April 2013 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

New paper: population structure of short-finned pilot whales
by Filipe Alves 03 Apr '13

03 Apr '13

Hello, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper about the ecology of short-finned pilot whales: F Alves, S Quérouil, A Dinis, C Nicolau, C Ribeiro, L Freitas, M Kaufmann, C Fortuna (2013) Population structure of short-finned pilot whales in the oceanic archipelago of Madeira based on photo-identification and genetic analyses: implications for conservation. /Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems/ doi: 10.1002/aqc.2332 ABSTRACT: Pilot whales /Globicephala/ spp. are known to display a hierarchical social pattern, but longitudinal data to infer population structure of short-finned pilot whales /Globicephala macrorhynchus/ are rare. Using data collected between 2003-2011 in the oceanic archipelago of Madeira, the grouping structure of short-finned pilot whales was studied using photo-identification methods and mtDNA sequences and microsatellite markers to test the hypotheses that (1) there is at least one pelagic and one or more island-associated communities, and (2) groups are made of related individuals, with a matrilineal social structure. Pilot whales demonstrated a large degree of variability in site fidelity, including residents (up to 14-year interval), regular visitors and transients. The social and temporal analyses revealed a well-differentiated society with long-lasting relationships (of years). The genetic analyses suggested that individuals of the three residency patterns may not be genetically isolated, and that small groups are made up of related individuals, suggesting some degree of social philopatry, while large groups are probably temporary associations of smaller groups. It is proposed that the pilot whales encountered inMadeira belong to a single population encompassing several clans, possibly three clans of island-associated whales and others of transients, each containing two to three matrilineal pods, each with a mean of 15 individuals (SD=9, range: 4-29). We suggest that the clans interact formating purposes when they meet. For management decisions, it is considered that the island-associated whales should not be regarded as demographically independent populations, but instead as stable social entities to be included in governmental management plans and requiring periodic evaluation of their status. The high proportion of marked individuals and low rate of mark change encourages further research in this species. Please download from <http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v478/p273-285/>_http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.2332/abstract_ or contact Filipe Alves on _filipealves(a)museudabaleia.org <mailto:cgb@smru.co.uk>_ Best regard, Filipe Alves -- Filipe Alves Biólogo Marinho Museu da Baleia da Madeira - Madeira Whale Museum Rua da Pedra D'Eira 9200-031 Caniçal, Madeira Portugal Tel.: +351 291 961 858/9 (ext. 214) Fax: +351 291 961 861 www.museudabaleia.org

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New publication on winter habitat preferences for Florida manatees
by Cynthia Taylor 03 Apr '13

03 Apr '13

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce that the following paper on Florida manatees is now available at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058978: D. W. Laist, C. Taylor, and J. E. Reynolds, III. (2013) Winter habitat preferences for Florida manatees and vulnerability to cold. PLoS ONE8(3): e58978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058978 Abstract To survive cold winter periods most, if not all, Florida manatees rely on warm-water refuges in the southern two-thirds of the Florida peninsula. Most refuges are either warm-water discharges from power plant and natural springs, or passive thermal basins that temporarily trap relatively warm water for a week or more. Strong fidelity to one or more refuges has created four relatively discrete Florida manatee subpopulations. Using statewide winter counts of manatees from 1999 to 2011, we provide the first attempt to quantify the proportion of animals using the three principal refuge types (power plants, springs, and passive thermal basins) statewide and for each subpopulation. Statewide across all years, 48.5% of all manatees were counted at power plant outfalls, 17.5% at natural springs, and 34.9 % at passive thermal basins or sites with no known warm-water features. Atlantic Coast and Southwest Florida subpopulations comprised 82.2% of all manatees counted (45.6% and 36.6%, respectively) with each subpopulation relying principally on power plants (66.6% and 47.4%, respectively). The upper St. Johns River and Northwest Florida subpopulations comprised 17.8% of all manatees counted with almost all animals relying entirely on springs (99.2% and 88.6% of those subpopulations, respectively). A record high count of 5,076 manatees in January 2010 revealed minimum sizes for the four subpopulations of: 230 manatees in the upper St. Johns River; 2,548 on the Atlantic Coast; 645 in Northwest Florida; and 1,774 in Southwest Florida. Based on a comparison of carcass recovery locations for 713 manatees killed by cold stress between 1999 and 2011 and the distribution of known refuges, it appears that springs offer manatees the best protection against cold stress. Long-term survival of Florida manatees will require improved efforts to enhance and protect manatee access to and use of warm-water springs as power plant outfalls are shut down. David W. Laist Senior Policy and Program Analyst Marine Mammal Commission 4340 East-West Highway, Rm. 700 Bethesda, MD 20814 main office: 301-504-0087 fax: 301-504-0099 e-mail: dlaist(a)mmc.gov

