August 2020 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Internship - Morro Bay, CA
by Aliah Meza 15 Aug '20

15 Aug '20

Marine Mammal Rescue and Response Internship San Luis Obispo Operations The Rescue and Response team at The Marine Mammal Center is seeking applicants for their San Luis Obispo Operations Rescue and Response Internship working primarily with stranded pinnipeds, as well as occasional cetaceans and sea otters. The Rescue and Response Internship is an exciting opportunity for individuals who are interested in increasing their experience and knowledge of marine mammals and the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Program Opportunities: * Gain valuable professional development experience while learning the rescue and response operations for one of the leading marine mammal hospitals * Work in an organization dedicated to veterinary medicine, research, and ocean conservation * Learn marine mammal rescue and triage while gaining husbandry experience working with the seal and sea lion patients * Attend training classes, learning more about rescue and response methods as well as the rehabilitation care for pinnipeds * Develop interpersonal and team leadership skills working with individuals from diverse backgrounds Intern Responsibilities: * Answer and triage the animal rescue hotline * Coordinate rescue and triage responses throughout San Luis Obispo county * Participate in marine mammal rescues, releases and other field responses * Maintain rescue equipment * Join teams of volunteers to provide triage care for rescued seals and sea lions * Support data entry and tracking of the pinniped patients * Other projects as assigned Intern Qualifications: * All applicants must be 21 years of age or older, with an avid interest in marine biology, zoology, general biology, policy or a related field. * Interns are required to pass a background check and a motor vehicle check prior to acceptance into the internship. * 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. If the intern intends to receive university credit for their internship, they are responsible for making all arrangements with their educational institution. Intern Schedule: Interns must be able to work for a minimum of 4 months, at least 20 hours per week. Work schedule must be flexible and may include weekends and holidays. Additional Logistics: This is an unpaid internship. Applicants are responsible for their own housing and transportation for the duration of the internship. Unfortunately, we are unable to host out of state or international applicants at this time. Application Overview: Applications are now open for Fall 2020 (September to December). We are accepting applications through 8/31/2020 and will evaluate at that time if we need to extend the positng. How to Apply: Apply online at https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/Get-Involved/volunteer/internship-opport… [cid:63db47a9-d422-49e3-a328-94551275c068] Aliah Meza Operations Manager - San Luis Obispo MezaA(a)tmmc.org<mailto:EMAIL@tmmc.org> | T: 805.771.8300 | MarineMammalCenter.org<http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/> The Marine Mammal Center, 2000 Bunker Road, Sausalito, CA 94965

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Job Posting: Project Scientist
by smru info 14 Aug '20

14 Aug '20

Dear MARMAM Are you a marine scientist or consultant looking for a new challenge? SMRU Consulting are looking to attract a highly motivated person with a passion for the application of robust, evidence-based approaches to the assessment, monitoring and management of anthropogenic impacts on marine mammals. The main purpose of the Project Scientist role is to undertake a range of activities to support the delivery of contracts. They will be active members of the Science Team and contribute to the day-to-day delivery of practical applied scientific advice and services in relation to marine mammals. This role encompasses applied scientific techniques, various support activities and contribution to contract/grant delivery alongside the development of project management skills. This position is based in our UK office. Closing date: Monday 31st August 2020 For more details please see: http://www.smruconsulting.com/job-vacancies

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New publication: Cashing in on Spinners: Revenue estimates of wild dolphin-swim tourism in the Hawaiian Islands
by Lars Bejder 13 Aug '20

