August 2022 - MARMAM - devlists.uvic.ca

New Publication: Large whale occurrence in northeastern Chukchi and southern Beaufort Seas from vessel surveys, 2008 to 2014
by Kate Lomac-MacNair 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Dear MARMAM Community, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new publication in *Northwestern Naturalist*: Lomac-MacNair, K., Wisdom, S., De Andrade, J. P., Stepanuk, J. E., Anderson, M., Zoidis, A., & Esteves, E. (2022). Large whale occurrence in northeastern Chukchi and southern Beaufort Seas from vessel surveys, 2008-2014. *Northwestern Naturalist*, 103(2), 136-153. https://doi.org/10.1898/NWN21-11 ABSTRACT With global climate change and increasing ocean-based human activities, large whales face novel challenges in the Arctic seas. Understanding and assessing large whale occurrence and the links between occurrence and environmental variables in this region is a key issue in current management and conservation strategies for Arctic marine mammal species. During the Chukchi Sea Environmental Studies Program, large whale occurrence data were collected from vessel surveys during >56,909 km of observation effort in summer and autumn, 2008 to 2014, in the northeastern Chukchi, southern Beaufort, and Bering Seas. The most-recorded species were the Bowhead (*Balaena mysticetus*) and Gray (*Eschrichtius robustus*) Whales. Subarctic species recorded included the Humpback Whale (*Megaptera novaeangliae*), Fin Whale (*Balaenoptera physalus*), and Minke Whale (*Balaenoptera acutorostrata*). Sightings data were analyzed with respect to environmental variables: sea-surface temperature (SST), depth (m), and distance from shore (km), by month and year. Investigating occurrence associations with environmental parameters is a key element for predicting large whale trends in these Arctic seas and for understanding marine mammals as sentinels of oceanic shifts. Our paper is available online: https://doi.org/10.1898/NWN21-11 Or via e-mail request: klomacmacnair(a)gmail.com Cheers, Kate Lomac-MacNair, PhD

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New publication: National action plan for the conservation of aquatic mammals in Colombia 2022-2035
by Isabel Cristina Avila 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Dear colleagues We are pleased to share with you our new publication of the National action plan for the conservation of aquatic mammals in Colombia 2022-2035: Trujillo, F., Caicedo, D., Diazgranados, M.C. & *I.C. Avila.* 2022. Plan de Acción Nacional para la Conservación de los Mamíferos Acuáticos de Colombia 2022-2035. In: Avello-Castiblanco, G.C., González-Delgadillo, A.M., Quintero-Gil, J.A. (Eds.) Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, Bogotá, DC. Colombia. 96p. ISBN: 978-958-5551-82-4.. Abstract: This Plan proposes strategies and concrete actions for the preservation, recovery, sustainable use and knowledge of the populations of aquatic mammals that inhabit the marine and continental waters of Colombia (South America) in relation to the main threats identified in the national territory. We have structured it around five strategic lines and each of them brings together the lines of action adapted to the needs identified during the construction of this document: (i) research and monitoring; (ii) sustainable management; (iii) information and disclosure; (iv) education, training and participation, and v) a last strategic line focused on political regulations and institutional strengthening. The book is available in this link: https://omacha.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Plan-accion-nacional-conserva… For further or additional information please contact me, thank you, Isabel Avila -- Dr. Isabel Cristina Avila Jiménez Marine Biologist PhD in Environmental Sciences Research Associate of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Hannover, Germany Research member (*ad honorem*) of the Animal Ecology group, Universidad del Valle, Colombia E-mails: isabel_c_avila(a)yahoo.com / isabelc.avila(a)gmail.com http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1389-8908 https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-c-avila-j-68983b34/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Isabel_Avila2 https://www.tiho-hannover.de/itaw/beschaeftigte/beschaeftigte-buesum/isabel…

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IMMS Animal care and training internship (winter)
by Jennifer Pishnyuk 02 Aug '22

