[MARMAM] MARINE MEGAFAUNA OF THE FALKLANDS - Volunteer oportunity - 2nd+3rd SHIFTS

[simo_liste]

  Dear MARMAM members,
 we are looking for volunteer field helpers to
participate in our 2017-2018 field season studying marine magafauna in
the Falkland Islands, in order to cover the second and third shift of
the season.

 PROJECT: Long term study of marine megafauna of the
Falklands.

 POSITION: Volunteer (unpaid) field helper.

 DATES: two
periods: 1) from the 4th of November 2017 to 24th of February 2018, and
2) form the 6th of January 2018 to the 31st of March 2018.

 LOCATION:
Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, Southern Atlantic.

 Sea Lion Island
on Google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps?q=Sea%25Lion%25Island,%2520Falkland%25Islands


DUTIES:
 - Southern elephant seals: counts, mapping, observation of
behavior, pup handling, collection of samples
 - Killer whales:
photoidentification, observation and videotaping of behavior, necropsies
of preys
 - Falklands skuas: counts, nest identification and mapping,
observation of behavior
 - Striated caracaras: counts, nest
identification and mapping, observation of behavior
 - Marine birds:
counts and mapping of different species of marine birds (different
species of penguins, cormorants, gulls, geese, and ducks)
 -
Environmental monitoring: collection of microclimatic data, habitat
classification, collection of GIS data
 Volunteers will be involved in
both data collection in the field and data processing, but field work
will take most of their time. We expect volunteers to be flexible
respect to the their duties, that will change along the season.


DEADLINE: Sunday 6th of October 2017; please note that, capabilities
being equal, positions will be allocated with a first come first served
policy

 DESCRIPTION

 Volunteer field helpers are required for the
2017-2018 field season of various long-term research projects on marine
megafauna of the Falkland Islands carried out by the Elephant Seal
Research Group (www.eleseal.org [1]). The field work site is Sea Lion
Island, the southernmost inhabited island of the Falklands.

 Successful
applicants will receive adequate training and will help with:
 - a long
term project (22 years) on southern elephant seals
 - a long term
project (4 years) on mammal-eating killer whales
 - a study of Falklands
skua demography, behavior and vocal communication
 - various monitoring
projects on the different marine and raptor bird species breeding on Sea
Lion Island
 - general environmental monitoring of the island, including
the collection of data for the Sea Lion Island GIS

 Volunteers will be
supervised by the PIs and/or by trained technicians. Previous experience
of field work is appreciated but not essential.
 Only applicants who can
stay for a whole period can be taken into consideration. No volunteer is
allowed to apply to stay for both periods, so please state clearly in
your cover letter for which one you are applying (first or second) or,
if you are available for both, which of the two you prefer (although we
cannot guarantee to meet your preference).

 Applicants are required to
pay all expenses to travel to Sea Lion Island, and telephone/Internet
expenses while there. Accommodation, food, etc. at SLI will be provided
by the ESRG. Accommodation on SLI is rather basic and self-catering, but
comfortable for a field research setting (heating, hot water, shower,
Internet connection hotspot in the nearby lodge). We are asking
volunteers a 200 UK pounds contribution to help us with management
expenses and research equipment maintenance.

 Please note that the
travel to the Falklands can be expensive, so carefully check the price
of flights. Travelling to the Falklands requires to: 1) fly to Santiago,
Chile (airport code SCL) arriving on Friday morning; 2) get the flight
to the Falklands (Mount Pleasant International, MPN) that leaves ONLY
ONCE PER WEEK ON SATURDAY EARLY MORNING. After arriving in the
Falklands, volunteer will spend one night in Stanley, and then fly by
Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) to Sea Lion Island.
 The
ESRG will help with bookings in the Falklands, including FIGAS, but
volunteers will need to pay all their expenses, including: two ways
international flight to Santiago; two nights and meals in Santiago (one
per way); two ways flight from Santiago to the Falklands; bus transfer
from Mount Pleasant to Stanley (two ways); three nights and meals in
Stanley (one arriving, two departing); FIGAS flight.

 Other important
expenses to consider are:
 - full medical insurance that needs to
include emergency transportation to Chile and/or home country
 -
clothing suitable to work the whole day in the field with harsh weather
conditions, including thermal underware, warm trekking boots, Goretex
outer shell (jacket and overtrousers), hats and gloves.
 - pair of
binoculars; although we provide all the rest of the data collection
equipment, volunteers need to have their own binoculars, suitable for
use for the field work (in particular, minimum focusing distance 3m or
less); volunteers that don't 

[MARMAM] Blue whale photo-identified along the NW coast of Spain

[Bruno Díaz López]

Dear colleagues,

We would like to announce that the BDRI have photo-identified one blue whale 
last wednesday along the NW coast of Spain. We have good pictures of both sides 
including the mottling pigmentation and also the dorsal fin.


