July 2022 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

New Publication: Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas edwardii)
by Rebecca Boys 24 Jul '22

24 Jul '22

Dear MARMAMers, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our recent publication in a special issue on Animal Welfare Assessment in the journal Animals which has evaluated the feasibility of assessing various potential welfare indicators from live stranding events. Boys, R.M.; Beausoleil, N.J.; Pawley, M.D.M.; Betty, E.L.; Stockin, K.A. Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas edwardii). Animals 2022, 12, 1861. doi: 10.3390/ani12141861 Abstract: Despite the known benefit of considering welfare within wildlife conservation and management, there remains a lack of data to inform such evaluations. To assess animal welfare, relevant information must be captured scientifically and systematically. A key first step is identifying potential indicators of welfare and the practicality of their measurement. We assessed the feasibility of evaluating potential welfare indicators from opportunistically gathered video footage of four stranded odontocete species (n = 53) at 14 stranding events around New Zealand. The first stranded cetacean ethogram was compiled, including 30 different behaviours, 20 of which were observed in all four species. Additionally, thirteen types of human intervention were classified. A subset of 49 live stranded long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas edwardii) were assessed to determine indicator prevalence and to quantify behaviours. Four ‘welfare status’ and six ‘welfare alerting’ non-behavioural indicators could be consistently evaluated from the footage. Additionally, two composite behavioural indicators were feasible. Three human intervention types (present, watering, and touching) and five animal behaviours (tail flutter, dorsal fin flutter, head lift, tail lift, and head side-to-side) were prevalent (>40% of individuals). Our study highlights the potential for non-invasive, remote assessments via video footage and represents an initial step towards developing a systematic, holistic welfare assessment framework for stranded cetaceans. The paper is freely available open access here: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12141861 Please do contact me if you have any questions. Thank you very much, Rebecca On behalf of all the co-authors ------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca M Boys Marine Biologist PhD Student Cetacean Ecology Research Group School of Natural Sciences Massey University Auckland New Zealand [cid:b1147bd4-8066-47e6-8688-fd17f0c71c8f]<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca_Boys> [cid:5f95b20b-7184-4c6a-a2bb-42f550d7f25a] <https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?hl=en&user=7rHpOpMAAAAJ> [cid:3c467d5c-5459-4925-bacb-3afeffc2e54f] <https://twitter.com/RebeccaMBoys> [cid:d5651aaf-fcfd-463e-a719-e454f19ea81a] <https://www.facebook.com/CetaceanEcologyOrg/?__xts__[0]=68.ARBKlWSLR-YC7KHN…> [cid:5499a7e7-5ba0-4839-a610-63d0e17c60ea] <https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/explore/research/animal-veterinary/animal/m…> [cid:ea1adad6-a1c8-48e5-b42b-cd6159fa5812] www.cetaceanecology.org/<https://www.cetaceanecology.org/> Australia and New Zealand Student Chapter SMM Committee member European Cetacean Society National Contact Person for New Zealand

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New publication on temporal patterns in Otariid mother-pup communication
by Anna Osiecka 23 Jul '22

23 Jul '22

Dear all, My co-autors and me are happy to share our newest work, "Temporal patterns in Cape fur seal (*Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus*) mother and pup attraction calls". Please find the abstract and link to full text below. Best, Anna N Osiecka *Abstract:* Vocal recognition is widespread in the animal kingdom, and a necessary tool for offspring survival in some groups. Temporal patterns of animal vocalisations can facilitate communication and convey information such as identity, emotional state, or motivation of the caller. While pinniped (i.e., walrus, eared and true seals) vocalisations are generally well studied, and captive pinnipeds show strong timing abilities, little is known about the temporal structure of their calls in the wild. Here, we followed Cape fur seals (*Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus*) during spontaneous search efforts at the Cape Cross Seal Reserve in Namibia. To investigate the temporal and rhythmic patterning of Cape fur seal attraction calls, we analysed call bouts of 80 mothers and 148 pups. We assessed the relative vocal efforts undertaken by mothers and pups by calculating calling rates, inter-call intervals (periods of silence between vocalisations), and the total time spent calling per bout. To explore the rhythmic structure of the calls, we visualised their temporal patterns by plotting the calling events and frequency histograms of the inter-onset-intervals between each two consecutive vocalisations in a bout. A normalized Pairwise Variability Index was calculated for each individual to investigate underlying patterns and compared between mothers and pups. Pups produced more calls per search, vocalised at higher rates, and took shorter breaks between consecutive vocalisations than females. Even though female vocalisations were much longer, there was no significant difference in the total time females and pups spent vocalising per bout. All animals vocalised at seemingly random intervals, with no distinguishable rhythmic pattern, suggesting that these do not encode identity information during mother-pup reunions. However, numerical analysis showed a potential asynchronous patterning within the age classes, possibly used in anti-masking. Our results indicate that Cape fur seal females and pups invest their energy differently during a search, and while their total calling effort is comparable, reunions seem to be driven mostly by the young. *Full text available at*: https://www.belgianjournalofzoology.eu/BJZ/article/view/103

