April 2010 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

New article - Cerebral Toxoplasmosis in Striped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) Stranded Along the Ligurian Sea Coast of Italy.
by Giovanni Di Guardo 08 Apr '10

08 Apr '10

Dear All, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following article: G. Di Guardo, U. Proietto, C. E. Di Francesco, F. Marsilio, A. Zaccaroni, D. Scaravelli, W. Mignone, F. Garibaldi, S. Kennedy, F. Forster, B. Iulini, E. Bozzetta, and C. Casalone Cerebral Toxoplasmosis in Striped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) Stranded Along the Ligurian Sea Coast of Italy Veterinary Pathology, March 2010 47: 245-253, first published on December 31, 2009 as doi:10.1177/0300985809358036. For a copy please send Pdf requests of this article to: gdiguardo(a)unite.it ABSTRACT This article reports the results of necropsy, parasitologic, microbiologic, histopathologic, immunohistochemical, indirect immunofluorescence, biomolecular, and serologic investigations on 8 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) found stranded from August to December 2007 on the Ligurian Sea coast of Italy. Severe, nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis was found in 4 animals, as characterized by prominent perivascular mononuclear cell cuffing and macrophage accumulations in neuropil. These lesions were associated with mild lymphocytic-plasmacytic infiltration of choroid plexuses in 1 dolphin. Toxoplasma gondii cysts and zoites, confirmed by immunohistochemical labeling, were scattered throughout the brain parenchyma of 2 of the 4 dolphins. No viral inclusions were seen in the brain of any animal. Other findings included severe bronchointerstitial pneumonia and pulmonary atelectasis, consolidation, and emphysema. Parasites were identified in a variety of organs, including lung (Halocerchus lagenorhynchi). Microbiologic and serologic examinations for Brucella spp were negative on all 8 dolphins. The 4 animals with meningoencephalitis had serum antibodies against T gondii (titers ranging from 1:80 to 1:320) but not against morbillivirus. In contrast, the other 4 dolphins were seropositive for morbillivirus (with titers ranging from 1:10 to 1:40) but seronegative for T gondii. No morbillivirus antigen or nucleic acid was detected in the tissues of any dolphin. It is concluded that the severe lung and brain lesions were the cause of death and that T gondii was the likely etiologic agent of the cerebral lesions. Morbillivirus infection was not considered to have contributed to death of these animals. Giovanni DI GUARDO, DVM, Dipl. ECVP, Professor of "General Pathology and Veterinary Pathophysiology", University of Teramo, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Piazza Aldo Moro, 45 - 64100 - TERAMO, ITALY (E-mail: gdiguardo(a)unite.it <mailto:gdiguardo@unite.it> )

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Job Opportunity: National Geographic Education Specialist
by Sarah Wilson 07 Apr '10

