Category Archives: Society News

SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar, 21 March 2024: A first investigation of geographical variation in Cape fur seals’ in-air vocalizations, with Dr. Mathilde Martin

by

You are invited to the next edition of the SMM Editors’ Select Webinar 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!

Join us on Thursday March 21st 2024 at 10 am EDT / 3 pm CET
for the next SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar:
A first investigation of geographical variation in Cape fur seals’ in-air vocalizations
with Dr. Mathilde Martin

This event was recorded live and published on youtube: https://youtu.be/yKh-DjF-7WU
For future events, please check our news room or join the SMM Facebook page.

About this talk:
Marine mammals are known to communicate extensively through acoustic signals in all their social interactions. In pinnipeds (seals, fur seals, and walruses), breeding takes place on land (or on ice) and individuals use in-air vocalisations to exchange information between mating partners or between mother and young. Cape fur seals breed at about 40 different breeding sites distributed along the southwest and south coasts of Southern Africa. These colonies are located on both the mainland and islands and are characterized by various terrains such as bare rock, boulders, ledges, or open sandy beaches. In this study, we compared the acoustic features of Cape fur seals’ vocalisations recorded at 6 different study sites in Namibia and South Africa to investigate potential geographical variation in the species’ vocal repertoire. Comparisons among closely located sites revealed limited geographical variation whereas more pronounced differences were found in the frequency structure of males, females and pups’ vocalisations recorded at more distant sites. Although we were unable to control for certain factors (mainly due to the difficulty of accessing the colonies), we discuss here the potential impact of social and environmental factors in driving intra-species variation in Cape fur seals’ vocalisations. Such investigations help understand how acoustic communication in marine mammals is shaped by ecological drivers.

About the presenter:
Mathilde Martin is a biologist, specialist in animal behaviour, and more specifically in acoustic communication in terrestrial and marine mammals. Her research focuses on deciphering what information is encoded in their vocalisations and how vocal signals can modulate socials interactions, in relation to the species’ ecological constraints. Her approach combines audio recordings in the field, analyses of the acoustic structure of vocalisations and experimental tests on wild animals. Mathilde first explored the social calls exchanged during mother-calf interactions in humpback whales. Then, during her PhD at the Institute of Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, she investigated several aspects of the acoustic communication network of the Cape fur seal, such as the transmission of individual information, male-male or mother-pup individual vocal recognition systems, as well as the impact of noise pollution on the behaviour of these animals. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich where she is studying the role of meerkats’ close calls in the maintenance of group cohesion during foraging.

Open access to this article is made temporarily available in the weeks around the presentation and can be found here. Current SMM members have access to all Marine Mammal Science papers.

Missed a presentation or want to share this series with a friend? All previous Editors’ Select presentations are recorded and archived on our YouTube channel here.

Please vote for the next SMM President-Elect

by

Dear Member,

As communicated on the 12th February, we are holding a special ‘snap’ election for the office of President-Elect to fill the role effective immediately. The ballot will be open for 2 weeks until 7 March 2024 at 12 PM EST.

Please sign in and vote here.

Thank you for your participation and your continued support of the Society and its values.

Katharina J. Peters
Chair, Nominations & Elections Committee

Special election to be held for the office of President-Elect

by

Dear Members,

This message is to inform you that we will shortly be holding a special ‘snap’ election for the office of President-Elect, following the resignation of Dr. Daniel Palacios from the position on 18 January 2024, approximately one year into his 2.5-year term (note that current Board members have an extended term to accommodate the delay in the timing of the 24th Biennial).

Our Secretary, Dr. Jeremy Kiszka, has agreed to act in the role of President-Elect (as well as Secretary) as our Constitution provides a path for the Board to fill the vacancy of the President-Elect office through succession, with the Secretary succeeding into the role of President- Elect (Article XI). However, Article XI also states that an ‘officer who succeeds to the position of President-Elect will not succeed to the Presidency unless elected by the membership in a regular election.’

To address this requirement, the Board has decided to hold a special election so that the person elected to the office of President-Elect can then succeed to the Presidency.

