February 2009 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Two Marine Mammal Jobs in UK
by Peter G.H. Evans 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

Apologies for Cross-Posting ANNOUNCEMENT OF TWO UK MARINE MAMMAL JOBS **MONITORING OFFICER** Under the EU Habitats & Species Directive, three Special Areas of Conservation have been established in the UK with bottlenose dolphins principally in mind. Two of these occur in Cardigan Bay, West Wales - "Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau SAC" in the north of the Bay and "Cardigan Bay SAC" in the south. To assist with the conservation management of the bottlenose dolphin population in the region, monitoring of abundance, distribution, reproductive success and population structure using a combination of surveys and photo-identification studies have been undertaken by Sea Watch in recent years. The main tasks of this post of Cardigan Bay Monitoring Officer will be: To record, document, statistically analyse, and report indicators of the condition of bottlenose dolphins in both the Cardigan Bay and Pen Llyn a'r Sarnau SACs; To collect images and refer to those from established catalogues, at sites within and outside the key study areas, using photographic ID techniques, to evaluate dolphin movements, abundance estimates and distribution; To monitor the number of bottlenose dolphins using the sites, and to assess the supporting habitat and estimate population structure (age and sex where possible); To gather evidence of any anthropogenic activities within the sites, while monitoring bottlenose dolphins. To provide information on sightings and movements of known individual dolphins (particularly those named ones adopted by children) in support of the Adopt a Dolphin scheme. To train and supervise volunteers and students in supporting the survey & monitoring. A combination of vessel surveys and photo-ID will be used to achieve the above aims, concentrating particularly on the two SACs but extending more widely in Cardigan Bay and Welsh waters where appropriate. Although the target species is bottlenose dolphin, data on other cetacean species (particularly harbour porpoise) will be collected from the region. Besides fieldwork, the post holder will need to devote a significant portion of time to analysing data and assisting in writing up the results for publication. We are looking for a postgraduate biologist with at least three years field-based research experience of cetaceans, preferably including bottlenose dolphins. He or she should have an ability to interact well with people of varied backgrounds, be able to train, motivate and oversee volunteers assisting in monitoring, and be capable of working in often arduous field conditions relatively independently (ideally with boat handling certification). It is essential that the candidate should have analytical skills and a good grounding in statistics. Preference may be given to candidates with a good working knowledge of DISTANCE and CAPTURE software, as well as of spatial analysis. The post is initially for a period of six months but with potential extension beyond that subject to funding. It will be based at Sea Watch's office (Paragon House) in New Quay, Ceredigion, West Wales. Salary is £20,000 per annum, starting in April 2009. Those interested should send a letter of application, a copy of your CV, and the e-mail contact details of two referees to Dr Evans at peter.evans(a)bangor.ac.uk by 20th February 2009. **SIGHTINGS OFFICER** The main task of the post holder will be to facilitate public education and awareness through the regular dissemination of environmental information, and to help develop Sea Watch's research and monitoring programmes. Duties include: Recruitment of new observers, and feedback of information and advice to current contributors of sightings. Assistance with verifying & inputting sightings records. Regular support & liaison with Regional Coordinators, with occasional visits to coastal regions to support local efforts to develop monitoring, information exchange, and local fund-raising. Review with regional co-ordinators the best approaches for strengthening the observer network Co-ordination of a National Whale & Dolphin Watch event (in 2009, to be held between the 18th and 26tth July). Maintenance of an active web site to serve as a prime medium of communication to observers, initiating regular dissemination of new information, and recruiting new observers. Regular updating with news items, recent sightings, etc. Participation in training courses to teach regional co-ordinators and observers techniques of quantitative monitoring, species identification, and photo-ID. These may be tiered from beginners to advanced observers, so as to improve skills at different levels of experience Distribution of training aids (identification guide, slide