[MARMAM] IFAW Marine Mammal Rescue & Research Stranding Internships - Winter/Spring 2022

[Kasper, Kira]

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is currently accepting 
applications for winter/spring 2022 Marine Mammal Stranding Internships.

IFAW Marine Mammal Stranding Internship
Winter/Spring (Middle of January, 2022 - Last Week of May, 2022)
Complete Applications due: October 1st, 2021

Program Background
IFAW is an international non-profit organization. This internship is based out 
of our International Operations Center in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, USA. 
IFAW's Marine Mammal Rescue and Research program is a federally authorized 
program dedicated to marine mammal stranding response on Cape Cod and 
southeastern Massachusetts. Our program strives to promote the conservation of 
marine mammal species and their habitat by improving the rescue and humane care 
of stranded marine mammals, advancing stranding science, and increasing public 
awareness through education. Cape Cod is a marine mammal stranding "hot spot," 
with an average of over 261 strandings occurring each year. These strandings 
include live and dead seals, whales, porpoises, and dolphins.

Stranding Intern Duties

*   Stranding hotline coverage: answer calls, document reports, educate 
callers, dispatch volunteers, complete associated paperwork and enter data.

*   Marine mammal stranding response and necropsy: assist staff with all 
aspects of marine mammal stranding response, including live animal health 
assessment and supportive care, biological data collection, post-mortem 
examinations and sampling in both field and laboratory settings.

*   Stranding / necropsy readiness: cleaning, organizing and maintaining 
stranding response and necropsy gear, equipment and facilities, restocking kits 
and supplies.

*   Data entry / sample processing: assist in entry of stranding data. 
Assist in organizing, cataloging, disseminating and archiving of photos, 
videos, datasheets, samples, etc.

*   Outreach: assist staff with training and outreach material preparation 
and organization, participate in opportunistic outreach at stranding sites, 
participate in community events.

Please see the following link for the full posting and to apply:
https://recruiting.ultipro.com/INT1059IFFA/JobBoard/17b588a3-808b-4bc9-aea8-c3385a35ec51/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=1d3348ed-56c8-4a33-841b-dc424aca8792

Kira Kasper
Stranding Biologist
Marine Mammal Rescue and Research
290 Summer Street
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
United States
Please note: my schedule varies regularly and I often work outside of the M-F 
9-5 timeframe.
+1 774 721 1080 (work cell)
+1 508 743 9548 (stranding hotline)
www.ifaw.org
[ifaw]

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[MARMAM] New publication: Towards a better characterisation of deep-diving whales’ distributions by using prey distribution model outputs?

[Auriane Virgili]

My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the publication of a new 
manuscript in PLoS ONE:


Virgili, A., Hedon, L., Authier, M., Calmettes, B., Claridge, D., Cole, 
T., ... & Ridoux, V. (2021). Towards a better characterisation of 
deep-diving whales’ distributions by using prey distribution model 
outputs?. PloS one, 16(8), e0255667. 
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255667


Abstract:

In habitat modelling, environmental variables are assumed to be proxies 
of lower trophic levels distribution and by extension, of marine top 
predator distributions. More proximal variables, such as potential prey 
fields, could refine relationships between top predator distributions 
and their environment. In situ data on prey distributions are not 
available over large spatial scales but, a numerical model, the Spatial 
Ecosystem And POpulation DYnamics Model (SEAPODYM), provides simulations 
of the biomass and production of zooplankton and six functional groups 
of micronekton at the global scale. Here, we explored whether 
generalised additive models fitted to simulated prey distribution data 
better predicted deep-diver densities (here beaked whales Ziphiidae and 
sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus) than models fitted to environmental 
variables. We assessed whether the combination of environmental and prey 
distribution data would further improve model fit by comparing their 
explanatory power. For both taxa, results were suggestive of a 
preference for habitats associated with topographic features and thermal 
fronts but also for habitats with an extended euphotic zone and with 
large prey of the lower mesopelagic layer. For beaked whales, no 
SEAPODYM variable was selected in the best model that combined the two 
types of variables, possibly because SEAPODYM does not accurately 
simulate the organisms on which beaked whales feed on. For sperm whales, 
the increase model performance was only marginal. SEAPODYM outputs were 
at best weakly correlated with sightings of deep-diving cetaceans, 
suggesting SEAPODYM may not accurately predict the prey fields of these 
taxa. This study was a first investigation and mostly highlighted the 
importance of the physiographic variables to understand mechanisms that 
influence the distribution of deep-diving cetaceans. A more systematic 
use of SEAPODYM could allow to better define the limits of its use and a 
development of the model that would simulate larger prey beyond 1,000 m 
would probably better characterise the prey of deep-diving cetaceans.


This publication is open-access and can be found at this link: 
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0255667&fbclid=IwAR3F7LprXYeHAvTOPndlaSnOsxUenhiSrcIgFeZs78NT08rCyxy7Wy6wO44


Enjoy your day!

--
Dr Auriane VIRGILI
Ingénieure de recherche
Observatoire Pelagis UMS 3462 CNRS/La Rochelle Université
5 Allées de l'Océan, 17000 La Rochelle
Tél : 05 16 49 67 20
Standard: 05 46 44 99 10
E-mail : auriane.virg...@univ-lr.fr
http://observatoire-pelagis.cnrs.fr/

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[MARMAM] New publication: Singing fin whale swimming behavior

[Regina Guazzo]

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are doing well.  My co-authors and I are excited to announce the
following open-access publication:

Guazzo RA, Durbach IN, Helble TA, Alongi GC, Martin CR, Martin SW and
Henderson EE (2021) Singing Fin Whale Swimming Behavior in the Central
North Pacific. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:696002. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.696002

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.696002

Abstract:
Male fin whales sing using 20 Hz pulses produced in regular patterns of
inter-note intervals, but little is known about fin whale swimming behavior
while they are singing. Even less is known about fin whales in Hawaiian
waters because they have rarely been sighted during surveys and passive
acoustic monitoring has been limited to sparse hydrophone systems that do
not have localization capabilities. We hypothesized that fin whale
kinematics may be related to their singing behavior, or external variables
such as time and sea state. To investigate this hypothesis, we analyzed 115
tracks containing 50,034 unique notes generated from passive acoustic
recordings on an array of 14 hydrophones from 2011 to 2017 at the U.S. Navy
Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kauai, Hawaii. Fin whales swam at an
average speed of 1.1 m/s over relatively direct paths. We incorporated the
whales' speed and turning angle into hidden Markov models to identify
different behavioral states based on the whales' movements. We found that
fin whale kinematic behavioral state was related to the vocalization rate
(also known as cue rate) and time of day. When cue rate was higher, fin
whales were more likely to swim slower and turn more than when cue rate was
lower. During the night, fin whales were also more likely to swim slower
and turn more than during the day. In addition, we examined whether the
presence of singing fin whales was related to time and sea state using
generalized additive models. Fin whale track presence was affected by day
of the year and song season, and possibly also wind speed and wave height.
Although the track kinematics from the fin whale tracks presented here are
limited to a subset of whales that are acoustically active, they provide
some of the only detailed movements of fin whales in the region and can be
compared against fin whale swim speeds in other regions. Understanding how
fin whale swimming behavior varies based on their vocalization patterns,
time, and environmental factors will help us to contextualize potential
changes in whale behavior during Navy training and testing on the range.

Please email me (regina.gua...@spawar.navy.mil) if you have any questions
about this work.

All my best,

Regina

Regina A. Guazzo, PhD
Whale Acoustic Reconnaissance Project (WARP)
Environmental Readiness Branch
Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
(c) 908.507.1421
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