Normally, elections are held following the Biennial Meeting and the General Members Meeting. However, this option is not favored by the Board because it could lead to the Society having both a new President and a new President-Elect commencing their terms simultaneously, with the elected President having very limited time (perhaps just a few months) to serve as President-Elect before becoming President (in July 2025). The Board considers that this is not enough time to become familiar with the complex and demanding responsibilities of the President. The President-Elect position, by design, straddles successive Boards in recognition of the multiple responsibilities that must be learned during the period of office (usually 2 years).

The special election will ensure the elected President-Elect has sufficient time to gain critical experience to effectively execute their responsibilities as President; enable the Board to address the loss of an officer quickly and move forward with their critical, time-sensitive duties on behalf of the Society; and resolve the current requirement from Article XI and appoint (via special election) a President-Elect that can ascend to the Presidency.

The special election will conform to the regular election process. This involves the Nominations and Elections Committee providing the Board ‘with a slate of no more than two candidates’ (General Operating Policies 4.8.1), and the holding of an open online General Members Meeting lasting 5 days, during which ‘additional candidates may be nominated by Society members’ (General Operating Policies 4.8.2), followed by ‘an electronic ballot’ (General Operating Policies 4.8.3).

The open online General Members Meeting will commence Monday 12 February and close at 12 midnight GMT on Friday 16 February 2024. This meeting will provide the window of time during which members may nominate a candidate for President-Elect.

All candidates for President-Elect must be current members of the Society, be willing to serve as a member of the Board of Governors and provide a background and vision statement of up to 300 words (General Operating Policies 4.8.2).

If you are nominating a colleague for this position, please ensure that the individual agrees to be nominated and meets the criteria listed above. Nominators, and the individual seconding the nomination, must also be current members of the Society.

To nominate a colleague, please send the name of the nominee, your full name and the name of the individual seconding the nomination to elections@marinemammalscience.org. Please direct the nominee to send their statement of interest and photo to the same email address with subject heading, “President-Elect Nominee Statement”.

The open online General Members Meeting will be followed by the electronic ballot (members to be notified by email).

I encourage any members considering being nominated for the position of President-Elect to contact the President to discuss the role beforehand.

The Nominations and Election Committee, with the approval of the Board, have put forward a single nomination for the position of President-Elect, Dr. Jeremy Kiszka (acting President-Elect).

Any additional candidates nominated during the 5-day open online General Members Meeting will be included in the ballot.

If any member has any questions regarding the election, please contact myself (president@marinemammalscience.org) or Katharina Peters (Nominations and Elections Committee chair, elections@marinemammalscience.org).

Kind regards,
Simon

Simon Goldsworthy
President
The Society for Marine Mammalogy

Congratulations to our new Honorary Members, Miriam Marmontel and Barb Taylor

by

Dear Members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy,

I am thrilled to announce that both Miriam Marmontel and Barbara Taylor have been selected as honorary members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. This prestigious honour is a testament to their unparalleled dedication, significant contributions, and profound impact on the field of marine mammalogy, and I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Miriam and Barbara.

Miriam and Barbara have exemplified excellence in their respective roles, pioneering advancements in research, conservation, and education related to marine mammalogy. Their unwavering commitment to understanding and protecting marine mammals has not only enriched our scientific community but has also inspired countless individuals to follow in their footsteps.

As honorary members, Miriam and Barbara join an esteemed cohort of individuals whose passion and expertise have shaped the course of marine mammalogy and paved the way for a deeper understanding of these fascinating creatures. Their induction as honorary members underscores their significant contributions to our society and reinforces our collective commitment to advancing the field of marine mammalogy.

Please join me in congratulating Miriam and Barbara on this well-deserved honour. We look forward to celebrating their achievements and continued impact within our society and beyond.

Katharina J. Peters
Chair, Nominations & Elections Committee

SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar, 15 February 2024: Foraging migration ontogeny in southern elephant seals with Dr. Trevor McIntyre

by

You are invited to the next edition of the SMM Editors’ Select Webinar 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!

Join us on Thursday February 15th 2024 at 10 am PST / 6 pm GMT
for the next SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar:
Foraging migration ontogeny in southern elephant seals: finding their way as they go?
with Dr. Trevor McIntyre

This event was recorded live and put on youtube: https://youtu.be/z5idHO-KHvg
For future events, please check our news room or join the SMM Facebook page.

