Please see the announcement below. There are still places available.
Please note: further information can be viewed and printed out from the
following website: www.thebdri.com
The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute - BDRI - offers comprehensive and
intensive Bottlenose Dolphin Research Courses (BDRC) during the 2008 Fall
Season (September-October) for motivated individuals, who are seeking thorough
training in approaches to the study of free ranging wild bottlenose dolphins
(Tursiops truncatus).
We invite you to join our ongoing study of the behaviour, habitat use and
social lives of these amazing dolphins on the Emerald Coast, Sardinia Island
(Italy). These intensive educational courses provide experience in specialized
non-invasive research techniques, consisting of field sessions and lectures.
The courses will last 6 or 13 days, and - weather permitting - we will be out
on the water at least during 4 or 8 of these days respectively. Although our
project focuses primarily on bottlenose dolphins, you will also experience the
complex Mediterranean coastal ecosystem in which we live and work.
BDRI field courses provide invaluable exposure to boat based field work, marine
mammals research, intensive training and mentoring in marine ecology, and
encouragement to work hard, have fun, and learn from the dolphins and each
other. Learning, at its best, should be an active process, one in which the
students are challenged on a daily basis with responsibilities that play a
large part in the outcome of the research projects.
Working with us and our staff, you will rotate between tasks on land and sea.
Onboard our research vessels you will work together with our team in search of
cetaceans. To refine details of bottlenose dolphin population biology and
responses to human activities at sea, we will take identification photos,
observe behaviour, record environmental data, monitor vocalizations using a
hydrophone, etc.
Research courses can be used for academic or vocational purposes, but students
are solely responsible for making all arrangements for receiving relevant
credit(s) as a result of completing the training course. All classes will be in
a form of both (a) lectures that will lead to more "informal" discussion,
hopefully ending with a constructive brainstorming on the specific topic, as
well as (b) instructions with handon practical component, especially when it
involves field techniques.
Course 1. Bottlenose dolphin: Field methods in the wild (8 September)
Course 2. Study of bottlenose dolphin behaviour (22 September)
Course 3. Bottlenose dolphins Photo-identification & Social structure course (
6 October)
Course 4. Bioacoustics of bottlenose dolphins in the wild (20 October)
Further information, fees and how to apply can be found on our website
(www.thebdri.com) or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Recent selected scientific publications by BDRI:
1. Díaz López B. and Shirai, J.A., 2008. Marine aquaculture and bottlenose
dolphins social structure. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 62(6): 887-894.
2. Díaz López B., Bunke, M. and Shirai, J.A., 2008. Marine aquaculture off
Sardinia Island (Italy): ecosystem effects evaluated through a trophic
mass-balance model. Ecological Modelling 212: 292-303.
3. Díaz López, B., Shirai, J.A.; Bilbao Prieto, A. & Méndez Fernández, P., In
press. Diving activity of a solitary wild free ranging bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Marine Biological Association U.K.
4. Bunke, M., Díaz López, B., Shirai, J.A.B., 2008. The role of bottlenose
dolphins in a coastal ecosystem assessed using mass-balanced models. 22nd
Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Egmond aan Zee, The
Netherlands, 10-12 March 2008
5.Environmental & anthropogenic variables influencing bottlenose dolphin
presence in a marine fin fish farm. 22nd Annual Conference of the European
Cetacean Society, Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, 10-12 March 2008
6.Troncone, R., Díaz López, B., Shirai, J.A.B., 2008. Trial of acoustics
deterrents for prevention of bottlenose dolphin depredation on gillnets. 22nd
Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Egmond aan Zee, The
Netherlands, 10-12 March 2008
7. Díaz López B. and Shirai, J.A., 2007. "Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops
truncatus) presence and incidental capture in a marine fish farm on the
noth-eastern coast of Sardinia (Italy)" Journal of Marine Biological
Association U.K, 87, 113-117.
8. Díaz López, B. and Shirai, J.A., 2007. "Human activities and bottlenose
dolphin's social structure". Oral communication presented at the 21st Annual
Conference of the European Cetacean Society, San Sebastián, Spain, 2007.
9. Underhill, K., Díaz López, B., and Shirai, J.A., 2007."Boat traffic effects
on the diving behaviour of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in
Sardinia, Italy". Poster presented at the 21st Annual Conference of the
European Cetacean Society, San Sebastián, Spain, 2007.
10. Díaz López, B., 2006. "Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Predation on
a Marine Fin Fish Farm: Some Underwater Observations". Aquatic Mammals 32(3):
305 - 310 pp.
11. Díaz López, B. & Bernal Shirai, J.A., 2006. "Estudio multiescalar de la
influencia de la acuicultura en la presencia de delfines mulares Tursiops
truncatus (Montagu 1821)". CIVA, 2006: 282 - 290pp.
12. Díaz López, B., 2006. "Interactions between Mediterranean bottlenose
dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and gillnets off Sardinia". ICES Journal of
Marine Science 63: 944-951 pp.
13. Díaz López, B. & Bernal Shirai, J.A., 2006. "Diurnal & Nocturnal behaviour
of bottlenose dolphin groups with emphasis on foraging activity on the
northeastern coast of Sardinia (Italy)". 20th Annual Conference of the European
Cetacean Society 2006 - Gdynia, Polonia.
14. Bernal Shirai, J. A., Díaz López, B., Méndez Fernández, P., Bilbao Prieto,
A. & Díaz da Silva, J.I., 2006. "Analysis of diving behaviour of a solitary
male bottlenose dolphin in the inshore waters of Galicia (Spain)" 20th Annual
Conference of the European Cetacean Society 2006 - Gdynia, Polonia.
Bruno Diaz Lopez
Research Biologist / Marine Zoologist
Chief Researcher
The Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute BDRI
V.Armando Diaz Nº4 07020 Golfo Aranci (SS) Italy
http://www.thebdri.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: + (39) 346 0815414
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