950 Australian which includes accommodation aboard the expedition vessel and food. Interns are responsible for all costs associated with travel to and from Hervey Bay. Fieldwork involved is 'sloughed skin' collection, assistance with photo identification/behavioural observation field notes, GPS/GIS spatial data collection and general data entry. Interns also assist with vessel operations including food preparation & galley duties. Sea time can be validated towards a marine qualification. [ http://www.oceania.org.au/expedition/internship.html ] No prior experience is necessary and training will be provided. The Internship is open to students and staff of recognised institutions. Preference will be given to individuals involved in marine mammal science courses or related institutions and/or with prior volunteer marine mammal field experience. Places will be allocated in the order registrations are received. General information about The Oceania Project and the Research Expedition is online at: [ http://www.oceania.org.au ] Experiences with the humpbacks in Hervey Bay aboard the Whale Research Expedition can be viewed at: [ iWhales.org ] (Put mouse over screen and click play button) If you are interested in participating in the Whale Research Expedition as an Intern you can register online. If you have questions or queries please email Trish & Wally Franklin and include a brief CV [ mailto:trish.wally at oceania.org.au ]. Trish Franklin & Wally Franklin Directors & Principal Investigators, The Oceania Project PhD Candidates, Southern Cross University .................................................................................................................. Trish & Wally Franklin The Oceania Project PO Box 646 Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia ABN 73 052 470 630 ACN 052 470 630 Phone: + 61 2 6685 8128 Mobile: 0418 797 326 Skype: oceania.org.au Email: trish.wally at oceania.org.au Web: The Oceania Project iWhales.org The Oceania Project | YouTube The Oceania Project | Facebook Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sabertob at optusnet.com.au Mon May 17 02:31:13 2010 From: sabertob at optusnet.com.au (Barbara Ann Saberton) Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 19:01:13 +0930 Subject: [MARMAM] Dolphin Skin Affliction Message-ID: <5FE27458D3CD4E5180FC749EF9EC9181@rrbw6mc4v396hu> Hi, Could you please post this response to the Marmam List, regarding the email posted 15/4/10 on the same subject. Thank you. Barb Saberton Report on "Wave", an Adult female Tursiops sp and 1 year old calf suffering skin lesions. Port Adelaide Australia, April 11, 2010 and ongoing. Many thanks to all who responded to our Marmam posting of April 15, 2010. Wave and calf first reported with major skin lesions on April 11. Wave's were on her right flank and the calf's on the left flank. Following posting on Marmam a number of responses were received concerning possible cause of the lesions. The most common cause suggested was burning (chemical, hot water or sunburn). Several respondents commented that this was the most severe case of skin lesion in a living dolphin they had seen. Several people suggested swabbing the lesions to determine nature of the initial and/or secondary infection. After due consideration this option was rejected as too invasive, and unnecessary given continued improvement of both animals. It was also noted that even if the nature of a possible infection could be ascertained the application of treatment would be problematic. Enquiries in the local area have failed to provide evidence of any cause of the lesions. No other dolphins in this estuarine resident community have shown evidence of lesions. The survival (so far at least) of Wave with her dependant calf under the circumstances is remarkable. It may have ramifications for determining the necessity for euthanasia in other dolphins suffering similarly. The dolphins have been monitored closely since the lesions were discovered. Photos from the observations can be supplied upon request, with the latest photos being from this morning, 17th May, 2010. Please specify from which period / date you would like photos and whether or not you would like high / low resolution. About half of the area original area afflicted is now covered by scar tissue. The calf has now almost totally healed. Thank you and Kind Regards, Barbara Saberton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jma803 at yahoo.com Mon May 17 20:24:48 2010 From: jma803 at yahoo.com (Jessica Aschettino) Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 20:24:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [MARMAM] =?utf-8?q?MSc_Thesis_on_melon-headed_whales_in_Hawai?= =?utf-8?b?4oCYaQ==?= Message-ID: <491893.10856.qm@web110309.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> The following M.Sc. thesis was recently accepted?by Hawai?i Pacific University. ? Aschettino, J.M. 2010. Population size and structure of melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra) around the Main Hawaiian Islands: evidence of multiple populations based on photographic data. M.Sc. Thesis, Hawai?i Pacific University. 117 pp. ? A pdf copy available at http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/hawaii/melonheadedwhale.htm ? ABSTRACT: Despite the presence of melon-headed whales in tropical and sub-tropical waters world-wide, little is known about this species.? Melon-headed whales frequent offshore waters surrounding the Main Hawaiian Islands where aerial surveys by Mobley and colleagues suggest a relatively small population (154 individuals (CV=0.88)).? A 2004 near mass-stranding in Hanalei Bay, Kaua?i occurred when an embayment of 150 ? 200 animals coincided with naval mid-frequency sonar use.? To assess population size and movements in Hawai?i, more than 40,000 photos were collected from 47 encounters around the Main Hawaiian Islands between 2002 and 2009, and additional photos were obtained from collaborators from 1986 ? 2001.? Using only good quality photographs, there were 1,433 unique individuals in the photo-identification catalog, of which 1,046 were distinctive.? Of these, 330 (31.5%) were seen on more than one occasion.? Re-sighting data combined with social network analyses showed evidence of two distinct populations ? a smaller, resident population, seen exclusively off the northwest region of the island of Hawai?i, and a much larger Main Hawaiian Islands population, seen throughout the entire range of the Main Hawaiian Islands.? Depth of encounters with the resident population were significantly shallower (median = 381 m) than those with the Main Hawaiian Island population (median = 1,844 m).? Re-sightings of individuals have occurred up to 22 years apart for the Hawai?i resident population and up to 13 years apart for the Main Hawaiian Islands population, suggesting long-term residency for both populations.? Dorsal fin disfigurements suggest that fisheries interactions occur with members of both populations.?? Abundance estimated through mark-recapture analyses (corrected for the non-distinctive individuals), was 447 (CV = 0.12) for the Hawai?i residents and 5,794 (CV = 0.20) for the Main Hawaiian Islands population.? These estimates provide more accurate and precise population estimates of melon-headed whales in Hawai?i.? Although the total population size of melon-headed whales in Hawai?i is higher than once believed, the restricted range of the small resident population may pose additional management implications for these individuals.? ? _____________________ Jessica Aschettino, M.Sc. jma803 at yahoo.com ? Hawai?i Pacific University Kaneohe, HI 96744 and Research Associate Cascadia Research Collective -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dagmar_fertl at hotmail.com Tue May 18 21:29:19 2010 From: dagmar_fertl at hotmail.com (Dagmar Fertl) Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 23:29:19 -0500 Subject: [MARMAM] Abstracts - Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 11(1), 2010 Message-ID: Dear Marmam and ECS-mailbase subscribers, Apologies to those of you who will receive duplicate emails due to cross-posting. The following are abstracts from the most recent issue (Volume 11, issue 1, 2010) of the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) publishes The Journal of Cetacean Research and Management thrice yearly (Spring, Autumn, and Winter), with at least one supplement that will contain the full report of the IWC Scientific Committee. The following is posted on behalf of the IWC and the journal editor. Further information can be found at: http://www.iwcoffice.org/publications/JCRM.htm. A guide for authors is included in the first volume of each issue and on the IWC website: http://www.iwcoffice.org/publications/authorsguide.htm. Contact information is provided for the corresponding author for each article. Please do not contact the listserve editors or me for pdfs or copies of the articles. Thank you for your continued interest in the journal and abstract postings. With regards, Dagmar Fertl ************************************* Williams, R.*, and O'Hara, P. 2010. Modelling ship strike risk to fin, humpback and killer whales in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):1-8. *Contact email: r.williams at fisheries.ubc.ca Many cetacean species are susceptible to mortality or serious injury from vessel collisions. Spatially explicit assessments of risk per whale can help identify potential problem areas to guide appropriate mitigation measures. Canada?s Pacific waters host high cetacean densities and intense maritime traffic, and the issue of vessel collisions has taken on a high priority in British Columbia (BC) recently due to several major industrial development applications. Spatially-explicit statistical modelling and Geographic Information System (GIS) visualisation techniques identified areas of overlap between shipping activity and waters used by humpback, fin and killer whales. Areas of highest risk were far removed from areas with highest concentrations of people, suggesting that many beach-cast carcasses could go undetected. With few exceptions, high-risk areas were found in geographic bottlenecks, such as narrow straits and passageways. Port expansion and a proposed pipeline for carrying oil from Alberta to BC?s north coast (with associated oil tanker traffic) would increase ship strike risk for all three species. The risk assessments illustrate where ship strikes are most likely to occur, but cannot estimate how many strikes occur. Propeller wounds on live killer whales are common in the region, and fatal collisions have been reported in BC for all three species. Procedures were used to estimate potential mortality limits in accordance with a wide range of quantitative management objectives from jurisdictions around the world. While the extent of under-reporting of ship strikes has not been evaluated, the few known cases of collisions involving fin whales suggest that mortality due to ship strike for this species may already be approaching or even exceeding mortality limits under the most risk-averse management objectives. It is hoped that risk maps may inform environmental impact assessments of marine traffic because it will be easier to plan new shipping lanes so that they avoid high-density areas for whales than it will be to move the lanes after they become entrenched. Givens, G.H.*, Hoeting, J.A., and L. Beri, L. 2010. Factors that influence aerial line transect detection of Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead whales. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):9-16. * Contact email: geof at lamar.colostate.edu This paper presents a rich, complex dataset including 25 years of aerial line transect surveys for bowhead whales in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, for which a distance detection function was estimated. The analysis was limited to the autumn migratory period and to the portions of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas occupied by bowhead whales during this period. The primary purpose of the work was to improve the understanding of what factors significantly affect detection. Comprehensive model selection efforts based on the AIC identified useful predictors. Results showed that Beaufort Sea state, ocean depth, inter-sighting waiting distance and year were among the factors affecting detections. For example, increased depth and long wait distances between sightings were both associated with narrower effective strip widths. Some of the results can be interpreted as evidence for a relationship between detection probabilities and whale behaviour. The complexity of the overall dataset required substantial data organisation and offered many alternative analysis approaches, but the results were fairly consistent across such choices. Notwithstanding successful estimation of the detection function, the data present substantial challenges to standard abundance estimation using line transect methods. _____________ Sadykova, O.*, and T. Schweder. 2010. Migration ranks for bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) at Barrow in spring. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):17-21. *Contact email: dinara.sadykova at bio.uio.no In a series of aerial photographic surveys of bowhead whales migrating past Barrow in Alaska in the spring, 40 individuals were captured in more than one year. To study individual-specific persistency in migratory pattern, the relative ranks of the captures of these whales among all captures that year were analysed. Controlling for body length and the presence of calves, the correlation of relative ranks in individuals captured multiple times was found not to be significantly different from zero (p-value=0.78). ____________________ Quieroz Da-Silva, C.*, and Domingues Tieurcio, J. 2010. Empirical Bayes estimation of the size of a closed population using photo-identification data. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):23-29. *contact email: cibeleqs at unb.br Photo-ID data are broadly used for estimating animal abundance using capture-recapture models. Animals that do not possess either natural or acquired marks sufficient to allow re-identification are called unmarked, and when a substantial part of the population is composed of such individuals, the classical models described in the literature do not apply. In this paper an Empirical Bayes capture-recapture analysis for dealing with the estimation of the capture probabilities and the estimation of abundance N for populations that include unmarked individuals is presented. Using a Gibbs sampling approach, Monte Carlo estimates for the posterior distribution of N were obtained. The Empirical Bayes approach was found to improve precision in the estimation of N compared to the results obtained using other Bayesian methods. Additionally, when the population Included a very large number of unmarked individuals, Inferences for N obtained using the Empirical Bayes approach were definitely superior to those obtained using any of the vague beta priors tested. The methodology was applied to bowhead whale data for the 1985 and 1986 photo-ID surveys. ______________________________________ Laran, S., Joiris, C., Gannier, A., and Kenney, R.D. 2010. Seasonal estimates of densities and predation rates of cetaceans in the Ligurian Sea, northwestern Mediterranean Sea: an initial examination. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):31-40. *contact email: sofy8 at yahoo.com The Ligurian Sea is one of the most attractive areas for cetaceans in the Mediterranean Sea, and is now included in a Marine Protected Area, the Pelagos Sanctuary. Despite a lower species diversity than in other parts of the world, because of their abundance, cetaceans are thought to represent significant consumers in this ecosystem. Surveys were conducted within the Pelagos Sanctuary from 2001 to 2004. Densities of five species: striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba); fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus); sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus); long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas); and Risso?s dolphin (Grampus griseus), were estimated and converted to biomass. Total biomass density of cetaceans in the Ligurian Sea was estimated as 93kg km-2 (CV=28%) in winter (October to March) and 509kg km-2 (CV=16%) in summer (April to September). Daily predation rates by cetaceans were estimated as 2.9kg km-2 d-1 in winter, increasing to 10.4kg km-2 d-1 in summer, corresponding to a total annual ingestion of 2.4t km-2 y-1. The annual primary production required for cetaceans was estimated to be 12.6gC m-2 y-1, corresponding to 6-15% of the net primary production known for this area. Estimated cetacean predation on fish was similar to reported fisheries landings, nevertheless, management of artisanal fisheries and accurate quantification of the resources they exploit will be necessary for the responsible management of fisheries in this Mediterranean Marine Protected Area. ___________________ Poncelet, E., Barbraud, C., and Guinet, C. 2010. Population dynamics of killer whales in the Crozet Archipelago, southern Indian Ocean: A mark-recapture study from 1997 to 2002. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):41-48. *contact email: guinet at cebc.cnrs.fr Population size and annual survival probabilities for the killer whales (Orcinus orca) inhabiting the inshore waters of Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago, southern lndian Ocean, were estimated through mark-recapture modelling. Capture histories were generated from a set of photographs taken under a photo-identification protocol and a set of photographs taken opportunistically, between 1964 and 2002. Photographs were selected according to their intrinsic quality and the degree of natural marking of individuals. Under those conditions, only well-marked individuals were considered as 'marked' from a capture-recapture perspective. The purpose of this double selection was to minimise identification errors and reduce the heterogeneity of capture probabilities. Abundance estimates were derived from the M'h sequential model for closed populations and adjusted for the proportion of well-marked individuals in the study population and for the number of photo-identified individuals. Under this framework, estimates of 98 (95% CI 70-156) individuals in 1988-89, and 37 (95% CI 32-62) individuals in 1998-2000 are proposed. After a weighted model averaging, the Cormack-Jolly-Seber models with the strongest support from the data produced low survival probability estimates, decreasing from 0.935 (95% CI 0.817-0.979) to 0.895 (95% CI 0.746-0.961) for males, and from 0.942 (95% CI 0.844-0.980) to 0.901 (95% CI 0.742-0.966) for females over the period 1977-2002. A Jolly-Seber model was used as a 'second opinion' model. It confirmed the worrying status of the population with a constant survival probability estimated at 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.93) and a constant rate of increase (applying to the well-marked fraction of the population) estimated at 0.94 (95% CI 0.90-0.99) for the period 1987-2000. This rate of increase is consistent with the abundance estimates presented here. Possible violations of the underlying model assumptions were investigated and it was concluded that the abundance estimates for the period 1988-89 and the CJS survival estimates should be the most reliable results. It is feared that the killer whales around Possession Island are in sharp decline, as may be true for the whole Crozet Archipelago. The effect of low prey stocks and lethal interactions with fisheries as the most likely causes of this decline are discussed. ________________ Braulik, G. T.*, Ranjbar, S., Owfi, F., Aminrad, T., Dakhteh, S. M. H., Kamrani, E. and Mohsenizadeh, F. 2010. Marine mammal records from Iran. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):49-63. *contact e-mail: GillBraulik at downstream.vg Iran has 1,700km of coastline that borders the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea in the northwest Indian Ocean. Apart from a handful of records, almost nothing is known about which marine mammal species occur in Iranian waters. This review was conducted to fill this information gap. A total of 127 marine mammal records of 14 species were compiled from Iranian coastal waters. Ninety-nine were from the Persian Gulf, 26 from the Gulf of Oman and 2 were of unknown location. Records of finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) (25), Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) (24) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) (22) were by far the most numerous, a probable reflection of their inshore distribution and local abundance. Other species recorded were long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis tropicalis), rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis), striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris), Risso?s dolphin (Grampus griseus), false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and dugong (Dugong dugon). Records of 26 Mysticetes were compiled, 10 of which were tentatively identified as Bryde?s whales (Balaenoptera edeni), 1 possible fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), 3 Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and the remainder were not identified to species. The largest threat to small cetaceans in Iran is likely to be incidental capture in fishing gear. Nine finless porpoises were recorded as bycatch and this and other coastal species may be declining due to unsustainable mortality rates. Some of the world?s busiest shipping lanes pass through Iranian waters and ship strikes are likely to be the largest threat to Mysticetes in the area. ????? ___________________________________ Minton, G.*, Cerchio, S., Collins, T., Ersts, P., Findlay, K.P., Pomilla C., Bennet, D., Meyer, M.A., Razafindrakoto, Y., Kotze, P.G.H., Oosthuizen, W.H., Leslie, M., Andrianarivelo N., Baldwin, R., Ponnampalam, L., and Rosenbaum, H.C.. 2010. A note on the comparison of humpback whale tail fluke catalogues from the Sultanate of Oman with Madagascar and the East African mainland. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):65-68. *Contact e-mail: gianna.minton at gmaii.com The photo-identification catalogue of humpback whale tail flukes from Oman was compared with those from Antongil Bay, Madagascar and study sites in South Africa and Mozambique collectively termed the 'East African Mainland'. No matches were found, supporting other lines of evidence that the humpback whales studied off the coast of Oman form part of a discrete Arabian Sea population, which adheres to a Northern Hemisphere breeding cycle, and has little or no ongoing exchange with the nearest neighbouring populations in the southern lndian Ocean. While the sample size from Oman is small, and low levels of ongoing exchange might not be detected in this type of catalogue comparison, the study nonetheless emphasises the need to pursue research and conservation efforts in the known and suspected range of the Endangered Arabian Sea humpback whale population. ______________________________ O'Brien, J. M., S. D. Berrow, C. Ryan, D. McGrath, I. O'Connor, G. Pesante, G. Burrows, N. Massett, V. Klotzer, and P. Whooley. 2010. A note on long-distance matches of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) around the Irish coast using photo-identification. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(1):71-76. *contact e-mail: joanne.obrien at gmit.ie Images of 120 individual bottlenose dolphins from around the Irish coast were obtained from three photo-identification catalogues. Twenty three individuals were subsequently re-sighted, which is a re-sighting rate of 19%. The distance between re-sightings ranged from 130 to 650km and the duration from 26 to 760 days. Images were also compared to a catalogue of resident dolphins from the Shannon Estuary candidate Special Area of Conservation and from Wales but no matches were found. This short study provides strong evidence that bottlenose dolphins in Irish coastal waters are regularly undertaking large movements around the entire Irish coast and must be considered highly mobile and transient. These results have important implications for the conservation and management of this species. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_2 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From info at scanningoceansectors.org Tue May 18 15:24:57 2010 From: info at scanningoceansectors.org (Yvonne Miles - Scanning Ocean Sectors) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 08:24:57 +1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Marine Mammal Observer UK Training Courses Message-ID: Scanning Ocean Sectors provides a Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) training course for individuals and companies across the world. The training courses which are run in the UK and Australia have recognised and approved by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). Scanning Ocean Sectors has a proven track record in training effective and efficient MMOs across the world. The courses are taught by industry professionals in their specialised fields and accompanied by fully trained and experienced MMO which means you will be fully prepared for all necessary actions whilst in the field. The Marine Mammal Observer training course consists of three days in total, two days theory with continuous assessment for each unit and the final day will be the practical assessment at sea, in this unit you will be expected to put into practice everything you have been taught in the two days of theory. Each student receives a graded certificate to ensure the quality standard of the MMO industry is gaining. United Kingdom Training Course Dates - July 12th - 14th - August 9th - 11th - September 13th - 15th - October 25th - 27th To register for the course you can book online via our website at http://www.scanningoceansectors.org. If you wish to arrange a private course for your team or company at a chosen location then please contact me directly for a quote. Yvonne Miles info at scanningoceansectors.org www.scanningoceansectors.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ploos at gsm-ev.de Tue May 18 13:53:59 2010 From: ploos at gsm-ev.de (Philip Loos) Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 22:53:59 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Online resources on opportunistic sightings of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea Message-ID: <002101caf6cc$3e2bf570$ba83e050$@de> Dear list members, The following publications have been made available for download lately: Loos, P., Cooke, J.G., Deimer, P., Fietz, K., Hennig, V., Sch?tte, H.J. (2010) Opportunistic sightings of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea at large ? Kattegat, Belt Sea, Sound, Western Baltic and Baltic Proper. AC17/Doc.5-05(P). ASCOBANS, Bonn ? http://www.service-board.de/ascobans_neu/files/ac17/AC17_5-05_OpportunisticS ightingsHarbourPorpoisesBalticSea.pdf Loos, P. (2009) Opportunistic sightings of harbour porpoises in the Baltic Sea at large ? Kattegat, Belt Sea, Sound, Western Baltic and Baltic Proper. Bachelor thesis, University of Hamburg, Germany ? http://gsm-ev.de/en/veroffentlichungen/ ABSTRACT: In order to supplement current knowledge on trends in harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) occurrence, incidental sightings of harbour porpoises have been collected in the Baltic Sea. During the seasons 2003 - 2008 a total number of 5561 sightings were collected and saved for further analysis. Seasonal variation of harbour porpoise sightings, group size and group composition were examined. Sightings with juveniles (n = 539) were of special interest and were therefore analysed separately. Possible calving and nursing grounds (proposed by Koschinski, 2002) have been mapped together with all juvenile sightings in order to see if there are any notable clusters of juvenile sightings within these (or other) areas. To investigate seasonal and spatial trends in porpoise densities, sightings were divided into five different geographical and five different temporal subsets. Corresponding indices of relative density were computed using an adaptation of an effort correction method, described by Cooke (1984). Obtained results indicate that the seasonal distribution of porpoise sightings largely reflects the activity patterns of water sports enthusiasts. The group size was relatively small as in most sightings one single individual was observed. Very few reports refer to sightings of more than five individuals. Sightings with juveniles were found in nearly all proposed calving and nursing grounds, and three additional areas with a cluster of juvenile sightings could be identified. Harbour porpoise densities were found to severely decline from (north-) west to (south-) east in the western Baltic Sea. A seasonal variation in porpoise densities was detected at the end of summer with dropping densities in August and September. The study shows that incidental sightings of non-professional observers do have scientific value and provide data for various analyses concerning porpoise distribution, occurrence, and density. KEY WORDS: Harbour porpoise ? Incidental sightings ? Relative density ? Distribution ******************************************** Philip Loos Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals (GSM) ploos at gsm-ev.de , www.gsm-ev.