December 2012 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Global Fellowships in Marine Conservation (Rachel Lo Piccolo)
by Heather Heenehan 03 Dec '12

03 Dec '12

*Global Fellowships in Marine Conservation (Summer Term II)* *Application Deadline: February 1, 2013* The Duke University Marine Laboratory is offering an unparalleled educational opportunity from July 8 to August 9, 2013. Duke’s Integrated Marine Conservation Program focuses on principles necessary for the conservation and preservation of coastal and ocean environments during an intensive 5-week summer session. The focus is on interdisciplinary problem solving using biophysical and social science to address real world environmental problems. This program is a tremendous opportunity for students and professionals at any level to think about conservation biology and policy in an environment full of students, faculty and practicioners grappling with the same issues. The core class (BIO 270A/ENV 270A Conservation Biology and Policy) involves field trips, discussion groups and lectures and visits with Distinguished Conservation Scholars each week. Students will leave the class with an appreciation of the policy process, as well as with grounding in the fundamentals of marine conservation. Global Fellowships in Marine Conservation will be awarded on a competitive basis. The Fellowship fully covers travel expenses, room and board, and tuition for both BIO 270A/ENV 270A Conservation Biology and Policy plus one specialized elective course. Electives (subject to availability) include: Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, Marine Ecology and Marine Invertebrate Zoology. The Global Fellowship application deadline for summer, 2013, is *February 1, 2013*. * * *Eligibility* The Global Fellowships are available to any international applicant with a good working knowledge of English who has an interest in marine conservation biology and policy, ideally with the intent to apply this interest to the practice of coastal and marine conservation. The course does not have specific prerequisites, but Global Fellows have a BA or BS degree in hand, are enrolled in such programs, or have some professional experience. * * *To Apply for Global Fellowships: * Application for a fellowship should be made on the *printed *Duke University Marine Lab summer course* **enrollment form*<http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/programs/enrollment_forms/summerapp>. It is our preference to receive applications via email ( rachel.lopiccolo(a)duke.edu) or by fax (252)504-7648. Application materials should be directed to: Duke Marine Lab Global Fellows Program c/o Rachel Lo Piccolo 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd Beaufort NC 28516, USA * * *Application Materials* In addition to the enrollment form, each Global Fellowship applicant is required to submit the following credentials: (Please include last name and title on all printed and electronic documents) 1. A brief essay - please limit this to one page - describing the applicant’s background, education, research, and work experience. Please note a Curriculum Vitae does not take the place of this essay; 2. A brief statement of purpose - please limit this to one page - i.e., describing the applicant's reason for applying for the Fellowship, how the applicant will be able to apply the training in his/her home country; and the applicant's future goals. 3. A letter of recommendation from academic faculty or employer addressed to Dr. Mike Orbach. We do not offer guidelines about the information to be included in your reference letter. These letters typically include how the referee knows you, his/her opinions of your work together in the past, and thoughts about whether he/she feels you'd be well suited to this program. 4. A Complete Curriculum Vitae. 5. A copy of your transcript is preferred. It may be an unofficial version. The transcript can be emailed to rachel.lopiccolo(a)duke.edu or faxed to (252) 504-7638 or scanned and emailed to the attention of Rachel Lo Piccolo. A non-certified translation of the transcript is fine. If sending a transcript is impossible, then please send a copy of your degree. If a traditional transcript is available, documentation certifying your courses, grades and official notes taken in each course during university studies in addition to a copy of your diploma will be required. * * *Due Date* Global Fellowship applications materials must be received no later than *1 February, 2013,* by Rachel Lo Piccolo (rachel.lopiccolo(a)duke.edu) All applicants will be notified of their award status shortly after the deadline date. We appreciate your interest in our Global Fellows program. If you have any questions you may contact Rachel Lo Piccolo at rachel.lopiccolo(a)duke.edu. For additional information specific to the Global Fellowship in Marine Conservation contact Rachel.Lopiccolo(a)duke.edu http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/programs/enrollment_forms/index.html http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/programs/summeraid http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/programs/courses/summer-II

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New publication: historical mortality of fin whales Balaenoptera physalus in the Adriatic Sea
by Nino Pierantonio 03 Dec '12