pack and CD/video) to observers Assistance with preparation and editing of news sheets every two months, and writing occasional reports and other material of public/educational interest, in liaison with other staff Preparation of news releases for the media on major stories of environmental interest, and writing articles for specialist magazines Assistance with supervising students and other volunteers in New Quay, and supporting Monitoring Officer on some survey trips Participation and development of cetacean field projects as appropriate Attending meetings and giving public lectures on behalf of Sea Watch Answering correspondence & telephone queries from interested parties We are looking for a person with a strong knowledge of UK cetaceans and marine environmental issues, as well as research experience preferably in marine mammals. He or she should have an ability to interact well with people of varied backgrounds (research scientists, government officials, conservationists, naturalists, fishermen, members of the oil and gas industry, shipping, etc). The candidate will need to be computer literate (MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Photoshop, and at least basic statistical programs). Preference will be given to candidates with a good working knowledge of research analytical techniques and/or web editing.. The post has a probationary six month period but with potential extension beyond that. It will be based at Sea Watch's office (Paragon House) in New Quay, Ceredigion, West Wales. Salary is £18,000 per annum, starting in April 2009. Those interested should send a letter of application, a copy of your CV, and the e-mail contact details of two referees to Dr Evans at peter.evans(a)bangor.ac.uk by 20th February 2009. .. Sea Watch Foundation is a national marine environmental charity concerned with monitoring whales and dolphins around the British Isles, and the conservation threats they face. It has a number of research projects including surveys and photo-ID studies of bottlenose dolphins and baleen whales, and also harbour porpoises in West Wales, minke whale studies of foraging ecology and population genetics in West Scotland, and spatial analytical studies of cetacean distribution and habitat preferences of cetaceans throughout the British Isles, using a variety of modelling approaches. There is also a Dolphin Adoption scheme, aimed particularly at children, focusing upon the bottlenose dolphins of Cardigan Bay. Further details can be found on its web site - www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk. The charity has four staff based in New Quay (West Wales), North Wales and the London area, a further four-five working remotely on a contractual basis, and a large number of volunteers scattered around the coasts of the British Isles. Its Director is Dr Peter Evans based at the School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor. -- Dr Peter G.H. Evans Director Sea Watch Foundation, Cynifryn, Abershore, Llanfaglan, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales LL54 5RA Hon. Senior Lecturer School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, Wales LL59 5AB Tel: 01286-672071 Mobile: 0776-556-6102 E-mail: peter.evans(a)bangor.ac.uk> -- Gall y neges e-bost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau a anfonwyd gyda hi, gynnwys deunydd cyfrinachol ac wedi eu bwriadu i'w defnyddio'n unig gan y sawl y cawsant eu cyfeirio ato (atynt). Os ydych wedi derbyn y neges e-bost hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a dilëwch y neges. Os na fwriadwyd anfon y neges atoch chi, rhaid i chi beidio â defnyddio, cadw neu ddatgelu unrhyw wybodaeth a gynhwysir ynddi. Mae unrhyw farn neu safbwynt yn eiddo i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd yn unig ac nid yw o anghenraid yn cynrychioli barn Prifysgol Bangor. Nid yw Prifysgol Bangor yn gwarantu bod y neges e-bost hon neu unrhyw atodiadau yn rhydd rhag firysau neu 100% yn ddiogel. Oni bai fod hyn wedi ei ddatgan yn uniongyrchol yn nhestun yr e-bost, nid bwriad y neges e-bost hon yw ffurfio contract rhwymol - mae rhestr o lofnodwyr awdurdodedig ar gael o Swyddfa Cyllid Prifysgol Bangor. www.bangor.ac.uk This email and any attachments may contain confidential material and is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email. If you are not the intended recipient(s), you must not use, retain or disclose any information contained in this email. Any views or opinions are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the Bangor University. Bangor University does not guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or 100% secure. Unless expressly stated in the body of the text of the email, this email is not intended to form a binding contract - a list of authorised signatories is available from the Bangor University Finance Office. www.bangor.ac.uk