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Jeffrey.Jacobsen at humboldt.edu Wed May 19 07:31:34 2010 From: Jeffrey.Jacobsen at humboldt.edu (Jeffrey Jacobsen) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 07:31:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [MARMAM] New publication - Fatal Ingestion of Net Debris by Sperm Whales Message-ID: <1810240876.664511274279494581.JavaMail.root@zimbra.humboldt.edu> Hello - The following paper has just been assigned its page numbers and will be published in the current edition of Marine Pollution Bulletin. Jeff K. Jacobsen, Liam Massey, Frances Gulland. 2010. Fatal ingestion of floating net debris by two sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Marine Pollution Bulletin 60:765?767 Abstract In 2008 two male sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded along the northern California coast with large amounts of fishing net scraps, rope, and other plastic debris in their stomachs. One animal had a ruptured stomach, the other was emaciated, and gastric impaction was suspected as the cause of both deaths. There were 134 different types of nets in these two animals, all made of floating material,varying in size from 10 cm2 to about 16 m2. The variability in size and age of the pieces suggests the material was ingested from the surface as debris rather than bitten off from active gear. These strandings demonstrate that ingestion of marine debris can be fatal to large whales, in addition to the well documented entanglements known to impact these species. The article can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0025326X or thereabouts, in the "Articles In Press" section until the move it to Vol 60 Issue 5, or by emailing me at jkj1 at humboldt.edu. We welcome and will compile any reports of similar events, and encourage thorough examination of stomach contents for debris, which sadly seems to be only on the increase. onward, jj -- Jeff K Jacobsen jkj1 at humboldt.edu Humboldt State University Vertebrate Museum Department Biological Sciences Arcata, CA 95521 From Thea.Johanos-Kam at noaa.gov Wed May 19 11:07:21 2010 From: Thea.Johanos-Kam at noaa.gov (Thea Johanos-Kam) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 08:07:21 -1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Hawaiian Monk Seal Field Research Positions for 2010-2011 winter season - applications accepted through May 24th Message-ID: <4BF428D9.3020405@noaa.gov> The Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) works closely with The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center through a cooperative agreement with the University of Hawaii, and will be accepting applications for the upcoming 2010-2011 winter field research season to study the endangered Hawaiian monk seal at Laysan Island and possibly other locations in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This work is part of a long-term annual Hawaiian monk seal population monitoring and conservation program by NMFS which includes: conducting trend counts; tagging seals; identifying individual seals by tags, scars, natural markings, and applied bleach marks; monitoring reproduction, survival, injuries, entanglements, migration, performing necropsies; collecting scat & spew samples for food habitat, parasite load, and hormonal analysis; collecting tissue samples for DNA analysis; collecting & removing debris capable of entangling seals and other wildlife. Behavior data are also collected. In addition, researchers will periodically handle, weigh, and administer de-worming medication to immature seals at Laysan, and possibly other sites in an effort to increase seal condition and survival by removing parasite loads. For general information about the program, visit this website: http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/psd/ Employment will be from mid-July 2010 through May 2011, or for a subset of this period (from mid-July through January). The number of positions and/or continuation of the program is subject to funding. The first weeks of employment are spent in Honolulu training and packing, and the final weeks are also spent in Honolulu to clean up gear and summarize data. Travel to Honolulu and food and lodging while in Honolulu are not provided; a listing of potential housing options is available. Transportation between Honolulu and the field site, and food and lodging in the field are provided. Field work is accomplished by a 4 member team in a remote camp at Laysan Island. Researchers live in wall tents, and the site is accessible by ship (4 day travel; 1,300 km from Honolulu). Field work at other possible sites is accomplished by 2-4 member teams in remote camps. Researchers live in either wall tents or buildings. All sites are accessible by ship (2-8 day travel; 830-2,300 km from Honolulu), and two are accessible by plane. Few supply opportunities exist and outside communication is limited. Employment will be provided by JIMAR, which hires its program and scientific staff through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). To search and apply for RCUH positions, refer to the following website: http://www.rcuh.com/ **NO LATER THAN MAY 24, 2010 BUT SOONER IS BETTER* * *IMPORTANT:* Please specify in your cover letter the period you are available, remote field experience, animal handling experience, and boating skills. The job postings for the JIMAR PIFSC Biological Research Assistant recruitment (for Field Camp Assistant) and JIMAR PIFSC Biological Technician recruitment (for Field Camp Leader) are below. Each position needs to be applied for separately. Please apply directly to RCUH Human Resources following the methods stated in the posting by the closing date. *JIMAR PIFSC BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT -- ID#10218.* Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research. (6) Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), located at the National Marine Fisheries (NMFS), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, and availability of funds. *MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARY: *$1,730.00/Mo. *DUTIES*: Under guidance of field camp leader and/or NMFS personnel, assists in camp preparations, daily maintenance and operation of field camp, and collection of census and life history data on Hawaiian monk seals. Conducts boating operations at multiple-island atolls. Assists with return, repair, and clean-up of field equipment and supplies at the end of camp and with the processing of field data. *PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS: EDUCATION:* High School Diploma or equivalent. *EXPERIENCE:* One to three (1-3) years of field experience, including experience working within small groups in remote settings. Experience with handling of wildlife. *ABIL/KNOW/SKILLS:* Working knowledge of personal computers including use of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Good communication and team skills. Ability to perform data entry. *PHYSICAL/MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS:* Ability to swim. Ability to work in remote locations for extended periods of time. Must be able to work long hours in the sun. Must be able to walk long distances (up to 7 miles) in the sand carrying 25-35 pounds of field gear. Must be able to manually restrain immature seals (up to 200 pounds). Must be able to obtain medical clearance for embarking/working on NOAA research vessels or other appropriate vessels which includes providing proof of required immunizations and/or obtaining the necessary immunizations as required by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. *SECONDARY QUALIFICATIONS:* Prior field experience in a Hawaiian monk seal field camp. Previous experience in field or laboratory studies of marine mammals, previous experience handling marine mammals, previous data entry experience. Prefer applicants interested in pursuing career in marine mammology or related field. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, possess prior experience operating small boats and/or the ability to conduct routine maintenance on small boats. Possess NOAA certification for small boat operations (having completed Motorboat Operators Certification Course (MOCC) and NOAA small boat component training) to work at multiple-island atolls. *_INQUIRIES: Nicole Wakazuru 956-5018 (Oahu). _APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:* The preferred method of applying for a job is through our on-line application process. Please go to www.rcuh.com, click on "Employment" and navigate to "Job Announcements/Apply for a Job." However, if you do not have access to the Internet, you may apply by submitting resume; cover letter including Recruitment ID#, referral source, narrative of your qualifications for position and salary history; names, phone numbers and addresses of three supervisory references and copy of degree(s)/transcripts/certificate(s) to qualify for position by fax (808) 956-5022, mail, or hand-deliver to: Director of Human Resources, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, 2530 Dole Street, Sakamaki Hall D-100, Honolulu, HI 96822 before the closing date. Online applications and faxed documents must be submitted/received by the closing date (11:59 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time). Mailed documents must be postmarked by the closing date. Hand-delivered documents must be received by our HR office by 4 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time. If you have questions on the application process and/or need assistance, please call (808)956-3100. *_CLOSING DATE: May 24, 2010._ *EEO/AA Employer. *JIMAR PIFSC BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TECHNICIAN -- ID#10215.* Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research. (2) Regular, Full-Time, RCUH Non-Civil Service position with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), located at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIFSC) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Continuation of employment is dependent upon program/operational needs, satisfactory work performance, and availability of funds. *MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARY:* $1,871.00. *DUTIES:* Performs daily maintenance and operation of field camp. Collects census and life history data on Hawaiian monk seals. Conducts boating operations at multiple-island atolls. Required to lead other field personnel. Responsible for returning and storing all field equipment and supplies at the end of camp. Collaborates with scientists within NMFS to conduct and analyze field studies on the Hawaiian monk seal in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. *PRIMARY QUALIFICATIONS: EDUCATION:* Associate's Degree from an accredited community college in Marine Biology, Biology, Fisheries Oceanography or other related field. *EXPERIENCE:* One to three (1-3) years of field experience, including experience working within small groups in remote settings. Experience conducting research on Hawaiian monk seals. Experience handling monk seals. *ABIL/KNOW/SKILLS:* Working knowledge of personal computers including use of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Good communications skills (both written and oral). Leadership and decision-making skills. Ability to perform data entry. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, must be NOAA certified for small boat operations (having completed Motorboat Operators Certification Course (MOCC) and NOAA small boat component training). Post Offer/Employment Conditions: Must meet the US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration security requirements for working in a federal facility which includes being fingerprinted and having a federal background check performed. Must be able to pass pre-deployment training requirements including field medical training before being deployed to remote island. *PHYSICAL/MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS:* Ability to swim. Ability to work in remote locations for extended periods of time. Must be able to work long hours in the sun. Must be able to walk long distances (up to 7 miles) in the sand carrying 25-35 pounds of field gear. Must be able to obtain medical clearance for embarking/working on NOAA research vessels or other appropriate vessels which includes providing proof of required immunizations and/or obtaining the necessary immunizations as required by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. *SECONDARY QUALIFICATIONS: *Prior field experience in a Hawaiian monk seal field camp. Previous experience in field or laboratory studies of marine mammals, previous experience handling marine mammals, previous data entry experience, prefer applicants interested in pursuing career in marine mammology or related field. Ability to perform basic data analysis. For positions requiring travel between multiple-island atolls, possess the ability to conduct routine maintenance on small boats. *_INQUIRIES: Nicole Wakazuru 956-5018 (Oahu). _APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: *The preferred method of applying for a job is through our on-line application process. Please go to www.rcuh.com, click on "Employment" and navigate to "Job Announcements/Apply for a Job." However, if you do not have access to the Internet, you may apply by submitting resume; cover letter including Recruitment ID#, referral source, narrative of your qualifications for position and salary history; names, phone numbers and addresses of three supervisory references and copy of degree(s)/transcripts/certificate(s) to qualify for position by fax (808) 956-5022, mail, or hand-deliver to: Director of Human Resources, Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, 2530 Dole Street, Sakamaki Hall D-100, Honolulu, HI 96822 before the closing date. Online applications and faxed documents must be submitted/received by the closing date (11:59 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time). Mailed documents must be postmarked by the closing date. Hand-delivered documents must be received by our HR office by 4 P.M. Hawaii Standard Time/RCUH receipt time. If you have questions on the application process and/or need assistance, please call (808)956-3100. _*CLOSING DATE: May 24, 2010. *_EEO/AA Employer. -- Thea Johanos Lead, Monk Seal Population Assessment Program Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 1601 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 