[MARMAM] New article: Isotopic homogeneity throughout the skin in small cetaceans

[ARREGUI GIL]

Dear MARMAMers,


We are pleased to announce the publication of the following paper in Rapid 
Communications in Mass Spectrometry:


Isotopic homogeneity throughout the skin in small cetaceans

  1.  Marina Arregui,
  2.  Marta Josa,
  3.  Alex Aguilar and
  4.  Asunción Borrell

DOI: 10.1002/rcm.7936


ABSTRACT

Isotope ratios from skin samples have been widely used to study cetacean 
trophic ecology. Usually, isotopic skin uniformity has been assumed, despite 
the heterogeneity of this tissue. This study aims to investigate (1) regional 
isotopic variation within the skin in cetaceans, and (2) isotopic variation 
among internal tissues. Stable carbon (δ13C values) and nitrogen (δ15N values) 
isotope ratios were measured in 11 skin positions in 10 common dolphins 
(Delphinus delphis) and 9 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). In 
addition, the isotope ratios in the muscle, liver and kidney of both species 
were determined and compared with those from the skin and from all tissues 
combined. The signatures were determined by means of elemental analyser/isotope 
ratio mass spectrometry (EA/IRMS). In both species, no differences between 
isotope ratios of the skin positions were found. Moreover, the isotope ratios 
of skin were similar to those of muscle. In contrast, liver and kidney showed 
higher isotope ratios than muscle and skin. Isotopic homogeneity within the 
skin suggests that the isotope ratios of a sample from a specific skin position 
can be considered representative of the ratios from the entire skin tissue in 
dolphins. This conclusion validates the results of previous stable isotope 
analyses in dolphins that used skin samples as representative of the whole skin 
tissue. Isotopic similarities or dissimilarities among tissues should be 
considered when analysing different tissues and comparing results from the same 
or different species.

The paper is available online at 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rcm.7936/full
or you can contact me for a pdf version or any questions at  
marina.arre...@ulpgc.es

Best wishes,

Marina Arregui Gil
PhD Student




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[MARMAM] New article: Juvenile southern elephant seals from Marion Island consume krill: a stable isotope investigation using whisker regrowths

[Nico Lubcker]

Dear colleagues,

My co-authors and I would like to share with you our work recently
published in Marine Ecology Progress Series:

Lübcker N, Reisinger RR, Oosthuizen WC, de Bruyn PJN, van Tonder A,
Pistorius PA, Bester MN. 2017. Low trophic level diet of juvenile southern
elephant seals Mirounga leonina from Marion Island: a stable isotope
investigation using vibrissal regrowths. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 577: 237–250.

Article available at https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12240.

ABSTRACT:
Insight into the trophic ecology of marine predators is vital for
understanding their ecosystem role and predicting their responses to
environmental change. Juvenile southern elephant seals (SES) Mirounga
leonina are considered generalist predators within the Southern Ocean.
Although mesopelagic fish and squid dominate their stomach lavage samples,
the stable isotope profile captured along the length of sampled vibrissae
of young SES at Macquarie Island, southwest Pacific Ocean (54.5° S, 158.9°
E) recently emphasized the contribution of crustaceans to their diet
(likely Euphausia superba). Herein, we used the stable isotope values of
sampled vibrissal regrowths with known growth histories to assess the diet
of juvenile SES at Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean (46.8° S, 37.8° E)
on a temporally integrated basis. We specifically aimed to
quantify the possible contribution of crustaceans to the diet of juvenile
SES. Sequentially (chronologically) sampled vibrissal regrowths of 14
juvenile SES produced fine-scale dietary information spanning up to 9 mo.
The depleted stable isotope signatures of nitrogen (d15N) (8.5 ±
0.6‰) and carbon (d13C) (-20.3 ± 0.1‰) measured during the
period of independent foraging suggested the use of a lower trophic level
diet within the Polar Frontal Zone. A mixing model predicted that up to
76% of juvenile SES diet comprised crustaceans, consisting of 2 crustacean
groups, each contributing 26% (credible interval, CI: 13 - 39%) and 50%
(CI: 35 - 64%) to their diets, presumably representing subantarctic krill
species. This first utilisation of the isotopic signature captured along
the length of vibrissal regrowths confirms the inclusion and importance of
crustaceans in the diet of juvenile SES.

See
(https://www.researchgate.net/project/Low-trophic-level-diet-of-juvenile-southern-elephant-seals-Mirounga-leonina-from-Marion-Island-a-stable-isotope-investigation-using-vibrissal-regrowths/)
for more information regarding this project, or
(http://www.marionseals.com/) for more information regarding our research
group.