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message to post please
by Lesage, Veronique 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

> Our apologies for cross-posting, > > > SOCIETY FOR MARINE MAMMALOGY 18th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE ON THE BIOLOGY > OF MARINE MAMMALS > > The 18th biennial conference will be held at the Quebec Conference > Centre (http://www.convention.qc.ca) during 12 to 16 October 2009 in > Quebec City, Canada. Quebec City is the only walled city in North > America and is just winding down its 400th Anniversary celebrations > (http://www.quebecregion.com) The Conference will open on the 11th > October by the usual evening icebreaker and will end on the evening of > 16th October by a banquet and dance. Materials for pre-registered > participants and on-site registration will be available Sunday, 11 > October 2009. > > A conference website is now operational and will serve as the primary > resource for all of the deadlines and information related to the > conference. To learn more, go to the Society for Marine Mammalogy > website (http://www.marinemammalogy.org/) and click on Learn more > under 18th Biennial Conference Quebec. > > CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND WORKSHOP PROPOSALS > The conference this year is almost two months earlier than the > conference dates in recent years. This means that the deadlines for > abstract submissions and workshop ideas are also approximately two > months earlier. Workshop proposals will be due on 15 March 2009, > whereas abstracts for both oral and poster presentations will be due > on 19 April 2009 to allow sufficient time for peer review and > notification prior to the meeting. There will be three concurrent > sessions of oral presentations, and two hours per day exclusively > dedicated to posters to allow sufficient time for viewing the > anticipated large volume of poster presentations. Meeting space for a > number of pre-conference symposia and workshops has been arranged with > the convention Center for the 10th and 11th of October 2009, and will > be available free of charge to organisers. Any refreshments or > audio-visual equipment will be at the expense of organisers. Selection > of pre-conference workshops and symposia will be made by the > scientific committee based on merit. > > A formal call for abstracts and further announcements will be made > soon. In the meantime, if you are interested in organizing a > pre-conference workshop or symposium, we invite you to fill an > application through the Society website and conference webpage. The > scientific committee is being co-chaired by Veronique Lesage and > Robert Michaud. Do not hesitate to contact them with your ideas at > congres_smm2009(a)dfo-mpo.gc.ca. > > Video Night > As in past conferences, we hope to continue with the traditional video > night. Janie Giard and Jean Lemire are helping to organize this event. > More information will be provided soon. > > TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATION > Experient is negotiating room rates for Biennial participants at the > Hilton and Delta hotels. Both hotels are right beside the conference > centre. International flights will arrive via Toronto or Montreal or > direct to Quebec City International Airport. Major international > carriers include Air Canada, Continental, Northwestern, and United > airlines, while WestJet and Porter are national carriers. Details of > visa requirements will be posted on the website, but all delegates are > recommended to confirm these with their local travel agent or embassy. > > > STUDENT TRAVEL AND GRANTS > The Society for Marine Mammalogy encourages student participation in > the 18th Biennial Conference and has committed funds in the form of > Student Travel Grants to help defray travel expenses. Students must be > members of the Society and have an abstract that has been reviewed and > accepted (either oral or poster) for the meeting to be considered for > a travel grant. More information on applying for these grants will be > available on the conference web site. > > Mike Hammill > Conference chair > > congres_smm2009(a)dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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information on mother seals behaviour
by Gemma Araujo 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

Hello, I am a student from Barcelona and I am back now from an internship in a rehabilitation and research centre in the Netherlands. I have been working on a behavioural research project studying seal with a strange behaviour towards humans. We considered the possiblity that the mother abandoned him before she should maybe due to low survival chances as he appears to have some kind of disability. It's all theories about it because we don't have much information on mothers abandoning their pups for such reasons. I have been looking for related articles but the copies were not available from my university (University of Barcelona). Some of the articles are: Mother-pup bonding in the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) - do harbour seal mothers sometimes leave their pups alone?], Gaus, 2007 SEX-DIFFERENCES IN THE NURSING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHERS AND PUPS IN THE ATLANTIC HARBOR SEAL, PHOCA-VITULINA-CONCOLOR, Rosen Das et al., 1992 FURTHER-STUDIES OF THE ROLE OF HARBOR SEAL (PHOCA-VITULINA) PUP VOCALIZATIONS IN PREVENTING SEPARATION OF MOTHER PUP PAIRS, Perry Ea, 1988 INFLUENCE OF STORMS AND MATERNAL SIZE ON MOTHER-PUP SEPARATIONS AND FOSTERING IN THE HARBOR SEAL, PHOCA-VITULINA, Boness, DJ et al, 1992. I would appreaciate if any of you send me some articles or information concerning common seal mother behaviour specially related to abandoning their pups. Thank you very much!