1110 Honolulu, HI 96814-4700 808-944-2174 office 808-941-0307 fax -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From johns at alaskasealife.org Wed May 19 16:41:07 2010 From: johns at alaskasealife.org (John Skinner) Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 15:41:07 -0800 Subject: [MARMAM] 2-day Workshop | Model Selection and Multimodel Inference in the Life Sciences, Dr. David R. Anderson Message-ID: <7274DF643A32FC4DB3A725D264ABFCD3A4A4C7@SEAOTTER.ALASKASEALIFE.ORG> Dear list members, The Alaska SeaLife Center will be hosting a 2-day workshop on AIC model selection and model averaging methods presented by Dr. David R. Anderson. We would like to invite others to participate as space remains available. Please read the description below and come join us for this wonderful and informative course! MODEL SELECTION AND MULTIMODEL INFERENCE IN THE LIFE SCIENCES Presented by Dr. David R. Anderson Alaska SeaLife Center | Seward, AK | 26-27 August 2010 | 8am - 5pm This workshop is intended for graduate students, post-docs, faculty, government scientists, resource managers and any other individuals interested in understanding and applying AIC model selection and multimodel inference methods in their work. Please visit the workshop homepage below for more information and to register for this course. Workshop Homepage: http://sites.google.com/site/aslcworkshops/ Contact John Skinner (email: johns at alaskasealife.org) if interested or you have any questions. Best regards, John _______________________________________________ John Skinner Research Associate Alaska SeaLife Center 301 Railway Ave Seward, AK 99664 907 224 6888 From Sean.Murphy at hdrinc.com Thu May 20 04:53:37 2010 From: Sean.Murphy at hdrinc.com (Murphy, Sean) Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 06:53:37 -0500 Subject: [MARMAM] HDR - Marine Scientist Project Manager, #100594 Message-ID: HDR e2M is currently in need of a Marine Scientist Project Manager for our Virginia Beach, VA location. The ideal candidate will have Program Manager consulting expertise along with an expert knowledge of Marine Science emphasizing the effects of underwater sound to marine mammals as well as experience monitoring marine mammal abundance, distribution, and/or behavioral responses to stimuli. This individual must possess excellent communication skills, a demonstrated history of reliability, strong work ethic, solid time management skills, and a demonstrated history of team-oriented performance. This position will assist in a wide range of project management and team support roles with our current clients and expand our client-base in the Norfolk, VA area with an anticipated concentration of work assignments concentrated on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Ocean areas but also including the Pacific Ocean region from California to Guam and northward to the Gulf of Alaska. Travel up to 25% may be required. PhD in Marine Biology or a related field preferred. Excellent verbal and written communication skills a must. Demonstrated history of reliability, strong work ethic, solid time management skills are all essential. Will have to be detail oriented to perform work accurately in a team-oriented environment and have the demonstrated ability to direct the work of a variety of scientists conducting monitoring activities aboard ship and from aircraft. Applicants can anticipate traveling throughout the U.S., the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and throughout the Pacific Ocean. Successful candidates must have a minimum of 10+ years of experience managing scientific research projects focused on marine mammal behavior in a consulting capacity; this should include a background of direct interface with customers, and regulatory experience in a combination of Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance. Candidates must also be highly proficient in writing procedures, guides and/or studies. Qualified candidates must have the ability to obtain a security clearance at the secret level. Due to client contract requirements, only candidates with US citizenship will be considered for this position, as permitted pursuant to section 274B(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. IN ORDER TO APPLY, please visit the 'Careers' section of our website, www.hdrinc.com, and reference job #100594 HDR is an employee-owned architectural, engineering and consulting firm of over 7,800 professionals in over 185 locations worldwide that helps clients manage complex projects and make sound decisions. HDR is ranked #13 among Engineering News-Record's "Top 500 Design Firms", and we are also ranked as the #1 healthcare design firm by Modern Healthcare's 2010 "Annual Construction & Design Survey of Healthcare Architects". As an integrated firm, HDR provides a total spectrum of services for our clients. Our staff professional represent hundreds of disciplines and partner on blended teams throughout North America and abroad to provide solutions beyond the scope of traditional A/E/C firms. To learn more about us, please visit our website, www.hdrinc.com. Sean Murphy Regional Recruiter HDR ONE COMPANY | Many Solutions 440 South Church Street, Suite 1000 Charlotte, NC 28202-1919 P: 704.338.6845 | F: 704.338.6760 Cell: 704.369.6330 email: smurphy at hdrinc.com www.hdrinc.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From janiger at cox.net Mon May 24 15:20:36 2010 From: janiger at cox.net (David S. Janiger) Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 15:20:36 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] New Articles Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.20100524152036.00cf5e70@pop.west.cox.net> Hi, All Here's the latest posting of new PDF's that are available. File sizes have been included. Abstracts also available on request. I'm at slow speed connection today, so for those of you downloading, the files won't be up on the FTP server till later this evening (~8:00pm PDT). Make all requests to: janiger at cox.net Cheers! David Janiger - Curatorial Assistant (Mammals) Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007 (213) 763-3369 janiger at cox.net djaniger at nhm.org Janiger Journals ACEVEDO, JORGE and ANELIO AGUAYO-LOBO. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA MARINA Y OCEANOGRAFIA 45(1):171-176. 2010. Duracion del proceso de paricion y presentacion del feto en el lobo marino comun, Otaria flavescens en Punta Negra, Iquique, Chile. (Time taken for birthing process and fetus presentation in South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens at Punta Negra, Iquique, Chile) 0.137 MB AMARAL, RODRIGO S. AQUATIC MAMMALS 36(2):162-171. 2010. Use of alternative matrices to monitor steroid hormones in aquatic mammals: A review. 0.152 MB AZEVEDO, ALEXANDRE F.; L. FLACH; TATIANA B. BISI; LUCIANA G. ANDRADE; PAULO R. DORNELES and J. LAILSON-BRITO. JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 127(4):2646-2651. 2010. Whistles emitted by Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) in southeastern Brazil. 0.595 MB BAILEY, HELEN; GEMMA CLAY; ELIZABETH A. COATES; DAVID LUSSEAU; BRIDGET SENIOR and PAUL M. THOMPSON. AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS 20(2):150-158. 2010. Using T-PODs to assess variations in the occurrence of coastal bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises. 0.339 MB BERENS MCCABE, ELIZABETH J.; DAMON P. GANNON; NELIO B. BARROS and RANDALL S. WELLS. MARINE BIOLOGY (BERLIN) 157(5):931-942. 2010. Prey selection by resident common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Sarasota Bay, Florida. 0.454 MB BESTER, MARTHAN N. and R. R. REISINGER. POLAR BIOLOGY 33(5):709-711. 2010. Vagrant Antarctic fur seals at Gough Island in 2009. 0.261 MB BYRD, BARBIE L. and ALETA A. HOHN. SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST 9(1):47-62. 2010. Challenges of documenting Tursiops truncatus Montagu (bottlenose dolphin) bycatch in the stop net fishery along Bogue Banks, North Carolina. 0.285 MB CHARBONNIER, YOHAN; KARINE DELORD and JEAN-BAPTISTE THIEBOT. POLAR BIOLOGY 33(5):721-724. 2010. King-size fast food for Antarctic fur seals. 0.173 MB CHARRIER, ISABELLE; THIERRY AUBIN and NICOLAS MATHEVON. ANIMAL COGNITION 13(3):471-482. 2010. Mother-calf vocal communication in Atlantic walrus: A first field experimental study. 0.547 MB CHEN, BINGYAO; DONGMEI ZHENG; GUANG YANG; XINRONG XU and KAIYA ZHOU. INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY 4(2):240-247. 2009. Distribution and conservation of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in China. 1.319 MB CHRISTENSEN-DALSGAARD, SIGNE N.; JON AARS; MAGNUS ANDERSEN; CHRISTINA LOCKYER and NIGEL G. YOCCOZ. POLAR BIOLOGY 33(5):589-597. 2010. Accuracy and precision in estimation of age of Norwegian Arctic polar bears (Ursus maritimus) using dental cementum layers from known-age individuals. 0.434 MB DENNISON, SOPHIE E.; FRANCES M. D. GULLAND and W. EMMETT BRASELTON. JOURNAL OF ZOO AND WILDLIFE MEDICINE 41(1):144-147. 2010. Standardized protocols for plasma clearance of iohexol are not appropriate for determination of glomerular filtration rates in anesthetized California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). 0.238 MB DEROCHER, ANDREW E.; MAGNUS ANDERSEN; OYSTEIN WIIG and JON AARS. BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY 64(6):939-946. 2010. Sexual dimorphism and the mating ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard. 0.220 MB DOLMAN, SARAH J.; EUNICE PINN; ROBERT J. REID; JASON P. BARLEY; ROB DEAVILLE; PAUL D. JEPSON; MICK O'CONNELL; SIMON BERROW; ROD S. PENROSE; PETER T. STEVICK; SUSANNAH CALDERAN; KEVIN P. ROBINSON; ROBERT L. BROWNELL, JR. and MARK P. SIMMONDS. MARINE BIODIVERSITY RECORDS 3: e16. 8pp. 2010. A note on the unprecedented strandings of 56 deep-diving whales along the UK and Irish coast. 0.248 MB DU, HEJUN; JINSON ZHENG; MIN WU; QINGZHONG ZHAO and DING WANG. BIOCHEMICAL GENETICS 48(5-6):433-449. 2010. High MHC DQB variation and asymmetric allelic distribution in the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis. 0.475 MB DUDZINSKI, KATHLEEN M.; JUSTIN D. GREGG; ROBIN D. PAULOS and STAN A. KUCZAJ II. BEHAVIOURAL PROCESSES 84(2):559-567. 2010. A comparison of pectoral fin contact behaviour for three distinct dolphin populations. 0.404 MB DUFRESNE, M. M.; H. FROUIN; S. PILLET; V. LESAGE; S. DE GUISE and M. FOURNIER. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 60(3):344-349. 2010. Comparative sensitivity of harbour and grey seals to several environmental contaminants using in vitro exposure. 0.389 MB ELFES, CRSTIANE T.; GLENN R. VANBLARICOM; DARYLE BOYD; JOHN CALAMBOKIDIS; PHILLIP J. CLAPHAM; RONALD W. PEARCE; JOOKE ROBBINS; JUAN CARLOS SALINAS; JANICE M. STRALEY; PAUL R. WADE and MARGARET M. KRAHN. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY 29(4):824-834. 2009. Geographic variation of persistent organic pollutant levels in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding areas of the North Pacific and North Atlantic. 0.242 MB FROUIN, HELOISE; MARLENE FORTIER and MICHEL FOURNIER. TOXICOLOGY 270(2-3):66-76. 2010. Toxic effects of various pollutants in 11B7501 lymphoma B cell line from harbour seal (Phoca vitulina). 1.162 MB FROUIN, HELOISE; MICHEL LEBEUF; MIKE HAMMILL and MICHEL FOURNIER. VETERINARY IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOPATHOLOGY 134(3-4):160-168. 2010. Phagocytosis in pup and adult harbour, grey and harp seals. 0.694 MB FULTON, TARA L. and CURTIS STROBECK. JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY 37(5):814-829. 2010. Multiple fossil calibrations, nuclear loci and mitochondrial genomes provide new insight into biogeography and divergence timing for true seals (Phocidae, Pinnipedia). 0.616 MB GALLO-REYNOSO, JUAN PABLO; MARTIN OCTAVIO MARAVILLA-CHAVEZ and CARLOS J. NAVARRO-SERMENT. REVISTA MEXICANA DE BIODIVERSIDAD 81(1):209-213. 2010. New records of non-resident pinnipeds from the Gulf of California, Mexico. 0.405 MB GEDAMKE, JASON and SARAH M. ROBINSON. DEEP SEA RESEARCH PART II: TOPICAL STUDIES IN OCEANOGRAPHY 57(9-10):968-981. 2010. Acoustic survey for marine mammal occurrence and distribution off East Antarctica (30-80?E) in January-February 2006. 1.734 MB GIBBENS, JOHN; LAURA J. PARRY and JOHN P. Y. ARNOULD. JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 91(2):510-518. 2010. Influences on fecundity in Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus). 0.116 MB GOTZ, THOMAS and VINCENT M. JANIK. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 213(9):1536-1548. 2010. Aversiveness of sounds in phocid seals: Psycho-physiological factors, learning processes and motivation. 1.541 MB GUTLEB, ARNO C.; PETER CENIJN; MARTIN VAN VELZEN; ELISABETH LIE; ERIK ROPSTAD; JANNECHE UTNE SKAARE; TINA MALMBERG; AKE BERGMAN; GEIR W. GABRIELSEN and JULIETTE LEGLER. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 44(8):3149-3154. 2010. In vitro assay shows that PCB metabolites completely saturate thyroid hormone transport capacity in blood of wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus) 0.288 MB HAWKINS, ELIZABETH R. and DONALD F. GARTSIDE. JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 127(4):2652-2663. 2010. Whistle emissions of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) differ with group composition and surface behaviors. 0.405 MB HOFFMEYER, MONICA S.; MARIA S. LINDNER; ALEJANDRO CARRIBERO; VANESA K. FULCO; MARIA C. MENENDEZ; MELISA D. FERNNADEZ-SEVERINI; SOLEDAD L. DIODATO; ANABELA A. BERASATEGUI; FLORENCIA BIANCALANA and ELOISA BERRIER. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA MARINA Y OCEANOGRAFIA 45(1):131-139. 2010. Planktonic food and foraging of Eubalaena australis, on Peninsula Valdes (Argentina) nursery ground. 0.394 MB HOFMEYR, G. J. GREG and OMAR A. AMIR. AFRICAN ZOOLOGY 45(1):144-146. 2010. Vagrant subantarctic fur seal on the coast of Tanzania. 0.429 MB IVKOVICH, TATIANA; OLGA A. FILATOVA; ALEXANDR M. BURDIN; HAL SATO and ERICH HOYT. MAMMALIAN BIOLOGY: ZEITSCHRIFT FUER SAUGETIERKUNDE 75(3):198-210. 2010. The social organization of resident-type killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Avacha Gulf, northwest Pacific, as revealed through association patterns and acoustic similarity. 0.373 MB JAY, CHADWICK V.; MARK S. UDEVITZ; RON KWOK; ANTHONY S. FISCHBACH and DAVID C. DOUGLAS. MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES 407:293-302. 2010. Divergent movements of walrus and sea ice in the northern Bering Sea. 0.408 MB JENSEN, S. K.; JON AARS; C. LYDERSEN; K. M. KOVACS and K. ASBAKK. POLAR BIOLOGY 33(5):599-606. 2010. The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in polar bears and their marine mammal prey: Evidence for a marine transmission pathway? 