02 Aug '22

Looking for a winter internship? The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, MS is accepting applications for our winter term. *The deadline for applications is Sept 2.* Please visit our website for details on how to apply or send questions to jpishnyuk(a)imms.org https://imms.org/internship/ The IMMS Animal Training Internship Program is designed as a way for students/individuals interested in a career in animal care and training to gain valuable experience in a real-world setting. Interns will primarily be trained in aspects of animal care, but will also participate in other activities at IMMS. Our goal is to give interns a well-rounded experience in a variety of areas while providing expert training and experience. The IMMS animal care and training staff is in charge of caring for Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, and large parrots. Interns will work directly with animal care staff and be exposed to all aspects of the daily routine. Heavy emphasis is placed on basic tasks such as food preparation, and daily cleaning and facility maintenance. Interns will learn how to train animals with operant conditioning through observation and may assist during sessions. Interns will also complete a project during their internship, as well as help staff with daily water quality. Because we want interns to have a well-rounded experience, they will also be asked to assist in other departments. Interns may participate as 1) environmental educators and assist in giving presentations to the public, 2) research assistants that help with our many wild dolphin based research studies, or 3) emergency responders as IMMS is part of the Southeast Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network and responds to stranded marine mammals and sea turtles. Interested applicants must follow the directions listed on the website to apply. Interns must be: • 18 years or older. • A recent graduate or actively pursuing a college degree in the sciences. • Willing to accept the internship as an unpaid position. • Able to commit to a minimum of at least 12 weeks, 40 hours a week. The internship can be extended depending on work performance. • Available to work weekdays, weekends, and holidays. • Able to lift 50 lbs, work long hours on your feet, and work outside in extreme conditions. • Able to maintain a positive attitude, good work ethic, sense of responsibility, and a strong willingness to learn. • Financially stable enough to obtain housing and transportation, though IMMS staff will do their best to assist you in making arrangements. • Able to comply with IMMS rules and regulations.

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New publications on Rice's whales
by Melissa Soldevilla - NOAA Federal 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

Dear colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors, I'm happy to share our two new publications on Rice's whales from the Gulf of Mexico. 1. Melissa S. Soldevilla, Katrina Ternus, Ashley Cook, John A. Hildebrand, Kaitlin E. Frasier, Anthony Martinez, and Lance P. Garrison , "Acoustic localization, validation, and characterization of Rice's whale calls", The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 151, 4264-4278 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0011677 ABSTRACT: The recently named Rice's whale in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most endangered whales in the world, and improved knowledge of spatiotemporal occurrence patterns is needed to support their recovery and conservation. Passive acoustic monitoring methods for determining spatiotemporal occurrence patterns require identifying the species' call repertoire. Rice's whale call repertoire remains unvalidated though several potential call types have been identified. This study uses sonobuoys and passive acoustic tagging to validate the source of potential call types and to characterize Rice's whale calls. During concurrent visual and acoustic surveys, acoustic-directed approaches were conducted to obtain visual verifications of sources of localized sounds. Of 28 acoustic-directed approaches, 79% led to sightings of balaenopterid whales, of which 10 could be positively identified to species as Rice's whales. Long-moan calls, downsweep sequences, and tonal-sequences are attributed to Rice's whales based on these matches, while anthropogenic sources are ruled out. A potential new call type, the low-frequency downsweep sequence, is characterized from tagged Rice's whale recordings. The validation and characterization of the Rice's whale call repertoire provides foundational information needed to use passive acoustic monitoring for better understanding and conservation of these critically endangered whales. 2. Soldevilla, M.S., Debich, A.J., Garrison, L.P., Hildebrand, J.A., & Wiggins, S.M. (2022). Rice’s whales in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico: Call variation and occurrence beyond the known core habitat. Endangered Species Research, 48:155-174. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01196 ABSTRACT: The endangered Rice’s whale *Balaenoptera ricei*, with fewer than 100 individuals remaining, is the only year-round resident baleen whale found in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and occurs primarily along the northeastern shelf break near De Soto Canyon. Historical whaling records and predictive density modeling suggest that these whales potentially could occur more broadly throughout the GOM. High levels of anthropogenic activities in the GOM, including oil and gas exploration and extraction, fisheries, shipping, and the unprecedented *Deepwater Horizon* oil spill, highlight the need to better understand the distribution, ecology, and threats to this small population to improve protection of these endangered whales. We used long-term passive acoustic recordings from the northwestern GOM shelf break to explore the extent of Rice’s whale distribution in the northern GOM and to evaluate whether they exhibit seasonal movements throughout this range. We describe 6 new stereotyped variants of Rice’s whale long-moan calls, found predominantly in the western GOM, that share distinctive features with typical eastern long-moans, including a 150 Hz starting tone, an approximately 100 Hz tail with amplitude modulation, and a long call duration ranging from 10 to 35 s. Western long-moan variants were detected at 3 northwestern sites, occurring sporadically throughout the year on as many as 16% of days at the westernmost site, and infrequently at an eastern core-habitat site. These results indicate that some whales persistently occur over a broader range in the GOM than previously understood, which is important to consider when designating critical habitat and assessing threats to this Critically Endangered species. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Best wishes, Melissa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Melissa Soldevilla, PhD Research Fishery Biologist Marine Mammal & Turtle Division NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, FL 33149