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Job Post: Statistician for Population Studies
by Aileen 02 Apr '13

02 Apr '13

Job Post: Statistician for wildlife population studies Pacific Biodiversity Institute is recruiting a statistician for contract services relating to Experiment Design and Analysis. Experience in cetacean population studies desired. Ability to use multivariate design and analysis, parametric and non-parametric analysis and regression modeling is required. Distance sampling is desirable. Work will assist with experiment design and analysis for population estimates from passive acoustic monitor data. The field work in based in the Puget Sound, Rosario Strait area. Proximity to this area is helpful. However, applicants can work from their home location. Please send a resume highlighting relevant experience to aileen(a)pacificbio.org. Indicate what date you are available to start. Applicants will be interviewed by phone initially. The recruitment will remain open until a suitable candidate is located.

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OPS Biological Scientist I Position at Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
by Koslovsky, Stacie 02 Apr '13

02 Apr '13

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Section: Wildlife Research Subsection: Marine Mammals Rate of Pay: $15.00 per hour. No paid benefits. Full-time (40 hours/week), with the option for part-time. EXPECTED START DATE: June 2013 DURATION: 8.5 months at 40 hours/week Job Description: This is a temporary, grant-funded technical position that supports Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) scientists in managing tabular and spatial (GIS) data for research on the Florida manatee and its habitat. The incumbent will specifically work with researchers on a project to summarize and analyze water temperature data in relation to cold-related manatee mortality. The main responsibilities for this position are entering and verifying tabular and spatial data; assisting with the maintenance, quality assurance and quality control of databases; developing cartographic products, descriptive statistics, graphs, and written summaries for use in reports and presentations and for management purposes; assisting with metadata documentation and data archival; and locating, retrieving and compiling biological and environmental data. The person in this position will communicate technical information to coworkers, while maintaining a professional working environment that promotes teamwork within working units and with the Marine Mammal Program at FWRI. Minimum Required Education: A Bachelor's degree with a major in one of the life or physical sciences. Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: * Knowledge of GIS, relational databases and data management principles. * Knowledge of wildlife ecology, biology, or natural systems. * Skilled at using a personal computer, preferably including experience using Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and ArcGIS. * Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing; ability to work well independently and as a member of a team. Qualified applicants will need to be organized, detail-oriented, self-motivated and adept at problem-solving and time management to succeed in this position. Preferred Experience: Applicants having experience with SQL Server, Python, and/or R may be given preference. Application Requirements: Applicants are required to submit a complete, up-to-date, State of Florida Employment Application Form electronically in People First, by midnight on the closing date listed. Go to: https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com (enter 77907338 in the keyword search field). Additionally, applicants are required to complete the additional application questions. Applicants are encouraged to submit a cover letter, resume and three references with their application in People First by the closing date, but these do not replace the requirement for a completed State of Florida Employment Application Form. If you experience technical difficulties during the application process or when attaching documents, call People First staffing at 1-877-562-7287. If unable to attach supporting documents to your application, they may be faxed to the People First Service Center at 1-888-403-2110. Be sure to include the Requisition number for the position to which you are applying on each page of your faxed documents. WHAT IS OPS EMPLOYMENT? Other Personal Services (OPS) employment is a temporary employer/employee relationship used solely for accomplishing short term or intermittent tasks. OPS employees do not fill established positions and may not be assigned the duties of any vacant authorized position. OPS employees are at-will employees and are subject to actions such as pay changes, changes to work assignment, and terminations at the pleasure of the agency head or designee. The State of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer and does not tolerate discrimination or violence in the workplace. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, must notify the agency hiring authority and/or the People First Service Center (1-877-562-7287). Notification to the hiring authority must be made in advance to allow sufficient time to provide the accommodation. The State of Florida supports a Drug-Free workplace. All employees are subject to reasonable suspicion drug testing in accordance with Section 112.0455, F.S., Drug-Free Workplace Act. The State of Florida hires only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized alien workers. If a conditional offer of employment is made, you will be required to provide identification and proof of citizenship or authorization to work in the United States for the hiring authority to which application is made. E-Verify will be used to verify work authorization and identity. _________________________________________ Stacie Koslovsky Research Associate | Marine Mammals Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish & Wildlife Research Institute 100 8th Ave. SE | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-896-8626 x 4757