About this talk:
Elephant seal pups are abandoned by their mothers when they are between three and four weeks of age. After a short period of fasting on-land, they depart on their first foraging migrations unaccompanied by adults. These maiden foraging trips normally last longer than three months, during which they must avoid potential predators such as orcas and find sufficient food in the vast Southern Ocean. The development of the skills needed to successfully navigate these early foraging trips is poorly understood, not only in elephant seals, but in many animals that perform extreme migratory behaviours. We studied the maiden foraging trips of recently weaned southern elephant seal pups from Marion Island ̶ a small, but intensively studied population located in the southern Indian Ocean. Unlike the adults of this population, recently weaned pups did not show evidence of consistency in travel directions, distances and speed of travel between individuals, or even between sequential foraging trips by the same individuals. Cumulatively, our results suggest that the foraging strategies of adult elephant seals from this population are strongly influenced by rapid learning while at-sea and is likely less reliant on innate behaviours or innate responses to large-scale environmental cues. There remains a need for continued longitudinal studies to better understand what the likely population-level effects of juvenile behavioural strategies are.

About the presenter:
Dr Trevor McIntyre is an Associate Professor in Zoology at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He first started working with marine mammals as a field assistant on the Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme in 2005, before continuing with his PhD studies on at-sea behaviours of southern elephant seals at the University of Pretoria. Dr McIntyre then commenced  a few years of postdoctoral research in South Africa and at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, followed by a lecturing position at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, before joining UNISA in 2019. His broad research interests are centred around behavioural adaptations of animals to environmental change, particularly for semi-aquatic mammals such as seals and otters. Current research projects he is involved in include studies on the ecology of African clawless otter in freshwater systems of South Africa and Ross seals in the eastern Weddell Sea, Antarctica.

Open access to this article is made temporarily available in the weeks around the presentation and can be found here. Current SMM members have access to all Marine Mammal Science papers.

Missed a presentation or want to share this series with a friend? All previous Editors’ Select presentations are recorded and archived on our YouTube channel here.

Application Deadline for the Louis M Herman Research Scholarship

by

Louis M. Herman, Ph.D. and Emeritus Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, will always be remembered for his innovative, creative, and scientifically rigorous approach to the study of the marine mammals he so loved, and for the future generations of marine mammal researchers he and his work continue to inspire. The Louis M. Herman Research Scholarship supports research projects that contribute to our understanding of either cetacean cognition and sensory perception (laboratory or field studies), or humpback whale behavioural ecology or communication. Work with other marine mammals that especially enhances our understanding of their cognitive abilities will also be considered. Eligible candidates include graduate students and those students who have completed their Masters or PhD within the past three years and are members of the Society of Marine Mammalogy. Full details of application submission materials and criteria can be found on the Society for Marine Mammalogy webpage.

Submission deadline is Monday, 5 February 2024 (10pm, Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time GMT-10 hours) 

SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar, 18 January 2024: Eavesdropping on working whales, with Dr. Renee Albertson

by

You are invited to the next edition of the SMM Editors’ Select Webinar 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!
 
Join us on Thursday January 18th 2024 at 1 pm PST / 9 pm GMT
for the next SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar:
Eavesdropping on working whales: remote monitoring of adult gray whale lung volumes
with Dr. Renee Albertson
 

This event was recorded live and put on youtube: https://youtu.be/aEOnLXq390Q
For future events, please check our news room or join the SMM Facebook page.

 
About this talk:
Understanding how a species’ metabolic rate varies in different behavioral contexts is useful for quantifying prey requirements and foraging efficiencies of individuals. Field metabolic rates (FMR) are daily estimates of oxygen consumption, which depend on three factors: lung capacity, breathing rate, and the amount of oxygen extracted from the air. This study describes a novel approach to estimating tidal lung volumes (VT) of actively foraging adult gray whales and compares those to VT estimates of gray whales studied in a winter breeding/calving lagoon. An unoccupied aircraft system (UAS) along the central Oregon coast monitored foraging whales from 2016-2020. Breathing patterns of gray whales typically include very rapid exhalation/inhalation events as they surface, followed by submerged breath holds of varying duration and depth. UAS video and acoustic recordings revealed that foraging whales have 35-40% higher mass-relative VT values than resting lagoon females. This reflects differences in behavior, activity levels, and oxygen needs between the two groups.
The tidal lung volumes of fasting lagoon whales and foraging whales fall between that of resting terrestrial mammals and small to medium-sized odontocetes. The methods described here, especially the use of UASs for measuring body lengths and breathing rates, provide a new tool for estimating gray whale oxygen consumption and energy requirements.
 