03 Dec '12

Dear List Members, Apologies for cross-posting. We are pleased to announce that the following article has just been published in the Marine Biodiversity Records Journal. If you are interested in obtaining an electronic pdf of this paper, please visit the following website http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=87… contact Nino Pierantonio at n.pierantonio(a)gmail.com for article reprints. Pierantonio N., Bearzi G. 2012. Review of fin whale mortality events in the Adriatic Sea (1728—2012), with a description of a previously unreported killing. Marine Biodiversity Records, 5:e109. DOI:10.1017/S1755267212000930. Abstract – This paper contributes an updated and detailed review of fin whale mortality events in the Adriatic Sea, encompassing four centuries. A total of 17 events, all referring to single animals, were validated through a content review of historical and recent information. Mortality events in the area mostly involved dead animals (N = 12; 70.6%), with 2 whales live-stranded (11.8%) and 3 killed (17.6%). Most records (70.6%) are for the last century, likely due to improved reporting. We provide a detailed description of the previously unpublished killing of an adult male fin whale which occurred in 1960 in the central-western portion of the basin. Best regards, Nino -- Nino Pierantonio Tethys Research Institute www.tethys.org Mobile: +39 349.532.9370 Skype: pierantonio_nino

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Spring 2013 Passive Acoustic Technician Training Course
by Julie Oswald 03 Dec '12

03 Dec '12

Bio-Waves, Inc. is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our Passive Acoustic Technician training course. This four day course combines theoretical instruction with hands-on demonstrations and training to give participants a working knowledge of passive acoustic monitoring hardware and software. The goal of this training course is to familiarize individuals with the necessary equipment and procedures, and teach the basic skills required to prepare them for work as passive acoustic field technicians. This course will be held at the University of California, San Diego Supercomputer Center in La Jolla, California from Tuesday, February 12 th through Friday February 15th, 2013. The training course will cover the following subjects: · -an introduction to the physics of underwater sound and fundamentals of marine mammal acoustics · - instruction on the design, setup, troubleshooting and repair of towed hydrophone arrays and other acoustic receivers (ex. sonobuoys, autonomous recorders) used in the field · - software used to detect, localize and classify sounds produced by marine mammals · - software used to review and post-process acoustic data · - the role of passive acoustic methods in mitigation and marine mammal monitoring · - best practices for effective acoustic data collection and management. At the conclusion of the course, participants will have gained a working knowledge of the theoretical and practical aspects of towed hydrophone array system design, maintenance and operations, in addition to software used during field operations and for data review and analysis. All participants will receive a set of materials for reference in the field. For those participants that are interested, we are pleased to offer course credit for the training course through the University of California, San Diego's Extension Program. Credit for the course is available to those who are interested via a separate application and fees. To register or obtain more information about the course please visit www.bio-waves.net/upcoming . A $250 non-refundable deposit will be required to secure your position in the course, and a minimum number of participants must be registered by Friday, January 4th, 2013 (deposits will be refunded if the minimum is not met prior to this date and we will notify all registrants). Limited spaces are available at a discounted rates for groups or graduate students; discounts are available on a first come, first serve basis. Please contact education(a)bio-waves.net with any questions. We look forward to seeing you this coming winter!

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proceedings of killer whale workshop (Russia)
by Olga Filatova 01 Dec '12

