October 2009 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

First Call for Abstracts - Top Predator Session at 2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting (BO23)
by Daniel Palacios 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

The 2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting The upcoming Ocean Sciences Meeting will be held in Portland, Oregon, between 22 and 26 February 2010. The Ocean Sciences meeting, the world's largest gathering of ocean scientists, is jointly sponsored by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), The Oceanography Society (TOS), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Scientific Session "BO23: Recent Technological Advances for Studying the Ecology of Top Marine Predators" Description: The use of sophisticated electronic devices and other advanced technologies for the study of marine top predator ecology is becoming routine, resulting in new insights into the physical and biological processes that influence predator behavior and distribution. This session seeks to bring together biologists, oceanographers, and engineers who are involved in the development and application of cutting-edge instrumentation or novel methods to study the ecology of predatory fishes, marine turtles, seabirds, pinnipeds, and cetaceans. Presentations on the use of technologies such as electronic tagging, hydroacoustics, bioacoustics, autonomous or remotely operated vehicles, and remote sensing are welcome. Contributions from outstanding students are particularly encouraged. This session is co-sponsored by AGU's Biological Oceanography and Marine Technology Sections. Conveners: Daniel Palacios, Mark Baumgartner and Steven Bograd Abstract deadline: 15 October 2009 Conference details: http://www.agu.org/meetings/os10/index.php For further information about this session please contact: Daniel Palacios NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC 1352 Lighthouse Avenue Pacific Grove, CA, USA 93950-2097 831-236-6905 daniel.palacios(a)noaa.gov Mark Baumgartner Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution MS #33, Redfield 256 Woods Hole, MA, USA 02543 508-289-2678 mbaumgartner(a)whoi.edu Steven Bograd NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC/Environmental Research Division 1352 Lighthouse Avenue Pacific Grove, CA, USA 93950-2097 831-648-8314 steven.bograd(a)noaa.gov

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Information - R/V Song of the Whale
by Richard McLanaghan 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Dear All, The Research Vessel 'Song of the Whale' owned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is now being managed and operated on behalf of IFAW by former IFAW SOTW team members through a new company called Marine Conservation Research Ltd. Song of the Whale is now available for charter either with an operations crew, a full scientific team or a combination of the two depending on requirements. Song of the Whale is a purpose designed sailing research vessel particularly suited to passive acoustic research. More information will be available at www.marineconservationresearch.co.uk shortly. Details of the Song of the Whale team's recent work can also be seen at www.ifaw.org/sotw Please do not hesitate to get in contact for more information or to discuss your project requirements. Best Regards, Richard Richard McLanaghan Marine Conservation Research Ltd Tel. +44 1376 573071 Mob +44 7968 064576 rmclanaghan(a)mcr-team.co.uk

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Information Material for Fishermen
by Jo Wharam 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Dear colleagues, Apologies for cross-postings... ASCOBANS (the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas) has identified a need to produce targeted information material on bycatch (and other small cetacean conservation issues) for distribution to fishermen in the region. With a view to achieving this, I have been employed as a consultant to ASCOBANS to develop a Leaflet for Fishers in the ASCOBANS Area. In order to gain an overview of what information is already available (both in the ASCOBANS area and internationally), I would like to ask your help in obtaining copies of any relevant material in existence in your country - whether published by the government, fishermen's organisations or other stakeholders. If possible, please can you indicate when the material was produced and by whom, where and how the material was distributed, and how well the information was received. Please feel free to forward this message to colleagues who may find it of interest. Thank you in advance for your co-operation. Kind regards, Jo. joanna.wharam(a)tiscali.co.uk Jo Wharam Marine Science & Policy Consultant 1 Branksea Avenue Poole Dorset BH15 4DW joanna.wharam(a)tiscali.co.uk 01202 680997 07812 932747 Skype: jo.wharam P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

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Agenda for SMM Workshop - Saving An Individual, Protecting A Population, Conserving A Species
by Barbie Byrd 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Please post the following. There are a few spaces left for the workshop, "Saving An Individual, Protecting A Population, Conserving A Species" convened on Oct. 11 at the Quebec City Conference Center in room 208A. If you are interested in attending, please register online. Below is an agenda for the meeting. 8:30-8:40 Welcome, Introductions 8:40-9:00 Small Cetaceans 9:00-9:20 Orphaned Orcas 9:20-9:40 Large Cetaceans 9:40-10:00 Pinnipeds */10:00-10:20 Break/* 10:20-10:40 Manatees 10:40-11:00 Terrestrial Wildlife Comparison 11:00-11:20 NGO Perspective 11:20-11:40 Ethical Considerations */11:40-1:00 Lunch/* 1:00-3:00 Break-out Group Discussion · Process · Science/Animals · Ethics · Public Participation */3:00-3:20 Break/* 3:20-5:00 Break-out group reports/Large group discussion Cheers, Barbie Byrd and Janet Whaley -- <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< Barbie Byrd NOAA Beaufort Lab National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Resources Branch 101 Pivers Island Rd. Beaufort, NC 28516 USA Tel: 252-728-8793 Fax: 252-728-8784 <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

