January 2017 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Marine Wildlife Acoustics
by Stephanie Barnicoat 27 Jan '17

27 Jan '17

Dear All, We have an opportunity for you to discover the latest developments in marine acoustics and will help you understand the how noise impacts marine wildlife and get to grips with the regulations aimed at protecting our natural environment. Our four-day Marine Acoustics course is perfect for anyone working as a regulator, environmental consultant, researcher, policy or environmental professional who needs to understand the regulatory environment. It will give you the knowledge you need to analyse and act on the recommendations in reports generated as a result of environmental legislation. We are taking bookings for our March Marine Acoustics course in Exeter which is CPD recognised by @The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST). In association with the @University of Bath. Our next course runs in Exeter 27-30th March. To book a place now go to: http://seichetraining.com/underwater-acoustics-the-marine-environment or for more info email s.hancock(a)seiche.com<mailto:s.hancock@seiche.com> Seiche Ltd Stephanie Barnicoat Seiche Ltd Bradworthy Industrial Estate, Langdon Road, Bradworthy, Holsworthy, Devon, EX22 7SF, United Kingdom T: +44(0)1409 404050 E: s.barnicoat(a)seiche.com W: www.seiche.com Registered in England & Wales No. 3475558, Registered Office: The Custom House, The Strand, Barnstaple, Devon The information contained in this e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it, is privileged and confidential, and solely intended for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient you should not read, copy, distribute or otherwise use the information, and you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and delete this e-mail and attached documents.

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MMO, Bay of Biscay Mini-Cruise
by Stephanie Barnicoat 27 Jan '17

27 Jan '17

Good Afternoon, Seiche Training have an exciting opportunity for anyone who wants to become a fully qualified Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) as after a day in the class room, you Will put your learning straight into practice on a Mini-Cruise through the Bay of Biscay. As well as spotting a large range of marine mammals you'll also gain skills in real-time mitigation and using JNCC recording forms in the field. Book now: http://seichetraining.com/jncc-mini-cruise-mmo-course Seiche Ltd Stephanie Barnicoat Seiche Ltd Bradworthy Industrial Estate, Langdon Road, Bradworthy, Holsworthy, Devon, EX22 7SF, United Kingdom T: +44(0)1409 404050 E: s.barnicoat(a)seiche.com W: www.seiche.com Registered in England & Wales No. 3475558, Registered Office: The Custom House, The Strand, Barnstaple, Devon The information contained in this e-mail transmission, and any documents, files or previous e-mail messages attached to it, is privileged and confidential, and solely intended for the use of the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient you should not read, copy, distribute or otherwise use the information, and you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and delete this e-mail and attached documents.

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Killer Whale Photos Wanted
by Emma Luck 26 Jan '17

26 Jan '17

Dear MARMAM Community, I am currently working on an undergraduate research project at the University of Alaska Southeast involving killer whales in the Juneau, Alaska area. Despite the fact there have been numerous studies detailing the occurrence of killer whale ecotypes in Southeast Alaska, there is not much information on what kind of killer whales are found in the Juneau area. The goal of this study is to determine which killer whale ecotypes are found in Juneau and which ecotype is seen most often. As I am unable to do a long-term field survey on the killer whales in this area, I am relying upon photos that the public, whale watching vessels, and other researchers have taken of killer whales in Juneau. If you have any photos of killer whales in Juneau that were taken in the years 2012-2016, I would love if you could email them to me at emmaluck97(a)gmail.com with the following information: - Date photo was taken - Location photo was taken (GPS coordinates are preferable) - Number of animals in the group It is preferable that the the photos show the left side of the whales, but it is not required. The saddle patch and dorsal fins should be visible. Thanks in advance for any help! -Emma Luck

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Marine Field Research Internship
by Johanna Barrett 25 Jan '17

