We are seeking collaborations with researchers working on the behavioural ecology of cetaceans around the world. The long term goal of the collaborations is to develop research to determine sustainable levels of whalewatching. For the past 25 years, a large number of studies have investigated the effects of whalewatching on cetaceans and their potential impacts. From this body of work there is a consensus emerging that “the fitness of individual Odontocetes repeatedly exposed to whalewatching vessel traffic can be compromised and that this can lead to population level effects” (IWC 2006). There is currently no consensus on mysticetes. The IWC Scientific Committee has strongly encouraged the development of research, particularly on large whales, to determine sustainable levels of whalewatching. To this end we are developing a large-scale research programme (Large-scale Whale-watching Experiment – LaWE) with the goal of providing scientific advice to determine sustainable levels of whalewatching. This IWC initiative has been developed to assess how whalewatching exposure can interact with the life history strategies of the targeted individuals and the ecological conditions of their habitat to lead to population-level consequences. We have developed a research programme proposal with seven clear objectives. The text of the proposal is available at http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/whalewatching.htm. We are hoping to be able to initiate the project in the year to come, starting with a power analysis to define the number of sites that will be required for hypotheses-testing. To this end, we are opening a call to researchers who have conducted behavioural studies (not necessarily whale-watch impact research) on cetaceans (odontocete and mysticete) in the past or are currently doing so. We have carried out previous attempts to meta-analyse data from preexisting whalewatching impact assessment studies to compare effect size across different sites. However, this analysis came to an impasse due to disparities in methodology and the statistics reported. Such meta-analyses will help focus sampling strategies and work towards several of the objectives of LaWE. We are therefore interested in collating raw data on key parameters identified for the LaWE project to carry out such metaanalyses (as well as power analyses) for one of the aims of the LaWE (“Understand the mechanism involved in the causal relationship between whalewatching exposure and the survival and vital rates of exposed individuals”). We have identified interest in the following variables: Activity budgets (based on focal follow sampling) Movement patterns (based both from land-based sampling techniques and animal instrumentation) Habitat use (both from photo-identification and the sampling of the movement of individuals) This is an initial call to gauge interest in entering in such coordinated collaborative effort. If you possess such data, that could be used for the power analyses described in the research proposal, with information on quality control and quality assurance during sampling (e.g., formalised sampling protocols, consistent and regular calibration of sampling procedures), and are interested in participating to this collaborative effort, please contact us by emailing David Lusseau (d.lusseau@abdn.ac.uk). We will then discuss the possible mechanisms to develop this collaboration, ensuring the respect of data ownership, which will be coordinated from within the IWC. best wishes, David on behalf of the LaWE Steering Group ___________________________________________ Dr. David Lusseau MASTS Lecturer in Marine Top Predator Biology University of Aberdeen School of Biological Sciences Zoology Bldg, Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK Phone: (0)1224 272843 Website: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ibes/staff/d.lusseau Find out more about our MSc in Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/fisheco Ecology theme: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ibes/research/ecology/ ____________________________________________ REMEMBER: Populations are full of individuals ____________________________________________ The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.