November 2016 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Marine Mammal Research Internships
by Heidi Malizia 09 Nov '16

09 Nov '16

*Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation Team* is pleased to announce that the *recruitment* process for our *Winter/Spring 2017 Marine Mammal Research Internship* *projects* has just begun. Students and recent graduates are invited to join our research efforts in the *Aegean Sea islands*. *As part of our team, you can expect to gain skills and experience in:* · Conducting boat and land based marine mammal surveys · Dolphin photo identification · Monitoring of a Mediterranean monk seal · Sea turtle identification · Basic marine mammal first aide and necropsy · Preparing for the development of The Aegean Marine Life Sanctuary · Promoting citizen science through our eco-navigation project · Marine bird surveys · Data analysis · Scientific discussions The work of Archipelagos; Institute of Marine Conservation, is built upon a strong and enthusiastic team of volunteer researchers and young scientists. We are therefore seeking applicants that are motivated and have a strong desire to protect and conserve the natural environment. You must be conscientious and highly motivated, able to work both individually and as part of a dynamic, multi-cultural team of people from around the world. You will be working on a variety of projects related to your placement type and so you must have good time management skills, with the ability to meet deadlines, along with excellent organizational and self-management skills. Candidates must have a good eye for detail and have a high standard of work presentation. An in-depth knowledge and understanding of the English language and grammar system, being able to speak, read and write confidently is crucial. Further essential requirements include computer proficiency in Microsoft Office Programs. Previous experience relating to your placement is preferable, but not required. Scheduled time frame: *November - March 2017* but the starting date could be* negotiable*. *As a non-profit organization Archipelagos cannot cover the living and working cost of the interns. Therefore, all interns will need to cover the monthly placement fees of 650 euros. This covers accommodation, full board, use of equipment, use of the research boats, transport for working purposes, Greek language lessons etc. Travelling costs are NOT included in this price and are covered by the participant. Students and recent graduates are advised to explore possible funding through their universities, by getting in touch with the Finance / International Relations / Placement/ Erasmus+ Offices at their Universities or other relevant grant providing organizations in their region. *To apply: *Pease send your CV and your motivation letter to admissions(a)archipelago.gr For all the essential information about our internship programs visit our site: http://archipelago.gr/en/get-involved/placements-and-internships/ -- *Heidi Malizia* *Marine Mammal Research Lead* *Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation* Marine Research Base: P.O. Box 42, Pythagorio, Samos 83103, Greece Telephone: +30 22730 61191 h <k.delaveri(a)archipelago.gr>.malizia(a)archipelgo.gr; www.archipelago.gr <http://s.wisestamp.com/links?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archipelago.gr&sn=YW5hc3R…>

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New publication: Characterizing alloparental care in the pilot whale (Globicephala melas) population that summers off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada
by Joana Augusto 08 Nov '16

08 Nov '16

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of this new paper in Marine Mammal Science: Augusto, J. F., Frasier, T. R. and Whitehead, H. (2016), Characterizing alloparental care in the pilot whale (*Globicephala melas*) population that summers off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Mar Mam Sci. doi:10.1111/mms.12377 Abstract: Alloparental care happens when a calf is cared for by an adult that is not their parent. Although alloparental care is common in social mammals, its prevalence is difficult to assess in cetaceans, and has not been studied in *Globicephala melas*. A population off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, has been studied from whale-watching vessels since 1998, during July and August each year. From 2009 to 2011, we collected photo identifications of calves and the adults accompanying them. Alloparental care was considered to be occurring when a calf was identified with more than one companion. We found that 85.7% of calves in 2009, 80.6% of calves in 2010 and 63% of calves in 2011 had alloparents. Mothers were difficult to identify. Nevertheless, none of the other companions of calves were assigned to the same unit as the mother. Five carers were sexed, four of them males. There were no cases of within- or between-year alloparental care reciprocity. It is possible that delayed reciprocity is happening on a larger time scale in this population, but the most likely explanation is that alloparental care is a byproduct of this species’ social structure, with a very small cost to the alloparent’s fitness. This article is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.12377/abstract or by request Cheers, Joana Augusto ******************************* Joana Augusto, M.Sc. PhD candidate Whitehead Lab Biology Dept. Dalhousie University http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/ <http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/>

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URGENT: 1 research assistant Needed LAST CALL
by Joëlle De Weerdt 08 Nov '16

