October 2017 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

The Marine Mammal Center is recruiting for the winter 2018 Science and research internship
by Christine Fontaine 30 Oct '17

30 Oct '17

TMMC Science and Research Internship The Science Department at TMMC is seeking applicants for an unpaid internship position in our research division for the winter 2018 season. Please see below for a brief description and responsibilities but for more information please go to our website (http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/Get-Involved/volunteer/internship-opportu…) The Science and Research Internship is available at our main hospital in Sausalito. Responsibilities: Some of the projects the successful candidate may participate in are: 1. Assist with necropsies: Necropsies are performed on all animals that don't survive during treatment at the center. Depending on the case, some necropsies require a significant amount of sampling. Primary responsibilities will include: assisting with necropsy sample collection, data collection, archiving samples, stocking necropsy lab, and clean up. 2. Data entry and cleaning: The goal of this project is to improve data integrity, standardization, and volume in the Veterinary Science Department's databases (FileMaker Pro). These data include animal care and medical records, diagnostic results, specimen tracking information, and stranding and disposition details. Intern tasks may include entry of respective data from hard-copy records and data checking and cleaning. 3. Specimen archive project: This project will focus on tracking and optimizing the storage of archived specimens collected from live and dead marine mammals. Intern duties will primarily include: freezer inventory. 4. Library project: This project involves cataloging scientific publications into TMMC's hardcopy and electronic libraries. Intern duties will primarily include: reference entry using EndNote X, restocking hardcopy reprints, and scanning hardcopy publications. In addition, the intern will assist with other duties within the Science Department as needed. Intern Qualifications: * All applicants must be 21 years of age or older and engaged or recently completed undergraduate studies. * A background or degree in Biology, Marine Biology, Ecology, Conservation or a related field. * Computer proficiency, especially with Microsoft Office Suite. * Exceptional attention to detail. * Comfortable hiking 5 miles and lifting 50 lbs. * There is no compensation for this internship position and the successful applicant will be responsible for their own living and transportation expenses during the time of the internship. The location of the Marine Mammal Center will require you to have a car or bike as there is no alternative transportation to the Marin Headlands due to how secluded the location is. * If the intern intends to receive university credit for their internship, they are responsible for making all arrangements with their educational institution. Christine Fontaine Senior Research Assistant The Marine Mammal Center 2000 Bunker Rd Sausalito, CA 94965 T: 415-289-7377 F: 415-754-4078

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New publication on two-component calls in short-finned pilot whales
by Nicola Quick, Ph.D. 30 Oct '17

30 Oct '17

Dear all, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the online publication of our recent article Quick, N.J., Callahan, H. and Read, A.J. (2017). Two-component calls in short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Marine Mammal Science. DOI: 10.1111/mms.12452 The publication can be accessed here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.12452/full Abstract Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) have complex vocal repertoires that include calls with two time-frequency contours known as two-component calls. We attached digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs) to 23 short-finned pilot whales off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and assessed the similarity of two-component calls within and among tags. Two-component calls made up <3% of the total number of calls on 19 of the 23 tag records. For the remaining four tags, two-component calls comprised 9%, 23%, 24%, and 57% of the total calls recorded. Measurements of six acoustic parameters for both the low and high frequency components of all two-component calls from the five tags were compared using a generalized linear model. There were significant differences in the acoustic parameters of two-component calls between tags, verifying that acoustic parameters were more similar for two-component calls recorded on the same tag than for calls between tags. Spectrograms of all two-component calls from the five tags were visually graded and independently categorized by five observers. A test of inter-rater reliability showed substantial agreement, suggesting that each tag contained a predominant two-component call type that was not shared across tags. Please contact me directly if you have any questions Thanks Nicola Dr Nicola J. Quick Research Scientist Nicholas School of the Environment Duke Marine Lab 135 Duke Marine Lab Road Beaufort NC 28516 njq(a)duke.edu<mailto:njq@duke.edu> https://scholars.duke.edu/person/nicola.quick http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/read/ Honorary Research Fellow School of Biology Scottish Oceans Institute University of St Andrews http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/contact/staffProfile.aspx?sunid=njq

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New Publication: Migratory behavior of gray whales tracked using a hydrophone array
by Regina Guazzo 30 Oct '17