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Idelisa Bonnelley (1931-2022)
by Phil Clapham 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

It is with great sadness that we must report the death of Idelisa Bonnely de Calventi, the founder of marine biology in the Dominican Republic and the driving force behind much of that country’s marine mammal research. Idelisa Bonnelly de Calventi was born in the Dominican Republic in September 1931. Her fascination with marine biology was hindered by the lack of any relevant academic programs in her home country, so at the age of 22 she enrolled at Columbia University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in marine biology three years later; a Masters degree followed in 1961. The following year, Bonnelly returned to the Dominican Republic, where she taught the first courses in marine science at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. In 1966, she founded the Centro de Investigación de Biología Marina (CIBIMA), which became that nation’s leading institution in the field; she also established the Dominican Academy of Sciences in 1974. Idelisa was the recipient of numerous honors, both national and international. These included the Global 500 Roll of Honor of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Marie Curie Medal from UNESCO, and recognition as one of the ten most important women scientists in Latin America. She published extensively, and her work has been widely acknowledged as being influential for those working with the management and conservation of marine resources. In 1986, the Dominican Republic established the first humpback whale sanctuary in the world, focused on the North Atlantic’s largest breeding ground on Silver Bank (Banco de la Plata); Bonnelly was the initiator and primary driver behind this pioneering conservation action. The sanctuary has since been expanded to include other areas and additional marine mammal species. Those of us who had the privilege to work with this remarkable woman knew her not only for her considerable intellect and indefatigable drive, but also for her kindness, her wonderful sense of humor and her tremendous warmth. She was a generous hostess, and every meeting with her involved laughter; she was the kind of person who would always send you away smiling. Idelisa Bonnelly died on July 3rd of this year, aged 90, leaving behind a legacy of achievements in conservation and science that few can match. She will be greatly missed. -- Phillip J. Clapham, Ph.D. Seastar Scientific Inc. Vashon Island, WA

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Two new papers on reversal learning in seals
by Nicola Erdsack 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, my co-authors and I are pleased to announce two new publications on reversal learning in harbor seals: *Erdsack N, Dehnhardt G, Hanke FD (2022) Serial visual reversal learning in harbor seals (**/Phoca vitulina/**). Animal Cognition doi:10.1007/s10071-022-01653-1* Progressively improving performance in a serial reversal learning (SRL) test has been associated with higher cognitive abilities and has served as a measure for cognitive/behavioral flexibility. Although the cognitive and sensory abilities of marine mammals have been subject of extensive investigation, and numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species were tested, SRL studies in aquatic mammals are sparse. Particularly in pinnipeds, a high degree of behavioral flexibility seems probable as they face a highly variable environment in air and underwater. Thus, we tested four harbor seals in a visual two-alternative forced-choice discrimination task and its subsequent reversals. We found significant individual differences in performance. One individual was able to solve 37 reversals showing progressive improvement of performance with a minimum of 6 errors in reversal 33. Two seals mastered two reversals, while one animal had difficulties in learning the discrimination task and failed to complete a single reversal. In conclusion, harbor seals can master an SRL experiment; however, the performance is inferior to results obtained in other vertebrates in comparable tasks. Future experiments will need to assess whether factors such as the modality addressed in the experiment have an influence on reversal learning performance or whether indeed, during evolution, behavioral flexibility has not specifically been favored in harbor seals. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01653-1 *Niesterok B, Martin S, Hildebrand L, Dehnhardt G, Hanke FD (2022) Well-developed spatial reversal learning abilities in harbor seals (**/Phoca vitulina/**). Animal Cognition. doi:10.1007/s10071-022-01651-3* In this study, behavioral plasticity in harbor seals was investigated in spatial reversal learning tasks of varying complexities. We started with a classic spatial reversal learning experiment with no more than one reversal per day. The seals quickly learned the task and showed progressive improvement over reversals, one seal even reaching one-trial performance. In a second approach, one seal could complete multiple reversals occurring within a session. Again, a number of reversals were finished with only one error occurring at the beginning of a session as in experiment 1 which provides evidence that the seal adopted a strategy. In a final approach, reversals within a session were marked by an external cue. This way, an errorless performance of the experimental animal was achieved in up to three consecutive reversals. In conclusion, harbor seals master spatial, in contrast to visual, reversal learning experiments with ease. The underlying behavioral flexibility can help to optimize behaviors in fluctuating or changing environments. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-022-01651-3 Both studies are open access and published as part of a Special Issue on Marine Mammal Cognition. Best regards, Nicola Erdsack -- ********************************** Nicola Erdsack, Ph.D. Postdoc Manatee Research Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy Sarasota, FL 34236 phone +1-941-388-4441, ext. 248 cell +1-941-284-0708 erdsack(a)mote.org https://mote.org/staff/member/nicola-erdsack