08 Nov '16

*About ELI-Scientific* ELI-S is a nonprofit organization based in France that has been created in 2013. Our organization aims at promoting, protecting and conserving cetaceans. We have set up the research project ?Cetacean Conservation in Nicaragua?. ELI-Scientific is seeking one research assistants for field work, photo-identification and data entry from 23 of January to 23 of April 2017. This project aims to generate knowledge on cetacean presence, distribution and habitat use patterns. The Research Assistant will have a unique opportunity to participate to a pioneer research project under the supervision of experienced Team Leader and the Project Director. The expected output is to generate: 1) scientific data on cetaceans in Nicaragua, 2) environmental awareness to the local communities in order to create a socio-economic relevance in conserving and protecting their natural environment and 3) responsible eco-tourism. All team members will have a training beforehand on the field methodologies and protocols as well as on data management. *Locations: *Padre Ramos North-West of Nicaragua *Period: *January,23rd – April, 23rd 2017 (3 months) *Type of agreement: *Full time. 1 Day off per week. Research assistants should expect to spend at least 4 days a week on the field and 1 day a week in working with data and should be willing and able to work a 6 days per week during the 12-week field study. *Duties:* - Assist in Boat based surveys in collecting data on cetaceans - Photo-identification of whale and dolphin species - Update photo-ID catalogue - Data entry of collected data - Participate to public outreach *Skills and qualifications:* - *Bsc or Mc in biology / environmental sciences* - *Fluency in Spanish* - *Enthusiastic, conscientious and hard working* - Have background in cetacean ecology, and at least one season of field work - Experience of working in developing countries - *Experience in delivering educational activities* - Proactive with ability to work unsupervised - Interest in wildlife and conservation - Being comfortable on a small boat - Excellent verbal and written communication skills - Being able to work in a small team - Being able to live in basic living conditions *Desirable skills :* - An interest and knowledge of marine life - A background in marine biology - Speaking English and French is a plus - Be able to swim *Successful candidate will:* - Gain valuable experience in cetacean survey techniques and behavioral studies - Work in a very dynamic environment - Get insight in running a research project in developing countries *Accommodation and expenses:* A participation fee of 500 euros/month will be asked to the assistant and includes accommodation and food, the travel to and from the airport, the membership to the organisation, 2 project t-shirts. The Research assistant is responsible for its own transportation. *To apply:* Please email a CV, 2 references and cover letter outlining your experience and motivations. Send this to joelle.deweerdt(a)eli-s.com with -Research assistant 2017- in the subject line. The application deadline is 13 November 2016. Interviews per skype. *Contact:* For further information and any queries, please contact Joelle De Weerdt, Project Director Email: joelle.deweerdt(a)eli-s.com Tel: 0032 497 71 20 87 Website: www.eli-s.com and www.nicacetacea.org Facebook: ELI-Scientific

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Job: Marine Biologist Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, Hawaii
by Wallace, Christine H CIV NAVFAC PAC, EV 07 Nov '16

07 Nov '16

Hi: Can you post some job openings in Hawaii? We are looking for Marine Biologists to fill several positions. The positions are with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. These are federal civilian positions at the General Service Grades of GS-11 (salary range $67,800 to $88,100) and GS-12 (salary range $81,200 to 105,600). Salary range shown includes locality pay and Cost of Living Adjustment for Hawaii. The grade level and salary will depend on the candidates qualifications and experience. The incumbent will serve as a Subject Matter Expert for marine resources products and services that support Navy and Marine Corps shore-side bases and military training operations on land and at sea in Hawaii, Guam and the Far East. The incumbent will be a Navy subject matter expert (SME) in marine resources including one or more of the following: marine mammals, sea turtles, fishes, coral, marine invertebrates, and marine environments. Knowledge of Pacific Ocean marine resources is highly desirable, and an understanding of statistics and methods for quantifying and analyzing biological phenomena and trends is necessary. The incumbent will prepare contracting documents, field work plans, monitoring plans, data analysis, threatened and endangered species evaluations, and research proposals. Much of the work executed by the incumbent will be by contract, so strong project management and contracting skills are desirable. A portion of work will also be executed in-house. The incumbent will be responsible for assisting with the preparation of marine resources sections of environmental planning documents under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Additionally, the incumbent will prepare consultation documents and conduct consultations with federal resource agencies under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act (Essential Fish Habitat), and other environmental laws and regulations. Please contact Mr. Sean Hanser at Naval Facilities Engineering Command if you are interested in submitting a resume for consideration. Contact him at sean.hanser(a)navy.mil . R, Christine Wallace Environmental Planning and Conservation Division Manager (EV2) Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific 258 Makalapa Dr, STE 100 Pearl Harbor, HI 96860 Commercial: (808) 472-1447 DSN: 315-1447 christine.wallace(a)navy.mil