30 Oct '17

Dear Colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the following open-access publication: Guazzo RA, Helble TA, D’Spain GL, Weller DW, Wiggins SM, Hildebrand JA (2017) Migratory behavior of eastern North Pacific gray whales tracked using a hydrophone array. PLoS ONE12(10): e0185585. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185585 Abstract: Eastern North Pacific gray whales make one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, traveling from their summer feeding areas in the Bering and Chukchi Seas to their wintering areas in the lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. Although a significant body of knowledge on gray whale biology and behavior exists, little is known about their vocal behavior while migrating. In this study, we used a sparse hydrophone array deployed offshore of central California to investigate how gray whales behave and use sound while migrating. We detected, localized, and tracked whales for one full migration season, a first for gray whales. We verified and localized 10,644 gray whale M3 calls and grouped them into 280 tracks. Results confirm that gray whales are acoustically active while migrating and their swimming and acoustic behavior changes on daily and seasonal time scales. The seasonal timing of the calls verifies the gray whale migration timing determined using other methods such as counts conducted by visual observers. The total number of calls and the percentage of calls that were part of a track changed significantly over both seasonal and daily time scales. An average calling rate of 5.7 calls/whale/day was observed, which is significantly greater than previously reported migration calling rates. We measured a mean speed of 1.6 m/s and quantified heading, direction, and water depth where tracks were located. Mean speed and water depth remained constant between night and day, but these quantities had greater variation at night. Gray whales produce M3 calls with a root mean square source level of 156.9 dB re 1 µPa at 1 m. Quantities describing call characteristics were variable and dependent on site-specific propagation characteristics. Best, Regina -- Regina A. Guazzo PhD Candidate Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego (c) 908.507.1421

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New Publication on classifying and quantifying similarity in humpback whale song units
by Jennifer Allen 30 Oct '17

30 Oct '17

Dear MARMAM subscribers, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America: Allen, J. A., Murray, A., Garland, E. C., Noad, M. J., & Dunlop, R. A. (2017). Using self-organizing maps to classify humpback whale song units and quantify their similarity. Journal for the Acoustical Society of America. Vol. 142 no. 4 pp. 1943-1952. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4982040? Abstract: Classification of vocal signals can be undertaken using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Using east Australian humpback whale song from 2002 to 2014, a subset of vocal signals was acoustically measured and then classified using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM). The SOM created (1) an acoustic dictionary of units representing the song's repertoire, and (2) Cartesian distance measurements among all unit types (SOM nodes). Utilizing the SOM dictionary as a guide, additional song recordings from east Australia were rapidly (manually) transcribed. To assess the similarity in song sequences, the Cartesian distance output from the SOM was applied in Levenshtein distance similarity analyses as a weighting factor to better incorporate unit similarity in the calculation (previously a qualitative process). SOMs provide a more robust and repeatable means of categorizing acoustic signals along with a clear quantitative measurement of sound type similarity based on acoustic features. This method can be utilized for a wide variety of acoustic databases especially those containing very large datasets and can be applied across the vocalization research community to help address concerns surrounding inconsistency in manual classification. Best wishes, Jenny Allen? Jenny Allen BSc, MRes PhD Candidate Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics Laboratory School of Veterinary Science University of Queensland Gatton Campus QLD, Australia 4343 mobile (AUS): +61 424 773 994 mobile (US): +1 508 281 1813

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Marine Bioacoustics Short Course in Perth, Western Australia
by Christine Erbe 30 Oct '17

30 Oct '17

For newcomers to the field of marine mammal acoustics and underwater noise impacts: Marine Bioacoustics Short Course Presented by: The Centre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University Dates: Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th November 2017 (the two days following the Acoustics 2017 conference) Venue: Pan Pacific Hotel, 207 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia Content: This course is intended to provide an introduction to underwater acoustics and its application to the assessment of the impacts of anthropogenic underwater noise on marine animals. It will be suitable for regulators, environmental consultants, company environmental officers, acoustic consultants, students, academics, etc. Price (early bird before 7th Nov): One day: AU$ 330, Two days AU$ 560. Student discount available (AU$ 165/280). Course details available here: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/1c726b_cec4fd0ef1134f64aa3fda9430c1afdb.pdf <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/44GqBlUlM9QWcW?domain=docs.wixstatic.com> Register by clicking here: https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=25521 Note that registration is via the Acoustics 2017 conference registration website, but you do not need to attend the conference to attend the course. For more information, please email us: info(a)cmst.curtin.edu.au <mailto:info@cmst.curtin.edu.au> Centre for Marine Science & Technology Curtin University Perth, Western Australia