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SMM Florida Student Chapter - Change of Date!
by Noel Takeuchi 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Hello all! There has been a change of date for the Florida Student Chapter of the Society for Marine Mammalogy meeting to be held during the Biennial Conference in Quebec City. Please note the new meeting time: *Meeting Time: Thursday, October 15, 2009* *When: 12:00-1:00PM* *Where: Room 205A * We welcome all interested students! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Meghan Bills –billsm(a)ufl.edu Jen McGee – mcgeej(a)vetmed.ufl.edu Noel Takeuchi – nytakeuchi(a)gmail.com

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Mediterranean monk seal newborn pup in an open beach
by Pablo Fdez. de Larrinoa 06 Oct '09

06 Oct '09

Dear Colleges, CBD-Habitat team has the pleasure to inform you about excellent news coming from the Mediterranean Monk seal colony located in the Cabo Blanco peninsula (Morocco/Mauritania). Last 22 of September 2009, an event of great symbolic and conservation importance took place in the Cabo Blanco Mediterranean monk seal colony, the largest aggregation of this species that still survives in the world. A newborn pup was born in an open beach. As you may know, there are no records of such an event in many decades, in which seals were persecuted leading them to abandon open beaches and use exclusively marine caves to haul out and breed. Therefore, one of the main set of actions of the Action Plan for the recovery of Mediterranean Monk Seal in the Eastern Atlantic (CMS) developed by the governments of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Mauritania was to promote the occupation of beaches as breeding and resting habitat. During the last 9 years, and under these guidelines established by the Action Plan, the protection of breeding caves and vicinities by CBD-Habitat project has been intense reducing to a minimum disturbances caused by goose barnacle pickers, fishermen as well as the threat of illegal setting of artisan fishing gears in the area. Afters years of continuous efforts, monk seals have began to progressively re-colonize open beaches of the protected area for hauling out. The final step, the use of open beaches as breeding habitat is the event that just took place this 22 of September, beginning therefore a new conservation path for this colony. The pup is a female and is in good shape condition. The birth took place in a beach located a few hundreds of meters south of one of the main breeding caves. This fact joins the progressive recovery of the population, which in 1998 was estimated to have a size of around 100 individuals and that today is almost reaching 200, also a high increase in pup production has produced in recent years being born today in the colony almost 50 pups per year, when 5 years ago mean annual pup production was 24. Although the situation is still very critical and fragile, these last events fulfil us of hope for the future of this population and the species. Best regards, On behalf of CBD-Habitat Pablo Fernandez de Larrinoa Programa de conservación de la foca monje en Cabo Blanco Fundación CBD-Habitat Nieremberg 8, bajo A 28002 Madrid SPAIN Tel: + (34) 91 415 60 52 e-mail: pablo.fernandezdelarrinoa(a)cbd-habitat.com

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Google Ocean Posting Opportunity for Marine Mammal Scientists
by Ellen Hines 05 Oct '09

05 Oct '09

I have just started a position working with Sylvia Earle on her Deep Search Foundation (http://deepdeep.org/) and want to touch base with you all regarding a project I have been assigned to. The Deep Search Foundation was created to promote the exploration and protection of our ocean. To do this we have formed a partnership with Google, Inc., and I have been put to the task of working with researchers, educators and academics to post current knowledge and research onto the OCEAN in Google Earth platform. This project isn't limited to the deep sea - we're also covering coastlines, wetlands, marshes, etc. http://earth.google.com/ I would like to show you how our posting system works and demonstrate how easy it is to capture the work you/your students are conducting in a living wiki-style environment. Once your research is posted you would be sharing your work on a global scale - perhaps a good way to get others interested, fulfill an educational component to a grant or even obtain future funding! You will be able to edit your work as new discoveries are made and upload new images/videos as technologies improve. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more, by sending me an email – sadiewadd(a)gmail.com . If you haven't already taken a look at Google Earth, please go ahead and download the latest version (5.0) and turn on the 'Explore the Ocean' layer under 'Ocean' to see what we have been up to. You can also dive into the ocean, (make sure you have the terrain layer on!), in areas like Monterey Bay, Hawaii, and the Galapagos! Looking forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Sadie Waddington Department of Geography San Francisco State University --

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SMM Gulf Coast student chapter
by Courtney Smith 05 Oct '09