Sincerely,
Nico Lubcker
PhD. Zoology Candidate
Mammal Research Institute
Old Botany Building Room 1.16.5
Department of Zoology and Entomology
University of Pretoria
Hatfield
South Africa
0028
Cell: + 27 72 0370130







 Original Message 
Subject: New article: Vibrissal growth parameters of southern elephant
seals Mirounga leonina
From:"Nico Lubcker" 
Date:Thu, January 5, 2017 09:35
To:  "marmam@lists.uvic.ca" 
--

Dear colleagues,

My co-authors and I would like to share with you our work recently
published in Marine Ecology Progress Series:

Lübcker N, Condit R, Beltran RS, de Bruyn PJN, Bester MN. 2016. Vibrissal
growth parameters of southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina: obtaining
fine-scale, time-based stable isotope data. Marine Ecology Progress Series
559: 243-255. doi: 10.3354/meps11899.

Article available at http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v559/p243-255/


ABSTRACT: Stable isotopes provide a powerful, indirect approach to assess
the trophic ecology of individuals on a spatial and temporally integrated
basis (especially when combined with telemetry). However, using stable
isotopes requires accurate, species-specific quantification of the period
of biomolecule deposition in the sampled tissue. Sequentially sampled
vibrissae (whiskers) provide a chronology of biogeochemical data, although
knowledge of vibrissal growth is required for temporal interpretations. We
sampled vibrissae from southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina (hereafter
SES) at Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, to address the following
aims: (1) define the prevalence and timing of their vibrissal replacement,
(2) determine the vibrissal regrowth rate and temporal resolution of
isotopic data captured along the length of sequentially sampled vibrissae,
and (3) explore assumptions regarding their vibrissal growth. Contrary to
the previously described asynchronous vibrissal shedding pattern of SES,
71.1% of individuals displayed vibrissal shedding during the annual pelage
moult. Furthermore, vibrissal growth ceased once the asymptotic length was
reached, and the vibrissae were retained before being replaced. Vibrissae
with known growth histories were resampled at multiple known intervals to
control for unknown growth starting 

[MARMAM] Special Issues Planned for 2018 in Aquatic Mammals journal

[Kathleen M. Dudzinski]

Aquatic Mammals Journal is pleased to announce that we will be publishing two 
special issues on Animal Welfare in 2018. Welfare is a term routinely used in 
the media, whether print, televised or social. It can be applied to humans or 
animals or both. It can be misconstrued or deconstructed. The term is neutral 
and can refer to a positive or negative situation for one or more individuals. 
Part A, the first special issue, will present articles that establish what is 
meant by “Animal Welfare” and where animal welfare can be assessed. Invited 
articles will discuss and present the science and ethics of animal welfare, 
focusing on human impacts on animals in the wild as well as animals residing in 
managed care. Assessing animal welfare is becoming a common concern for several 
communities, including zoos and aquariums, regulatory agencies, tourism and 
travel agencies, research scientists, independent agencies and assessors, and 
more. A discussion of assessment tools and approaches will be included. These 
special issues are not intended as a forum to discuss whether one setting is 
better than another. The intent is to focus on animal welfare and to offer 
perspectives on that topic from all angles, as much as is possible. Part A is 
scheduled for publication on April 15, 2018.

The second special issue on Animal Welfare, Part B, is open for submissions 
from colleagues to submit a manuscript for consideration. These submitted 
papers should focus on animal welfare as related to aquatic mammals 
specifically. While research papers presenting data on the topic would be 
preferred, discussion topics on the same will also be welcome. Authors are 
reminded that this issue (like the previous one) is not intended to be a forum 
for pontificating that one location/setting is better or worse than any other 
for welfare. 

The tentatively scheduled publication date for Part B of this special issue set 
is August 15, 2018. The following timeline is a suggestion for contributing 
authors to follow. 

20 January 2018: Deadline for receipt of all articles to Aquatic Mammals 
Journal’s Fast Track system (see signature below for link)

31 May 2018: Receipt of revisions of accepted manuscripts

15 August 2018: Tentative ONLINE publication

Please note that all articles in both special issues will be published online 
only and will be available as open access PDFs. These special issues of Aquatic 
Mammals will be published between the regular issues of the journal. Typical 
page fees will apply to submitted articles, unless financial sponsorship is 
secured. 

This special issue is Guest Edited by: Dr. Heather Hill, Psychology, St. Mary’s 
University; Dr. Kelly Jaakkola, Research, Dolphin Research Center; and Dr. 
Rachel Walker, Psychology, University of the Incarnate Word.