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New publication: 'Flipper strokes can predict energy expenditure and locomotion costs in free-ranging northern and, Antarctic fur seals'
by Tiphaine Jeanniard du Dot 06 Nov '16

06 Nov '16

Dear colleagues, I am pleased to announce the publication of a new paper in Scientific Reports entitled : 'Flipper strokes can predict energy expenditure and locomotion costs in free-ranging northern and Antarctic fur seals'. Abstract: Flipper strokes have been proposed as proxies to estimate the energy expended by marine vertebrates while foraging at sea, but this has never been validated on free-ranging otariids (fur seals and sea lions). Our goal was to investigate how well flipper strokes correlate with energy expenditure in 33 foraging northern and Antarctic fur seals equipped with accelerometers, GPS, and time-depth recorders. We concomitantly measured field metabolic rates with the doubly-labelled water method and derived activity-specific energy expenditures using fine-scale time-activity budgets for each seal. Flipper strokes were detected while diving or surface transiting using dynamic acceleration. Despite some inter-species differences in flipper stroke dynamics or frequencies, both species of fur seals spent 3.79 ± 0.39 J/kg per stroke and had a cost of transport of ~1.6–1.9 J/kg/m while diving. Also, flipper stroke counts were good predictors of energy spent while diving (R2 = 0.76) and to a lesser extent while transiting (R2 = 0.63). However, flipper stroke count was a poor predictor overall of total energy spent during a full foraging trip (R2 = 0.50). Amplitude of flipper strokes (i.e., acceleration amplitude × number of strokes) predicted total energy expenditure (R2 = 0.63) better than flipper stroke counts, but was not as accurate as other acceleration-based proxies, i.e. Overall Dynamic Body Acceleration. This article is available at: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep33912 Best wishes, Tiphaine Jeanniard du Dot, PhD -- Tiphaine Jeanniard-du-Dot, PhD Marine Mammal Research Unit 2202 Main Mall, AERL bldg University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z4, CANADA Tel:+1-604-822-9150 / cell:+1-604-724-4230

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New publication: Acceleration as an index of energy expenditure in wild fur seals
by Tiphaine Jeanniard du Dot 06 Nov '16

06 Nov '16

Dear colleagues, I am pleased to announce the publication of a new paper in Functional Ecology entitled : 'Accelerometers can measure total and activity-specific energy expenditures in free-ranging marine mammals only if linked to time-activity budgets'. Abstract: 1. Energy expenditure is an important component of foraging ecology, but is extremely difficult to estimate in free-ranging animals and depends on how animals partition their time between different activities during foraging. Acceleration data have emerged as a new way to determine energy expenditure at a fine scale but this needs to be tested and validated in wild animals. 2. This study investigated whether vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA) could accurately predict the energy expended by marine predators during a full foraging trip. We also aimed to determine whether the accuracy of predictions of energy expenditure derived from acceleration increased when partitioned by different types of at-sea activities (i.e. diving, transiting, resting and surface activities). 3. To do so, we equipped 20 lactating northern (/Callorhinus ursinus/) and 20 lactating Antarctic fur seals (/Arctocephalus gazella/) with GPS, time-depth recorders and tri-axial accelerometers and obtained estimates of field metabolic rates using the doubly labelled water (DLW) method. VeDBA was derived from tri-axial acceleration, and at-sea activities (diving, transiting, resting and surface activities) were determined using dive depth, tri-axial acceleration and travelling speed. 4. We found that VeDBA did not accurately predict the total energy expended by fur seals during their full foraging trips (R2 = 036). However, the accuracy of VeDBA as a predictor of total energy expenditure increased significantly when foraging trips were partitioned by activity and when activity-specific VeDBA was paired with time-activity budgets (R2 = 070). Activity-specific VeDBA also accurately predicted the energy expenditures of each activity independent of each other (R2 > 085). 5. Our study confirms that acceleration is a promising way to estimate energy expenditures of free-ranging marine mammals at a fine scale never attained before. However, it shows that it needs to be based on the time-activity budgets that make up foraging trips rather than being derived as a single measure of VeDBA applied to entire foraging trips. Our activity-based method provides a cost-effective means to accurately calculate energy expenditures of fur seals using acceleration and time-activity budgets, that can be transfered to studies on other species. This article is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12729/abstract Best wishes, Tiphaine Jeanniard du Dot, PhD -- Tiphaine Jeanniard-du-Dot, PhD Marine Mammal Research Unit 2202 Main Mall, AERL bldg University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z4, CANADA Tel:+1-604-822-9150 / cell:+1-604-724-4230