25 Jan '17

The Marine & Environmental Research Institute (MERI) seeks a motivated Marine Research Intern for a 6 month position conducting field research by land and boat, analysis in the lab, data management and associated duties in support of MERI’s beach monitoring and microplastics research. This internship is an excellent opportunity for an individual with a BA or BS, working towards a career in marine biology, ecotoxicology, coastal ecology, environmental conservation, to spend a summer on the coast of Maine in a small, fast paced, research-driven non-profit organization. A stipend and housing is provided. The Marine & Environmental Research Institute is a nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and people from the harmful impacts of toxic chemical exposure. The Institute produces scientific research that drives change and inspires solutions to the pressing environmental issues of our day. From flame retardants to plastics, our discoveries have informed the public and fueled key legislation, which impacts millions of people in Maine and across the country. Priority areas include: toxic exposure and health of marine mammal sentinels (seals and cetaceans); microplastics in the marine food web; and coastal monitoring in the Gulf of Maine. To learn more about our work, visit www.meriresearch.org MERI is located on the Blue Hill Peninsula in a unique coastal ecosystem bridging mid-coast and “Downeast” Maine. This internship is an excellent opportunity for an individual working towards a career in marine biology, ecotoxicology, coastal ecology, environmental conservation, or a related field to gain practical experience in the field and in the laboratory. The ideal candidate will possess a personal interest in environmental research and a commitment to the mission of the organization. Job Description The Marine Research Intern will assist the MERI Research Department with the implementation of its marine research projects. Large-scale projects investigating the impacts of microplastics in the marine food web will be the top priority of this internship. Other projects will include monitoring for bacteria at local swimming beaches, early identification of harmful algal blooms, tracking ocean warming and acidification, and assisting with response to marine mammal strandings (whales and harbor seals) in the Downeast region. Primary responsibilities will include field sampling from land and boat, analysis in the laboratory, archiving of samples, data entry and management, and producing written reports and presentations. Specific Duties • Conduct water and tissue sample collection both from shore and the MERI research vessel at sites in the greater Blue Hill Bay • Safely operate and maintain all field and lab equipment including a multiparameter YSI EXO2 Datasonde • Assist with marine mammal stranding response, including on-site tissue collection and necropsies in the MERI laboratory • Perform laboratory assays following established standard operating procedures and protocols including the occasional processing and archiving of marine mammal tissues • Assist with data entry and updating of laboratory records, logs, and inventories • Manage and analyze large water quality and multi-variable data sets • Prepare summaries, reports, fact sheets, and assist with research presentations • Conduct literature searches, develop background information, and communicate and promote MERI’s research and mission to the public • Give a presentation to MERI staff on your research at the end of your internship • Assist with MERI events including the environmental lecture series and other duties relating to the organization's goals and mission as required Reports to: Marine Research Coordinator Qualifications Applicants should possess a BA or BS degree in marine biology, ecotoxicology, coastal ecology, environmental conservation, or a related major. Some field and laboratory experience and a basic knowledge of statistics and database management are required. Familiarity with environmental sampling and monitoring methods is preferred. Applicants must also be able to work outside in a variety of environmental conditions, be willing to get dirty, muddy, and wet, be hands-on with a variety of organisms, be comfortable working on a marine research vessel, and be available to work occasional nights and weekends as needed. Attention to detail and the ability to work independently are a must. Knowledge of computer software including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel required. Proficiency in photography/film, graphics, ArcGIS, and statistics (SPSS) software is desirable. Applicant must possess a valid driver’s license and a good driving record. Only US citizens or lawful permanent residents should apply. Position requires some physical activity and applicant should be able to lift up to 40 lbs. Time Requirements: June - November (Flexible start) Full-time (40 hours/week); additional hours to be agreed upon by employee and Director. Compensation: Stipend and shared housing in Blue Hill, Maine. Housing is within walking distance to the Institute. Interns are responsible for all travel expenses and food. To Apply: please submit a cover letter outlining your experience, career objectives, and why you are interested in an internship at MERI along with your resume/CV and three references to: Madelyn Woods, Marine Research Coordinator, at mwoods(a)meriresearch.org Indicate “Marine Research Internship, NAME” in the subject line of your email. Marine & Environmental Research Institute (MERI) PO Box 1652, 55 Main Street, Blue Hill, ME 04614 Website: www.meriresearch.org MERI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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MMO and PSO training courses, Inverness (UK)
by Carolyn Barton 24 Jan '17

24 Jan '17

MMO and PSO training courses are running in Inverness, Scotland, in February: JNCC-recognised MMO course for UK waters, 14 February 2017, GBP 130 PSO course for the Gulf of Mexico, meets BOEM/ BSEE requirements, 15 February 2017, GBP 55 (when taken in conjunction with the MMO course). These courses will cover all the information needed for work as a marine mammal observer (MMO) in UK waters or Protected Species Observer (PSO) in the US Gulf of Mexico. Taught by an MMO instructor with twenty years experience, course content includes the impact of sound on marine mammals, legislation protecting marine mammals, the requirements of the relevant mitigation measures and the role of the MMO/ PSO. Visual monitoring, an introduction to passive acoustic monitoring and identification of marine mammals (and sea turtles for the PSO course) are also covered. For full details of course content and to download a booking form, see www.carolynbarton.co.uk or e-mail info(a)carolynbarton.co.uk . Carolyn Barton info(a)carolynbarton.co.uk www.carolynbarton.co.uk