05 Oct '09

Hello students, The SMM Gulf Coast Student Chapter (GCSC)<http://www.marinemammalscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl…>is being reorganized and we are now branching out to include marine mammal students from Texas and the Florida panhandle, as well as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- and we are looking for new members! If you are student in this region, or are a student conducting marine mammal research in this area, and would like to join us, please contact Aly Azzara (TAMUG) at (aly.azzara(a)gmail.com) or Courtney Smith (USM) at gcsc_contact(a)yahoo.com . GCSC members will be attending the 18th SMM Biennial Conference<http://www.marinemammalscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl…>in Quebec next week, and will hold a brief GCSC chapter meeting Tuesday, 13 October, room 205A (at the conference center) from 12:00 to 13:00. Please join us in helping rebuild this student chapter! Cheers, Courtney -- Courtney Smith Masters/Doctoral Student University of Southern Mississippi Experimental Psychology Program Marine Mammal Behavior & Cognition Lab

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Ecological Modeling workshop
by Mark Baumgartner 05 Oct '09

05 Oct '09

Colleagues, Space is running out in the upcoming one-day "Ecological Modeling for Marine Mammalogists" workshop to be held on Sunday, October 11, immediately prior to the 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Québec City. Registrations will be capped at 150 participants, so please pre-register now for the workshop at http://www.marinemammalscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl… We currently have room for about 30 more people. If we reach 150 participants before the 11th, we will not accept walk-in registrations. The workshop will be held in the Québec City Convention Center, room 301AB, and it will begin at 8:30 am sharp. The registration fee is $30 US or $35 CAN (note higher registration fee in Canadian dollars to accommodate exchange rate). Cash or a check drawn on a U.S. bank will be acceptable. Registration will begin at 8:00 am. The agenda for the workshop is as follows: 08:00 Registration opens 08:30 Welcome 08:40 Introductory Session 10:40 Coffee break 11:00 Presence-only Session 12:30 Lunch 13:45 Movement Session 15:15 Poster Forum (coffee/snack break) 16:30 Workshop ends The Introductory Session will present the fundamentals of marine mammal ecological modeling, including talks about the purpose of modeling (Ed Gregr, SciTech Consulting), environmental data (Daniel Palacios, Southwest Fisheries Science Center), and modeling methods (Ben Best, Duke University) The Presence-only Session will explore techniques to model marine mammal habitat with common presence-only data, such as acoustic detections or non-standardized survey results (e.g., whale watching or historical sighting data). The speakers for this session are Melissa Soldevilla (Duke University) and Derek Tittensor (Dalhousie University). The Movement Session will tackle the latest methods for exploring relationships between marine mammals and the environment using movement data (e.g., satellite tracking data). The speakers for this session are Robert Schick (Duke University) and Eli Gurarie (University of Helsinki). Finally, our Poster Forum will offer participants a chance to meet and talk with colleagues that are working on similar problems and facing similar challenges. Eleven posters will be presented to stimulate discussion and explore new ideas about ecological modeling. Hope to see you in Québec City! Workshop Organizing Committee: Mark Baumgartner (mbaumgartner(a)whoi.edu) Ed Gregr Ellen Hines Kristin Kaschner Kristin Laidre Daniel Palacios Kathy Vigness Raposa

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New paper: high levels of persistent organic pollutants in false killer whales
by Robin W Baird 02 Oct '09

02 Oct '09

The following has been published on-line: Ylitalo, G.M., R.W. Baird, G.K. Yanagida, D.L. Webster, S.J. Chivers, J.L. Bolton, G.S. Schorr and D.J. McSweeney. 2009. High levels of persistent organic pollutants measured in blubber of island-associated false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) around the main Hawaiian Islands. Marine Pollution Bulletin doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.08.029. There is a no abstract but a brief summary is below. There is a small island-associated population of false killer whales around the main Hawaiian Islands. There is evidence this population may have declined substantially over the last 20 years. To assess the potential that contaminants may be a risk factor for the population, biopsy samples were obtained from nine individuals from the island-associated population in 2008, and samples were analyzed for a variety of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Individuals were sexed genetically, and information on body size and re-sighting history was used to assess age class (adult/juvenile). The highest levels of POPs documented were PCBs and DDTs. Adult females had lower concentrations than adult males or juveniles. Subadult whales had the highest levels of PBDE flame retardants. Levels of PCBs in three individuals were above the threshold where health effects may occur. A copy can be obtained from Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0025326X) from Gina Ylitalo (gina.ylitalo(a)noaa.gov) or from www.cascadiaresearch.org/hawaii/falsekillerwhale.htm Robin ======================================================== Robin W. Baird, Ph.D. Research Biologist Cascadia Research Collective 218 1/2 W. 4th Avenue Olympia, WA 98501 USA Fax 1-360-943-7026 e-mail: rwbaird(a)cascadiaresearch.org www.cascadiaresearch.org/robin/hawaii.htm www.cascadiaresearch.org/robin/kwindex.htm

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