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New publication: Predation in the Anthropocene: Harbour Seal Utilising Aquaculture Infrastructure as Refuge to Evade Foraging Killer Whales
by Hague, Emily 22 Jul '22

22 Jul '22

Dear MARMAMers, My co-authors and I are pleased to share our recent publication, which shares an observation recorded around Shetland, UK, of a harbour seal seeking refuge within the structure of a mussel farm, attempting to evade a group of foraging killer whales. This observation provides a fascinating example of how these two apex predators are 'living with' anthropogenic structures within the marine environment. The full article is open access, and can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.1578/AM.48.4.2022.380 (click the text 'Vol. 48, Iss. 4, Hague' which will then take you to the download page). [A picture containing water, outdoor, water sport, ocean Description automatically generated] Hague, E., McCaffrey, N., Shucksmith, R. & McWhinnie, L. (2022). Predation in the Anthropocene: Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) Utilising Aquaculture Infrastructure as Refuge to Evade Foraging Killer Whales (Orcinus orca). Aquatic Mammals, 48(4), pp380-393. DOI: 10.1578/AM.48.4.2022.380 Abstract: The rapid emergence of new marine developments (e.g., marine renewables, port infrastructure) alongside the substantial growth of existing industries has ultimately resulted in an unprecedented increase in anthropogenic structures within the marine environment over the previous century. Knowledge of whether marine species interact with, avoid, or accommodate and adapt to such structures is essential to ensure that further development of marine environments do not compromise conservation objectives of marine species. This article documents one such interaction. Herein, we describe the observation of a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) seeking refuge from a group of foraging killer whales (Orcinus orca) within a blue (aka common) mussel (Mytilus edulis) farm. Aerial video footage (38 min 27 s) was collected using an unmanned aerial system during an encounter at an aquaculture site in Dury Voe, Shetland, UK. Analysis of the footage showed the killer whale group spent 73.7% of the total encounter time exhibiting predatory associated behaviours and that they were observed interacting with the mussel farm infrastructure only during "predation activity" for a total of 26 min 52 s (72.8%). The harbour seal interacted with the mussel farm infrastructure during re- and proactive anti-predator behaviour and when exhibiting fatigue for 27 min 59 s, 94.4% of the total time the seal was observed. It is clear that both marine and terrestrial predator-prey interactions are increasingly occurring in settings that are in some way defined by the Anthropocene. The implications of this are discussed, including potential entanglement risk and human-altered "landscapes of fear." As comprehension of the potential effects of human-altered risk grows, such knowledge should be taken into consideration prior to further modification of marine habitats. With best wishes, Emily Hague (She/her/hers) PhD Researcher John Muir Building Riccarton, Edinburgh Heriot-Watt University Email: elh2001(a)hw.ac.uk<mailto:elh2001@hw.ac.uk> Twitter: @emilyhague<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.c…> Scottish Vessel Project: https://bit.ly/ScottishVesselProject<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F…> [cid:image001.jpg@01D89DB0.39A2DFD0] ________________________________ Founded in 1821, Heriot-Watt is a leader in ideas and solutions. With campuses and students across the entire globe we span the world, delivering innovation and educational excellence in business, engineering, design and the physical, social and life sciences. This email is generated from the Heriot-Watt University Group, which includes: 1. Heriot-Watt University, a Scottish charity registered under number SC000278 2. Heriot- Watt Services Limited (Oriam), Scotland's national performance centre for sport. Heriot-Watt Services Limited is a private limited company registered is Scotland with registered number SC271030 and registered office at Research & Enterprise Services Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS. The contents (including any attachments) are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of its contents is strictly prohibited, and you should please notify the sender immediately and then delete it (including any attachments) from your system.