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Associate Research Fellow in Marine Vertebrate Ecology
by Godley, Brendan 02 Apr '13

02 Apr '13

Dear Colleagues Some positions available working with us in Cornwall. Please share widely. If any of the functionality is lost in the pasting over, it can be accessed on web at: http://bit.ly/YOgFcL The College wishes to recruit up to three Associate Research Fellows to support the work of Professor Brendan Godley, Dr Annette Broderick and Dr Matthew Witt in the UK and overseas. These positions, funded by the Darwin Initiative, EU FP7 and NERC, are available immediately for up to 24 months. The main research focus of the of the posts will be Biodiversity Impacts of Marine Renewable Energy in the UK (involving at sea biodiversity monitoring) although successful candidates would be expected to interface with some of the other research areas of the group including Fisheries Bycatch, Marine Acoustics, Spatial Ecology and Conservation and Molecular Ecology. The successful applicant will be able to present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and contribute to the preparation of proposals and applications to external bodies. Marine fieldwork in the UK a will be required, so experience of working at sea would be invaluable. Applicants will possess a PhD in a relevant discipline (or an MSc and extensive experience) and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. As the group works on international projects, languages other than English would be an asset. We welcome applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours or job-sharing arrangements. For further information please contact Alan Rees, e-mail: a.f.rees(a)exeter.ac.uk<mailto:a.f.rees@exeter.ac.uk> . To view the Job Description and Person Specification document please clickhere.<http://www.admin.ex.ac.uk/personnel/jobs/P45024.pdf> Interviews are expected to take place in May/June 2013. The College is working towards department Silver Athena SWAN<http://www.exeter.ac.uk/working/prospective/benefits/athenaswan/> awards as a commitment to providing equality of opportunity and advancing the representation of women in STEM/M subjects: science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. The University of Exeter is an equal opportunity employer which is 'Positive about Disabled People'. Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented in the workforce. HOW TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION: Please send your CV, covering letter and the details of three referees, along with a completed application and equal opportunities form to Alan Rees, e-mail: a.f.rees(a)exeter.ac.uk<mailto:a.f.rees@exeter.ac.uk> quoting the reference number P45024 in any correspondence. To download the application and equal opportunities form please follow the below links; http://www.admin.ex.ac.uk/personnel/jobs/ app_form.rtf<http://www.admin.ex.ac.uk/personnel/jobs/app_form.rtf> http://www.admin.ex.ac.uk/personnel/jobs/EO_form.rtf [Description: https://jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecruitment/css/Athena_SWAN_Bronze_2.JPG] Prof. Brendan J. Godley Chair in Conservation Science Centre for Ecology & Conservation University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus TR10 9EZ, UK Tel: +44 1326 371 861 Twitter: @BrendanGodley http://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=brendan_godley http://www.seaturtle.org/mtrg/ [Description: cid:image003.gif@01CE0AA5.105E7330]

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Bottlenose Dolphin’s Conservation Workshop Programme - ECS Conference 2013
by Inês Carvalho 02 Apr '13

