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Under/graduate research opportunity: orca acoustics
by Scott Veirs 11 Mar '06

11 Mar '06

Explore the Pacific Northwest and sail through beautiful marine ecosystems. Practice being a scientist and a leader. Analyze environmental problems and act to solve them. Gain 18 science credits. Join Beam Reach, a sustainability science school focused on the marine environment: http://beamreach.org/apply.html For 10 weeks this fall (Aug21-Oct30, 2006) we will study orcas, acoustics, and sustainable technology in the San Juan Islands. Our curriculum guides you through the design of your own research project during 5-6 weeks of training in marine biology and oceanography at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. Dynamic teachers help you conduct your research during 4-5 weeks of sailing with the whales. Available instruments include a fixed hydrophone array, boat-based hydrophones, an ROV, and active sonar. We will also study the humans who affect and assess the orcas. Come meet local community members, observe the development of the recovery plan for a high-profile threatened species, and experience sustainable technologies that can reduce human impacts on the whales. Then collaborate with your classmates to plan and realize a service project that mitigates an acoustic impact on the orcas. Previous class web site: http://beamreach.org/051/ Questions: Dr. Scott Veirs, admissions(a)beamreach.org This research opportunity is part of an academic study-away program. Participation requires application, acceptance, and tuition payment. Financial aid is available. Beam Reach courses are approved for credit through the University of Washington.

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Manatees/Colombia
by Catalina Gomez-Salazar 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Dear All, We are currently developing a project dealing with conservation and management of the manatee species Trichechus manatus in the Caribbean (Colombia). We are interested in purchasing a satellite transmitter that can be attached to the animals and may retrieve information on habitat use and distribution. We would appreciate if you could point us to a seller of the latter kind of equipment? Many thanks, Catalina Gomez Researcher Omacha Foundation www.omacha.org <mailto:Catalina@omacha.org> catalina(a)omacha.org

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New research available on the Organisation Cetacea website
by dylanwalker＠homecall.co.uk 10 Mar '06