07 Apr '10

For those of you in MARMAM involved in education and outreach....... I will be hiring one new Ocean Education Specialist position in the Education Programs division at National Geographic Society. This professional marine educator/biologist will help me with a variety of duties within our Ocean programs, ranging from our teacher/educator programs and creating ocean education resources (including our teacher workshop this summer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography) as well as community outreach and ocean stakeholder workshops. This position offers a competitive salary (depending on experience) with full staff benefits and must be based in our DC office. Details on the job are below ... in addition to the experience working in the formal education field that is requested I am looking for someone knowledgable in marine science, conservation issues, and who can work with and develop materials for ocean stakeholders such as...Scuba Instructors, Lifeguards, Boat Captains, and the cruise ship industry, etc...You must apply on online with our Human Resources department (link below) and scroll through the "next" button to the 4th or 5th page of jobs... http://www.nationalgeographic.com/jobs/ Sincerely, Sarah Wilson Ocean Manager Education Programs National Geographic Society 1145 17th Street NW Washington DC, 20036 P (202) 857-7316 F (202) 429-5701Get LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah4ocean Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail Job Description Job Title: Specialist, Prog Ocean Ed Job ID: 4153 Location: Education Programs Job Type Staff Contract position from 4-2010 to 12-2010 Summary of Position Work as an integral member of the Education Programs team, assisting in the development and management of instructional programs for students, teachers and informal educators. This position will aid in the creation of new marine science curriculum for classroom teachers and informal educators, handle logistics for our multi-day Teacher Academy each summer, assist in the organization and access to ocean education materials on education department website, and potentially conduct outreach to educators on NGEP education programs at conferences. Ocean education materials produced in NGEP will range from complete curricula, to collections of lesson plans, activities, teaching posters, family guides, videos, toolkits, and other resources. Responsibilities 1. Participate as part of the project team in project planning and execution, taking into account the goals of the Society and stakeholders, the needs of our targeted audiences, the resources available, and the quality standards of the Society. Assist in the research and review of project components. Work well with and facilitate communication between all project team members and stakeholders. Represent National Geographic at presentations and meetings. 2. Manage logistics for teacher events and professional development workshops. Develop and track project schedules, meetings, budget, and documentation. Maintain workflow, schedules, calendar and task lists across the team and numerous external partners. Schedule meetings, speakers and handle logistics and coordination. Monitor progress and resources for various organizations. 3. Manage the production, administration and distribution of business documents, grant proposals, reports, presentations and other materials. Develop and maintain schedules for all such documentation to ensure timely and complete submission. 4. Assist in instructional design of curriculum materials for high school and other age groups. Review work of contract writers and assist manager in assigning work and managing writer schedules. Develop and maintain a list of available National Geographic and stakeholder resources about the ocean. Research best practices in teacher education, student materials development, and ocean education. Keep up with trends, research, and updates in the fields of education and marine science. Assemble summary reports of resources, research and trends for multiple audiences. 5. Participate in department-wide programs and innovation. Stay current with NGS mission, research, initiatives and media, and assist the team in leveraging these assets. Undertake other duties as requested. Supervision Exercised Supervising Interns Minimum Education & Experience Bachelor's Degree in Geography, Oceanography, Environmental Science or related field. 2-4 years program experience. Classroom teaching experience preferred. Knowledge & Skill Requirements Experience working under deadlines. Understanding and experience of classroom teaching, preferably in high school setting. Experience working under deadlines. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Organizational skills with high attention to detail; self-direction and motivation. Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues, project manager, and project team members with diverse expertise; collaborative, team-oriented work style. Proven experience in office setting corresponding with the public, answering phone calls and e-mails in timely manner. Passion for society's mission to inspire people to care about the planet, and for teaching them how to do so. Must be willing and able to travel. This is a 9 month position from April 2010-December 2010, with the possibility of extension. Equal Opportunity Employer

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New article - Bottlenose dolphin's repertoire & communication use
by Bruno Diaz 07 Apr '10

07 Apr '10

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following article: Díaz López, B & Shirai, J.A.B, 2009. Mediterranean common bottlenose dolphin's repertoire and communication use, In: Dolphins: Anatomy, Behavior and Threats, (Agustin G. Pearce and Lucía M. Correa. Eds.) Nova Science Publishers, Inc. pp 129-148. For a book copy please visithttps://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=11… or send pdf requests of this article to: bruno(a)thebdri.com, soon a copy will be available in our website www.thebdri.com ABSTRACTBottlenose dolphins are an extremely vocal mammalian species and vocal communicationplays an important role in mediating social interactions. This study carried out year roundfrom 2005 to 2008 represents the first attempt in the Mediterranean basin to outline therepertoire, production rates of social sounds, and associated behavior of Mediterraneanbottlenose dolphins. Data were collected as part of a long term study, in which acousticrecording and behavioral observations (from surface and underwater) were made. Over the 4-year study period, 25 months were spent in the field and the dataset consisted of 35 hours of dolphin observations and simultaneous recordings. The acoustic repertoire observed in this study was extremely diverse. Bottlenose dolphin communication sounds ranged from soft and melodic sounds to harder, almost harsh sounds. The results, showing that vocal emission increased, especially in those activities involving excited depredation or socializing, confirmed that activity and social signals production were related. Moreover, the fact that was observed a positive relation between group size and the production of social signals, confirms that dolphin vocalizations are used for communicative and social purposes. My findings on social signals emission also suggest that burst pulses vocalizations probably play an equally important social signaling role as do tonal sounds. Particularly, “long burst pulsed sounds”, in agonistic interactions like those observed during depredation, could be used with the intent to settle rank conflicts and avoid competition between group members. This study also gathered evidence to support the use of whistles as contact calls between mother and calf pairs of dolphins. Although many of these vocalizations have been described in the literature, their association with specific behaviors provides additional contextual information about their potential use as communication signals. Bruno Diaz Lopez Chief Researcher / Marine Zoologist Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI V.Armando Diaz Nº4 07020 Golfo Aranci (SS) Italy www.thebdri.com info(a)thebdri.com tel.+ 39 346 081 5414 tel. + 0789 183 1197

