[MARMAM] New publication on the spatiotemporal distribution of harbour porpoises off Maryland, USA
Hello MARMAM community, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our recent publication in PLOS ONE: Wingfield JE, O’Brien M, Lyubchich V, Roberts JJ, Halpin PN, Rice AN, et al. (2017) Year-round spatiotemporal distribution of harbour porpoises within and around the Maryland wind energy area. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0176653. Abstract Offshore windfarms provide renewable energy, but activities during the construction phase can affect marine mammals. To understand how the construction of an offshore windfarm in the Maryland Wind Energy Area (WEA) off Maryland, USA, might impact harbour porpoises *(Phocoena phocoena*), it is essential to determine their poorly understood year-round distribution. Although habitat-based models can help predict the occurrence of species in areas with limited or no sampling, they require validation to determine the accuracy of the predictions. Incorporating more than 18 months of harbour porpoise detection data from passive acoustic monitoring, generalized auto-regressive moving average and generalized additive models were used to investigate harbour porpoise occurrence within and around the Maryland WEA in relation to temporal and environmental variables. Acoustic detection metrics were compared to habitat-based density estimates derived from aerial and boat-based sightings to validate the model predictions. Harbour porpoises occurred significantly more frequently during January to May, and foraged significantly more often in the evenings to early mornings at sites within and outside the Maryland WEA. Harbour porpoise occurrence peaked at sea surface temperatures of 5°C and chlorophyll *a* concentrations of 4.5 to 7.4 mg m-3. The acoustic detections were significantly correlated with the predicted densities, except at the most inshore site. This study provides insight into previously unknown fine-scale spatial and temporal patterns in distribution of harbour porpoises offshore of Maryland. The results can be used to help inform future monitoring and mitigate the impacts of windfarm construction and other human activities. The publication can be downloaded from: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176653 Thank you, Jessica -- Jessica Wingfield Faculty Research Assistant Chesapeake Biological Laboratory 146 Williams Street Solomons, MD, 20688 Tel: (1) 410-326-7225 ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] MARINE MAMMAL BOOKS AND JOURNALS AVAILABLE
¡VIVAVaquita! (a non-profitorganization) has many marine mammal books, reprints, monographs, and journalsthat are available for a donation to the organiation. All funds raised will be actively used forresearch and conservation work on the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the world’s most endangered marine mammal species. The global population of this species nownumbers less than 25 individuals and is decling at about 50%/year. Visit ourwebsite at www.vivavaquita.org for more details. Below is a sample of what we have. For a full list of books available, or if youhave any marine mammal literature you would be interested in donating or‘selling’ to us, please contact Tom Jefferson at sclym...@aol.com. HC=harcover, PB=paperback. Baker, A.N. (1999) Whales and Dolphins of New Zealand andAustralia: An Identification Guide, Victoria University Press (3rd edition). Donovan, G.P. (1982) Aboriginal/Subsistence Whaling (WithSpecial Reference to the Alaska and Greenland Fisheries). 86 pp. Reports of theInternational Whaling Commission. FAO (1978) Mammals in the seas: Volume I. Report of the FAOAdvisory Committee on Marine Resurces Research. FAO (1979) Mammals in the seas: Volume II. Pinniped speciessummaries and report on sirenians. Ford, J.K.B. & Ellis, G.M. (1999) Transients:Mammal-Hunting Killer Whales of British Columbia, Washington, and SoutheasternAlaska, Univ. British Columbia Press. Ford, J.K.B., Ellis, G.M. & Balcomb, K.C. (2000) KillerWhales: The Natural History and Genealogy of Orcinus orca in British Columbiaand Washington State, Univ. British Columbia Press (2nd edition). Gaskin, D.E. (1972) Whales, Dolphins, and Seals, WithSpecial Reference to the New Zealand Region, Heineman Educational Books. Hershkovitz, P. (1966) Catalog of living whales. Bulletin ofthe United States National Museum, 246, 259 pp. Jefferson, T.A., Leatherwood, S. & Webber, M.A. (1993)Marine Mammals of the World: FAO Species Identification Guide, United NationEnvironment Programme and Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN. Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. & Pitman, R.L. (2008)Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification. 573pp. Jefferson, T.A., Webber, M.A. & Pitman, R.L. (2015)Marine Mammals of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification. 608pp. Morzer Bruyns, W.F.J. (1971) Field Guide of Whales andDolphins, Uitgeverij Tor. Norris, K.S. (1991) Dolphin Days: The Life and Times of theSpinner Dolphin, Norton. Norris, K.S., Würsig, B., Wells, R.S. & Wursig, M.(1994) The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin, University of California Press. Perrin, W.F. (1975) Variation and taxonomy of spotted andspinner porpoise (genus Stenella) in the eastern tropical Pacific and Hawaii.Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 21, 206 pp. Perrin, W.F., Donovan, G.P. & Barlow, J. (1994) Gillnetsand Cetaceans. In, p. 617+ pp. Reports of the International Whaling Commission. Pilleri, G. (ed). Investigations on Cetacea. Complete set (25 regular volumes, plus 5 supplements). Ridgway, S.H. & Harrison, R.J. (1981) Handbook of MarineMammals, Vol. 2: Seals. 359 pp. Academic Press. Scheffer, V.B. (1958) Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses: AReview of the Pinnipedia, Stanford University Press. Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Institute. (nearlycomplete, but missing several issues). Scientific Reports of the WhalesResearch Institute, 1-34. Truitt, D. (1974) Dolphins and Porpoises: A ComprehensiveAnnotated Bibliography of the Smaller Cetacea, Gale Research Co. ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
[MARMAM] New Publication - Dead useful; methods for quantifying baseline variability in stranding rates
Dear Colleagues, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the publication of the following article in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK: Mariel T.I. ten Doeschate, Andrew C. Brownlow, Nicholas J. Davison, and Paul M. Thompson *Dead useful; methods for quantifying baseline variability in stranding rates to improve the ecological value of the strandings record as a monitoring tool. *JMBA. doi:10.1017/S0025315417000698 *ABSTRACT: **The ecological value of the stranding record is often challenged due to the complexity in quantifying the biases associated with multiple components of the stranding process. There are biological, physical and social aspects that complicate the interpretation of stranding data particularly at a population level. We show how examination of baseline variability in the historic stranding record can provide useful insights into temporal trends* *and facilitate the detection of unusual variability in stranding rates. Seasonal variability was examined using harbour porpoise strandings between 1992 and 2014 on the east coast of Scotland. Generalised Additive Mixed modelling revealed a strong seasonal pattern, with numbers increasing from February towards a peak in April. Profiling seasonality this way facilitates detection of unusual elevations in stranding frequencies. With this study we aim to demonstrate that a described baseline in strandings allows the detection of abnormalities at an early stage. This methodology thereby provides means to quantify and partition the variability associated with strandings data and is a useful first step towards improving the stranding record as a management resource.* If you would like a PDF of this article or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on marielten.doesch...@sac.co.uk or marieltdoesch...@gmail.com Cheers, *Mariel ten Doeschate *Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme SRUC Veterinary Services Inverness IV2 4JZ +44 (0) 7990513589 www.strandings.org ___ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