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New publication: Repatriation of a historical North Atlantic right whale habitat during an era of rapid climate change
by Orla O'Brien 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Dear Marmam, My coauthors and I are pleased to announce our new publication in Scientific Reports: O’Brien, O., Pendleton, D.E., Ganley, L.C. , McKenna, K.R., Kenney, R.D., Quintana-Rizzo, E., Mayo, C.A., Kraus, S.D., Redfern, J.V. Repatriation of a historical North Atlantic right whale habitat during an era of rapid climate change. Sci Rep 12, 12407 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16200-8 Abstract: Climate change is affecting species distributions in space and time. In the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest-warming marine regions on Earth, rapid warming has caused prey-related changes in the distribution of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Concurrently, right whales have returned to historically important areas such as southern New England shelf waters, an area known to have been a whaling ground. We compared aerial survey data from two time periods (2013–2015; 2017–2019) to assess trends in right whale abundance in the region during winter and spring. Using distance sampling techniques, we chose a hazard rate key function to model right whale detections and used seasonal encounter rates to estimate abundance. The mean log of abundance increased by 1.40 annually between 2013 and 2019 (p = 0.004), and the mean number of individuals detected per year increased by 2.23 annually between 2013 and 2019 (R2 = 0.69, p = 0.001). These results demonstrate the current importance of this habitat and suggest that management options must continually evolve as right whales repatriate historical habitats and potentially expand to new habitats as they adapt to climate change. Best, Orla O’Brien Associate Scientist, EcoMap<https://www.andersoncabotcenterforoceanlife.org/our-work/programs/spatial-e…> Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium<https://www.andersoncabotcenterforoceanlife.org/> Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110 914-282-0708 She/her/hers [cid:61057f8f-a93d-4d62-aa56-59a601cd108f] This electronic message contains information from the New England Aquarium which may be privileged and confidential. The information is intended to be for the use of the addressee only. If you have received this communication in error, do not read or circulate it. Please delete it from your system without copying it or saving any attachments and notify the sender by reply e-mail. Thank you.

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Postdoc Opportunity in Marine Mammal eDNA at the University of Washington
by Kate Bertko 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Hello! We are looking for a postdoctoral scholar to join us at the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. This position is funded to work on a new grant from the Office of Naval Research as part of the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) awards. The project, entitled “MMARINeDNA: Marine Mammal Remote detection via INnovative environmental DNA sampling,” aims to understand the transport, persistence, and distribution of environmental DNA (eDNA) in marine environments from marine mammal targets. The postdoctoral fellow in this position will develop and analyze eDNA data, developing a statistical model to describe the fate and transport of marine mammal eDNA as a part of the larger MMARINeDNA project. The position will entail planning and conducting short field-sampling campaigns, as well as processing quantitative PCR and other eDNA data, but the main focus will be statistical modeling of those resulting data over space and time. The term is one year, renewable subject to performance and available funding; the larger MMARINeDNA project is funded for a five-year period. Please visit this link<https://ap.washington.edu/ahr/position-details/?job_id=97131> for more information and to apply for the position. Interested candidates are also welcome to email me directly at bertko(a)uw.edu<mailto:bertko@uw.edu> Kate Bertko Project Manager, MMARINeDNA School of Marine and Environmental Affairs bertko(a)uw.edu | 510.290.1229 Wallace Hall, 3737 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105 --