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new publication on Impacts of Marine Mammal Tourism
by Maddalena Bearzi 29 Oct '17

29 Oct '17

Dear colleagues, I am delighted to announce the publication of my chapter “Impacts of Marine Mammal Tourism” (Chapter 6) in the new book “Ecotourism’s Promise and Peril: A Biological Evaluation” (Blumstein, D.T., Geffroy, B., Samia, D.S.M., Bessa, E., Eds.). Book Summary: Intended as a guide for wildlife managers and ecotourism operators, as well as interested ecotourists, this book addresses the biological principles governing how ecotourism affects wildlife. The introductory chapters focus on four key responses to human visitation—behavioral, physiological, ecological, and evolutionary. Readers will discover ecotourism’s effects on biodiversity in connection with various industries that are habitat or taxonomically specific: fish tourism (including both freshwater and marine), marine mammal tourism, the huge industry centered on terrestrial animals, and the well-studied industry of penguin tourism. Given that the costs and benefits of ecotourism cannot be meaningfully assessed without understanding the human context, particular attention is given to how ecotourism has been used as part of community development. In closing, the book synthesizes the current state of knowledge regarding best practices for reducing human impacts on wildlife. The final chapter highlights key research questions that must be addressed to provide more evidence-based guidelines and policy. The book is available here: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319583303 Chapter 6. is available under request: mbearzi(a)oceanconservation.org Best regards, Maddalena Bearzi Maddalena Bearzi, Ph.D. Ocean Conservation Society, President po box 12860 marina del rey, ca 90295 usa 310.822.5205 mbearzi(a)oceanconservation.org www.oceanconservation.org

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Marine Mammal Science Training Placements 2018 – Call for applications
by Bruno Diaz Lopez 29 Oct '17

29 Oct '17

The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute (BDRI) <http://www.thebdri.com/>, a marine science education centre, invites applications for research internships in a dynamic, international, and qualified research environment. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION - The project is based in the North-western coast of Spain (Galicia), an important hotspot for cetaceans. Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and an important area of upwelling, Galicia is considered to be one of the most productive oceanic regions on the world. No fewer than 22 cetacean species have been recorded in Galician waters over the years. Some, such as common bottlenose dolphins, short-beaked common dolphins, harbour porpoises, minke whales, Risso's dolphins, long-finned pilot whales, humpback whales, fin whales, and blue whales have been recorded by the BDRI team in 2017. At BDRI, interns are an important part of the team always under the supervision and training of experienced researchers. BDRI is a place where students develop laboratory and field research skills and get hands-on experience working with a professional team of marine mammal scientists. Becoming part of our research team, you will get a unique perspective on our research work. This is more than just a training experience - it is a great opportunity to get your resume off to a marvellous start, have fun, and gain experience that will last a lifetime. As an intern, you will be encouraged to work hard and gain an insight of what it is actually like to work as a marine mammal researcher. Moreover, BDRI is a cooperative regional stranding network partner and works to respond to cetaceans, seals, and marine turtles strandings. Interns will be trained to participate with multiple research projects involving a combination of boat-based and land-based surveys, laboratory work (photo-identification, GIS, data transcription, bioacoustics, diet analysis, diving behaviour, video analysis, database work, etc), and strandings (response, rescue, necropsy, and data collection). The BDRI is a very international environment, and the everyday working language is English. Laboratory work days typically last six hours and field days typically exceed seven hours and occur approximately three-four times per week (weather dependent). There will be two days off per week. HOW TO APPLY – The internship is open to all applicants 18 years of age or older. An academic background in biology, veterinary or natural science, coupled with motivation, willingness to work hard and interest in field research make the most qualified individuals. Internship start and end dates are flexible but the position requires a minimum of 30 days continuous commitment sometime between 8th January 2018 through to end November 2018. Undergraduate and postgraduate student thesis projects can also be supported. The BDRI is a private and self-funded centre, hence, there is a tuition fee including the training, supervision, accommodation in an apartment, use of research equipment, use of facilities and research vessels, and other expenses derived of your participation (access to wifi in the apartment, kitchen utensils, electricity, taxes, etc). Successful applicants will be responsible for their own transportation expenses to and from the research centre (O Grove, Galicia, Spain). Interested candidates should submit an application with the following: - A cover letter including your availability (1 page only); - A resume describing training, experience and relevant skills (2 pages only); - BDRI's application form, you can download from <http://www.thebdri.com/resources/downloads/applicationinternships.doc> Please send these items as e-mail attachments (PDF preferred) to: severine(a)thebdri.com Approved applications are accepted on a first-come, first serve basis. Positions are open until filled. For more information about BDRI's research and conservation work, please visit <https://www.thebdri.com> or our Facebook page. Best regards, and see you in Galicia! This email is confidential to the intended recipient(s) and the contents may be legally privileged or contain proprietary and private informations. It is intended solely for the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not an intended recipient, you may not review, copy or distribute this email. If received in error, please notify the sender and delete the message from your system immediately. Please note that neither the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI nor the sender accept any responsibility for any viruses and it is your responsibility to scan the email and the attachments (if any). Thank you for your cooperation.