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Underwater Noise in the Marine Environment Course 4 DAY Training Course - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
by Sam Nichols 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

Underwater Noise in the Marine Environment Course - Registration Now Open! Seiche Training offers world-class training for individuals and companies in the UK and around the globe. Delivered by renowned university academics and experts in their field, we're pleased to announce that registration is open to our 'Underwater Noise in the Marine Environment course'. Underwater noise in the marine environment is a topic of increasing importance. As concern has grown over its possible negative effects, regulatory requirements have been more stringent. Our four-day course (5 - 8 September 2022) is designed to help delegates understand the noise issues that impact marine wildlife and is delivered by leading research experts including Dr Paul Lepper and Professor Victor Humphrey. The course is CPD recognised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and is run in association with the University of Bath. Who is it for? Ideal if you're a regulator, environmental consultant, researcher, policy or environmental professional who needs to understand the regulatory environment. Course Fee £1750 GBP excluding VAT. Want to find out more? For further information, or to secure your place, go to https://www.seiche.com/seichetraining/underwater-acoustics-marine-environme… or email training(a)seiche.com<mailto:training@seiche.com> Sam Nichols Group Marketing Director Seiche Water Technology Group Ltd T: +44(0)1409 404050 M: +44(0)759 1207572 E: s.nichols(a)seiche.com W: https://www.seiche.com Bradworthy Industrial Estate, Langdon Road, Bradworthy, Holsworthy, Devon, EX22 7SF, United Kingdom Registered in England & Wales No. 10210943, Registered Office: Bradworthy Industrial Estate, Langdon Road, Bradworthy, Holsworthy, Devon, EX22 7SF, United Kingdom 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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Job vacancy: Marine Mammal Scientist - Falkland Islands - closes 22 August
by Al Baylis 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

What: Marine Mammal Scientist (pinnipeds) Where: Falkland Islands Duration: 2.5 years Salary: starting at £38,288 Closing date: 22 August SAERI is hiring a Marine Mammal Scientist based in the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands is a wildlife wonderspot, which offers a fantastic lifestyle and a low cost of living. The Marine Mammal Scientist role is wide ranging, but includes modelling factors that could help predict seal bycatch, tracking seals to understand how and when they overlap with fishing effort, stable isotope analysis to understand trends dietary over time, and building trophodynamic models - all to better understand seal-fishery interactions. While the Marine Mammal Scientists might have expertise in one or more of these areas, they will also have the support of existing staff. The project is in partnership with Falkland Islands Government (DNR-Fisheries) and industry (FIFCA - Falkland Islands Fishing Companies Association). The start date is negotiable, but ideally October 2022. SAERI offers a dynamic working environment with opportunities to develop exciting research and collaborations locally and internationally, in what is considered to be a scientific ‘frontier’ region. To apply please visit https://www.south-atlantic-research.org/jobs/ Feel free to email me with any questions. Sincerely Al Dr Alastair Baylis Deputy Director - Science South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) s: al.baylis t: + 500 27374 m: +500 56667 https://www.south-atlantic-research.org/ twitter: @SAERI_FI @al_baylis facebook: S4ERI This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If you have received this email in error you must not use, copy, distribute, disseminate or disclose the information contained in it. Please notify us immediately, delete the email from your computer system, and destroy any hard copies you may have created.

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Xenobalanus on flukes
by Sofía Ten 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

Dear colleagues, we are currently investigating the distribution of the barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis on the flukes of several cetacean species. This study follows our previous work: 1. Moreno-Colom et al. (2020). Spatial distribution and aggregation of Xenobalanus globicipitis on the flukes of striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba: An indicator of host hydrodynamics? Marine Mammal Science, 36(3). doi: 10.1111/mms.12691 2. Carrillo et al. (2015). Living on the edge: Settlement patterns by the symbiotic barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis on small cetaceans. PLoS ONE, 10(6):e0127367. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127367 We thus ask this community whether you could share photographs of the tail flukes (both dorsal and ventral sides) of cetaceans. Any cetacean species would be of great interest. If possible, photos should include a scale. Photos and/or videos of cetaceans swimming would also be helpful. Thanks in advance! Cheers, Javier Aznar and Sofía Ten (from the Marine Zoology Unit of the University of Valencia, Spain)