0.376 MB KATIN, I. O. and V. A. NESTERENKO. CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF ECOLOGY 3(1):127-132. 2010. Inshore associations of the spotted seal (Phoca largha Pallas, 1811). 0.102 MB KATIN, I. O. and V. A. NESTERENKO. OCEANOLOGY 50(1):77-82. 2010. Originally published in Okeanologiya Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 82-88. 2010. Oceanological conditions and reproduction of the spotted seal (Phoca larga) in Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan. 0.247 KIM, HYUN WOO; DAE-YEON MOON; SEOK-GWAN CHOI; YONG-ROCK AN and ZANG GEUN KIM. KOREAN JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 26(1):59-62. 2010. First record of the melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) in Korean waters. 1.128 MB KOOYMAN, G. L. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 213(10):1609-1610. 2010. First in the measure of energetics in a swimming tetrapod. 0.203 MB KUCKLICK, JOHN R.; MICHELE M. SCHANTZ; REBECCA S. PUGH; BARBARA J. PORTER; DIANNE L. POSTER; PAUL R. BECKER; TERI K. ROWLES; STEFAN LEIGH and STEPHEN A. WISE. ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 397(2):423-432. 2010. Marine mammal blubber reference and control materials for use in the determination of halogenated organic compounds and fatty acids. 0.260 MB KYHN, L. A.; F. H. JENSEN; K. BEEDHOLM; J. TOUGAARD; M. HANSEN and P. T. MADSEN. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 213(11):1940-1949. 2010. Echolocation in sympatric Peale's dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis) and Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) producing narrow-band high-frequency clicks. 0.728 MB LA MANNA G.; S. CLO; E. PAPALE and G. SARA. CIENCIAS MARINAS 36(1):71-81. 2010. Boat traffic in Lampedusa waters (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea) and its relation to the coastal distribution of common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). 0.277 MB LANCASTER, M. L.; J. P. Y. ARNOULD and R. KIRKWOOD. ANIMAL CONSERVATION 13(3):247-255. 2010. Genetic status of an endemic marine mammal, the Australian fur seal, following historical harvesting. 0.315 MB LAW, ROBIN J.; PHILIPPE BERSUDER; JON BARRY; ROB DEAVILLE; ROBERT J. REID and PAUL D. JEPSON. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 60(3):470-473. 2010. Chlorobiphenyls in the blubber of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the UK: Levels and trends 1991-2005. 0.323 MB LEONEL, JULIANA; JOSE L. SERICANO; GILBERTO FILLMANN; EDUARDO SECCHI and ROSALINDA C. MONTONE. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 60(3):412-418. 2010. Long-term trends of polychlorinated biphenyls and chlorinated pesticides in franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) from southern Brazil. 0.436 MB LONERGAN, MIKE; AILSA HALL; HAL THOMPSON; PAUL M. THOMPSON; PADDY POMEROY and JOHN HARWOOD. DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS 88(3):183-188. 2010. Comparison of the 1988 and 2002 phocine distemper epizootics in British harbour seal Phoca vitulina populations. 0.088 MB MARIGO, JULIANA and BRUNO DE BARROS GIFFONI. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF OCEANOGRAPHY 58(1):71-75. 2010. Sightings and bycatch of small pelagic cetaceans, new information registered by volunteer fishermen off Sao Paulo, Brazil. 0.390 MB MARIGO, J.; V. RUOPPOLO; F. C. W. ROSAS; A. L. S. VALENTE; M. R. OLIVEIRA; R. A. DIAS and J. L. CATAO-DIAS. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES 46(2):599-602. 2010. Helminths of Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea: Delphinidae) from the south and southeastern coasts of Brazil. 0.165 MB MEIR, JESSICA U. and PAUL J. PONGANIS. PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ZOOLOGY 83(3):531-540. 2010. Blood temperature profiles of diving elephant seals. 0.502 MB MERCADO, III, EDUARDO; JENNIFER N. SCHNEIDER; ADAM A. PACK and LOUIS M. HERMAN. JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 127(4):2678-2791. 2010. Sound production by singing humpback whales. 1.539 MB MOON, HYO-BANG; KURUNTHACHALAM KANNAN; MINKYU CHOI; JUN YU; HEE-GU CHOI; YONG-ROCK AN; SEOK-GWAN CHOI; JUNG-YOUN PARK and ZANG-GEUN KIM. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 179(1-3):735-741. 2010. Chlorinated and brominated contaminants including PCBs and PBDEs in minke whales and common dolphins from Korean coastal waters. 0.661 MB MORICK, DANNY; SILVIA JAUERNIG; TREVOR J. WHITBREAD; NYNKE OSINGA and ERIK JAN TJALSMA. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES 46(2):556-559. 2010. A dermal melanoma in a young common seal (Phoca vitulina). 1.958 MB MULSOW, JASON and COLLEEN REICHMUTH. JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 127(4):2692-2701. 2010. Psychophysical and electrophysiological aerial audiograms of a Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus). 0.359 MB NOONBURG, ERIK G.; ROGER M. NISBET and TIN KLANJSCEK. JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY 264(2):479-489. 2010. Effects of life history variation on vertical transfer of toxicants in marine mammals. 0.389 MB OELSCHLAGER, H. H. A.; S. H. RIDGWAY and M. KNAUTH. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 75(1):33-62. 2010. Cetacean brain evolution: Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) and common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - an investigation with high-resolution 3D MRI. 1.222 MB OGAWA, GO; MASAMI ISHIDA; HIDEHIRO KATO; YOSHIHIRO FUJISE and NAOTO URANO. FISHERIES SCIENCE (TOKYO) 76(2):771-776. 2010. Identification of facultative anaerobic bacteria isolated from the intestine of the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata by 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. 0.158 MB PARSONS, E. C. M.; J. CLARK; J. WARHAM and M. P. SIMMONDS. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE LAW AND POLICY 13(1):1-62. 2010. The conservation of British cetaceans: A review of the threats and protection afforded to whales, dolphins, and porpoises in UK waters, Part 1. 0.370 MB PARSONS, E. C. M.; J. PATRICK RICE and LALEH SADEGHI. ANTHROZOOS 23(2):119-127. 2010. Awareness of whale conservation status and whaling policy in the US - A preliminary study on American youth. 0.111 MB RAVIKANT, VADLAMANI and S. BAJPAI. GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE 147(3):473-477. 2010. Strontium isotope evidence for the age of Eocene fossil whales of Kutch, western India. 0.419 MB RICHMOND, JULIE P.; TIPHAINE JEANNIARD DU DOT; DAVID A. S. ROSEN and STEVEN A. ZINN. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL GENETICS AND PHYSIOLOGY 313(3):144-156. 2010. Seasonal influence on the response of the somatotropic axis to nutrient restriction and re-alimentation in captive Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus). 0.369 MB ROBARDS, MARTIN DAVID and AMY LAUREN LOVECRAFT. POLICY STUDIES JOURNAL 38(2):257-279. 2010. Evaluating comanagement for social-ecological fit: Indigenous priorities and agency mandates for Pacific walrus. 0.246 MB ROBINSON, KEVIN P.; SONJA M. EISFELD; MARINA COSTA and MARK P. SIMMONDS. MARINE BIODIVERSITY RECORDS 3: e55. 4pp. 2010. Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) occurrence in the Moray Firth, north-east Scotland. 0.300 MB RODE, KARYN D.; STEVEN C. AMSTRUP and ERIC V. REGEHR. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS 20(3):768-782. 2010. Reduced body size and cub recruitment in polar bears associated with sea ice decline. 1.180 MB ROMERO, ALDEMARO and JOEL E. CRESWELL. THE OPEN CONSERVATION BIOLOGY JOURNAL 4:19-27. 2010. Deplete locally, impact globally: Environmental history of shore-whaling in Barbados, W.I. 0.194 MB ROTSTEIN, DAVID S.; KRISTI WEST; GREGG LEVINE; SHAWN R. LOCKHART; STEPHEN RAVERTY; MUHAMMAD G. MORSHED and TERI ROWLES. JOURNAL OF ZOO AND WILDLIFE MEDICINE 41(1):181-183. 2010. Cryptococcus gattii VGI in a spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) from Hawaii. 0.374 MB SALINAS C., PAULA; RUBEN MORAGA M.; EDGARDO SANTANDER P. and WALTER SIELFELD K. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA MARINA Y OCEANOGRAFIA 45(1):153-158. 2010. Presencia de cepas diarreogenicas de Escherichia coli y estudio de genes de virulencia en aislados desde fecas de dos poblaciones de lobo marino com?n, Otaria flavescens en el norte de Chile. (Presence of diarrheagenic strains of Escherichia coli and virulence genes study in isolates from feces of two populations of South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens in Northern Chile) 0.149 MB SANTORA, JARROD A.; CHRISTIAN S. REISS; VALERIE J. LOEB and RICHARD R. VEIT. MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES 405:255-269. 2010. Spatial association between hotspots of baleen whales and demographic patterns of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba suggests size-dependent predation. 1.230 MB SKLANSKY, MARK; MICHAEL RENNER; PATRICIA CLOUGH; GREGG LEVINE; MICHELLE CAMPBELL; RAE STONE; TODD SCHMITT; RUEY-KANG CHANG and JAYNE SHANNON-RODRIGUEZ. JOURNAL OF ZOO AND WILDLIFE MEDICINE 41(1):35-43. 2010. Fetal echocardiographic evaluation of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). 0.324 MB SKOGLUND, ELI G.; CHRISTIAN LYDERSEN; OTTO GRAHL-NIELSEN; TORE HAUG and KIT M. KOVACS. MARINE BIOLOGY RESEARCH 6(3):239-250. 2010. Fatty acid composition of the blubber and dermis of adult male Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in Svalbard, and their potential prey. 0.332 MB SMITH, BRADLEY P. and CARLA A. LITCHFIELD. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE 13(2):103-122. 2010. An empirical case study examining effectiveness of environmental enrichment in two captive Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea). 2.510 MB SOLDEVILLA, MELISSA S.; SEAN M. WIGGINS and JOHN A. HILDEBRAND. AQUATIC BIOLOGY 9(1):49-62. 2010. Spatio-temporal comparison of Pacific white-sided dolphin echolocation click types. 0.368 MB SORIANO, A. I.; R. GONZALEZ and C. MATE. INTERNATIONAL ZOO YEARBOOK 43:176-188. 2009. A study into the mother-pup relationship in three California sea lion Zalophus californianus mothers and pups at Barcelona Zoo. 0.676 MB SPRAKER, TERRY R. and MICHELLE E. LANDER. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES 46(2):450-473. 2010. Causes of mortality in northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus), St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska, 1986-2006. 2.803 MB SUAREZ, PAULA; MONICA CONTRERAS; MILAGRO FERNANDEZ-DELGADO; VICTOR SALAZAR; RUTH PENA; FABIAN MICHELANGELI and M. ALEXANDRA GARCIA-AMADO. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES 46(2):622-626. 2010. Detection of Helicobacter in the digestive tract of an Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis). 1.054 MB TOMO, IKUKO; CATHERINE M. KEMPER and TRISH J. LAVERY. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE DISEASES 46(2):488-498. 2010. Eighteen-year study of South Australian dolphins shows variation in lung nematodes by season, year, age class, and location. 0.716 MB TRUMBLE, STEPHEN J.; SHAWN R. NOREN; LESLIE A. CORNICK; THOMAS J. HAWKE and SHANE B. KANATOUS. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 213(10):1676-1684. 2010. Age-related differences in skeletal muscle lipid profiles of Weddell seals: Clues to developmental changes. 0.485 MB UNGER, MARIA; LILLEMOR ASPLUND; GORAN MARSH and ORJAN GUSTAFSSON. CHEMOSPHERE 79(4):408-413. 2010. Characterization of an abundant and novel methyl- and methoxy-substituted brominated diphenyl ether isolated from whale blubber. 0.270 MB VIVIANT, MORGANE; ANDREW W. TRITES; DAVID A. S. ROSEN; PASCAL MONESTIEZ and CHRISTOPHE GUINET. POLAR BIOLOGY 33(5):713-719. 2010. Prey capture attempts can be detected in Steller sea lions and other marine predators using accelerometers. 0.330 MB WANG, DING. CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN 54(19):3473-3484. 2009. Population status, threats and conservation of the Yangtze finless porpoise. 0.742 MB WEISE, MICHAEL J.; JAMES T. HARVEY and DANIEL P. COSTA. ECOLOGY 91(4):1004-1015. 2010. The role of body size in individual-based foraging strategies of a top marine predator. 0.595 MB WENDTE, J. M.; M. A. MILLER; A. K. NANDRA; S. M. PEAT; P. R. CROSBIE; P. A. CONRAD and M. E. GRIGG. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY 168(1-2):37-44. 2010. Limited genetic diversity among Sarcocystis neurona strains infecting southern sea otters precludes distinction between marine and terrestrial isolates. 0.180 MB WU, H.-P.; Y.-J. HAO; X. LI; Q.-Z. ZHAO; D.-Q. CHEN; X.-A. KUANG; Z.-B. KOU; K.-K. FENG; W.-M. GONG anD D. WANG. THERIOGENOLOGY 73(3):383-391. 2010. B-Mode ultrasonographic evaluation of the testis in relation to serum testosterone concentration in male Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) during the breeding season. 0.522 MB YANG QICHAO; SUN LIGUANG; KONG DEMING; HUANG TAO and WANG YUHONG. CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN 54(11):1084-1087. 2010. Variation of Antarctic seal population in response to human activities in 20th century. 0.516 MB YORDY, JENNIFER E.; RANDALL S. WELLS; BRIAN C. BALMER; LORI H. SCHWACKE; TERI K. ROWLES and JOHN R. KUCKLICK. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 408(9):2163-2172. 2010. Life history as a source of variation for persistent organic pollutant (POP) patterns in a community of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) resident to Sarasota Bay, FL. 0.840 MB From aguasonic at gmail.com Mon May 24 13:07:19 2010 From: aguasonic at gmail.com (AguaSonic Acoustics) Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 13:07:19 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] Detection Spreadsheets for Blainville's Beaked whale Message-ID: Dear MARMAM, Recent work with a wavelet-based 'click detector' has advanced considerably-- so much so that I feel the results can now be shared with the general public. http://tinyurl.com/23slg8q These are detection spreadsheets that would be useful for anyone studying the sounds of Beaked whales -- and proficient with spreadsheet software, of course. As mentioned in an earlier post, 'echo flag' seems to be capable of marking whether a particular event is the original sound (values below approximately '1'), or a reflection (higher than '1'). If you are interested in snapshots of the detections themselves, images of the amplitude waveforms can be found in the associated '_jpegs' files [ compressed tar format ]. This project is starting with a couple of nice recordings of Blainville's Beaked whale, /Mesoplodon densirostris/, made in the Canary Isles and available on http://mobysound.org/. I am actively seeking other recordings for consideration. Minimum requirements at this time are 192000 samples per second and 16-bits per sample. Questions, comments, suggestions for additional fields in the spreadsheets are encouraged. Sincerely, Mark Fischer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://aguasonic.com/ From biologist at att.net Tue May 25 06:20:50 2010 From: biologist at att.net (Rhoni Lahn) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 09:20:50 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] Job - Marine Mammal Observer - Contract Position Message-ID: <001901cafc0d$19963810$4cc2a830$@net> Please post the following to your subscribers: Title: Marine Mammal Observers - Contract Position GOM Description: We are needing a lead and 2 alternate MMO's for an on-going AUV project in the GOM. The rotation will start approximately June 10th and last 3 weeks. Start and end dates are subject to change with little notice. Qualifications: The Lead will have prior seismic or AUV Lead MMO experience in the GOM. All MMO's will have the required MMS MMO training as well as HUET/sea survival and a TWIC card. Salary: Competitive Contact: Rhoni A. Lahn biologist at att.net Company: Rogers Environmental and Safety Services, inc. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dwinton at earthwatch.org.uk Mon May 24 04:55:57 2010 From: dwinton at earthwatch.org.uk (Debbie Winton) Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 12:55:57 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] Earthwatch proposal invitation - Caribbean coastal ecosystems Message-ID: <0BDA954190B0344B82FD28336B41D1C50350545F@exchangesrv1.earthwatchewe.lan> Dear Listers, Earthwatch is seeking proposals from scientists for a field-based project located in the Caribbean focussing on coastal ecosystems, including marine mammal and other threatened species research. Interested scientists should go to our website and download the concept note form and return it to Earthwatch by Tuesday, June 15, 2010. http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/get_involved/research_grants/research_apply/ For further grant details please see the request for proposals below. Please feel free to contact sburgess at earthwatch.org.uk with any additional questions. Kind Regards, Debbie Winton, on behalf of Sam Burgess (Senior Oceans Research Manager) Request for Proposals: Caribbean Coastal Ecosystems Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization with the mission to "engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment".? Earthwatch is currently seeking proposals from scientists to develop new field-based research projects for citizen scientists, focusing on coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean. Annual research grants will carry a minimum value of $20,000 USD, tenable for three years. Concept notes for projects starting in spring/summer 2011 will be accepted through Tuesday 15th June, 2010. Invitations for full research proposals will be communicated by early July 2010. Applications are to be submitted in English. Earthwatch will consider proposals for hypothesis-driven field research that requires the involvement and engagement of non-specialists (Earthwatch volunteers) in data collection, scientific observation, and a variety of research tasks. Earthwatch volunteers are highly motivated citizens from around the world who are dedicated to improving scientific and environmental understanding. Preference will be given to research projects that foster partnerships in the local community and directly contribute to local environmental or social change. A suitable project would employ 6-20 volunteers on each of 4-8 teams per year. Research teams typically spend 5-14 days in the field, however, both shorter and longer teams are encouraged where appropriate. Research projects which can involve individual teenagers and school groups to participate are desirable, but not essential. All volunteers speak English, and projects must be conducted in English. Research Focus Earthwatch welcomes research proposals which focus on marine ecosystem connectivity and understanding the impacts of environmental change on ecosystem functions provided by coral reefs. Projects developing our understanding of the intra/inter connectivity between coral reefs, and other coastal ecosystems or involving species of conservation significance to acquire the knowledge necessary to maintain functional ecosystems through adaptive management are encouraged. In particular, a better understanding of the specific threats that overfishing, habitat degradation, climate change, sea level rise, and pollution pose to coral reef ecosystems is a priority, especially those with biodiversity value, high species endemism, and those that are important as a human resource. Research topics that may be considered for funding include, but are not limited to: -? Impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems, and how this is affecting the local community - The role of coral reefs in coastal ecosystem function, examining interactions with other key habitats such as mangroves and seagrass beds, and how integrated ecosystem management can mitigate against the impacts of human activities and climate change - The effects of fisheries (including fish and shellfish; and aquaculture practices) on coral reefs and how they can be managed effectively to ensure sustainable fish stocks and healthy coral reef ecosystem Value of grant A minimum annual grant of $20,000 USD is available to cover research related costs, which can include the following if appropriate: equipment (under $1000 USD), tools, supplies, research permits, scientist transport to the field, support staff, staff and scientist food and accommodation while running volunteer teams. The grant cannot be used for scientist salaries, overheads, capital equipment, and other expenses not directly related to the project. Volunteer costs in the field will be funded by Earthwatch separately from the research grant. These costs include volunteer accommodation, food and transport in the field. The field research grants are tenable for three years, and potentially renewable in the fourth year. Additional information -? Research field tasks should be conducted by snorkelling over SCUBA diving where possible. - Comfortable accommodation for the proposed project should be located as close to the research site(s) as possible to minimize daily travel. -? Time for scheduled recreational activities enabling volunteers to explore the surrounding area and experience cultural aspects are encouraged. All questions and concept note submissions should be directed to: Dr. Samantha Burgess, Senior Oceans Research Manager ? Earthwatch Institute ? e-mail: sburgess at earthwatch.org.uk ? Telephone: +44 (0) 1865 318808 ? www.earthwatch.org/europe Debbie Winton Senior Research Officer Earthwatch Institute | 256 Banbury Road | Oxford | OX2 7DE Tel: 00 44 (0)1865 318805 www.earthwatch.org/europe **Save paper and power - do you really need to print this email?** This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views, which are not the views of Earthwatch Institute Europe unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender immediately. Please note that Earthwatch Institute (Europe) monitors e-mails sent or received. Further communication will signify your consent to this. Conservation Education & Research Trust also known as Earthwatch Institute (Europe) is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales under company number 4373313 and charity number 1094467. The registered address is, Mayfield House, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DE England. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lky at dmu.dk Fri May 21 00:51:45 2010 From: lky at dmu.dk (Kyhn, Line A.) Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 09:51:45 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] New Bioacoustic paper on echolocation in Peale's and Commerson's dolphins Message-ID: Dear Marman list members We have just had the following article pulished in Journal of Experimental Biology "Echolocation in sympatric Peale's dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis) and Commerson's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) producing narrow-band high-frequency clicks" Abstract: An increasing number of smaller odontocetes have recently been shown to produce stereotyped narrow-band high-frequency (NBHF) echolocation clicks. Click source parameters of NBHF clicks are very similar, and it is unclear whether the sonars of individual NBHF species are adapted to specific habitats or the presence of other NBHF species. Here, we test whether sympatric NBHF species sharing the same habitat show similar adaptations in their echolocation clicks and whether their clicks display signs of character displacement. Wide-band sound recordings were obtained with a six-element hydrophone array from wild Peale's (Lagenorhynchus australis) and Commerson's (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) dolphins off the Falkland Islands. The centroid frequency was different between Commerson's (133?2 kHz) and Peale's (129?3 kHz) dolphins. The r.m.s. bandwidth was 12?3 kHz for both species. The source level was higher for Peale's dolphin (185?6 dB re 1 *Pa p.-p.) than for Commerson's (177?5 dB re 1 * Pa p.-p.). The mean directivity indexes were 25 dB for both species. The relatively low source levels in combination with the high directivity index may be an adaptation to reduce clutter when foraging in a coastal environment. We conclude that the small species-specific shifts in distribution of centroid frequencies around 130 kHz may reflect character displacement in otherwise-stereotyped NBHF clicks. Key words: acoustic species separation, acoustics, character displacement, clutter adaptation, static acoustic monitoring, sympatric species. You are welsome to request a copy of the paper by sending an email to me or find it here: http://www.marinebioacoustics.com/pub.html You may find a review of the article in Inside JEB on http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/213/11/iii?maxtoshow=&hits=20&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&displaysectionid=Inside+JEB+Collection&resourcetype=HWCIT Drawing is from the review in Inside JEB Best regards, Line Line A. Kyhn Ph.D. student, Ms. Science, National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399, DK- 4000 Roskilde Phone: +45 46301952 Mail: lky at dmu.dk Home page: http://www.biology.au.dk/line.kyhn.cv.da Act - don't react -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Picture (Enhanced Metafile) 1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 102965 bytes Desc: Picture (Enhanced Metafile) 1.jpg URL: From marinza.costa at gmail.com Sun May 23 09:29:05 2010 From: marinza.costa at gmail.com (Marina Costa) Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 19:29:05 +0300 Subject: [MARMAM] =?windows-1252?q?URGENT_=96_Internship_Opportunity_in_Eg?= =?windows-1252?q?yptian_Red_Sea?= Message-ID: <4BF957D1.7070405@gmail.com> URGENT ? Internship Opportunity in Egyptian Red Sea The Red Sea Dolphin Project The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) is a leading NGO in Egypt working in the field of marine and land conservation (www.hepca.com ). In 2010, Hepca started a three-year research campaign in the Red Sea waters of Egypt south of Marsa Alam. One of the aims of the research project is to understand more about the abundance and spatial distribution of cetaceans in order to identify their critical habitats. HEPCA is offering four internship positions on the research expeditions that will take place in the summer of 2010. Two boat-based surveys are scheduled; one from the 6th to the 27th of June, and the second from the 1st to the 22nd of August. Interns should be available at least for one survey. Successful candidates will be responsible for their own travel expenses to Hurghada and travel insurance, while accommodation is provided on board the Red Sea Defender. Interns will share double en-suite cabins on the boat. Successful candidates should arrive at the base 3-4 days before the start of the expedition. Research activities may include, but are not limited to: ? Visual observation and use of hydrophone to investigate presence, abundance and distribution of marine mammals in relation to environmental variables; ? Use of photographic identification to estimate population size of cetaceans with a focus on sociality and site fidelity of spinner dolphins (/Stenella longirostris/) in selected areas; ? Vomit and/or scat collection to study spinner dolphin feeding ecology; ? Coral reef survey to assess coral and fish biodiversity mainly in offshore sites; ? Collection of data about megafauna, such as dugongs, sharks, turtles and manta rays; ? Data entry, management and analysis. Applicants should be ready to work long hours (from sunrise to sunset, and occasionally also during night-time navigation), 7 days a week and are expected to participate in the following duties: ? Actively and independently contributing to the research activities, being able to run his/her shift of observation, acoustic detection, data entry, photo-ID, coral reef survey; ? Assist in running the research vessel with chores including maintaining common spaces, equipment and laboratory; ? Actively participating in lectures or activities scheduled by the research team; ? Assist in the development and implementation of education and awareness tools: interns are encouraged to propose and develop topics of common interest to promote discussion and debate. Applicants would ideally have the following qualifications: ? Able to work independently and with limited supervision after the training period; ? Interns must be patient, adaptable and flexible as fieldwork is highly weather-dependent; ? Good writing and public speaking skills are a must (in English); ? Proficiency in swimming is required; ? SCUBA diving license is preferred but not required; ? Current enrollment in a degree-seeking program, background in science and/or animal behavior and experience on boats and/or with photo-identification are all desired, but not necessarily required; ? Previous wildlife field experience is preferred but not required; ? Basic computer literacy with a working knowledge PC operating system and proficiency with MS Office, especially Word, and Excel is required. Familiarity with software including Microsoft Access, Pamguard, Distance, GIS, Photoshop would be very helpful but not required. Knowledge of open source OS is desired , but not necessarily required; ? You are encouraged to bring your personal laptop computer. To apply for a Red Sea Dolphin Project internship, interested persons should send a brief email to booking at hepca.com stating your name, contact information, dates during which you will be available and an attached CV. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ritter at m-e-e-r.de Tue May 25 04:52:30 2010 From: ritter at m-e-e-r.de (Fabian Ritter, MEER e.V.) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 13:52:30 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] M.E.E.R. field course, autumn 2010 Message-ID: <4BFBB9FE.9090305@m-e-e-r.de> Dear Fellow-Marmamers! The non-profit association M.E.E.R. would like to announce it's next field course in behavioural biology in the Canary Islands: "Field research of the project M.E.E.R. La Gomera" from 17-31 October 2010 The project M.E.E.R. La Gomera is conducting a study on the interactions between cetaceans and whale watching boats since many years. The participants of these 2-weeks practical courses will get an insight into the behavioural research conducted from whale watching boats operating off the island of La Gomera. In this area, 21 cetaceans species could be identified during the last years, representing one of the highest known species diversities in the world. A list of publications that resulted from this project is given below. The course includes a full training program: the theory and practice of behavioural research will be learned and profound background information on whale watching will be given. Research experience that will be gained includes sighting data recording, behavioural sampling, photo identification, data handling and more. The course is fully accepted for the study of Biology at the Humboldt-Universitaet Berlin (Germany) and the University of Vienna (Austria). Moreover, the research is embedded in conservation efforts aiming at the preservation and promotion of whale watching as a sustainable use of cetaceans and the establishment of a marine sanctuary in the waters off La Gomera. M.E.E.R. La Gomera was honoured in 2001 with the international environmental award "Tourismus und Umwelt" by the German Association of Travel Agencies and Travel Operators (DRV). As was said during the bestowal, the project "realises new ways of co-operation of research and tourism in an exemplary and innovative way". For further information (including downloads of a detailed brochure and a booking form) please visit http://m-e-e-r.de/index.php?id=208&L=2 The price is 899.- ? including 7 whale watching research excursions, accommodation, full training program, scientific supervision, donation to M.E.E.R. e.V., written working material, certificate of attendance and one year MEER e.V. membership. (The journey to and from La Gomera is not included in the price.) Early bookings are accepted until 31 July 2010 at a price of 849.- ? Sincerely, Fabian Ritter _____________________________________ The non-profit association M.E.E.R. is registred and based in Berlin. The objectives of the association are conservation, research and education in order to protect cetaceans in their natural habitats. Our work aims at increasing the public awareness for the oceans and to present ways how humans can deal with nature in a responsible way. Our co-operation partners are the "Deutsche Umwelthilfe" (Radolfzell/Germany) "Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine" (Munich/Germany), and "Oceano Gomera" (whale watching operator/La Gomera). _____________________________________________ Publications in conjunction with the work of the project M.E.E.R. La Gomera: Ritter, F. & Ladner, U.A. 1996. Whale Watch Research on La Gomera: A new Interdisciplinary Approach. European Research on Cetaceans 9. Proc. 9th Ann. Conf. ECS, Lisbon 1996, 48ff. Ritter, F. 1996. Abundance, Distribution and Behaviour of Cetaceans off La Gomera (Canary Islands) and Their Interaction with Whale Watching-Boats and Swimmers. Diploma Thesis to the University of Bremen, Faculty of Biology. 114pp. Ritter, F. & Brederlau, B. 1998. First Report of Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) Frequenting the Canary Island Waters. European Research on Cetaceans 12. Proc. 12th Ann. Conf. ECS, Monaco, 20-24th January 1998, 95-98. Ritter, F. & Brederlau, B. 1999. Abundance, Distribution and Behaviour of Dense Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) off La Gomera (Canary Islands) and their Interactions with Humans. AQUATIC MAMMALS, 25.2, 55-61. Ritter, F. 2001. Twenty-one Cetacean Species off La Gomera (Canary Islands): Possible Reasons for an extraordinary Species Diversity. Poster presented at the 11th Annual Conference of the ECS, 5-7 May 2001, Rome, Italy. Ritter, F. 2002. Behavioural Observations of Rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) off La Gomera (Canary Islands) with a special Reference to their Interactions with Humans. AQUATIC MAMMALS 28.1, 46-59. Smit, V., Ritter, F. & Neumann, K. 2003. Feasibility study: Land-based observations of cetaceans off La Gomera. Abstr. 14 Ann. Conf. ECS, Gran Canaria, Spain. Ritter, F. 2003. Boat-Related behaviours as a tool for the development of species-specific whale watching guidelines. Abstr. 14 Ann. Conf. ECS, Gran Canaria, Spain. Ritter, F. 2003. Interactions of Cetaceans with Whale Watching Boats - Implications for the Management of Whale Watching Tourism. M.E.E.R. e.V., Berlin, Germany, 91 pp. Mayr, I. & Ritter, F.: PHOTO-IDENTIFICATION OF ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHINS OFF LA GOMERA (CANARY ISLANDS) WITH NEW INSIGHTS INTO SOCIAL ORGANISATION. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the ECS, La Rochelle, France, April 2005. Ritter, F. & Neumann, K. (2006): The Year of the Whale - Extraorbinary occurrence of Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni) off La Gomera (Canary Islands). Poster presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the ECS in Gdynia, April 2006. Ritter, F. (2007): BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF ROUGH-TOOTHED DOLPHINS TO A DEAD NEWBORN CALF. Marine Mammal Science, 23(2): 429-433 Carrillo, M. & Ritter, F. (2008). Increasing Numbers of Ship Strikes in the Canary Islands: Proposals for Immediate Action to Reduce Risk of Vessel-Whale Collisions. IWC Document SC/60/BC6. Smit, V.; Ritter, F., Ernert, A. & Str?h, N. (2010): Habitat partitioning by cetaceans in a multi-species ecosystem around the oceanic island of La Gomera (Canary Islands). Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the ECS, Stralsund, Germany, March 2010 -- Fabian Ritter -Vorsitzender,President- M.E.E.R. e.V. Bundesallee 123 D-12161 Berlin NEUE RUFNUMMER/NEW NUMBER!- T/F: +49-(0)30-644 97 230 www.m-e-e-r.org __ The dolphins were having a great relaxed time and there were no major answers they wished to know the questions to... (After Douglas Adams) From sskrovan at mlml.calstate.edu Tue May 18 10:11:04 2010 From: sskrovan at mlml.calstate.edu (Stefani Skrovan) Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 10:11:04 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] certificate in marine mammals Message-ID: Please accept the following posting for summer classes working with marine mammals. Sincerely, Dr. Jenifer Zeligs California State University Monterey Bay and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories *http://slewths.mlml.calstate.edu/*offer one-week intensive *summer classes* open to any individuals interested animal training or in pursuing careers in the marine mammal field. In addition, *hands-on internships** *for people of all ages and levels of experience are also available at the lab working with marine mammals. The successful completion of both courses and a five-day internship will earn a *Certificate of Completion in Beginning Marine Mammalogy. *The classes' instructor, Dr. Jenifer Zeligs-Hurley has over 25 years of terrestrial and aquatic animal training experience, across diverse disciplines including research, public display, and studio and film work. For further information on class content, registration, housing and costs see below and please contact: jzeligs at mlml.calstate.edu *Classes: **TECHNIQUES AND THEORIES OF ANIMAL TRAINING: Bio 348 *(June 14-20, 2010) CRN 30047 *: *This 3 credit interactive course provides students an in-depth understanding of the discipline of animal training across many different types of terrestrial and aquatic animals and techniques. It provides an exceptional background in relevant animal behavior and psychological principles related to the practical goal of modifying animal behavior. These techniques will be demonstrated daily using trained sea lions at Moss Landing Marine Labs where the course is taught. Horses, birds, and other animals will also be used to demonstrate these techniques. Students will intern at least one day at the lab assisting in the care and training of research-trained sea lions. Topics covered will include:* *Captivity, Why Train? Communication, Motivation, Desensitization, Aggression, and Practical Training. Tuition: $585 + $39 campus fee per semester is payable to CSUMB-EE. An additional $50 lab fee is payable to MLML on the first day of class. *WORKING WITH MARINE MAMMALS: Bio 347 *(June 28- July 4, 2010) CRN 30048*: *This 3 credit course is designed to assist people who are interested in developing a career in marine mammalogy. It will provide practical information about marine mammals and working with them, drawing on the rich background of marine mammal work in the Monterey Bay area. The course will include live experiences with the marine mammals at Moss Landing Marine Labs. This class will instruct students in captive marine mammal husbandry (care and maintenance), training, basic physiology, an overview of common research topics and techniques, as well as public display, education, and current issues in marine mammalogy. Students will intern at least one day at the lab assisting in the care of research-trained California sea lions. They will also gain experience in developing a resume, job interviews, and public presentations. Tuition: $585 + $39 campus fee per semester is payable to CSUMB-EE. An additional $50 lab fee is payable to MLML on the first day of class. (If you book both classes- you will pay the $39 campus fee only once). *Registration: *For registration, enrollment and other logistical information please contact Dr. Jenifer Zeligs at jzeligs at mlml.calstate.edu *Enrollment details and housing*: *Enrollment for each class limited to 17*. *Summer registration for open enrollment begins May 3, 2010*. The classes are open for enrollment to *any high school graduate* regardless of age or nationality and there are no prerequisites, however no transportation or housing is included in the enrollment price. For help with housing please contact sskrovan at mlml.calstate.edu(limited housing is available for a reasonable weekly rate ). Courses will be taught at Moss Landing Marine Labs in Moss Landing, CA. -- Jenifer Zeligs, Ph.D. Science and Environmental Policy, California State University Monterey Bay Director of SLEWTHS Science Learning and Exploration With The Help of Sea lions Moss Landing Marine Laboratories 8272 Moss Landing Road Moss Landing, CA 95039 v: (831)-771-4191 fax:(831)-632-4403 http://slewths.mlml.calstate.edu/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bejaranoac at gmail.com Tue May 25 08:39:23 2010 From: bejaranoac at gmail.com (Adriana Bejarano) Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 11:39:23 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Message-ID: Dear all, I want to thank those of you who provided links, pds, citations, comments, unpublished reviews, etc? to this important project. A draft of the document has been submitted to the trustees, and it is at their discretion the release of the bibliographic summary. However, I want to share with the MARMAM community the pdfs shared by members (note: not all related to marine mammals). The pdfs can be downloaded from the MARAM folder found here http://www.researchplanning.com/downloads/ Username: anonymous Password: anonymous For those interested, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has made available a couple of journal issues related to oil spills http://www.setacjournals.org/view/0/virtualissueoilspills.html http://www.setacjournals.org/view/0/ieamfeaturedoilspills.html SETAC will make available other oil spill?related articles within the next few days. Many thanks, *Adriana C. Bejarano, PhD*** Research Planning, Inc. 1121 Park Street Columbia, SC 29201 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Erin.Oleson at noaa.gov Wed May 26 23:05:00 2010 From: Erin.Oleson at noaa.gov (Erin.Oleson at noaa.gov) Date: Wed, 26 May 2010 20:05:00 -1000 Subject: [MARMAM] Cetacean Assessment job at Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Message-ID: <1891bbfa35713d33.4bfd7eec@noaa.gov> The Cetacean Research Program at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is hiring a Cetacean Assessment Specialist. This position is part of the of the Protected Species Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The person in this position will be responsible for conducting cetacean stock assessment analyses using sophisticated computer-based methods and will provide scientific support to management teams (take-reduction teams, biological review teams, etc) on cetacean population response to proposed management measures. Duties include: analyzes population information; produces reports and scientific publications on the population assessment of cetaceans of the central and western Pacific; leads cetacean assessment cruises and completes field and cruise reports on research activities; provides scientific advice and status reports of research and assessment efforts for cetaceans to various groups and meetings; participates in workshops or panels. More details on this position can be found at USA Jobs, announcement NMFS-PIC-2010-0026. From cdswhale at worldonline.co.za Thu May 27 03:13:06 2010 From: cdswhale at worldonline.co.za (CDSWhale) Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 12:13:06 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Morphometric data available Message-ID: <02fe01cafd85$33be2ee0$0a00000a@VIC> Morphometric data available Fellow Marmammers, I've been working on marine mammals (as some of you might know) for about 30 years. Over this time I've collected data on some 35 species of marine mammal. All these were either stranded or incidentally captured in shark nets. I'd like to make these data available to anyone wanting to use them! Obviously, for some species the data are