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Become a Dolphin conservation and research volunteer in Peru in March and/or April 2009
by Mundo Azul 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

*Become a Dolphin conservation and research volunteer in Peru in March and/or April 2009* Mundo Azul is a Peruvian NGO for the conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity and for sustainable development in Peru. Since 2001 we are working against the continued illegal dolphin killing for human consumption in Peru. In 2005 we started a bottlenose dolphin Photo-ID program along the central Peruvian coast between Lima and Paracas (240) km. From 2007 to 2008 we have identified more than 1000 animals in this area. Mundo Azul is self-financing its research program with the support of volunteers, whale-watching, consultancies and donations from Peruvian companies. Currently we are operating three boats for coastal Dolphin research and recently we put a fourth boat in service for off-shore whale and Dolphin research to begin shortly. We are running dolphin field surveys in March and in April and there are still possibilities to take part as a volunteer. Volunteers will accompany our field researchers on a full month dolphin-photo-ID survey. During daily marine tours you will be able to observe up to 100 dolphins or more per day in several groups while being engaged in social interaction and fishing behavior. Dolphins often approach the research boat for bow riding and come as close as 1 meter to the boat. To have three or more animals bow riding at the same time is not a rare event (up to 20 in one event). You will also observe sea lions, Humboldt penguins and marine birds on a daily basis. Occasionally you may also observe other dolphin and whale species (mainly dusky dolphins and Bryde whales, but blue whales or sperm whales are possible too.). After returning from sea volunteers will assist the researchers in photo – evaluation and dolphin identification and receive basic training in cetacean biology and photo-ID-methods. The participant fee (which goes 100 percent to financing the field research) for a full month participation is 2600 $US and covers your lodging, breakfast and lunch, as well as all terrestrial and marine transportation in Peru. Requirements for volunteers: English language Basic Spanish knowledge is of advantage but not necessary Volunteers do not have to be biologists or students of biology – basic training will be provided by Mundo Azuls research team on site. In order to participate write to mundoazulorg(a)gmail.com or to mundoazul(a)terra.com.pe

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Opportunity: six months internship in Dolphin Photo-ID in Peru: June to November 2009
by Mundo Azul 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

*Opportunity: six months internship in Dolphin Photo-ID in Peru: June to November 2009* * * Mundo Azul is a Peruvian NGO for the conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity in Peru and sustainable development. We are implementing since 2005 a bottlenose Photo-ID program along the central Peruvian coast between Lima and Paracas (240) km. From 2007 to 2008 we have identified more than 1000 animals in this area. Mundo Azul is self-financing its research program with the support of volunteers, whale-watching, consultancies and donations from Peruvian companies. Currently we are operating three boats for coastal Dolphin research and recently we put a fourth boat in service for off-shore whale and Dolphin research to begin shortly. We are offering the possibility for an internship as research assistant from June 2009 to end of November 2009. Responsibilities of the intern: - Driving an inflatable boat (outboard motor 40 hp) and/or a fiberglass yachts (outboard motor 90 hp) under supervision during search for dolphins. - Participation in daily maintenance of motors and ships - Support the transport of research teams, volunteers and equipment - Taking Pictures of dolphins - Picture evaluation and statistical evaluation of field data - Training of volunteers - Support of volunteer logistics - Participation in environmental education activities about marine life. - Field guiding of whale watching tourists - Support and participate in training activities for local stakeholders. Requirements · Student or bachelor in biological science or related fields · Fluent English · Basic Spanish · Adequate physical strength for marine field work, boat driving and hands on boat maintenance · Previous experience in marine field research is a plus · Previous experience in dolphin research is a plus The intern will receive: - Basic training in motor-mechanics - Training in boat driving - Training in marine conditions in the research area - Species identification training (mammals and birds) - Training in photo-ID methods and laboratory work - During field investigation periods we do cover lodging and food, as well as terrestrial ad marine transport to the research areas - During laboratory work in Lima we cover lodging. Please send applications with detailed CV and picture. Please elaborate on previous field research experiences. Please write to mundoazul(a)terra.com.peor to mundoazulorg(a)gmail.com .

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