June 2021 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

New publication on Salish Sea harbor porpoises
by Cindy Elliser 02 Jun '21

02 Jun '21

On behalf of my co-author, Anna Hall, I am pleased to announce our recent publication in Frontiers in Marine Science entitled, "Return of the Salish Sea Harbor Porpoise, *Phocoena phocoena*: Knowledge Gaps, Current Research, and What We Need to Do to Protect Their Future" Abstract: The harbor porpoise (*Phocoena phocoena*) is one of the most abundant coastal cetacean species in the Northern Hemisphere with differential levels of regional knowledge. Gaps are particularly evident for the Pacific subspecies Phocoena phocoena vomerina. In the Salish Sea (a transboundary body of water spanning between Washington, United States and British Columbia (BC), Canada), there is a dearth of information on many aspects of the biology, ecology, behavior, sociality, and regionally specific threats. Here we present a case study of the Salish Sea harbor porpoise, combining historical and current research, from both BC and Washington, to provide a more holistic view of this species’ status, the knowledge continuum and gaps, risks from identified threats and what current research and collaborations are revealing about this enigmatic species. The Salish Sea harbor porpoise was abundant to the 1940s and 1950s, but by the 1990s their numbers were greatly reduced, and all but absent in some areas. By the early 2000s, numbers had resurged, and harbor porpoise are now once again found throughout much of the Salish Sea. Despite this, studies focused on Salish Sea harbor porpoises have been limited until recently. Current long-term research has been conducted from vessels and land in both Canada and the United States. Multi-faceted work using techniques including photo-identification (photo-ID), behavioral visual observations, acoustics, commercial fishery surveys, sighting reports, citizen science and other ecological data have provided insight into the seasonal variation in density and abundance, site fidelity, reproduction, by-catch rates, foraging and the identification of important habitats that are used intra- and inter-annually in this region. These may represent culturally and biologically significant habitats for Salish Sea harbor porpoise. Collaborations within and outside of the Salish Sea have revealed consistencies and dissimilarities between different communities or populations; indicating that some aspects are more uniform for the species, while others may be community or population specific. The importance of long-term broad and fine-scale research is highlighted, as well as recommendations to further close the knowledge gaps and reduce the known human threats within the Salish Sea. The publication is open access and can be found here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.618177/full?&utm_so… Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Best, Cindy Cindy Elliser, PhD Research Director Pacific Mammal Research www.pacmam.org 360-202-2860

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Data contributions to global analysis of whale-ship co-occurrence
by Callie Steffen 01 Jun '21

01 Jun '21

As a collaborative effort, the University of Washington, The Nature Conservancy, Benioff Ocean Initiative, and Global Fishing Watch are working on a global analysis of the intersection between large whales and marine shipping traffic to identify hotspots of ship strike risk using global data coverage of vessel and whale occurrence. To supplement the publicly available datasets, we invite researchers and data owners to contribute whale occurrence data. We are specifically looking for any occurrence (e.g., survey, citizen science, tagging) data that is not currently deposited in GBIF/OBIS/OBIS-SeaMapper/Movebank on the following species: Antarctic Minke Whale, Blue Whale, Bowhead Whale, Bryde’s Whale, Common Minke Whale, Fin Whale, Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, North Atlantic Right Whale, Sei Whale, Southern Right Whale, Sperm Whale. If you are interested, please fill out the attached form <https://forms.gle/x76Z84fSPsxMWUwH7> outlining any metadata you have available by Friday June 11th, 2021. Please note that filling out this form does not obligate you to participate in this effort, nor does it guarantee your data will ultimately be included in the analysis, however it is the first step needed to identify gaps in publicly available datasets. Any data accepted for this effort would be used strictly for the purposes outlined and would not be shared externally. All data contributors would receive proper attribution and credit. If you have any questions, please contact Callie Steffen ( calliesteffen(a)ucsb.edu) Thank you for your support. *Metadata form* https://forms.gle/x76Z84fSPsxMWUwH7

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SMM Small Grants in Aid of Research 2021 Applications Window Now Open
by Laura J. May-Collado 01 Jun '21

01 Jun '21

Dear all, The Society for Marine Mammalogy would like to inform eligible members (see below) that this year’s Small Grants in Aid of Research application window opens on 1 June 2021. Applications will be accepted during the entire month of June. The Committee of Scientific Advisors will review applications and make recommendations on funding with decisions announced in early September 2021. The awards are up to US $2,000. Up to 25% of the budget may be used as stipend. All three of the following eligibility requirements must be met: 1. Be a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. 2. Be a national of any country not on this Excluded Country List: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. *Preference is given to early career researchers such as students and researchers with less than 5 years post-doctoral experience.* 3. Be conducting research in a country not on the above Excluded Country List. The Small Grant web page provides full information, links to past successful applications, a list of recipients from prior years and their completed project reports, and a link to the application itself. Please be mindful of the word limits in the various sections of the application. Last year 17 of 55 applicants from 20 counties received funding ranging from $793 to $2,000 USD. For technical questions regarding the online application, please email the Society webmaster at admin(a)marinemammalscience.org For all other questions about the grants, please contact: Laura J. May-Collado, Ph.D. Chair Committee of Scientific AdvisorsSociety for Marine Mammalogy email: science(a)marinemammalscience.org

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New publication: new types of low frequency pulsed sounds of botos (Inia geoffrensis)
by Jessica Fernandes de Melo 01 Jun '21