13 Aug '20

On behalf of Carlie Wiener and co-authors, we are pleased to bring to your attention the following publication: Wiener, C., Bejder, L., Johnston, D., Fawcett, L., and Wilkinson, P. 2020. Cashing in on Spinners: Revenue estimates of wild dolphin-swim tourism in the Hawaiian Islands. Frontiers in Marine Science. 7:660. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00660 Abstract: Wild dolphin-swim tourism has grown in specific locations where Hawaiian spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) have known resting habitat. The increased growth in dolphin-swim businesses has created an industry in Hawaii that earns an estimated $102 million (USD) annually in 2013. Semi-structured interviews with business owners, market research, and boat-based observations provide a platform for estimating revenue generated from dolphin tourism in two popular locations, Waianae, Oahu and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island. A revenue analysis of dolphin-swim tourism is presented using a peak season and utilization rate model. These predictions offer an accountability exercise based on a series of assumptions regarding wild dolphin-swim demand and an annual estimate of the number of viewing participants and revenue earned. The results show that dolphin viewing companies are making a larger profit than dolphin-swim businesses by approximately $19 million (USD) per year, however, both avenues are generating large earnings. Sizable differences between businesses in Kona and Waianae are discussed. The average lifetime revenue generated by a dolphin in 2013 is estimated at $3,364,316 (USD) for Waianae and $1,608,882 (USD) for Kona, and is presented as a first step in scenario analysis for policy makers looking to implement management in the bays where tourism occurs. This study offers the first revenue estimates of spinner dolphin tourism in Hawaii, which can provide context for further discussion on the impact and economic role of the dolphin-swim industry in the state. The paper is freely downloadable here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00660/full For any further questions, please email Carlie: cwiener AT schmidtocean.org -------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [image: University of Hawaii at Manoa] Lars Bejder | Director, Marine Mammal Research Program | University of Hawaii at Manoa | Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology | *Website*: www.mmrphawaii.org | mobile: ++ 1 808 892 9490 | email: lbejder(a)hawaii.edu | address: 46-007 Lilipuna Rd, Box 1346 Kaneohe, HI 96744 [image: facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/MMRPUH/>[image: twitter] <https://twitter.com/MMRP_UH>

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Whale Acoustics Webinar from the Gulf of Alaska
by Adrian Gall 13 Aug '20

13 Aug '20

Webinar Announcement Whale Acoustics Webinar from the Gulf of Alaska 18 August 2020, 10:00-11:30 a.m. AKDT The Migration in Harmony Research Coordination Network (MiH-RCN) announces a Whale Acoustics Webinar from the Gulf of Alaska. This webinar will take place on 18 August 2020 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. AKDT. There is no fee for this event, however registration is required. Webinar Description: Presented by students from the Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska, this webinar will highlight their important contributions to marine mammal research through the internship and technology training program SeaTech. Researchers from NOAA Fisheries and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as staff and alumni of Mt. Edgecumbe, will also be presenting. This webinar will focus on the Arctic, marine mammals, acoustics, and exploring collaborative approaches to science-based education and outreach. For more information and to register for the webinar, go to the Webinar webpage https://tinyurl.com/yxku526h

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New paper on common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the northern Adriatic Sea
by Tilen Genov 13 Aug '20

13 Aug '20

Dear colleagues On behalf of my co-authors, I would like to draw your attention to a new paper on common dolphins (*Delphinus delphis*) in the northern Adriatic Sea: Genov T, Kotnjek P, Centrih T. 2020. Occurrence of common dolphins (*Delphinus delphis*) in the Gulf of Trieste and the northern Adriatic Sea. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3407 The paper is Open Access and freely available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.3407 Abstract 1. The Mediterranean common dolphin (*Delphinus delphis * ), considered to have been very *common * in the past, had undergone a dramatic decline across most of the basin by the end of 1970s. In the northern Adriatic Sea, one of the regions with most available historical information, the common dolphin is thought to have been the most common and abundant cetacean throughout most of the 20th century. However, by the end of 1970s, it had virtually disappeared from the region and is now considered generally absent from the entire Adriatic Sea. 2. This contribution summarizes the occurrence of common dolphins in the Gulf of Trieste and provides a brief review of published records in other parts of the Adriatic Sea. 3. Systematic boat surveys in the wider area of the Gulf of Trieste between 2002 and 2019 confirmed that the common bottlenose dolphin (*Tursiops truncatus * ) is the only regularly occurring cetacean species in this area. Despite this, several records of common dolphins were documented in the Gulf of Trieste between 2009 and 2012, through sightings of live animals or recovery of dead stranded animals. 4. Dorsal fin markings allowed the photo‐identification of some of these, suggesting that at least four different live individuals (three adults and one calf) occurred here in recent times. Most cases involved single adult individuals, but one included a mother‐calf pair that was temporarily resident in a port for several months, a behaviour atypical for this species. Photo‐identification showed that the presumed mother had previously been sighted in the Ionian Sea in Greece, over 1,000 km from the Gulf of Trieste, making this the longest documented movement for this species worldwide. 5. At present, the common dolphin continues to be rare in the region. Please email me at tilen.genov(a)gmail.com if you have any difficulty accessing the paper. Best wishes, Tilen ______________________________________________________________________ Tilen Genov | Morigenos - Slovenian Marine Mammal Society | | Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews | | IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group | | twitter: @TilenGenov <https://twitter.com/TilenGenov> | @Morigenos_org <https://twitter.com/Morigenos_org> | @_SMRU_ <https://twitter.com/_SMRU_> | @IUCNCetaceanSG <https://twitter.com/IUCNCetaceanSG> |