We look forward to receiving articles from you for Part B of this special issue 
on Animal Welfare.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kathleen, Kelly, Heather, & Rachel




Kathleen M. Dudzinski, Ph.D.
Editor, Aquatic Mammals Journal
aquaticmamm...@gmail.com

www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org

to submit a manuscript, visit our:
Manuscript Fast track web site at 
http://am.expressacademic.org/actions/author.php

Mailing: P.O. Box 7485, Port St. Lucie, FL 34985

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[MARMAM] New Publication: "Genomic and proteomic identification of Late Holocene remains: Setting baselines for Black Sea odontocetes"

[vincent biard]

Dear MARMAM readers,

My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the recent publication of the 
following article in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

“Genomic and proteomic identification of Late Holocene remains: Setting 
baselines for Black Sea odontocetes”.

By: Vincent Biard, Pavel Gol’din, Elena Gladilina, Karina Vishnyakova, Krista 
McGrath, Filipe G. Vieira, Nathan Wales, Michael C. Fontaine, Camilla Speller 
and Morten Tange Olsen.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15C (2017) pp. 262-271 ; DOI: 
10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.008

Open Access: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Vajq,rVDBJ-p4 


Abstract: 

A critical challenge of the 21st century is to understand and minimise the 
effects of human activities on bio- diversity. Cetaceans are a prime concern in 
biodiversity research, as many species still suffer from human im- pacts 
despite decades of management and conservation efforts. Zooarchaeology 
constitutes a valuable approach for informing conservation and management 
decisions by providing baseline information on the past distribution and human 
uses of species. However, traditional morphological species identification of 
mixed assemblage bones can be challenging, particularly in the case of 
cetaceans. To address this issue, we applied and evaluated the performance of 
three biomolecular approaches – Sanger sequencing, shotgun sequencing and 
collagen peptide fingerprinting (ZooMS) – for species identification in a mixed 
assemblage of 800 to 1600 years old odontocete (toothed whale) samples from the 
site of Chersonesus in Crimea, Ukraine. We found that ZooMS allowed for 
identification to the taxonomic level for 28 of our 30 samples (> 90%), 
identifying them as either “porpoise” or “dolphin”, and approximately half of 
those samples could be further identified to species level with the shotgun 
sequencing approach. In addition, shotgun sequencing produced several complete 
ancient odontocete mito- genomes and auxiliary nuclear genomic data for further 
exploration in a population genetic context. In contrast, both morphological 
identification and Sanger sequencing lacked taxonomic resolution and/or 
resulted in mis- classification of samples. We found that the combination of 
ZooMS and shotgun sequencing provides a powerful tool in zooarchaeology, and 
here allowed for a deeper understanding of past marine resource use and its im- 
plication for current management and conservation of Black Sea odontocetes. 

For any questions, please feel free to contact me : vincentbiar...@gmail.com 


Cheers

Vincent Biard, MSc
Natural History Museum of Denmark





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[MARMAM] New Publication: Modelling year-round habitat suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current (Kylie L. Scales / Greg S. Schorr)

[Kylie Scales]

Dear MARMAM collegues,


We are pleased to share our recent publication, which uses a large, multi-year 
satellite telemetry dataset collected by MarEcoTel of Washington State to 
identify year-round habitats of fin whales in the California Current System.


Scales KL, Schorr GS, Hazen EL, Bograd SJ, Miller PI, Andrews RD, Zerbini AN & 
Falcone EA (2017) Should I stay or should I go? Modelling year-round habitat 
suitability and drivers of residency for fin whales in the California Current. 
Diversity & Distributions, In Press.


The article is now online as Early View, which can be accessed at 
https://doi.org/10./ddi.12611

Alternatively, please email Greg Schorr at gsch...@marecotel.org for a 
full-text PDF offprint.


ABSTRACT


Aim: Understanding the spatial ecology of endangered species is crucial to 
predicting habitat use at scales relevant to conservation and management. Here, 
we aim to model the influence of biophysical conditions on habitat suitability 
for fin whales Balaenoptera physalus, with a view to informing management in a 
heavily impacted ocean region.


Location: We satellite-tracked the movements of 67 fin whales through the 
California Current System (CCS), a dynamic eastern boundary upwelling ecosystem 
in the Northeast Pacific.


Methods: We use a multi-scale modelling framework to elucidate biophysical 
influences on habitat suitability for fin whales in the CCS. Using generalized 
additive mixed models, we quantify the influence of a suite of remotely-sensed 
variables on broad-scale patterns of occupancy and present the first 
year-round, high-resolution predictions of seasonal habitat suitability. 
Further, we model the influence of contemporaneous biophysical conditions on 
individual-level residence times in high-use habitat.