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The Marine Mammal Center- Summer Rescue & Response Internship
by Laura Chapman 24 Jan '17

24 Jan '17

SUMMER RESCUE & RESPONSE INTERNSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT: June 1st - September 6th, 2017 The Rescue & Response team at The Marine Mammal Center is seeking applicants for internships working primarily with stranded pinnipeds, as well as occasional cetaceans and sea otters. These positions are unpaid and applicants are responsible for their own accommodations. Unfortunately, we are unable to host international applicants at this time. Internship Opportunities are available at the following locations. * Main Hospital in Sausalito * Monterey Bay Operations in Moss Landing * San Luis Obispo Operations in Morro Bay Program Description: The Rescue Team Internship is an exciting opportunity for individuals who are interested in increasing their experience and knowledge of marine mammal behavior and the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Interns will be responsible for answering the animal hotline and rotating the after-hours on-call. Interns will coordinate rescue and triage response throughout the Center's over 600-mile rescue range. Interns will have the opportunity to participate in marine mammal rescues, releases and other field responses as available. In addition, interns will be required to assist in other departments and with animal care duties (feed preparations, medical charting, and pen cleaning) for on-site pinnipeds. Other duties may include: participation in training classes, data entry and tracking, maintaining rescue equipment and assorted miscellaneous tasks. Intern Responsibilities & Qualifications: The internship is open to all applicants 21 years of age or older, with an avid interest in marine biology, zoology, general biology, policy or a related field. If the intern intends to receive university credit for their internship, they are responsible for making all arrangements with their educational institution. Interns must be able to work for a minimum of 3 months, 5 days a week, at least 40 hours per week. Work schedule must be flexible and may include weekends and holidays. This is an unpaid position and all interns are responsible for obtaining housing and transportation. Applicants should demonstrate excellent communication skills and have practical computer knowledge with programs such as Word, Access, and Excel. This internship position involves a fair amount of physical activity, such as: lifting, restraining and moving animals. The start date for the Summer Internship period is June 1st, with a target end date of September 6th. There is some flexibility on the end date of internships, and interns are often encouraged to stay on passed their required end date if possible. Applications due by February 1st. Click Here to Apply<https://tmmc.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk06nej> The Marine Mammal Center is a non-profit hospital dedicated to the rescue and release of sick, injured or orphaned marine mammals, and to research about their health and diseases. Volunteers and staff have responded to more than 18,500 sea lions, seals, dolphins, porpoises, and other marine life. The Center uniquely combines its rehabilitation program with scientific discovery and education programs to advance the understanding of marine mammal health, ocean health and conservation. For more information, please visit our website at www.marinemammalcenter.org<http://www.marinemammalcenter.org>.

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OCEANIC EXPEDITION TO THE SEAMOUNT GORRINGE, ALTANTIC OCEAN
by André Cid 24 Jan '17

24 Jan '17

*Oceanic Expedition to the Seamount Gorringe* AIMM - Association for Marine Research (www.aimmportugal.org) in partnership with Nautilus-Sub Dive Center (www.nautilus-sub.com) is organizing an expedition to dive in the Gorringe seamount. During this expedition we will be collecting data scientific date (visual and acoustic effort) about all the marine mammals and turtles. Gorringe seamount is about 200 km West of Portugal. This area, a hot spot for marine life in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is a Marine Protect Area (MPA) and part of Portuguese’s Nature 2000 since 2015. In this very inaccessible place, you can enjoy its crystal clear waters, numerous schools of pelagic fish, huge kelp and all the rest of the biodiversity. The expedition will take place aboard the Portuguese Navy Vessel, NTM Creoula, and depart from Lisbon in the beginning of June 2017. During this a week, you will have the opportunity to participate in the life on board, help with the daily tasks, participate in various theoretical sessions about marine mammals and have the change to get-together with a group of extraordinary people. There are different possibilities to participate in this expedition: you can sign as a diver and be a member of one of the diving teams; you could be an observer in the Marine Mammals research team, or you could be in both teams. For registration or more information send a email with a subject "Gorringe Expedition 2017" to: André Cid – andre.cid(a)aimm-portugal.org *AIMM - Marine Environment Research Association* www.aimmportugal.org

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Intermediate-level distance sampling training workshop 31 July -- 04 August 2017
by Eric Rexstad 24 Jan '17