10 Mar '06

Dear all, The following research papers are now available at the website of Organisation Cetacea (ORCA). They can be viewed by clicking on the link below and then going to the “Downloads” page on the menu bar: http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/index.html Masters Thesis: Using Oceanographic Features to Predict Areas of High Cetacean Diversity Dylan Walker Abstract Current conservation legislation is focused on prioritising areas of high species diversity.Despite this, most oceanic habitats, particularly offshore, remain poorly studied and have received little protection. This study used oceanographic and physiographic features to predict areas of high cetacean diversity. Strong links have been identified between the distribution of cetaceans, their prey, and a suite of physiographic and oceanographic variables (e.g. Murase et al. 2002, Tynan et al. 2005). Cetacean diversity was therefore predicted using a cumulative environmental scoring system (CES) for the features depth (m), slope (°), chlorophyll-a (mg/m3), and frontal significance (arbitrary value) present within a series of pre-set study squares. The predictive power of the CES was tested using Simpson’s Diversity Index (SDI) scores derived from an extensive combined cetacean database from the eastern North Atlantic. Data for 18 species (approximately a quarter of the world’s cetacean diversity) was provided by Organisation Cetacea (ORCA) and Brittany Ferries Surveys (BFS). Results showed that a significant positive correlation only existed between depth and SDI scores (rs38 = 0.336, p <0.05), and between slope and SDI scores (rs38 = 0.370, p<0.05). Further analysis involving SDI scores for species groups ‘baleen whales’, ‘dolphins’, and ‘beaked whales and sperm whale’ revealed that only the ‘dolphins’ group showed a significant positive correlation with depth (Rs38 = 0.422, p = 0.009) and slope (Rs38 = 0.538, p = 0.001). This study is the first of its kind to use remotely gathered environmental variables to predict cetacean diversity, and in so doing, has highlighted a significant relationship between shelf-break habitats with high slope and depth characteristics and high dolphin diversity. Although a number of limitations exist, this research illustrates the potential value of CES as a tool in conservation management, thereby identifying a need for the further development of this concept. Posters submitted to the European Research on Cetaceans 19. Proc. 19th Ann. Conf. ECS. La Rochelle, France. April 2005. European Cetacean Society: The Distribution of Fin Whales in the Bay of Biscay in relation to Bathymetry and Sea Surface Temperature. Farah Chaudry, Nicola Clark, Neal Reay, Ronan Scullion, & Kelly Macleod Abstract Despite being one of the most abundant species in the North Atlantic, very little is known about the distribution of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in relation to oceanographic parameters, including bathymetry and sea surface temperature (SST). Fin whale distribution peaked in August (58.5% of sightings). Mean SST at sighting locations (July – October) was 20.24°C (n = 470, SD = 1.01°C), with a mean depth of sightings at 3350.0m (n = 470, SD = 1049.2m). There was a significant positive correlation between the number of sightings with increasing depth (250m intervals) (Pearson correlation = 0.520, p = 0.027) and between number of sightings and increasing temperature (0.5 °C intervals) (Pearson correlation = 0.744, p = 0.006). Fin whales in the Bay of Biscay show a preference for deep waters off the continental shelf region. Substantial changes in depth over small areas may encourage upwelling of cold, nutrient rich waters to the surface, enhancing productivity. While there appears to be a significant correlation between fin whale sightings and SST, these increased temperatures may induce the high productivity of prey, rather than having a direct impact on whale abundance or distribution. Although the euphausiid bloom occurs in April, fin whales do not aggregate until July, when euphausiids are large enough to become attractive prey. Future studies should focus on primary productivity in the region, and the effect of food on the migration of fin whales to the Bay in the summer months. Further studies should be carried out with expanded survey effort into the south-western shelf region of the Bay of Biscay. Mapping Cetacean Biodiversity in the Bay of Biscay Dylan Walker, Marde McHenry, Ronan Hickey, Steffania Clemente, Nel Beaumont, & Kelly Macleod. Abstract One aim of current conservation research is to prioritise areas with high species diversity for protection (Purvis and Hector 2000). Diversity indices have rarely been applied to cetaceans due to a lack of survey effort in offshore areas where the majority of species occur. These habitats are, however, known to be threatened by the effects of anthropogenic impacts such as overfishing, fisheries bycatch, and pollution. We utilized the Organisation Cetacea (ORCA) openaccess database incorporating 4500 cetacean sightings over a wide geographical area including shelf, slope and oceanic habitats in order to map and compare cetacean biodiversity by habitat within the Bay of Biscay and English Channel. The study area was divided into quarter ICES squares and divided into three habitats based on depth. The number of species occurring in each box was ascertained and a Biodiversity Index (BI) score was developed that attributed the highest scores to the species occurring in the least number of squares. The lowest BI was found in the shelf habitat (5.20). The values for oceanic and slope habitats were 10.53 and 13.31 respectively. Slope habitat was found to have had a significantly greater BS than shelf habitat (p 0.0001). No significant difference was found between the oceanic habitat and either of the other habitats. The results indicate that oceanic, and particularly slope areas, support a higher diversity of cetaceans than shelf waters. All 20 existing and 30 proposed Marine Protected Areas in the Northeast Atlantic are in shelf waters. However, our results indicate that this habitat is likely to have relatively low cetacean diversity. We therefore recommend that greater emphasis be placed on slope and oceanic regions for marine conservation. For further information please contact Dylan Walker by email at: dylanwalker(a)homecall.co.uk or visit the ORCA website at: www.orcaweb.org.uk

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Research Staff Position - Dolphin Research Center
by Emily 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

Dolphin Research Center (DRC) currently has one full-time opening for Research Staff. DRC is a not-for-profit education and research facility located on Grassy Key, Florida, and home to 16 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and 2 California sea lions. Current investigations involve cognition and behavior of the dolphins and sea lions that reside permanently at DRC. More information about the facility can be found at www.dolphins.org. Requirements: Computer skills, including familiarity with Excel/spreadsheet and MS Word. Familiarity with electronic equipment including video, VCR, and DVD. Must work well individually, be organized, flexible, and goal oriented. Must take direction easily and be a team player Must be able to lift 50 lbs. Must be able to build and/or modify research equipment using common materials, such as PVC pipe Previous research experience or animal background is helpful College degree preferred Duties: This is an entry level position and the primary job is to support the department with on-going research projects at DRC. This position reports to the Research Coordinator. Duties include, but are not limited to: Equipment set-up, operation, and breakdown for research sessions Troubleshooting and maintenance of research equipment Behavioral data collection Preparation of meeting minutes Data entry Video dubbing and organization Coaching and supervision of research interns Assistance with public programs, such as Researcher For A Day Assisting wherever needed to keep research on track and progressing smoothly To Apply : DRC offers a professional yet casual environment, competitive salary and excellent benefits, including medical, life, and disability insurance, a 401(k) plan, and paid vacation, holiday and sick leave. If interested, please email your resume to drc-hr(a)dolphins.org [Please note: if emailing your resume, please submit it in one of the following formats: .doc, .rtf or .txt], or mail resume to: Dolphin Research Center Attn: Human Resources Coordinator 58901 Overseas Hwy. Grassy Key, FL 33050-6019 Emily Guarino Research Coordinator Dolphin Research Center