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New publication: Deciphering Eurasian otter, harbour seal and grey seal diet using metabarcoding. (Eileen Heße & Joy O. Boyi)
by timid-soap-0c＠icloud.com 01 Aug '22

01 Aug '22

Topic: New publication: Deciphering Eurasian otter, harbour seal and grey seal diet using metabarcoding. (Eileen Heße & Joy O. Boyi) Dear MARMAMers, Our co-authors and ourselves are very pleased to announce our recent publication in Molecular Ecology which has evaluated the diet of Eurasian otters, harbour seals and grey seals using metabarcoding. Boyi, J. O., Heße, E., Rohner, S., Siebert, U., Gilles, A., & Lehnert, K. (2022). Deciphering Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra L.) and seal (Phoca vitulina L.; Halichoerus grypus F.) diet: metabarcoding tailored for fresh and saltwater fish species. Molecular Ecology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16635 <https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16635> Abstract: Long-lived top predators shape biodiversity structure in their ecosystems and predator-prey interactions are critical in decoding how communities function. Studies on the foraging ecology of seals and Eurasian otters in Western Europe are outdated and most studies solely performed traditional hard part analysis. Molecular metabarcoding can be used as an innovative non-invasive diet analysis tool, which has proven efficient and complementary to hard part analysis, however lacking application in the wider North Sea area. In this study, DNA from digesta, collected between 2014-2020, were used to identify fish species in the diet of 47 Eurasian otters, 54 harbour seals and 21 grey seals by applying a next-generation metabarcoding approach. A newly designed 16S rRNA primer, providing the best coverage of >130 local marine and freshwater fish species, was used to amplify prey DNA from seal scats and otter gut content sampled from the North Sea and regional freshwater bodies. Frequent fish species included tench, ninespine stickleback and white bream in otters; hooknose and common roach in grey seals and Pleuronectidae and sand gobies in harbour seals. Bipartite network analysis showed a strong overlap of harbour and grey seal diets. Otter diet intersected with both seal species in terms of freshwater species. This study provides new knowledge about dietary composition and community assemblage of fish prey in otters and seals in the North Sea and regional freshwaters, and a new molecular tool to elucidate predator-prey interactions and interspecies competition in complex and changing ecosystems under pressure from anthropogenic activities. The publication is freely available open access here: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16635 <https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16635> Please do contact us if you have any questions (eileen.hesse(a)tiho-hannover.de <mailto:eileen.hesse@tiho-hannover.de> or joy.ometere.boyi(a)tiho-hannover.de <mailto:joy.ometere.boyi@tiho-hannover.de>). Thank you very much, Eileen & Joy On behalf of all the co-authors ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eileen Heße Research associate & PhD candidate ITAW | Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research University for Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation eileen.hesse(a)tiho-hannover.de <mailto:eileen.hesse@tiho-hannover.de>

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New publication: Integration of a social cluster of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) after a large immigration event in 2013
by Cindy Elliser 31 Jul '22

31 Jul '22

Dear colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors, I am happy to announce our recent publication in Marine Mammal Science: *Integration of a social cluster of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) after a large immigration event in 2013. * Cindy R. Elliser, Cassandra L. Volker and Denise L. Herzing Article link: http://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12960 *A presentation on this paper at the SMM2022 conference will be on Monday afternoon during the Behavior - Human Impacts (B2) session.* Abstract: Demographic changes can result in alterations of social structure and behavior which in turn may affect survival, reproduction, or movement and may influence how populations respond to changes in the environment. In 2013, 52 Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) left Little Bahama Bank (LBB) and immigrated into a resident group of spotted dolphins on Grand Bahama Bank (GBB). Initially there was little interaction and two distinct social clusters delineated by residency status. Here we describe the social structure of the dolphins on GBB between 2015–2020. Analyses were conducted with SOCPROG 2.9 and coefficients of association were nonrandom. The number of associations between LBB and GBB individuals increased, and standardized lagged association rates indicated continued associations over time. Modularity analysis showed one community without clear social clusters, although there were preferential associations within the original communities. Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure indicated that sex, age, and residency status were good predictor variables that explained the patterns of the association indices. Male alliances were present between LBB, GBB, and LBB/GBB males. New and old relationships are influencing the social restructuring of this community. This study furthers our understanding of how demographic changes can shape the social structure of a population. Please 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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