About the presenter:
Dr. Renee Albertson is a teaching professor and research affiliate at Oregon State University, where her current research focuses on gray whale physiology. In collaboration with multiple scientists within the university’s Marine Mammal Institute, she has been studying gray whale metabolic rates and aerobic dive limits, including the research she will share today. Dr. Albertson earned BS degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry and a MA in Teaching from Pacific University in 1994 and 1997, and taught high school chemistry from 1997 to 2007. She began her career in marine mammal science in 2005, when she completed an intensive internship in Moorea, French Polynesia working on photo-identification of small cetaceans and humpback whales. She went on to complete her MSc and PhD degrees at Oregon State University with Dr. Scott Baker, where she used genetic markers and photo identification to study migratory patterns and abundance of South Pacific humpback whales and phylogeographic patterns and taxonomic and social structures of rough-toothed dolphins. After completing her PhD in 2014 she worked as a postdoctoral scholar for Dr. Ari Friedlaender, where she evaluated changes in humpback whale migration and fine-scale population structure in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest warming areas on the planet. Today, in addition to her research, she teaches several field-based marine mammal courses at Oregon State University and continues to collaborate with scientists and policy makers in the South Pacific.
 
Open access to this article is made temporarily available in the weeks around the presentation and can be found here. Current SMM members have access to all Marine Mammal Science papers.
 
Missed a presentation or want to share this series with a friend? All previous Editors’ Select presentations are recorded and archived on our YouTube channel here.

Vote for SMM’s 2024 Honorary Member(s)

by

Dear Members,

This is your reminder to vote for SMM’s Honorary Member nominees by 30 January 2024.

We are pleased to present two new nominees to become Honorary Members for you to vote on. An Honorary Member is a member recognized for distinguished service to the field of marine mammalogy, as recommended unanimously by the Board of Governors, and elected by two-thirds of the voting members. Honorary Members have all the privileges of full members but are exempt from dues.

Here is the link to the ballot: https://marinemammalscience.org/for-members/2023-members-ballot/

The ballot will close at 3:00 PM EST on 30 January 2024.

Best wishes,
Katharina J. Peters
Nominations and Elections Committee Chair

Deadline to Nominate an SMM Fellow is 15 January 2024

by

NOMINATE A FELLOW MEMBER
In 2019, the members of the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM) voted to establish a Fellows Membership Category. We are pleased to announce our Society’s second call for nominations of Fellow Members.

The SMM Constitution identifies a ‘Fellow’ as a member who is being recognized by the Society and its membership as having “rendered conspicuous service or made truly notable contributions to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of marine mammal science or the fostering of its practical applications through conservation of marine mammals. Payment of dues to the Society by the Fellow would remain the same as for a normal Full member.”

Nominations are Open.
The deadline to nominate a fellow is 15 January 2024. So please come nominate a Fellow for the Society.

ELIGIBILITY
Any current Full member of the SMM after being a Full member for a minimum of five years is eligible. These five years do not have to be contiguous. Please confirm with the nominee that they meet the five-year eligibility criterion prior to submission.

Note: the current members of the SMM Board (which includes elected officers and committee chairs) are not eligible for consideration for Fellows status.

HOW TO NOMINATE
If you are a current SMM member, you may nominate an eligible SMM member as a Fellow. We ask that you submit a complete dossier, described in detail below, to the Fellows Nomination web page by 15 January 2024. The dossier must be uploaded to the Fellows Nomination web page as a single .pdf document.

Each dossier shall include the following elements.

(1) Letter of Nomination. This letter should provide insight into a nominee’s service, notable contributions to the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of marine mammal science, or the fostering of its practical applications through the conservation of marine mammals. The nominating letter can be no longer than one page (12 pt font).
The Committee will consider the following factors:

  1. service to the Society;
  2. contributions to marine mammal science including activities such as publications and presentations, field work, research and development, or administrative and logistical support; or
  3. contributions to the teaching or dissemination of knowledge of marine mammal science and conservation. Due to the diversity of disciplines and activities of The Society for Marine Mammalogy members, the relative importance of these factors will differ from candidate to candidate. The Fellow candidate would be expected to be exemplary in, and have made substantial contributions to, at least one of these factors (e.g. be in the top 10% of the membership).