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New publication: Sperm whale observation from passive acoustic gliders.
by Pierre Cauchy 13 Aug '20

13 Aug '20

Dear Marmam Colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new paper: Cauchy P, Heywood KJ, Risch D, Merchant ND, Queste BY, Testor P (2020) Sperm whale presence observed using passive acoustic monitoring from gliders of opportunity. Endang Species Res 42:133-149. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01044 We used underwater sound recordings from underwater gliders to detect and observe sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea. ABSTRACT: Habitat use by the endangered Mediterranean sperm whale subpopulation remains poorly understood, especially in winter. The sustained presence of oceanographic autonomous underwater vehicles in the area presents an opportunity to improve observation effort, enabling collection of valuable sperm whale distribution data, which may be crucial to their conservation. Passive acoustic monitoring loggers were deployed on vertically profiling oceanographic gliders surveying the north-western Mediterranean Sea during winter 2012-2013 and June 2014. Sperm whale echolocation ‘usual click’ trains, characteristic of foraging activity, were detected and classified from the recordings, providing information about the presence of sperm whales along the glider tracks. Widespread presence of sperm whales in the north-western Mediterranean Sea was confirmed. Winter observations suggest different foraging strategies between the Ligurian Sea, where mobile and scattered individuals forage at all times of day, and the Gulf of Lion, where larger aggregations target intense oceanographic features in the open ocean such as fronts and mixing events, with reduced acoustic presence at dawn. This study demonstrates the ability to successfully observe sperm whale behaviour from passive acoustic monitoring gliders. We identified possible mission design changes to optimize data collected from passive acoustic monitoring glider surveys and significantly improve sperm whale population monitoring and habitat use. Corresponding author: p.cauchy(a)uea.ac.uk<mailto:p.cauchy@uea.ac.uk> Pierre Cauchy https://people.uea.ac.uk/p_cauchy<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.ue…> ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`><((((º>

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New publication on crabeater seal habitat use in the Weddell Sea
by Mia Wege 13 Aug '20

13 Aug '20

Dear MARMAMMers, My colleagues and I are pleased to announce our latest publication in Diversity and Distributions: Wege, M., Salas, L., LaRue, M. (2020) Citizen science and habitat modelling facilitates conservation planning for crabeater seals in the Weddell Sea. Diversity and Distributions. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13120 Abstract Aim Creating a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean requires extensive knowledge on species’ abundances, distributions and population trends especially in the Weddell Sea where year‐round pack ice makes most of the Weddell Sea inaccessible. We combine satellite images and citizen science to model habitat suitability for crabeater seals (*Lobodon carcinophaga *) throughout the Weddell Sea. Location Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Methods High‐resolution satellite images covering 18,219 km2 of the Weddell Sea during crabeater seal breeding season (October—November) were hosted on the crowd‐sourcing platform Tomnod (DigitalGlobe). Citizen scientists marked “maps” where seals were present/absent and these votes were compared with the votes of an experienced observer. Correction factors were used to correct votes to either a continuous probability of seal presence, or a binary seal presence/absence value. We modelled probability of seal presence using ensemble models of Random Forests (RF), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Support Vector Machines (SVM), and used fitted Maxent models to model seal presence/absence data. Results Model predictive power was low (RF: *R *2 = 0.076 ± 0.002: BRT: *R *2 = 0.086 ± 0.0008; SVM: *R *2 = 0.082 ± 0.003) to average (Maxent: AUC = 0.71 ± 0.004). Distance to the ice edge and bathymetry were the most important variables that influenced crabeater seal distribution. Main conclusions Crabeater seals were more likely to be present over abyssal water, which coincides with typical adult Antarctic krill habitat — crabeater seal preferred prey. Where ice concentrations were more variable, that is more accessible, crabeater seals were also more likely to occur. Results agreed with the known ecology of crabeaters seals and the abundance, distribution and ecology of Antarctic krill. We were able to survey the largest area ever surveyed in the Weddell Sea and provide a model to assist furthering policy around the proposed protected area. All the best, Mia