sparce, for example I have data for only one pygmy right whale. Where the species is rarely stranded (for the Caperea, or any beaked whale) I have collected full body measurements and weights. But, for the more common species I have worked, I have collected mostly length and total weight, though I do have significant 'runs' of full body measurements and organ weights. Examples of the 'common' species worked include: 230 Arctocephalus pusillus 44 Arctocephalus tropicalis / gazella 640 Delphinus sp. (mostly capensis) 90 Grampus griseus 30 Kogia sp. 110 Sousa chinensis (plumbea) 70 Stenella coeruleoalba 600 Tursiops aduncus 15 Tursiops truncatus If anyone is interested in using these data, please contact me. Vic Cockcroft Centre for Dolphin Studies info at dolphinstudies.co.za cdswhale at worldonline.co.za -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cdswhale at worldonline.co.za Thu May 27 03:27:53 2010 From: cdswhale at worldonline.co.za (CDSWhale) Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 12:27:53 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] University affiliation request Message-ID: <030a01cafd87$444252d0$0a00000a@VIC> University affiliation request Marmammars, especially staff at European Universities, the Centre for Dolphin Studies is trying to establish a PhD study on the development and impact of seal tourism in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. We have identified a PhD student who is interested in undertaking this study, but she needs to be registered for her PhD at an European University. Consequently, we are looking for a person, University, who would be willing to partner us in this programme. If anyone is interested, please contact me Vic Cockcroft Centre for Dolphin Studies info at dolphinstudies.co.za cdswhale at worldonline.co.za -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ed at scitechconsulting.com Wed May 26 10:40:20 2010 From: ed at scitechconsulting.com (Edward Gregr) Date: Wed, 26 May 2010 10:40:20 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] ESR Themed Issue - Abstract Extension Message-ID: <4BFD5D04.1010600@scitechconsulting.com> The original deadline for abstracts for the Endangered Species Research Special Issue on Marine Mammal habitat modeling is June 1, 2010 (original announcement below). Due to numerous requests, and in recognition that many of you are preparing for or already into the summer field season, we are /extending the abstract deadline/ to *Friday, June 11, 2010. * For more details on the Special Issue, please see _http://www.int-res.com/journals/esr/esr-specials/beyond-marine-mammal-habitat-modeling/_ For details regarding marine mammal habitat modeling, please see our website at: _http://www.whoi.edu/sbl/liteSite.do?litesiteid=7272_ We look forward to your participation. With best regards, Edward Gregr Mark Baumgartner Kristin Laidre Daniel Palacios The Inter-Research journal Endangered Species Research has agreed to produce a special issue on Marine Mammal Habitat Modelling. The inception of this issue was motivated by the work presented at the Ecological Modeling Workshop and in the main sessions of the 18th Biennial Conference on Marine Mammology. This work showed how habitat suitability modelling for marine mammals has reached a certain level of maturity, and is ready to take the next step towards relevant applications for ecology and conservation. This is an open call for manuscripts describing how habitat models are being actively applied to further our ecological understanding or support conservation efforts. We invite abstracts (max. 300 words) to be submitted by June 1, 2010. Abstracts will be selected based on how closely they match the theme of the special issue. Completed manuscripts for selected abstracts will be accepted until December 1, 2010 for full peer-review. We expect the assembled articles to convey the state of applied habitat modeling and to motivate continued improvement in how we study and manage marine mammals and their ecosystems. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kdudzinski at dolphincommunicationproject.org Thu May 27 15:47:13 2010 From: kdudzinski at dolphincommunicationproject.org (Kathleen M. Dudzinski) Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 18:47:13 -0400 Subject: [MARMAM] new paper on tactile contact between individuals of three dolphin species Message-ID: <82122BBC-E6CC-4A82-A72C-5F048FDFFCB7@dolphincommunicationproject.org> Please post to MARMAM Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the following paper recently published in Behavioural Processes. Dudzinski KM, Gregg JD, Paulos RD, Kuczaj II, SA. 2010. A comparison of pectoral fin contact behaviour for three distinct dolphin populations. Behavioural Processes. 84: 559-567. Abstract Tactile exchanges involving the pectoral fin have been documented in a variety of dolphin species. Several functions (e.g., social, hygienic) have been offered as possible explanations for when and why dolphins exchange pectoral fin contacts. In this study, we compared pectoral fin contact between dolphin dyads from three distinct dolphin populations: two groups of wild dolphins; Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) from The Bahamas and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) from around Mikura Island, Japan; and one group of captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) residing at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, Anthony?s Key Resort. A number of similarities were observed between the captive and wild groups, including; rates of pectoral fin contact, which dolphin initiated contact, posture preference, and same-sex rubbing partner preference. Unlike their wild counterparts, however, dolphins in the captive study group engaged in petting and rubbing at equal rates, females were more likely to contact males, males assumed the various rubbing roles more frequently than females, and calves and juveniles were more likely to be involved in pectoral fin contact exchanges. These results suggest that some aspects of pectoral fin contact behaviour might be common to many dolphin species, whereas other aspects could be species specific, or could be the result of differing environmental and social conditions. The final version of this article with full bibliographic details is now available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2010.02.013 Alternatively, reprints are available from the first author via email (kathleen at dcpmail.org ) Thanks! Kathleen Kathleen M. Dudzinski, Ph.D. Director, Dolphin Communication Project kathleen at dcpmail.org www.dolphincommunicationproject.org www.thedolphinpod.com P.O. Box 711 Old Mystic, CT 06372-0711 mobile: 1-860-514-4704 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rbradley at prbo.org Sun May 30 10:15:46 2010 From: rbradley at prbo.org (Russell Bradley) Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 10:15:46 -0700 Subject: [MARMAM] Winter (Elephant Seal) Farallon Biologist Job Announcement Message-ID: Job Announcement: Winter Farallon Biologist Overview PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO; formerly Point Reyes Bird Observatory) of Petaluma, CA is seeking applications for a staff biologist in our Farallon Islands Program. PRBO is an independent, scientific research non-profit whose mission is to conserve wildlife and ecosystems through innovative scientific research and outreach. Under co-operative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), PRBO has conducted continuous research and stewardship of the unique natural resources of the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge since 1968. The Farallon Islands are just a few miles from the continental shelf and lie in the rich coastal upwelling region of Central California. The islands host globally significant breeding seabird populations (over 300,000 individuals of 13 species), are a major haul out and breeding site for 5 species of pinnipeds, and a key feeding site for White Sharks. The islands also host a variety of migrant landbirds and an endemic salamander population. Most research on the Farallones involves multi-decadal and continuous time series. PRBO is seeking a biologist to oversee its winter activities on the Farallones. Research during this period focuses primarily on breeding elephant seals, but there are a variety of other biological studies conducted. Accommodations are in restored lighthouse keeper's housing, with a fully equipped field station to accommodate year-round occupation by biologists. This unique position involves overseeing field crews of long term volunteers, research, maintenance of facilities, small boat handling, data management and analyses, and scientific reporting and publication. Farallon biologists also work closely with our partners at the USFWS, to help with management activities of the refuge. Depending on interest, experience, and suitability of applicants, this position may be seasonal (~5 months per year focusing on winter field activities) or potentially full time to encompass both field activities and more data analysis and publication of Farallon datasets. Non field time would be based out of PRBO's Petaluma office. This position requires a minimum 3 year commitment. Job Description Field season is early December to mid March each year on Southeast Farallon Island, a rugged 120-acre island National Wildlife Refuge 28 miles offshore from San Francisco, California. Biologist's responsibilities include: continuing the long term demographic studies of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris); conducting surveys for arboreal salamanders (Aneides lugubris farallonensis), birds, pinnipeds and other marine mammals; hiring, training and supervising research assistants each year; overseeing standardized data collection, entry, and proofing, and management of long term datasets. Biologist will also analyze data, write reports, publish scientific papers, and present results at appropriate meetings. Biologist would be expected to maintain good communication and coordination with partner agencies, such as USFWS and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. In addition to research activities, the biologist will be responsible for maintaining all island systems including small boats and outboard engines; a photovoltaic power system; diesel generators; booms and winches; housing facilities, and rainwater collection. Interested applicants must have an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences or related field and multiple years of experience conducting research and supervising crews in a remote field camp environment. Preference will be given to applicants with advanced degrees (MS or PhD), and a proven track record of effective database management, analysis and publication. In addition, successful applicants must have significant small boat handling experience (preferably in an offshore environment), and strong mechanical aptitude, including basic familiarity with mechanical, electrical, plumbing, outboard engine maintenance, computer, and construction skills. Applicants must able to live and work effectively in a remote setting with a small crew under potentially difficult weather conditions for an extended field season. On island work is conducted 7 days a week throughout the entire field season, often for extended hours with no time off. Compensation Compensation will be competitive and dependent on experience. A full time position would receive a generous benefits package including medical and dental coverage, 401k match, and vacation time. Biologists will also receive 2 weeks of paid compensation time for every 6 weeks spent on the Farallones. Start Date November 15 2010 Application Send a cover letter, CV, and list of 3-5 references to Russ Bradley, Farallon Program Manager: rbradley at prbo.org by July 31st, 2010. Include references for all supervisory field positions you have held. Attach PDF's of publications you feel are relevant to your application. Successful applicants will be interviewed by phone in August and then in person at our Petaluma offices in September. ********************************* Russell Bradley, M.Sc. Farallon Program Manager PRBO Conservation Science 3820 Cypress Drive #11 Petaluma, CA 94954 Tel: 707-781-2555 ext. 314 Fax: 707-765-1685 www.prbo.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From snm4 at st-andrews.ac.uk Mon May 31 09:13:29 2010 From: snm4 at st-andrews.ac.uk (=?iso-8859-1?b?U2lu6WFk?= Murphy) Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 17:13:29 +0100 Subject: [MARMAM] ICES WGMME 2010 report Message-ID: <1275322409.4c03e02959426@webmail.st-andrews.ac.uk> The ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology (WGMME) 2010 report is now available, and can be downloaded at http://www.ices.dk/workinggroups/ViewWorkingGroup.aspx?ID=32 A number of Terms of Reference were covered during this year's meeting in the Azores including: a ) Review the effects of wind farm construction and operation on marine mammals and provide advice on monitoring and mitigation schemes; b ) Review the current contaminant loads reported in marine mammals in the ICES area, the cause?effect relationships between contaminants and health status, and the population-level effects of environmental impacts; c ) Further development of the framework for surveillance and monitoring of marine mammals applicable to the ICES area; d ) Review and report on any new information on population sizes, population/stock structure and management frameworks for marine mammals; e ) Provide information on abundance, distribution, population structure and incidental capture of marine mammals off the Azores; f ) Review of the scope, objectives and technical issues of the initiative for a European Marine Mammal Tissue Bank; g ) Update on development of the ICES seal database, status of intersessional work. Reports from previous years can also be found on the ICES WGMME webpage. Just to note that the ICES Annual Science Conference 2010 will be held at la Cit? des Congr?s in Nantes, France, between 20 and 24 September. For further information see http://www.ices.dk/iceswork/asc/2010/index.asp. Best wishes Sin?ad Murphy Chair of WGMME ------------------------------------------------------------------ University of St Andrews Webmail: https://webmail.st-andrews.ac.uk From Drasko.Holcer at blue-world.org Sun May 30 18:28:40 2010 From: Drasko.Holcer at blue-world.org (Drasko Holcer) Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 03:28:40 +0200 Subject: [MARMAM] Rescue of net entangled dolphin Message-ID: <4C0310C8.50503@blue-world.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: