Category Archives: Editors’ Select Series

SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series: The Impact of Warm Water Anomalies on the Guadalupe Fur Seal Foraging Habitats

by

SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series: The Impact of Warm Water Anomalies on the Guadalupe Fur Seal Foraging Habitats
with María José Amador-Capitanachi
11 March 2021 at 5 PM Pacific Time (1 AM UTC)

About this talk:
The Guadalupe fur seal (GFS), currently is recovering from near extinction. As this species continues to recover, it is important to understand how its foraging success may be affected by warm water and other oceanographic anomalies in the northeastern Pacific. We assessed the foraging ecology of the GFS over a period that was characterized by normal (2013) ocean temperatures followed by warm conditions (2014–2016). We used scat analysis to identify differences in GFS prey between 2013 and anomalous years. The most important prey species among these years was the jumbo squid, followed by the neon flying squid during warmer years. An additional analysis based on stable isotope suggested a broader northerly or offshore foraging areas during these anomalous conditions. Our findings are an important step toward better understanding the impacts of climate change on the recovery of the GFS.
About the Presenter:
Maria Jose Amador-Capitanachi is an MSc student at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional

SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series: Re-emergence of Guadalupe fur seals in Oregon and Washington

by

The SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series highlights the latest and most exciting marine mammal science published in the Marine Mammal Science Journal. This is your chance to engage with marine mammal scientists, learn and ask questions from anywhere in the world. All are welcome.

Re-emergence of Guadalupe fur seals in Oregon and Washington with Dr. Erin D’Agnese
11 February 2021 at 4 PM Pacific Time (12 AM UTC)

About this talk:
This talk discusses the health risks facing Guadalupe fur seals (Arctocephalus phillippii townsendi; GFS) as they re-emerge in their historic, pre-sealing, migration range. The continued presence of the species in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, was largely represented by juvenile animals and was seasonally driven. Their stranding numbers were related to the seasonal upwelling present in the area during summer months. Detailed necropsies, histopathology (n=93) and epidemiological analysis found three main causes of death (COD): emaciation (44%), trauma (29%), and infectious disease (19%) and the factors associated with overall strandings and emaciation. Trauma included many cases found associated with fisheries interactions and clustered near the mouth of the Columbia River where high levels of commercial fishing occurs. Re-emergence of GFSs is likely due to conservation efforts, which have been critical for species recovery in the region, continued monitoring is needed as this vulnerable species continues to rebound and faces pressures of increased fisheries in the region.

About the Presenter:
Dr. Erin D’Agnese is a Postdoctoral scholar at University of Washington, with a specialty in One Health research, specifically using molecular methods for wildlife health and conservation.

SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series: Sex Ratios in Blue Whales

by

Description:
The SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series highlights the latest and most exciting marine mammal science published in the Marine Mammal Science Journal. This is your chance to engage with marine mammal scientists, learn and ask questions from anywhere in the world. Attendance is free, registration is required and all are welcome.

Sex Ratios in Blue Whales from Conception Onward with Dr. Trevor Branch
January 14, 2021 05:00 PM in Pacific Time (1:00 AM UTC)

About this talk:
Deviations from equal sex ratios in mammals can reveal insights into sex‐specific growth, survival, movements, and behavior. In the paper highlighted during this talk, Dr. Trevor Branch assessed blue whale sex ratios from conception to birth using whaling records. In this 1-hour talk and Q&A session, Branch discussed his research and shared assessments on the implications of blue whale sex ratios and deviations.

About the presenter:
Trevor Branch, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. Branch and his lab members focus on solving biological problems through data synthesis and mathematical models and work on a variety of fishery, marine mammal and marine research projects.

SMM Seminars: Editors’ Select Series – Assessing the lethality of ship strikes on whales using simple biophysical models

by

A North Atlantic right whale rests at the ocean’s surface. With an estimated 100 reproductive females remaining, the species could be unable to reproduce naturally in 20 years.

About this presentation:

An interesting pattern of dead whales known to be killed by blunt trauma is that not all of them have broken bones. So if lethal collisions do not need to generate enough force per unit area (i.e. stress) to break bones, we wondered what a lethal amount of stress might be. We used simple models that incorporated whale biology, Newtonian physics and real-life observations to identify this amount of stress and it turns out many of the vessels on the ocean, large and small, can lethally injure large whales. Find out more about this study and get your questions answered during this 1-hour presentation followed by a Q&A session.

Thursday, 10 December, 2020
7:00 PM – 8:15 PM Atlantic Time (11 PM UTC)

Dr. Sean Brillant presented this work on behalf of his co-authors.

About the presenter:

Sean Brillant is the Senior Conservation Biologist for Marine Programs at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. He is a marine biologist with a PhD in experimental ecology and a masters in pollution ecology. Since 1993, Sean has collaborated with wide ranges of resource users, landowners, governments, NGOs, and scientists to solve a variety of environmental issues. In 2007, Sean began working to reduce harmful interactions between human activities and marine wildlife, focusing particularly on entanglements of and ship strikes on whales. Sean is an active member of many local, national, and international initiatives working on marine conservation and education and is based at Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia, where he is an Adjunct with the Department of Oceanography. Originally from Saint John NB, Sean spent his school years exploring, studying, fishing, and freezing in the Bay of Fundy.

Editors’ Select Series Presentation: “Tiger Stripes” on Estuarine Dolphins? by Elizabeth Titcomb

by

  

We are pleased to present the inaugural edition of the the SMM Seminar Editor’s Select Series. This series highlights the latest and most exciting marine mammal science published in the Marine Mammal Science Journal. The SMM created this series to give scientists and citizens around the world a chance to engage with marine mammal scientists, learn and ask questions. All are welcome.

Guest, Elizabeth Titcomb of Dolphin Census, presents: “Tiger stripes” on estuarine dolphins?

Thursday, 12 November 12, 2020
7:00 PM – 8:15 PM Eastern Standard Time

About this presentation:
In a long-term photo-identification study on dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon found unusual skin markings that had never-before been reported in cetaceans. The markings resembled parallel linear scars and were predominantly seen in females that had been pregnant, leading us to wonder if they were related to stretch marks seen in other mammals. At the moment, the exact cause for the skin markings is unknown.

Presented by Elizabeth Titcomb of Dolphin Census, find out more about this new mystery and the research that led up to it.