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New publication on sponge carrying in humpback dolphins
by Simon Allen 29 Oct '17

29 Oct '17

Dear MARMAMers, My co-authors and I are pleased to pass on the details of our recent publication: Allen SJ, King SL, Krützen M & Brown AM 2017. Multi-modal sexual displays in Australian humpback dolphins. Scientific Reports 7: 13644. DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-13898-9. The article can be accessed freely here: http://rdcu.be/w3tL The abstract reads as follows: Sexual displays enriched by object carrying serve to increase individual male fitness, yet are uncommon phenomena in the animal kingdom. While they have been documented in a variety of taxa, primarily birds, they are rare outside non-human mammals. Here, we document marine sponge presenting associated with visual and acoustic posturing found in several, geographically widespread populations of Australian humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis) over ten years of observation. Only adult males presented marine sponges, typically doing so in the presence of sexually mature females, although social groups predominantly consisted of mixed age and sex classes. Male humpback dolphins appear to be using sponges for signalling purposes in multi-modal sexual displays. Further, based on limited behavioural and genetic data, we hypothesise that pairs of adult male Sousa form at least temporary coalitions or alliances. The use of objects in sexual displays by non-human mammals is rare and, moreover, cooperation between males in the pursuit of an indivisible resource is an evolutionary hurdle relatively few species have overcome. These findings suggest a hitherto unrecognised level of social complexity in humpback dolphins. There was some nice coverage in Nat Geo too, FYI: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/dolphins-sex-mating-sponges-cou… Drop me a line if you have any trouble accessing the paper and, for those who attended SMM2017, safe travels home. Best regards, Simon ~~~~~~~~~~ Simon Allen, PhD School of Biological Sciences | Oceans Institute University of Western Australia Crawley WA 6009 Mob: (61-0) 416 083 653 Email: simon.allen(a)uwa.edu.au<file://localhost/applewebdata/::006C211F-965E-4B11-879F-544A520C4A7B:s.allen@murdoch.edu.au> Web1: http://www.sharkbaydolphins.org<http://www.sharkbaydolphins.org/> Web2: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon_Allen2 [cid:E0E136F8-4C4A-4A2F-99B8-BF23063E8504] Recent papers: Abundance and fidelity of dolphins to an offshore trawl fishery (2017): http://rdcu.be/t5Y2<http://em.rdcu.be/wf/click?upn=KP7O1RED-2BlD0F9LDqGVeSP5tQHNT2k-2BDz-2FiwQv…> Alliance behaviour and mating access in an open social network of bottlenose dolphins (2017): http://www.nature.com/articles/srep46354 Bycatch and population structure of bottlenose dolphins (2016): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.13622/full Demographics of the North West Cape humpback dolphin population (2017): http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v32/p71-88 Shark bites on inshore dolphins in the tropical Kimberley region (2017): http://rdcu.be/vavT

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M.S. student position: Diving physiology of northern elephant seals
by Gitte McDonald 27 Oct '17