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U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Research Program
by Moriarty, Tracey CIV CNO, N45 07 Apr '10

07 Apr '10

All: The U.S. Navy funds a significant amount of research for monitoring and protecting marine mammals during Navy training and testing activities while at sea. The following link provides an overview of the Navy's marine mammal research program: http://www.navy.mil/oceans/NavyMarineMammalResearchOverviewFeb2010.pdf. Comments are welcome from the marine mammal research community and should be sent to Tracey Moriarty, Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness Division at tracey.moriarty(a)navy.mil. Please provide your comments by 23 April 2010. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Tracey B. Moriarty Director, Environmental Outreach Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness Division (Code N45) 2511 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 2000 Arlington, VA 22202 www.navy.mil/oceans www.navy.mil/local/nee Check out Currents - Navy's environmental magazine - on facebook!

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SMM Northwest Student Chapter 2010 Meeting
by Amanda Bradford 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

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Pro-MMO Training Course
by Nick Robinson 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

Pro-MMO Training Course Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) are trained personnel who mitigate against potentially harmful impacts of noise on marine mammals. Gardline Environmental Ltd.s' Marine Wildlife Department provide & train MMOs for the energy and construction industries. The Pro-MMO course trains applicants to become fully qualified, JNCC approved, professional MMOs who gain exceptional field experience during their training. The next available dates for this course will be 16th - 19th April 2010 Prices will vary upon number of applicants, and is inclusive of all teaching materials, experienced staff (who all work as MMOs in the field), accommodation during the course, and support afterwards. Applications for the course can be obtained from nick.robinson(a)gardline.co.uk<mailto:nick.robinson@gardline.co.uk>. ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY - This e-mail and any attached files contain information that is confidential and/or may be subject of legal privilege, intended only for use by the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, please be advised that you have received this message in error and that any dissemination, copying or use of this message or attachment is strictly forbidden, as is the disclosure of the information therein. If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately and preserve this confidentiality by deleting the message. No binding contract will result from this e-mail until and unless an officer, on behalf of the sender, signs a written document. Sender accepts no responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of this message as it has been transmitted over public networks. Unless otherwise specifically stated any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the sender Company. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System, on behalf of the Gardline Group of Companies. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Please Post: NEFSC Protected Species Branch Chief position
by Sofie Van Parijs 02 Apr '10

