Invitation ‘MARINE MAMMALS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT’ Symposium – 07-08 March 2019 – CeNak, Hamburg, Germany Marine mammals comprise top predators and upper trophic levels in oceanic ecosystems of the world. They are increasingly threatened by various anthropogenic impacts in their marine habitat, e.g. pollution by chemical and pharmaceutical substances, marine litter, underwater noise, changes in prey abundance and climate change. These constraints can have serious implications for the health status of marine mammals through elevated stress response, immune suppression as well as higher energy and metabolic demands caused by disturbances that may affect different populations to a varying degree. The project ‘Marine Mammals In a Changing Environment’, funded by the VolkswagenFoundation, forms a consortium of museums and universities in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, combining unique collections, marine mammal expertise and innovative methods to investigate native marine mammal species. Results will be presented with respect to changes in health condition and population status of marine mammals over long time periods and in different marine environments; in particular with respect to 1) to bone lesions in seal skulls, 2) feeding-related dental micro texture, 3) organochlorines in blubber of harbour seals, 4) trace elements in pelts of several seal species, and 5) parasitic and viral pathogens in seals during the last decades and century. Cooperation partners: Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo), Germany Centrum of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg, Germany Zoological Museum of Kiel University, Germany German Oceanographic Museum Stralsund, Germany University of Hildesheim, Germany Natural History Museum of Denmark, Denmark Swedish Museum of Natural History, Sweden Confirmed keynote speakers: Anders Galatius, Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Marine Mammal Research, Denmark Krishna Das, University of Liège, Laboratory of Oceanology-MARE, Belgium Gerd Meurs-Scher, Multimar Wattforum, Germany Venue: The symposium will be held at the Centrum of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg; Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany Programme: The detailed programme will be available soon! Hosts: Center of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg, Germany Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), Büsum, Germany Registration: The symposium is free of charge but formal registration is needed as our venue is limited to 200 attendees. Please e-mail your registration for the symposium until 15 February 2019 to vwkonferenz2019.cenak@uni-hamburg.de<mailto:vwkonferenz2019.cenak@uni-hamburg.de> Best wishes, the organising committee on behalf of the project consortium: Thomas Kaiser, Elehna Bethune (CeNaK Hamburg, Germany) https://www.cenak.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/abteilungen/mammalogie/projekt... Anita Gilles, Kristina Lehnert, Ursula Siebert (ITAW Buesum, Germany) https://www.tiho-hannover.de/en/clinics-institutes/institutes/institute-for-...