(2) Seconding letters. The dossier should also include two seconding letters, one of which must be from a current SMM member. Signed-in SMM members can search for all current members via the SMM Member Directory. Each seconding letter can be no longer than one page (12 pt font).

(3) Complete curriculum vitae of the nominee. The format and length of this document is unrestricted, as we are encouraging nominations of individuals from broadly different backgrounds and the standard CV formats across fields are likely different. Note that only text should be submitted as part of the CV. If audio or video files are relevant provide a link in the documents submitted.

(4) Proposed maximum 20-word citation for the Fellow (e.g., Kenneth S. Norris – for efforts to found the Society and contributions to the process of dolphin echolocation and hearing).

All materials must be uploaded here: https://marinemammalscience.org/about-us/fellows-program/fellows-program-nomination/

DOSSIER REVIEW PROCESS
The dossiers will be received by the committee Co-chairs and the SMM Members-at-Large.

Identifying information about the nominator and seconders will be redacted from each dossier to ensure a blind review. The Fellows Committees will be Co-Chaired by the Members-at-Large, who will form a committee of seven members holding Fellow status, and at least one contributing, but not voting student member, with attention paid to diversity of representation. Members will serve staggered, four-year terms. Fellows Committee members may not submit nominations. For more information about the Fellows Committee, please see the General Operating Policies of our SMM governing documents.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about the nomination process, please reach out to the Co-Chairs of the Fellows Committee, our Members-at-Large:
Cindy Peter and Dipani Sutaria (mal@marinemammalscience.org)
For any technical questions regarding the online application, please email admin@marinemammalscience.org.

Thank you,
Members-at-Large 2023
Society of Marine Mammalogy

SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar, 14 December 2023: Calling rate changes in association with passing ships in Milne Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, with Crystal Radtke

by

You are invited to the next edition of the SMM Editors’ Select Webinar 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!

Join us on Thursday December 14th 2023 at 5 pm AST / 9 pm GMT
for the next SMM Editors’ Select Series Webinar:
Narwhal calling rate changes in association with passing ships in Milne Inlet, Nunavut, Canada
with Crystal Radtke

This event was recorded live and put on youtube: youtu.be/kYpoMpsdrTU 
For future events, please check our news room or join the SMM Facebook page.

About this talk:
Concerns were raised about possible behavioural disturbance to narwhals (Monodon monoceros) when exposed to shipping noise in Milne Inlet, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. It is known that marine mammals often change their behaviours especially their vocalizations, around ships.  With the use of underwater recordings operating continuously over two months (in 2018 and 2019), narwhal vocalizations in Milne Inlet were analyzed. Narwhals produce three social call types, whistles, buzzes and knocks. The calling rates of each call type were determined when no ships were present and during ship transits in a before-during-after analysis. Narwhal call counts were generally lower when bulk carriers were within line-of-sight (5 km), including when ship noise levels were barely above background noise levels. Call counts varied both “before” and “after” individual bulk carriers passed by the recorders. There was no evidence of habituation or sensitization to the bulk carrier noise within or between years. Continued monitoring in this area is recommended, especially if shipping levels increase.

About the presenter:
Crystal studied at the University of New Brunswick, in Saint John, NB, Canada for undergraduate and graduate studies. Her honours project was on the underwater soundscape of Mawson Station, Antarctica and the impacts this could have on the masking of Weddell seal calls.  Her masters thesis was on the classification of narwhal calls and the changes in calling rates in association with passing ships. She has also volunteered with various organizations (Bimini Biological Field Station, Dolphin Communication Project and Operation Wallacea) for marine mammal, fish and marine invertebrate studies.

Open access to this article is made temporarily available in the weeks around the presentation and can be found here. Current SMM members have access to all Marine Mammal Science papers.

Missed a presentation or want to share this series with a friend? All previous Editors’ Select presentations are recorded and archived on our YouTube channel here.