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New publication on demography of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
by Alessia Rossi 06 Nov '16

06 Nov '16

Dear MARMAM subscribers, on behalf of my colleagues I am pleased to share with you our recent publication: Piero Manfredi, Luigi Marangi, Alessia Rossi, Giovanni Santangelo (2016). An improved model life table for the Indian River Lagoon bottlenose dolphin population and remarks on early mortality. Marine Mammal Science. 32(4): 1522-1528. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.12334/abstract Abstract: Substantial dolphin population mortality occurs during the ﬁrst few years of life (Mann and Watson-Capps 2005), with evidence of up to 50% of newborns eliminated by age 4 (Stolen and Barlow 2003, Mannocci et al. 2012). In particular, the ﬁrst year of life is the most cryptic period for marine mammals, making it important to understand the underlying mortality process in depth. An important source of information for age-speciﬁc bottlenose dolphin mortality is the stranding data set of the Florida Indian River Lagoon population (IRL), for which age at death at completed years was reconstructed by counting dentinal growth layer groups (Stolen and Barlow 2003). A theoretical life table was built on such data by Stolen and Barlow (2003), by ﬁtting Siler’s parametric model (Siler 1979) to the age at death of 220 stranded individuals, yielding useful information on the mortality pattern of this population. In the Siler model the age-speciﬁc hazard of mortality is given by the sum of three components: an exponentially declining one; a constant one; and an exponentially increasing component, which is senescence-related. The Siler model provides an excellent ﬁt for many real populations, supported by clear biological interpretations of its parameters. A possible shortcoming of Stolen and Barlow’s approach is that the Siler model was proposed for the IRL data on a priori grounds, i.e., as a ﬂexible model for a wide range of long-lived species, without preliminary discussion on its full appropriateness for the data considered. Indeed, retaining Stolen and Barlow’s (2003) baseline assumption of a stationary population (i.e., a stable age distribution with an intrinsic growth rate equal to zero; see Caswell 2001), inspection of the resulting observed age-speciﬁc hazard of mortality in the ﬁrst few years of life does not robustly support the initial exponential decline postulated by the Siler model: the mortality rate is high (about 18%/yr) at age 0, it declines to about 10% at age 1, it climbs back to more than 20% at age 2, and then stays constant in the region of 12% in the two subsequent age groups, before declining quite rapidly to a bottom rate (around 3.5%/yr on average) which remains roughly constant between age 6 and 15. Similar patterns have been observed also in other published data (Mannocci et al. 2012). The above-described pattern in the data indicates as more plausible the alternative hypothesis of a roughly constant hazard of mortality in the ﬁrst 5 yr of life, followed by a rather rapid decline before bottoming out, prior to the ﬁnal onset of the exponentially increasing phase. We therefore propose, as an alternative to the Siler model, a new model, termed ReLogit for ease, replacing the exponentially declining component for early mortality with three-parameter “reversed-logistic” curve. Please contact me by email (arossi(a)biologia.unipi.it) for the full text. I will be glad to send you a pdf copy. Kind regards Alessia Rossi -- PhD Alessia Rossi Biology Department (Zoology - Animal Ecology) - Demography and Conservation Laboratory via A.Volta, 6 - 56126 Pisa, Italy Cell: +393494743502. e-mail: arossi(a)biologia.unipi.it skype: musicale85

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New publication: Risso’s dolphin the Western Ligurian Sea: trends in population size and habitat use
by Caterina Lanfredi 04 Nov '16