01 Jun '21

Dear all, My co-authors and I are glad to share our new publication in Mammalian Biology: "Delving deep into unheard waters: new types of low frequency pulsed sounds described for the boto (Inia geoffrensis)" de Melo, J.F., Amorim, T.O.S. & Andriolo, A. Delving deep into unheard waters: new types of low frequency pulsed sounds described for the boto (Inia geoffrensis). Mamm Biol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00134-1 Abstract The Amazon river dolphin, or boto (Inia geoffrensis), is an endangered species, distributed over an extensive area of the Amazon–Orinoco basin. Here, we analyzed the acoustic behavior of a previously unstudied population of botos at the Juami-Japurá Ecological Station, Amazonas. We categorized call types according to their visual and acoustical parameters. Random forest decision trees were used to assess the validity of our classification. Six types of narrowband pulsed sounds were found, of which four are being described for the first time for the species. The vocalizations analyzed had mean maximum frequency of 25.7 kHz and mean minimum frequency of 1.1 kHz. The narrowband pulsed sounds are complex and different from those emitted by most members of the family Delphinidae. Although the acoustic repertoire of botos is not completely understood in functional terms, these pulsed sounds may play an important role in the social structure of the animals. The full-text article is available online at the following link: https://rdcu.be/clHjt<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frdcu.be%2F…> Best regards, Jéssica Fernandes de Melo, MsC Pesquisadora – CNPq (PCI-D) GP Mamíferos Aquáticos Amazônicos Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá

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Master on Large Marine Vertebrates Sciences Second edition call opened (deadline September 3rd 2021)
by Annalisa Zaccaroni 01 Jun '21

01 Jun '21

On behalf of the Scientific Committee, I am pleased to inform that the second edition of the Master on Large Marine Vertebrates is open at University of Bologna. You can find a short description of the Master below and the link to the webpage, where you can find more details. Please feel free to contact me (annalisa.zaccaroni(a)unibo.it<mailto:annalisa.zaccaroni@unibo.it>) or the tutor (master.lmvs(a)unibo.it<mailto:master.lmvs@unibo.it>) for more information. The first level Master in Large Marine Vertebrate Sciences is an International Master, held in English, specifically designed to give professionals and young graduates theoretical and practical knowledge on a large variety of aspects of large marine vertebrate management and conservation, starting from the basics (physiology, biology, anatomy, etc.) and including also more specific competencies, like welfare, diseases and pathology, legislation concerning marine vertebrates, monitoring, management in the wild and under human care, as well as communication and scientific writing skills. The special strength of this Master Course is its practical approach, allowing the participants to immerse into the current work of different entities involved in the study and management of large marine vertebrates, both in the wild and under human care, with a 20 CFU (500 hours) internship and with a mandatory, immersive field research trip with the Dolphin Communication Project (DCP) to the DCP Director’s research field site on Roatan, Honduras. Admission requirements The Master is open to a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 15 students, possessing one of the following titles: a) Three-year degree achieved under the terms Decree no. 270/04 to following classes: L-13 (Biology), L-32 (Science and Technology for Environment and Nature), L-38 (Animal Husbandry) or first cycle degree in an equivalent disciplinary area, achieved under the previous terms (DM 509/99 and to the old title); b) Master degree achieved under the terms Decree no. 270/04 to following classes: LM-6 (Biology), LM-42 (Veterinary Medicine) or second cycle, single cycle degree/Combined Bachelor and Master degree in an equivalent disciplinary area, achieved under the previous terms (DM 509/99 and to the old title); c) Any other foreign degree equivalent to one of the above listed requirements. Following a positive evaluation by the Admission Board, candidates with Master degrees not listed above may also be admitted to the selection process, provided they are in possession of a curriculum vitae et studiorum proving to have competencies qualifying for this Master program. Teaching topics: The Master program is an 18 months program, dedicated to lectures from December to September plus a second period dedicated to the internship. Teaching will be by international experts and will be given partly at University of Bologna and partly at University of Calabria. Cost The tuition fee of 4.000 € (four thousand Euros) does not include the cost for the immersive, mandatory field trip to Roatan with DCP (Dolphin Communication Project). For more information, please visit the Master description page: https://www.unibo.it/it/didattica/master/2021-2022/large-marine-vertebrates…, where you can also find the call text, and the Master web page: https://master.unibo.it/large-marine-vertebrates-sciences Prof. Annalisa Zaccaroni Director of Master in Large Marine Vertebrates Sciences Dep.ment Veterinary Medical Sciences University of Bologna Alma Mater Studiorum [cid:image002.png@01D756FE.496B9C30] Viale Vespucci 2 47042 Cesenatico (FC), Italy [Titolo: Cellulare - Descrizione: icona-cellulare] +393475951709 [Titolo: Telefono - Descrizione: icona-telefono] +390547338944 [Titolo: Email - Descrizione: icona-email] annalisa.zaccaroni(a)unibo.it<mailto:annalisa.zaccaroni@unibo.it> [Titolo: sito Web - Descrizione: icona-sitoweb] https://master.unibo.it/large-marine-vertebrates-sciences/en [Titolo: Facebook - Descrizione: Icona di Facebook]<https://www.facebook.com/lisa.zaccaroni> [Titolo: LinkedIn - Descrizione: Icona di LinkedIn] <https://www.linkedin.com/in/annalisa-zaccaroni-57616119/> [Titolo: Twitter - Descrizione: Icona di Twitter] <https://twitter.com/zaccaroni68>

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