Results: We present evidence of year-round habitat suitability in the southern 
California Current System, robust to interannual variability, establishing that 
North Pacific fin whales do not follow the canonical baleen whale migration 
model. Within the high-use habitat in the Southern California Bight (SCB), 
individual-level residency in localized areas (n = 16 for >30 days; n = 4 for 
>6 months) was associated with warm, shallow, nearshore waters (>18°C, <500 m), 
with cool waters (14–15°C) occurring over complex seafloor topographies and 
with convergent (sub)mesoscale structures at the surface.


Main Conclusions: Biophysical conditions in the southern CCS generate 
productive foraging habitats that can support the fin whale population 
year-round and allow for extended periods of residency in localized areas. 
High-use habitats for fin whales are co-located with areas of intense human 
use, including international shipping routes and a major naval training range. 
Seasonal habitat suitability maps presented here could inform the management of 
anthropogenic threats to endangered baleen whales in this globally significant 
biodiversity hotspot.


Best regards,


Dr. Kylie L. Scales

ksca...@usc.edu.au

Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Formerly Project Scientist, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center & 
University of California, Santa Cruz



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[MARMAM] New publication on a common sound from an unidentified great whale

[Rhianne Ward]

Dear all,

My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the recent publication of our 
research article:

Ward, R., Gavrilov, A. N. and McCauley, R. D. (2017) “Spot” call: A common 
sound from an unidentified great whale in Australian temperate waters. The 
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 142 (2) doi: 10.1121/1.4998608

Abstract:
Underwater passive acoustic recordings in the Southern and Indian Oceans off 
Australia from 2002 to 2016 have regularly captured a tonal signal of about 10 
s duration at 22–28 Hz with a symmetrical bell-shaped envelope. The sound is 
often accompanied by short, higher frequency downsweeps and repeated at 
irregular intervals varying from 120 to 200 s. It is termed the “spot” call 
according to its appearance in spectrograms of long-time averaging. Although 
similar to the first part of an Antarctic blue whale Z-call, evidence suggests 
the call is produced by another great whale, with the source as yet not 
identified.

The article is available from the publishers website 
(http://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.4998608) or by request to 
rhiw...@hotmail.com

Many thanks,

Rhianne Ward
PhD Candidate | Centre for Marine Science and Technology

Curtin University
Mobile | 0400 737 545 /  0476 064 661

Email | rhiw...@hotmail.com
Project Web |  www.gabrightwhales.com

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CRICOS Provider Code 00301J

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[MARMAM] New Publication: Marine megafauna interactions with small-scale fisheries in the southwestern Indian Ocean: a review of status and challenges for research and management

[Andrew Temple (PGR)]

Dear All,


We are pleased to announce the publication of our new paper entitled "Marine 
megafauna interactions with small-scale fisheries in the southwestern Indian 
Ocean: a review of status and challenges for research and management" which is 
available open access at the below link.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-017-9494-x


AUTHORS:

Andrew J. Temple, Jeremy J. Kiszka, Selina M. Stead, Nina Wambiji, Atanasio 
Brito, Christopher N. S. Poonian, Omar A. Amir, Narriman Jiddawi, Sean T. 
Fennessy, Sergi Perez-Jorge & Per Berggren


ABSTRACT:

In developing regions, coastal communities are particularly dependent on 
small-scale fisheries for food security and income. However, information on the 
scale and impacts of small-scale fisheries on coastal marine ecosystems are 
frequently lacking. Large marine vertebrates (marine mammals, sea turtles and 
chondrichthyans) are often among the first species to experience declines due 
to fisheries. This paper reviews the interactions between small-scale fisheries 
and vulnerable marine megafauna in the southwestern Indian Ocean. We highlight 
an urgent need for proper documentation, monitoring and assessment at the 
regional level of small-scale fisheries and the megafauna affected by them to 
inform evidence-based fisheries management. Catch and landings data are 
generally of poor quality and resolution with compositional data, where 
available, mostly anecdotal or heavily biased towards easily identifiable 
species. There is also limited understanding of fisheries effort, most of which 
relies on metrics unsuitable for proper assessment. Management strategies 
(where they exist) are often created without strong evidence bases or 
understanding of the reliance of fishers on resources. Consequently, it is not 
possible to effectively assess the current status and ensure the sustainability 
of these species groups; with indications of overexploitation in several areas. 
To address these issues, a regionally collaborative approach between government 
and non-governmental organisations, independent researchers and institutions, 
and small-scale fisheries stakeholders is required. In combination with good 
governance practices, appropriate and effective, evidence-based management can 
be formulated to sustain these resources, the marine ecosystems they are 
intrinsically linked to and the livelihoods of coastal communities that are 
tied to them.


Best Regards,


Andrew


-

Andrew Temple

Marine Science and Technology
Newcastle University
NE1 7RU
Office: 0191 222 5607
E-Mail: andrew.tem...@ncl.ac.uk
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