01 Dec '12

Dear colleagues, Workshop on killer whales was held on September 24, 2012 in frames of the seventh international conference «Marine Mammals of the Holarctic». The conference was organized by the Russian Marine Mammal Council and held on 24-28 September 2012 in Suzdal, Russia. The proceedings of the workshop are now available for download here http://2mn.org/downloads/bookshelf/mmh7_orca.pdf Contents: Olesiuk P.F. Population biology of the resident ecotype of killer whale in British Columbia Filatova O.A., Fedutin I.D., Shabalina A.O., Burdin A.M., Hoyt E. Vocal dialects and population structure of killer whales from Eastern Kamchatka and the Commander Islands Ivkovich T.V., Burdin A.M., Hoyt E. Social behaviour and population structure of killer whales in Avacha Gulf Belonovich O.A., Fomin S.V., Ryazanov S.D. Transient killer whales of the Commander Islands Shpak O.V. Mammal-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the western part of The Okhotsk Sea: our observations and interview data Shulezhko T.S., Burkanov V.N. Encounters with killer whales in the northwestern Pacific in 2003-2011 Nagaylik M.M., Burdin A.M., Hoyt E. Influence of salmon abundance on the activity of fish-eating killer whales Borisova E.A., Shpak O.V., Meschersky I.G., Burdin A.M. Preliminary results of genetic analysis of killer whales from the Russian Far East Melnikov V.V., Zagrebin I.A. Predation of killer whale (Orcinus orca) in the coastal waters of Chukotka peninsula Mymrin N. I. Observations of behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) near Chukotka peninsula Best regards, Olga

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review on Estimating animal population density using passive acoustics
by Tiago Marques 01 Dec '12

01 Dec '12

Dear MARMAMers, This recent paper still in early view might be of interest to some of you. Marques, T. A.; Thomas, L.; Martin, S. W.; Mellinger, D. K.; Ward, J. A.; Moretti, D. J.; Harris, D. & Tyack, P. L. (2012) Estimating animal population density using passive acoustics Biological Reviews. DOI: 10.1111/brv.12001 Abstract follows below. A pdf is available upon request. This output is closely related to DECAF, a large project on passive acoustics density estimation, which ended a couple of years ago. Additional resources and outputs can be found in DECAF's webpage http://www.creem.st-and.ac.uk/decaf/ which includes links to pdfs of papers on related issues. All the best Tiago Reliable estimation of the size or density of wild animal populations is very important for effective wildlife management, conservation and ecology. Currently, the most widely used methods for obtaining such estimates involve either sighting animals from transect lines or some form of capture-recapture on marked or uniquely identifiable individuals. However, many species are difficult to sight, and cannot be easily marked or recaptured. Some of these species produce readily identifiable sounds, providing an opportunity to use passive acoustic data to estimate animal density. In addition, even for species for which other visually based methods are feasible, passive acoustic methods offer the potential for greater detection ranges in some environments (e.g. underwater or in dense forest), and hence potentially better precision. Automated data collection means that surveys can take place at times and in places where it would be too expensive or dangerous to send human observers. Here, we present an overview of animal density estimation using passive acoustic data, a relatively new and fast-developing field. We review the types of data and methodological approaches currently available to researchers and we provide a framework for acoustics-based density estimation, illustrated with examples from real-world case studies. We mention moving sensor platforms (e.g. towed acoustics), but then focus on methods involving sensors at fixed locations, particularly hydrophones to survey marine mammals, as acoustic-based density estimation research to date has been concentrated in this area. Primary among these are methods based on distance sampling and spatially explicit capture-recapture. The methods are also applicable to other aquatic and terrestrial sound-producing taxa. We conclude that, despite being in its infancy, density estimation based on passive acoustic data likely will become an important method for surveying a number of diverse taxa, such as sea mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, and insects, especially in situations where inferences are required over long periods of time. There is considerable work ahead, with several potentially fruitful research areas, including the development of (i) hardware and software for data acquisition, (ii) efficient, calibrated, automated detection and classification systems, and (iii) statistical approaches optimized for this application. Further, survey design will need to be developed, and research is needed on the acoustic behaviour of target species. Fundamental research on vocalization rates and group sizes, and the relation between these and other factors such as season or behaviour state, is critical. Evaluation of the methods under known density scenarios will be important for empirically validating the approaches presented here. Key words: acoustic surveys, bioacoustics, density estimation, distance sampling, passive acoustic monitoring, spatially explicit capture-recapture, fixed sensors, hydrophones. -- ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tiago André Marques Research Unit for Wildlife Population Assessment Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling University of St Andrews The Observatory Buchanan Gardens St Andrews Fife KY16 9LZ Scotland Tel: 00441334461842 Fax: 00441334461800 (Scotland office) Tel: 00351210198736 (Portugal home) http://www-maths.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/homepages/tam2.html http://www.creem.st-and.ac.uk/tiago/ The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland : No SC013532

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