24 Jan '17

The Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) is hosting an intermediate-level workshop in the summer of 2017 in our purpose-built facilities at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. The workshops are taught by leading researchers in the field, using industry-standard software. The five day workshop will start on Monday 31st July at 09:00, with registration from 08:45, at CREEM, and finish on Friday 4th August at 17:00. There are two pre-requisites for this workshop: a) understanding of conventional distance sampling and b) basic competence with the R programming language. Pre-requisite (a) can be fulfilled by understanding of fundamental materials presented in Buckland et al. (2001, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7) or Buckland et al. (2015, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6) — e.g., through previous training or by independent study. Pre-requisite (b) can be achieved by either working through instructional materials in R available at datacamp.com, or by attending a free half-day tutorial preceding the workshop (30 July 2017 1400-1700). Please register for this tutorial on the registration form at the bottom of this page. The first day of the workshop will review fundamental principles of distance sampling, analyses involving conventional distance sampling and survey design. Subsequently, attention will turn to simulation of distance sampling surveys for design purposes, and to survey and analysis methods for dealing with imperfect detection on the trackline (double-observer methods). Slightly more than two days will be devoted to spatial modelling of distance sampling data. A blend of the latest version Distance 7 and the R computing language will be employed. Throughout the workshop, there will be unstructured time, with instructors working with participants on their specific problems. Further details and registration instructions can be found at http://creem2.st-andrews.ac.uk/intermediate-level-distance-sampling-trainin…

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New publication: Cognitive bias linked to dolphin social behaviour
by Isabella 24 Jan '17

24 Jan '17

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in Behavioural Brain Research: Clegg, I. L. K., Rödel, H. G., & Delfour, F. (2017). Bottlenose dolphins engaging in more social affiliative behaviour judge ambiguous cues more optimistically. Behavioural Brain Research, 322, 115-122. This is the first application of cognitive bias testing to marine mammals, or indeed any species in the zoo setting, and suggests a pertinent link between biases and social behaviour. Abstract Cognitive bias tests measure variation in emotional appraisal and are validated methods to assess animals' affective states. However, the link between social behaviours and cognitive bias has not yet been investigated. Bottlenose dolphins are a gregarious species for whom welfare research is increasing in importance, and thus are a good model to test such an association. We adapted a spatial location judgement bias test for eight captive bottlenose dolphins to investigate the link between cognitive bias and social behaviour, where we conducted behavioural observations outside of training sessions and did not experimentally induce an affective state. Subjects showed stable individual differences in cognitive biases across the three test days. Furthermore, dolphins showing more synchronous swimming, a fundamental affiliative behaviour, judged ambiguous cues significantly more optimistically. Our longer-term data showed cognitive bias and synchronous swimming frequency were significantly associated for up to two months preceding the test, but disappeared prior to that, suggesting that here cognitive bias differences were reflected by transitory affective states rather than longer-term traits. We hypothesise that the frequency of synchronous swimming may induce affective states and/or be induced by them; either way, it has strong potential as an indicator of affective state in this species and beyond. The paper can be found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432817300761 Or send any requests for copies directly to isabella.clegg(a)leec.univ-paris13.fr Best wishes, Isabella Clegg Isabella Clegg PhD student, Dolphin Behaviour and Welfare Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée Université Paris 13 isabella.clegg(a)leec.univ-paris13.fr +33 7 71 21 18 14

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SEAMAMMS Announcement
by Andrew Read, Ph.D. 23 Jan '17

23 Jan '17

Subject: SEAMAMMS 2017! The 2017 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Marine Mammal Symposium (SEAMAMMS) will take place April 7-9, 2016 in Beaufort, NC and will be hosted by the Duke Marine Lab and the Friends of the Maritime Museum. For meeting details, information on abstract submission and to register please visit: seamamms.wordpress.com Abstracts are due Friday, February 17th. See website for additional information. Early Registration will end on March 11th. We encourage everyone to register early. SEAMAMMS is a regional, student-oriented, scientific marine mammal meeting. Preference will be given to marine mammal research conducted in the mid-Atlantic and southeast US or conducted by students in the same region. Other topics will be considered as space is available. If you have additional questions that are not addressed on the website please e-mail seamamms(a)gmail.com<mailto:seamamms@gmail.com>. Additionally, the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, NC is hosting a free North Carolina Whales & Whaling Symposium on April 7th before the SEAMAMMS 2017 Ice Breaker. Learn more here<http://ncmaritimemuseumbeaufort.com/events/#!/55354-north-carolina-whales-a…>. We hope to see you in April! Andrew J. Read Stephen A. Toth Professor of Marine Biology Director, Duke University Marine Laboratory Chair, Division of Marine Science and Conservation Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University Phone: 252-504-7590 http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/read/

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