02 Apr '10

To All: The NEFSC Protected Species Branch Chief position was posted today on USAJOBS (http://www.usajobs.gov/) and will close on 30 April 2010. The position is listed under both the Supervisory Research Wildlife Biologist and the Supervisory Fishery Biologist series. The job is in Woods Hole, MA at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Lab there. The position is open to all US citizens who meet the qualifications. It's a ZPIV position ($89,449 to $137,410) . This is a full-time permanent position. Employees are eligible for benefits such as a varied selection of cost-shared health insurance plans, life insurance coverage options, comprehensive retirement benefits, a tax-deferred Thrift Saving Plan (401K), paid annual leave, paid sick leave, paid holidays, flexible work schedules including teleworking, and overtime pay/compensatory time. Duty Statement: Serves as Chief, NEFSC Protected Species Branch, a scientific program with upwards to 35 government employees and supporting contractors. Directs NMFS/NEFSC research programs related to the management of marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean in support of NOAA mandates and responsibilities under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and Magnusson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. Research is focused on (1) population assessments, (2) ecological roles & habitat; (3) human interactions, including bycatch evaluation and mitigation, and (4) socio-economic impacts of protected species management actions. Works closely with partners within NMFS, NOAA, and other government agencies, as well as with constituents within industry and nongovernmental organizations. Specialized Qualifications: • Experience as a Team Leader or greater directing and managing a research program, consisting of multiple interrelated projects, and five or more staff (including PhD level researchers) working as a multidisciplinary research/work team • Experience applying the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and Endangered Species Act (ESA) to marine conservation by conducting marine mammal and/or marine turtle population surveys and stock assessments, providing scientific advice to Take Reduction Teams on bycatch mitigation, and assisting Biological Review Teams with reviews of population status and threats. More details are available on the USAJOBS site, which is where individuals can apply. For additional info contact: Marie Toussaint Phone: 301-713-6347 Email: Marie.Toussaint(a)noaa.gov

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URGENT: Irish Seal Sanctuary resident volunteer positions available
by Laura O'Shaughnessy-Hunter 01 Apr '10

01 Apr '10

The Irish Seal Sanctuary is a registered charity dedicated to providing shelter, treatment and rehabilitation for rescued marine wildlife found in difficulty around Ireland’s coast. The ISS strives to improve the welfare and conservation of seals and other marine animals and create awareness and understanding of Ireland’s coastal environs and their wildlife communities. The ISS has been rescuing and rehabilitating seals since 1988 in Garristown, Co.Dublin. After many attempts to relocate and create a national marine conservation and education centre, the ISS is finally relocating to Courtown, Co.Wexford and building a facility that will be open to the public. To make the move a success, the ISS is urgently looking for full time volunteers to join our dedicated and experienced team to help run this first season in the public eye, and rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured seals. We are looking for volunteers who are able to come for a minimum of 3 months between May 2010 and April 2011. Job description: The resident volunteers will participate in hands-on daily animal husbandry and critical care; coordinating rescues and releases; keeping accurate detailed records; maintaining animal facilities, including kennels and pools; maintaining and cleaning public facilities, including the visitors centre and public pathways; and interacting with the public. The ISS rescues and rehabilitates around 60 seals a year. We get harbour seals in the summer months, usually from June to August/September and grey seals in the winter, usually from September until March/April. The work hours are long (9-12 hours) and physically demanding. The volunteers work 5 days a week, with two days off. The position is unpaid, however shared accommodation and a grocery allowance are provided. Interns are accepted internationally and are responsible for their own transportation to and from Ireland. Responsibilities/duties will include (but are not limited to): The volunteers will report to the animal managers and will be trained in Food preparation Safe animal handling and restraining Tube feeding, force feeding, hand feeding seals Natural history of harbour and grey seals Record keeping Administration of injections and oral medications Assisting in rescues and releases nationwide General cleaning duties of animal and public facilities Hygiene and quarantine protocols to prevent the spread of disease etc. Assisting veterinarians in surgical and medical cases when required Qualifications: 20 years or older, with a full driving licence and an avid interest in marine mammal care and rehabilitation. Preference will be given to applicants with previous experience in animal care. Skills/Experience: Experience in handling wildlife preferred Ability to get on well with others in a small team and shared accommodation, working and living within a small group in rural setting Excellent organisational and communication skills Ability to work under pressure A commitment to wildlife, conservation and volunteer work Flexible and reliable working attitude Willingness to work long hours outdoors in Irish weather Be self-motivated, show initiative and an ability to work without constant supervision Experience in interacting with the public/ public speaking Able to lift 20kg and be in good physical shape Be enthusiastic and eager to help and learn To apply for this position please fill out and application form, available at www.irishsealsanctuary.ie, and send to Nicola Davies at animalmanager.iss(a)gmail.com For general information about the Irish Seal Sanctuary visit this website www.irishsealsanctuary.ie _________________________________________________________________ Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. https://signup.live.com/signup.aspx?id=60969

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