04 Nov '16

Dear colleagues, The following article has been published online: Azzellino A., S. Airoldi, S. Gaspari, C. Lanfredi, A. Moulins, M. Podestà, M. Rosso and P. Tepsich. 2016. Risso’s Dolphin, Grampus griseus, in the Western Ligurian Sea: Trends in Population Size and Habitat Use. Advances in Marine Biology Volume 75. Editors: Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Michela Podestà, Barbara E. Curry. DOI: 10.1016/bs.amb.2016.08.003<http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.amb.2016.08.003> Abstract This paper provides a summary of 25 years of research on Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) in the western Ligurian Sea. Seasonal variations in abundance, distribution and habitat use were observed. Photographic mark–recapture methods provided a population size estimate for the period from 1998 to 2012, of about 100 individuals (95% CI of 60–220 individuals). The same methods detected a decline in population size from an average of about 120–150 from 2000 to 2005, to an average of 70–100 during 2010 to 2014. Species occurrence appeared to be significantly decreasing in coastal and continental slope areas, while it seemed to be stable in the most pelagic area. In addition, a dramatic change was observed in the local primary production, which was analysed based on time series of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll data from 1990 to 2014. Based on fisheries landings, there may have been a general decrease in fishery productivity, both in the western Ligurian Sea and in adjacent regions. Environmental variability, depletion of resources by fisheries and possibly interspecies competition may all have contributed to cause changes in Risso’s dolphin habitat use and occurrence in the western Ligurian Sea. It is available here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065288116300141<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065288116300141> Alternatively, email to the corresponding author: arianna.azzellino(a)polimi.it<mailto:arianna.azzellino@polimi.it> Best wishes, Arianna Azzellino Dr. Arianna Azzellino, PhD Environmental Engineering Politecnico di Milano University of Technology, Milan DICA Civil and Environmental Engineering Department P.za Leonardo da Vinci, 32 20133 Milano - ITALY ph. +39 02 - 23996431 fax. +39 02 - 23996499 e-mail arianna.azzellino(a)polimi.it<mailto:arianna.azzellino@polimi.it>

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new publication: passive acoustic monitoring of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in Hong Kong
by Lisa Munger 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

Lisa Munger, Marc O. Lammers, Mattie Cifuentes, Bernd Würsig ,Thomas A. Jefferson and Samuel K. Hung. 2016. “Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin occurrence north of Lantau Island, Hong Kong, based on year-round passive acoustic monitoring.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol.140 (4): 2754-2765. Abstract: Long-term passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) was conducted to study Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, *Sousa chinensis*, as part of environmental impact assessments for several major coastal development projects in Hong Kong waters north of Lantau Island. Ecological acoustic recorders obtained 2711 days of recording at 13 sites from December 2012 to December 2014. Humpback dolphin sounds were manually detected on more than half of days with recordings at 12 sites, 8 of which were within proposed reclamation areas. Dolphin detection rates were greatest at Lung Kwu Chau, with other high-occurrence locations northeast of the Hong Kong International Airport and within the Lung Kwu Tan and Siu Ho Wan regions. Dolphin detection rates were greatest in summer and autumn (June–November) and were significantly reduced in spring (March–May) compared to other times of year. Click detection rates were significantly higher at night than during daylight hours. These findings suggest high use of many of the proposed reclamation/development areas by humpback dolphins, particularly at night, and demonstrate the value of long-term PAM for documenting spatial and temporal patterns in dolphin occurrence to help inform management decisions. © 2016 Acoustical Society of America. [ http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4963874] PDF available to download at http://oceanwidescience.org/hong-kong-acoustic-monitoring/ Regards, Lisa Munger Oceanwide Science Institute munger(a)oceanwidescience.org

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new pub - humpback song particle motion
by Aran Mooney 02 Nov '16

02 Nov '16

We are pleased to announce a new publication which describes high levels of acoustic particle motion noted in humpback whale song. Below is the reference and abstract. Singing whales generate high levels of particle motion: implications for acoustic communication and hearing? T. Aran Mooney, Maxwell B. Kaplan, Marc O. Lammers Biology Letters (2016) 12: 20160381; DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0381 It can be accessed at: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/11/20160381 If you have trouble accessing it online, please contact Aran Mooney (amooney(a)whoi.edu) Abstract Acoustic signals are fundamental to animal communication and cetaceans are often considered bioacoustic specialists. Nearly all studies of their acoustic communication focus on sound pressure measurements, overlooking the particle motion components of their communication signals. Here we characterize the levels of acoustic particle velocity (and pressure) of song produced by humpback whales. We demonstrate that whales generate acoustic fields that include significant particle velocity components that are detectable over relatively long distances sufficient to play a role in acoustic communication. We show that these signals attenuate predictably in a manner similar to pressure and that direct particle velocity measurements can provide bearings to singing whales. Whales could potentially use such information to determine the distance of signaling animals. Additionally, the vibratory nature of particle velocity may stimulate bone conduction, a hearing modality similar to other low-frequency specialized mammals, offering a parsimonious mechanism of acoustic energy transduction into the massive ossicles of whale ears. With substantial concerns regarding the effects of increasing anthropogenic ocean noise and major uncertainties surrounding mysticete hearing, these results highlight both an unexplored avenue that may be available for whale acoustic communication and the need to better understand the biological role of acoustic particle motion. -- T. Aran Mooney Sensory Ecology and Bioacoustics Lab Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution www.whoi.edu/sites/amooney sensoryecology.blogspot.org

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