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American Society of Mammalogists - Conservation Awards Nomination Deadline - 15 March 2006
by Daniel K. Odell 09 Mar '06

09 Mar '06

NOMINATIONS FOR THE ALDO LEOPOLD AND WILLIAM T. HORNADAY CONSERVATION AWARDS In 2002, the American Society of Mammalogists established 2 new conservation awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. The first award, the Aldo Leopold Award, is awarded to a well-established individual who has made a lasting scientific contribution to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. Previous Aldo Leopold Award recipients were E. O. Wilson (2003), R. A. Mittermeier (2004), and G. B. Schaller (2005). The second award, the William T. Hornaday Award, is awarded to a current undergraduate or graduate student who has made a significant scientific contribution as a student to the conservation of mammals and their habitats. Previous Hornaday Award winners were Brent Sewall (2004) and Isabel Beasley (2005). The recipient of each award will have contributed substantially to (1) the conservation of 1 or more mammalian species, subspecies, or populations, (2) to the conservation of mammalian assemblages and communities, and/or (3) to advancing the field of conservation biology through focal research on mammals. Those contributing to the conservation of land and/or marine mammals are eligible for consideration. We interpret "contribution" broadly to include (1) scientific research or political activism that has resulted in the preservation of an imperiled species; (2) development of protective management recommendations; (3) acquisition of new knowledge regarding the conservation status or causes for declines of mammalian species or populations; (4) the protection of significant mammalian habitat; or (5) promotion of the conservation of mammals through public education. All persons are invited to submit nominations for these awards. For each award, the nomination packet should include: 1. A brief (2 pages maximum) narrative that introduces and describes the conservation activities of the nominee; 2. A list of relevant journal articles, government and NGO reports, newspaper clippings, and other materials that chronicle and corroborate the conservation-related activities of the nominee; 3. Contact information for the nominator and nominee; 4. Supporting material: Aldo Leopold Award --include the 3 pieces of corroborative literature that most succinctly and directly describe the nominee's contributions to mammalian conservation. William T. Hornaday Award--include letters of recommendation from 2 individuals familiar with the nominee's conservation activities. One of these letters must be from the student's research advisor. Electronic submissions of nominations and supporting documents are strongly encouraged. Completed nomination packets should be sent to Steven R. Sheffield, Department of Natural Sciences, Bowie State University, 14000 Jericho Park Dr., Bowie, MD 20715, USA; srsheffield(a)comcast.net; (301) 860-3309. The deadline for submission of completed nominations is 15 March 2006. Recipients of these awards will be announced during the banquet at the annual ASM meeting. ------------------------------------------------- Submitted by: Daniel K. Odell <dodell(a)cfl.rr.com>

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Vale Dr Peter Arnold
by John Hooper 08 Mar '06

08 Mar '06

Dear Marine Mammal List subscribers. It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death of our colleague and one of your list members, Dr Peter William Arnold, in Townsville on Tuesday. Peter was Senior Curator, Tropical Natural History, at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, a superb marine scientist with a wide range of expertise, a fountain of knowledge which he was always willing to share with all, and an active contributor to the taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of marine mammals. Some of you may be aware that Peter and colleagues recently published two new articles in the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum on dwarf minke whales and torqual whales. The illustrations in the printed version were very disappointing, but are much better in the PDFs. We are about to publish this journal online (in addition to maintaining a hard copy version of the journal), and although not actually up online yet, they will soon appear for downloading at the following URL (at no cost). We will eventually place online the backlog of Memoirs publications to about 1999 (which is about the time we started making PDFs prior to printing), and resources permitting, scanning earlier articles and placing them online as well. http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/organisation/publications/journals.asp <http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/organisation/publications/journals.asp> Hopefully the latest issue will be up within the next couple of weeks I am sure that Peter would be pleased that we are now attempting to disseminate our research as widely as possible and at no cost to the research community. Finally, I would be most grateful if the list-server administrator would remove Peter's email address from the MARMAM list. Vale Peter Arnold Regards, John Hooper ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ Dr John N.A. Hooper, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Qld, 4101, Australia, Phone +61-7-3840-7722, fax +61-7-3846-1226, www.Qmuseum.qld.gov.au <http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/> Head of Biodiversity & Geosciences Programs & Director Queensland Centre for Biodiversity Adjunct Professor, Natural Products Discovery, GriffithUniversity & Adjunct Assoc. Professor, Dept. Integrative Biology, The University of Queensland ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ "The Queensland Museum is valued as an innovative, exciting and accessible museum of science, environment and human experience of international standing"