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Publication of NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS‐OPR‐64, North Atlantic Right Whale Monitoring and Surveillance: Report and Recommendations of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Expert Working Group
by Eric Patterson - NOAA Federal 12 Aug '20

12 Aug '20

Dear Colleagues, Today, NOAA Fisheries is publishing the Technical Memorandum NMFS‐OPR‐64: North Atlantic Right Whale Monitoring and Surveillance: Report and Recommendations of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Expert Working Group. This report summarizes a workshop NOAA Fisheries convened to address objectives related to monitoring North Atlantic right whales and presents the Expert Working Group’s recommendations for a comprehensive monitoring strategy to guide future analyses and data collection. NOAA Fisheries will consider the Expert Working Group’s recommendations, as well as other relevant information, in its decision-making about right whale research and population monitoring. We will continue to work with our partners to optimize North Atlantic right whale monitoring and surveillance in the future. The Technical Memorandum is posted on the following web page: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/north-atlantic-right-whale… Below is a summary of the report: NOAA Fisheries’ North Atlantic right whale Steering Committee convened an expert Working Group to address two objectives related to monitoring North Atlantic right whales: (1) improving our understanding of population status by identifying and tracking essential population metrics, and (2) improving our understanding of distribution and habitat use. The Working Group consisted of five NOAA Fisheries researchers (the authors of this report) with expertise in marine mammal monitoring, but not directly involved in current North Atlantic right whale monitoring efforts. The Working Group was convened during a three-day workshop (held at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, from October 22-24, 2019, with remote participants on Day 1), and on a series of follow up conference calls. This report provides a brief summary of the information provided to the Working Group, including historic and current North Atlantic right whale monitoring efforts conducted by NOAA Fisheries and partner institutions, information on the status and trends of North Atlantic right whales, and analyses conducted during the workshop or at the Working Group’s request. Moreover, the report primarily presents the Working Group’s recommendations for a comprehensive monitoring strategy to guide future analyses and data collection on (1) North Atlantic right whale demographics and population status, (2) distribution shifts and habitat use range-wide, and (3) the health of individuals and the population. The Working Group’s recommendations are intended to improve NOAA Fisheries’ overall monitoring strategy for North Atlantic right whales, with recognition of the significant contribution to North Atlantic right whale research and monitoring carried out by NOAA Fisheries and partner institutions and agencies. Cheers, *Eric M. Patterson, Ph.D.* *Fish BiologistMarine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation DivisionOffice of Protected ResourcesNOAA FisheriesU.S. Department of Commerce* *301-427-8415 <301-427-8415>eric.patterson(a)noaa.gov <eric.patterson(a)noaa.gov>https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/office-protected-resources <https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/office-protected-resources>*

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Call for bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus data for ENM modeling in the Caribbean Sea
by Eric Angel Ramos 12 Aug '20

12 Aug '20

Greetings MARMAM! We are conducting a study using ecological niche and species distribution models to study common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) distribution and occurrence in the Caribbean Sea. If you have original dolphin sighting data from the Caribbean Sea, we would love to know and possibly collaborate! Please find our call for dolphin sighting data at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l5M7zP2VTHComH6Tyob9BiJ2lEf0q9fF/view?usp=… If you interested in collaborating with us, please contact me directly at eric.angel.ramos(a)gmail.com Thanks so much and we look forward to hearing from you! Best regards, ************************************************Eric Angel Ramos Ph.D. Candidate Animal Behavior & Comparative Psychology The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFundación Internacional para la Naturaleza y la Sostenibilidad (FINS)Student Member-At-Large for the Society for Marine MammalogyMember of the IUCN SSC Sirenian Specialist Group for Mesoamerica E-mail:eric.angel.ramos@gmail.com Cell/WhatsApp: +1-347-336-5567 (USA)FacebookInstagram

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Job Opp with BOEM- Acoustic Modelers
by Lewandowski, Jill K 12 Aug '20

12 Aug '20

JOB OPPORTUNITY... Must apply no later than August 25, 2020. BOEM is hiring three underwater ACOUSTIC MODELERS to join our new Center for Marine Acoustics (CMA). See the link below for more information and instructions to apply. Note that the positions can be filled as an engineer, physical scientist or mathematician/statistician. We are considering applicants at multiple levels and types of experience. Closing date to apply is August 25, 2020. As per U.S. Federal government requirements, the position is only open to U.S. citizens. Also, be sure any resume submitted clearly shows the experience and education required in the job announcement. https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/575933400

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