For those colleagues working with this species along the NE Atlantic please 
contact me and we will send you the pictures in order to match with your 
catalogue.
Kind regards,
 
Bruno Díaz López
Chief biologist and Director
The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI
Avenida Beiramar 192, O Grove 36980, Spain
www.thebdri.com
0034 684 248552

This email is confidential to the intended recipient(s) and the contents may be 
legally privileged or contain proprietary and private informations. It is 
intended solely for the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not an 
intended recipient, you may not review, copy or distribute this email. If 
received in error, please notify the sender and delete the message from your 
system immediately. Please note that neither the Bottlenose Dolphin Research 
Institute BDRI nor the sender accept any responsibility for any viruses and it 
is your responsibility to scan the email and the attachments (if any). Thank 
you for your cooperation.

.

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[MARMAM] New paper on walrus demography

[Taylor, Rebecca]

Dear MARMAM community,

My coathors and I are pleased to announce a new publication on walrus
demography.  It is entitled "Demography of the Pacific walrus (
*Odobenus rosmarus divergens*) in a changing Arctic," and is available on
early view through Marine Mammal Science (
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10./mms.12434/abstract ).  If for
any reason you cannot access it online, feel free to email me for a copy of
the paper at rebeccatay...@usgs.gov .

Abstract

The Pacific walrus (*Odobenus rosmarus divergens*) is a candidate to be
listed as an endangered species under United States law, in part, because
of climate change-related concerns. While the population was known to be
declining in the 1980s and 1990s, its recent status has not been
determined. We developed Bayesian models of walrus population dynamics to
assess the population by synthesizing information on population sizes, age
structures, reproductive rates, and harvests for 1974–2015. Candidate
models allowed for temporal variation in some or all vital rates, as well
as density dependence or density independence in reproduction and calf
survival. All selected models indicated that the population underwent a
multidecade decline, which began moderating in the 1990s, and that annual
reproductive rate and natural calf survival rates rose over time in a
density-dependent manner. However, selected models were equivocal regarding
whether the natural juvenile survival rate was constant or decreasing over
time. Depending on whether juvenile survival decreased after 1998, the
population growth rate either increased during 1999–2015 or stabilized at a
lesser level of decline than seen in the 1980s. The probability that the
population was still declining in 2015 ranged from 45% to 87%.
Citation
Taylor, R. L., Udevitz, M. S., Jay, C. V., Citta, J. J., Quakenbush, L. T.,
Lemons, P. R., Snyder, J. A., 2017. Demography of the Pacific walrus (*Odobenus
rosmarus divergens*) in a changing Arctic.  Marine Mammal Science. DOI: 10.
/mms.12434

Sincerely,

Rebecca Taylor


-- 
Rebecca Taylor
Research Statistician
USGS Alaska Science Center
4210 University Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
907-786-7004
rebeccatay...@usgs.gov

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[MARMAM] Reminder: ACS-LA Student Travel Grants Deadline to the SMM Conference is 25-Sept

[ACS-LA.Grants]

Reminder - ACS-LA Travel Grant Applications to the Society for Marine Mammalogy 
Conference in Halifax, NS are due on 25 September.

-
The American Cetacean Society, Los Angeles Chapter (ACS-LA) is happy to 
announce the opening of applications for 2017 Student Travel Grants for the 
22nd Biennial Conference of the Society for Mammalogy - DEADLINE FOR 
APPLICATIONS IS 25-SEPT!!

The Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cetacean Society (ACS-LA) is offering 
two travel grants, in the amount of $500.00 each, to students working or 
attending school in Southern California who will be presenting at the 22nd 
Biennial conference on the Biology of Marina Mammals hosted by the Society for 
Marine Mammalogy (SMM) in Halifax, NS, Canada, this October 2017.  

The two $500 travel grants will be awarded to two students exhibiting an 
outstanding commitment to research on marine mammals. Students should either be 
attending school in Southern California and/or conducting their marine mammal 
research in Southern California, with priority being given to those attending 
school and/or conducting research in the greater Los Angeles area.

Eligibility:

1.  Applicant must be a currently enrolled student (undergraduate or graduate) 
and must be presenting (oral or poster) at the SMM Biennial.

2.  Applicant should be attending an accredited institution and/or conducing 
research in Southern California (priority will be given to students living in, 
or whose research is focused in, the greater Los Angeles area).

Applications:

Applications should include the following:

1. Cover sheet with:

a) Title of presentation (either oral or poster) being given at the SMM 
Biennial Conference

b) Full copy of the abstract submitted (and accepted) by the SMM committee

c) Applicant Contact Information (Name, Mailing Address, E-mail, and Phone 
numbers)

d) Current school and major including current supervisor and department

 

2. Proof that applicant is a student (photo of the front and back of current 
student ID card)

3. A one-page CV or Resume

Deadlines:

Deadline for submission: 25 September 2017.

Awards will be announced: 3 October 2017.

 

Applications should be sent by E-mail to acsla.gra...@gmail.com.

 

Information about the Los Angeles Chapter of ACS can be found on our website: 
www.acs-la.org .  

To join ACS-LA, please go to http://acsonline.org/support-acs/become-member/ 
  and specify the Los Angeles 
Chapter.

For further information about specific chapters and other grant-making 
programs, please visit the Chapter page of the National American Cetacean 
Society website: www.acsonline.org .

 

==

ACS-LA Grants Coordinator

Christina Tombach Wright

American Cetacean Society-Los Angeles Chapter

acsla.gra...@gmail.com

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