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Tailwalking
by Matthew Hancock 08 Mar '06

08 Mar '06

To whom it may concern, I'm an instructor in the Mathematics Dept. at MIT, and over the past year we've been collecting video footage of dolphins and other marine mammals tailwalking. We have gathered considerable data for dolphins between 2 and 3 meters in length, and have found that larger mammals such as false killer whales cannot maintain the bulk of their bodies out of water. In an attempt to extend the range of our data, we seek video footage of tailwalking or tail standing by marine mammals that are approximately 1.5 meters long or less (the shorter the better). If you have video footage of marine mammals longer than 3 m that can tail-walk, we would love to see that too. Prof. John Bush, Prof. Frank Fish, and I are collaborators on this study. Our hypothesis is that the ability to tail-walk depends mainly on the length of the animal, and that there is some intermediate length range over which a mammal can perform this behavior. We wish to assess the extent of this length range of marine mammals that can tail-walk. Thanks in advance for your help. Matt _______________________________________________________________ Dr. Matthew J. Hancock Instructor in Applied Mathematics Department of Mathematics, Room 2-339 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA web.mit.edu/~hancock/www/ | hancock(a)mit.edu | (617) 253-1715

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Swim with whale tourism
by Jeremy KISZKA 08 Mar '06

08 Mar '06

Dear colleagues, I am actually compiling information on swim with whale tourism throughout the world, especially regulations, codes of conduct as well as scientific reports/papers related to this topic (particularly impact assessment). A review on the situation of the activity has been reported to the IWC scientific commitee in 2005 (Rose et al., 2005) and many regulations/codes of conduct exist throughout the world. This work should contribute to the management of the growing whale and dolphin watching activity in the lagoon of Mayotte (Mozambique Channel, Indian Ocean). Many thanks in advance for your contribution, Jeremy KISZKA (jeremy.kiszka(a)wanadoo.fr) *************************************************************** Jeremy KISZKA Observatoire des Mammifères Marins de Mayotte. Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Direction de l'Agriculture et de la Forêt, BP 104, F-97600 Mamoudzou, MAYOTTE (FRANCE). Tel. 02.69.61.12.82 GSM. 02.69.69.42.42

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Odontocete tooth spacing data
by Cormac Booth 08 Mar '06

08 Mar '06

Dear MARMAMers I am looking for information/data on tooth-spacings for three odontocete species: short-finned pilot whales, killer whales, and adult and young sperm whales. Specifically, I am interested in the actual inter-tooth spacings and if possible how they vary throughout the jawline. This is for a study on scarring on sperm whale flukes. If you can help with actual measurements, or can point me to relevant publications, I would be very grateful and please get in touch at <cormac(a)mcs.st-and.ac.uk> Thanks very much. Best regards, Cormac Booth

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New publications week 8
by Jan Herrmann 07 Mar '06

07 Mar '06

Dear all, here are some new publications of week 08 / 2006, which haven't been announced on MARMAM earlier AFAIK. By clicking the following link you are guided to a website, where the following references are linked to their according journal homepages. There you can find abstracts and contact information: http://www.mmbib.com/news.html Please do not contact MARMAM, the MARMAM editors or me for reprints. Thank you. Kindest Regards, Jan Herrmann CETACEA Allen, R.C. and I. Keay (2006): Bowhead Whales in the Eastern Arctic, 1611-1911: Population Reconstruction with Historical Whaling. Environment and History 12(1): 89-113. David, J.A. (2006): Likely sensitivity of bottlenose dolphins to pile-driving noise. Water and Environment Journal 20(1): 48-54. Delong, C.M. et al. (2006): Acoustic features of objects matched by an echolocating bottlenose dolphin. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 119(3): 1867-1879. Suzuki, R., J.R. Buck, and P.L. Tyack (2006): Information entropy of humpback whale songs. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 119(3): 1849-1866. -- --> jan.herrmann -at - cetacea.de

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