02 Apr '13

Dear MARMAM list members, The following workshop entitled "Bottlenose dolphin’s conservation: what can we learn from different resident populations?", will be held at the upcoming Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society on Saturday, 6th April. The workshop will start at 09:30 and finish at 18.00. More information on http://www.escolademar.pt/ecs2013/workshops/. If you would like to participate and have not yet registered, please contact carvalho.inesc(a)gmail.com. *Programme*: *9.15-9.40h – Registration* * * *9.40-10.00h - An Action Plan for the protection and monitoring of the resident population of bottlenose dolphins from the Sado * *Estuary (Portugal) – Marina Sequeira - Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry (ICNF)* * * *10.00-10.20h - A short story of a very small resident population – Raquel Gaspar – Associação Viver a Ciência* ** *10.20-10.40h - Social structure, abundance and conservation of a population of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, in the English Channel – Marie Louis - Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC)* * * *10.40-11.00h - Diet and life history of bottlenose dolphins – Graham Pierce - Aberdeen University and Aveiro University* ** *11.00-11.30h – COFFEE BREAK* ** *11.30-11.50h - The bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) in Galicia and Norte Peninsular – Alfredo Lopez - * *CEMMA (presented by Graham **Pierce - Aberdeen University and Aveiro University)* ** *11.50-12.10h - Movements, abundance, and population structure of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Pelagos * *Sanctuary (north‐west Mediterranean Sea) – Guido Gnone - Acquario di Genova* * * *12.10-12.30h - An integrative approach to population structureand social kin associations of sympatric coastal bottlenose * *dolphins (Portugal) with implications for their conservation – Inês Carvalho – Associação para as Ciências do Mar and Instituto Gulbenkian Ciência * ** *12.30-12.50h - Evaluation of the use of the Sado estuary (Setúbal, Portugal) by the resident bottlenose dolphin population. **Results from a new goniometric method - Inês Brito - Centro de Oceanografia – Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa* ** *12.50-14.00h – LUNCH BREAK* * * *14.10-14.30h – Monitoring bottlenose dolphins in SACs - the c ase of the Shannon estuary, Ireland – Emer Rogan – University * *College Cork*** * * *14.30-14.50h - Slovenian dolphin project: research and conservation of common bottlenose dolphins in Slovenia – Tilen Genov - Morigenos – Slovenian Marine Mammal Society * ** *14.50-15.10h - Potential impacts of artisanal fisheries on the bottlenose dolphin population of the Sado estuary, Portugal – * *Marina Laborde – Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa* ** *15.10-15.30h - Common bottlenose dolphins and marine fin-fish farms: co-existence or conflict? – Bruno Diaz Lopez - * *Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI* ** *15.30 – 16.00h – COFFEE BREAK* * * *16.00-16.20h - Disappearing killer whales (Orcinus orca) and coastal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops **truncatus) in Europe: What’s causing the declines? – Paul Jepson – Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London* ** *16.20-16.40h- Coastal bottlenose dolphins off the Arrábida and Tróia shores: Who are they? How many are there? – Francisco * *Martinho – Escola de Mar* ** *16.40-17.00h - Developing acoustic monitoring techniques using C-PODs for monitoring Annex II species in Special Areas of * *Conservation – Joanne O’Brien - Marine Biodiversity Research Group Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology* * * *17.00-18.00h – Discussion and Concluding Remarks * Thanks, Inês Carvalho Associação para as Ciências do Mar Edif. ICAT - Campus da FCUL Campo Grande 1749-016 Lisboa Portugal Population and Conservation Genetics Group Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia Rua da Quinta Grande, 6 2780-156 Oeiras Portugal

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last call to the Marine Bioacoustic Symposium at IBAC Brazil
by Marcos Rossi 01 Apr '13

01 Apr '13

Dear Members, I´d like to call your atention to the deadline of the Marine Bioacoustic Symposium to be held as part of the IBAC meeting, in Brazil (see www.ibacbrazil.com) that is APRIL 15th! Please contact me at ( marcos.rossi(a)tauassu.com.br) for any additional information. Hope to see you there! Best Regards! Marcos Rossi Santos, PhD TAUASSU Ambiental www.tauassu.com Centro Universitário Jorge Amado -UNIJORGE Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

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