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New Publication: Evaluation of kurtosis to predict TTS in marine mammals (Sander von Benda-Beckmann)
by Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (Sander) von 21 Jul '22

21 Jul '22

Dear MARMAM community, My co-authors and I are pleased to share our recent publication in JASA, which is the first study to evaluate the applicability of using kurtosis for predicting risk of hearing effects in marine mammals. Evaluation of kurtosis-corrected sound exposure level as a metric for predicting onset of hearing threshold shifts in harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). A. M. von Benda-Beckmann, D. R. Ketten, F. P. A. Lam, C. A. F. de Jong, R. A. J. Müller, and R. A. Kastelein. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 152, 295 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0012364 Please send me an email if you'd like to receive a pdf copy of the paper. Best regards, Sander von Benda-Beckmann Senior Scientific Researcher, Acoustics & Sonar TNO, The Netherlands Email: sander.vonbendabeckmann(a)tno.nl<mailto:sander.vonbendabeckmann@tno.nl> This message may contain information that is not intended for you. If you are not the addressee or if this message was sent to you by mistake, you are requested to inform the sender and delete the message. TNO accepts no liability for the content of this e-mail, for the manner in which you use it and for damage of any kind resulting from the risks inherent to the electronic transmission of messages.

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New publication (Biological Conservation): An integrated strategy for monitoring cetaceans in data-poor regions (Mingming Liu)
by Mingming Liu 20 Jul '22

20 Jul '22

Dear Colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors, I would like to share you our recent publications as below, hope you are interested in this paper. Mingming Liu, Mingli Lin, Lijun Dong, Francesco Caruso, Songhai Li. (2022). An integrated strategy for monitoring cetaceans in data-poor regions. Biological Conservation, 272, 109648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109648 Abstract A fundamental issue in cetacean conservation is determining the occurrence, distribution, and habitat use of target species. However, these baselines are extremely deficient in many poorly investigated regions, making it challenging to inform conservation management initiatives. In this case study, we employed three complementary approaches to generate conservation baselines on a “Vulnerable” near-shore delphinid species, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, Sousa chinensis, in the waters southwest of Hainan (SW Hainan), China. First, in late 2013, we conducted large-scale local ecological knowledge (LEK) surveys with 510 Hainanese fishers. Our LEK findings revealed that SW Hainan was a previously underreported area with numerous fishermen encounters of humpback dolphins dating back to the 1970s. Second, from 2014 to 2019, we conducted monthly boat-based visual surveys in SW Hainan. Our sighting data verified the reliability of previous LEK findings and further confirmed the year-round occurrence and species dominance of humpback dolphins in SW Hainan. Third, we applied a supplementary approach (stationary passive acoustic monitoring, PAM) to monitor dolphin biosonar activities in the region. Our 10-site PAM dataset from February 2018 to June 2019 indicated spatiotemporal variations in dolphin click detections. To conclude, our findings, derived from multiple approaches, provide a scientific basis for cetacean conservation management and marine spatial planning on a regional scale. More generally, this study offers an integrated monitoring strategy consisting of three step-by-step approaches, which can help conservationists, especially those who work in data-deficient waters, obtain critical baseline data on cetaceans in an efficient, timely, and reliable way. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mingming Liu, PhD, Doctoral Research Fellow Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IDSSE, CAS) #28 Luhuitou Road, Sanya, 572000, China TEL: +86-13976199641 ReserachGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mingming_Liu16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One World, One Ocean. Let's protect our ocean.

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Job Opportunity: Florida Manatee and Marine Turtle Management
by Frederick, Christina 20 Jul '22

20 Jul '22

Greetings everyone, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking a Fisheries and Wildlife Biological Scientist IV to aid the Imperiled Species Management Section with developing conservation measures to reduce potential adverse impacts to species under the responsibility of the Section, with a focus on Florida manatee and marine turtle conservation. Please follow this link to the job posting to learn more about this opportunity: https://jobs.myflorida.com/job/TALLAHASSEE-FISHERIES-&-WILDLIFE-BIO-SCIENTI… Sincerely, Christina Phillips Frederick Environmental Commenting Program Manager Imperiled Species Management Section Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Email: Christina.Frederick(a)MyFWC.com<mailto:Christina.Frederick@MyFWC.com> Phone: 850-922-4330 620 South Meridian Street - 6A Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600

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