‘MARINE MAMMALS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT’
Symposium – 07-08 March 2019 – CeNak, Hamburg, Germany
Marine mammals comprise top predators and upper trophic levels in oceanic ecosystems of the world. They are increasingly threatened by various anthropogenic impacts in their marine habitat, e.g. pollution by chemical and pharmaceutical substances, marine litter, underwater noise, changes in prey abundance and climate change. These constraints can have serious implications for the health status of marine mammals through elevated stress response, immune suppression as well as higher energy and metabolic demands caused by disturbances that may affect different populations to a varying degree.
The project ‘Marine Mammals In a Changing Environment’, funded by the VolkswagenFoundation, forms a consortium of museums and universities in Germany, Denmark and Sweden, combining unique collections, marine mammal expertise and innovative methods to investigate native marine mammal species.
Results will be presented with respect to changes in health condition and population status of marine mammals over long time periods and in different marine environments; in particular with respect to 1) to bone lesions in seal skulls, 2) feeding-related dental micro texture, 3) organochlorines in blubber of harbour seals, 4) trace elements in pelts of several seal species, and 5) parasitic and viral pathogens in seals during the last decades and century.
Cooperation partners:
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo), Germany
Centrum of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg, Germany
Zoological Museum of Kiel University, Germany
German Oceanographic Museum Stralsund, Germany
University of Hildesheim, Germany
Natural History Museum of Denmark, Denmark
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Sweden
Confirmed keynote speakers:
Krishna Das, University of Liège, Laboratory of Oceanology-MARE, Belgium
Anders Galatius, Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, Marine Mammal Research, Denmark
Gerd Meurs-Scher, Multimar Wattforum, Germany
Venue:
The symposium will be held at the Centrum of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg;
Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Programme:
The detailed programme is available here
Thursday, 07th March 2019
11.00 – 13:30 Registration
13.00 – 13:30 Welcome
Ursula Siebert, Director of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Germany
Thomas M. Kaiser, Chair of Mammalogy and Paleoanthropology, Center of Natural History, University of Hamburg, Germany
13.30 – 14.15 Keynote 1
Mercury in marine vertebrates: new insights from speciation and isotopic composition, Krishna Das, University of Liege, Belgium
14.15 – 14.35: Dental pathology and alveolar bone lesions in Eastern Atlantic harbour seals, Patricia Kahle, University of Hildesheim, Germany
14.35 – 15.20 Coffee / Tea Break /Photo
15.20 – 15.40: Periapical lesions and osteomyelitis of the jaws as sequel, Uwe Kierdorf, University of Hildesheim, Germany
15.40 – 16.00: Dietary trait reconstruction in marine mammals, Elehna Bethune, Center of Natural History, Germany
16.00 – 16.20: Acanthocephalans in intestines of North and Baltic Sea grey and harbour seals: Pathologies, Prevalences and Present Situation, Jan Lakemeyer, Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, Germany
16.20 – 16.40: Trophic niche structure of marine mammals from the North Sea: Location and time-trend effect, France Damseaux, University of Liege, Belgium
16.40 – 17.00: Skeletal adaptations of aquatic vertebrates to fasting, swimming, diving and hearing, Tim Rolvien, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
17.00 – 17.30: Poster Session
19.00: Icebreaker with buffet, in the Exhibition of the CeNak
Friday, 08th March 2019
9.00 – 9.45: Keynote 2
Whales, Wadden Sea and World Heritage Site – relevance of whales for environmental education, Gerd Meurs, Multimar Wattforum, Germany
9.45 – 10.30: Keynote 3
From morphology to management, Anders Galatius, Aarhus University, Denmark
10.30 – 10.50
Title pending, Morten Tange Olsen, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
10.50 – 11.35: Coffee / Tea Break
11.35 – 11.55: A phylogenetic study on the evolutionary history of Canine Distemper Virus and Phocine Distemper Virus, Iben Stockholm, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
11.55 – 12.15: There and back again – the return of the nasal mite Halarachne halichoeri to seals in German waters, Kristina Lehnert, Anja Reckendorf, Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, Germany
12.15 – 12.35: A concept for a travel exhibition – how to bring the research results to the people, Katrin Wollny-Goerke, Meeresmedien, Germany
12.35 – 13.00 Closing Remarks and Farewell
Hosts:
Center of Natural History (CeNak), University of Hamburg, Germany
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), Büsum, Germany
Registration:
The symposium is free of charge but formal registration is needed as our venue is limited to 200 attendees.
Please e-mail your registration for the symposium until 15 February 2019 to vwkonferenz2019.cenak@uni-hamburg.de