27 Oct '17

M.S. student position: Diving physiology of northern elephant sealsSeeking a motivated student to begin graduate research (M.S.) at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML), a consortium of seven California State University campuses dedicated to excellence in Marine Science ( https://www.mlml.calstate.edu/) The student will join a multi-institution team of researchers (MLML, Massachusetts General Hospital, National Marine Mammal Foundation, Cornell, Alaska Sea Life Center, UC Santa Cruz, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography) on a NSF-funded project to examine physiological plasticity in diving northern elephant seals. While the student will be based in the Vertebrate Ecology Lab at MLML ( https://birdmam.mlml.calstate.edu/) she or he will work closely with some of the other P.I.’s.The student will examine the relationship between fine-scale diving behavior and oxygen management strategies using a novel physiological biologger. The project will involve extensive lab, field, and computer work and long hours in the lab and field before and during field seasons. Students should have a background in physiology and research experience. I am looking for a student with 1) good academic standing (>3.5/4.0 GPA and > 70 percentiles on the GREs), 2) relevant laboratory and/or programming experience, 3) relevant field experience (ideally with marine mammals, birds, or reptiles), and 4) the ability to work independently as well work well as part of a team. Two years of NSF-funded tuition and stipend support are available for the selected student.Interested candidates should email a cover letter with your research interests and experience, an updated CV, unofficial transcripts, and GRE scores (if available) to Dr. Gitte McDonald (gmcdonald(a)mlml.calstate.edu) Qualified candidates will be contacted to discuss the project and program further and encouraged to apply to the MS program (Due Feb 1, 2018). Emails with required attachments received before December 1, 2017 will receive first consideration, but the position will remain open until a student is selected. Best, Gitte McDonald Birgitte I. McDonald Assistant professor Moss Landing Marine Laboratories ----------------------------------------------- gmcdonald(a)mlml.calstate.edu 831-771-4417

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New publication
by かがり青木 26 Oct '17

26 Oct '17

Dear Colleagues, We are glad to announce a new publication to indicate long-finned pilot whales opt for high-cost dives: Aoki, K., Sato, K., Isojunno, S., Narazaki, T. and Miller, P. J. O. (2017). High diving metabolic rate indicated by high-speed transit to depth in negatively buoyant long-finned pilot whales. J. Exp. Biol. 220, 3802-3811. Here is the link. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/220/20/3802 Abstract To maximize foraging duration at depth, diving mammals are expected to use the lowest cost optimal speed during descent and ascent transit and to minimize the cost of transport by achieving neutral buoyancy. Here, we outfitted 18 deep-diving long-finned pilot whales with multi-sensor data loggers and found indications that their diving strategy is associated with higher costs than those of other deep-diving toothed whales. Theoretical models predict that optimal speed is proportional to (basal metabolic rate/drag)1/3 and therefore to body mass0.05. The transit speed of tagged animals (2.7±0.3 m s−1) was substantially higher than the optimal speed predicted from body mass (1.4–1.7 m s−1). According to the theoretical models, this choice of high transit speed, given a similar drag coefficient (median, 0.0035) to that in other cetaceans, indicated greater basal metabolic costs during diving than for other cetaceans. This could explain the comparatively short duration (8.9±1.5 min) of their deep dives (maximum depth, 444±85 m). Hydrodynamic gliding models indicated negative buoyancy of tissue body density (1038.8±1.6 kg m–3, ±95% credible interval, CI) and similar diving gas volume (34.6±0.6 ml kg−1, ±95% CI) to those in other deep-diving toothed whales. High diving metabolic rate and costly negative buoyancy imply a ‘spend more, gain more’ strategy of long-finned pilot whales, differing from that in other deep-diving toothed whales, which limits the costs of locomotion during foraging. We also found that net buoyancy affected the optimal speed: high transit speeds gradually decreased during ascent as the whales approached neutral buoyancy owing to gas expansion. Best regards, Kagari Aoki, ph.D ------------------------------------------*/**/**/**/**/**/**/*------- Behavior, Ecology and Observation Systems Department of Marine Bioscience Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute 372 The University of Tokyo 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, 277-8564, JAPAN Tel:+81 4 7136 6226 e-mail: aokikagari(a)gmail.com <mailto:aokikagari@gmail.com>, aokikagari(a)aori.u-tokyo.ac <mailto:aokikagari@aori.u-tokyo.ac>.jp ------------------------------------------*/**/**/**/**/**/**/*-------

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