SEEKING RESEARCH ASSISTANTS-Western Australia PROJECT: Habitat utilisation by bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp in Bunbury and adjacent waters and population abundance and structure I am seeking skilled research assistants for field work that will commence in April 2007. Assistants will help me in collecting behavioural data in the field on the bottlenose dolphin population off the southwest coast of Western Australia. The field season for 2007 begins in April and will last until December. Fieldwork will be based in the coastal town of Bunbury, approximately 2hr drive south of Perth. Because of the training required, applicants must be willing to commit to the project fulltime for a minimum of 1 month. Applicants willing to participate for longer will be given preference. PROJECT SUMMARY: This is the first stage of a long-term commitment (>3 years) to research cetaceans in the south-west region by Murdoch University. Three Murdoch scholarships have been committed to and this project is based on the first one of these. The project aims to determine the population size and structure of the dolphin population in Bunbury region and surrounds and determining the residency patterns of the population. Identifying critical habitat for dolphins for particular behavioural activity states such as nursing, resting and foraging and determine drivers of these including environmental and anthropogenic pressures and potential displacement effects. Determining residency or seasonal movements and influences on these (water temperature, prey availability, depth) and/or anthropogenic drivers (industry, development, vessel traffic). This will assist in determining the long-term viability of the population and the sustainability and management of the tourism industry based on interactions with the population. FIELD WORK: All observations and data collection will be conducted from a 5m centre console boat equipped with a 80HP engine. Assistants should be prepared to work long hours with early starts and be expected to participate in the following duties: photo-identification & behavioural data collection & entry, fin-matching, and database/catalogue maintenance. There may be the opportunity to assist other researchers conducting genetic sampling of the population or determing prey dynamics at the same study site. Aboard the research boat assistants will be required to assist in boat handling and data collection. Field work is physically and at times mentally demanding but you will have the opportunity to observe and gain hands-on experience in relation to survey techniques, photo-identification, behavioural observations and improve existing skills. This experience will be most useful to students or anyone hoping to pursue a career in behavioural ecology or population biology. PREREQUISITES: 1. Enrolled in or completed a degree in biology, marine science, animal behaviour or a related field 2. Previous field experience with marine wildlife (photo-identification and boat handling skills would be advantageous but not a prerequisite). 3. Be enthusiastic, team oriented, have a positive attitude and good sense of humour as well as a genuine interest in marine mammal science. 4. Be adaptable and patient as fieldwork is highly weather dependent. This means officebased work during bad weather and long consecutive days in the field when weather permits and fieldwork will vary between weekends and weekdays. 5. Be prepared to work long days in a small vessel in small team of 3 people 6. Be able to commit for a minimum of 5 days a week for 1 month (though applicants willing to commit for longer will be preferred) Unfortunately I am unable to provide monetary compensation or living provisions and research assistants will be responsible for travel to Perth or Bunbury and their own living expenses. Pickup from Perth may be possible but is dependent on arrival time. If you are interested, please provide a short CV and cover letter attention of Holly Smith (holly@webace.com.au <mailto:holly@webace.com.au> ) by Friday, the 23rd of March. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Holly Smith, BSc hons PhD Candidate School of Biological Sciences Murdoch University, Western Australia Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia Mob: 0439828498 Email: holly@webace.com.au <mailto:holly@webace.com.au> Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research Centre: http://wwwscieng.murdoch.edu.au/centres/fish/postgrads.html This email, together with any attachments, is intended for the addressee only. It may contain confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender, delete the email and attachments from your system and destroy any copies you may have taken of the email and its attachments. Duplication or further distribution by hardcopy, by electronic means or verbally is not permitted without permission.