A5057463715- Marine animal studies overview
- Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Underwater Acoustics Research
- Marine and fisheries research
- Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
- Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
- Avian ecology and behavior
- Identification and Quantification in Food
- Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Marine and coastal plant biology
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses
- Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Cephalopods and Marine Biology
- Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies
- Ecosystem dynamics and resilience
- Geological formations and processes
- Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Coastal and Marine Management
- Turtle Biology and Conservation
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications
University of St Andrews
2009-2022
Ocean Institute
2021
Anthropogenic underwater noise is now recognized as a world-wide problem, and recent studies have shown broad range of negative effects in variety taxa. Underwater from shipping increasingly significant pervasive pollutant with the potential to impact marine ecosystems on global scale. We reviewed six regional case examples research management activities relating ocean taxonomic groups, locations, approaches. However, no projects could ever cover all taxa, sites sources, brief bibliometric...
The inshore, continental shelf waters of British Columbia (BC), Canada are busy with ship traffic. South coast heavily trafficked by ships using the ports Vancouver and Seattle. North less busy, but expected to get busier based on proposals for container port liquefied natural gas development expansion. Abundance estimates density surface maps available 10 commonly seen marine mammals, including northern resident killer whales, fin humpback other species at-risk status under Canadian...
Understanding cumulative effects of multiple threats is key to guiding effective management conserve endangered species. The critically endangered, Southern Resident killer whale population the northeastern Pacific Ocean provides a data-rich case explore anthropogenic on viability. Primary include: limitation preferred prey, Chinook salmon; noise and disturbance, which reduce foraging efficiency; high levels stored contaminants, including PCBs. We constructed viability analysis possible...
A core task in endangered species conservation is identifying important habitats and managing human activities to mitigate threats. Many marine organisms, from invertebrates fish mammals, use acoustic cues find food, avoid predators, choose mates, navigate. Ocean noise can affect animal behavior disrupt trophic linkages. Substantial potential exists for area-based management reduce exposure of animals chronic ocean noise. Incorporating into spatial planning (e.g., critical habitat...
Ecosystem-based management (EBM) of marine resources attempts to conserve interacting species. In contrast single-species fisheries management, EBM aims identify and resolve conflicting objectives for different Such a conflict may be emerging in the northeastern Pacific southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) their primary prey, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Both species have at-risk conservation status transboundary (Canada–US) ranges. We modeled individual whale prey...
Critical habitats of at-risk populations northeast Pacific "resident" killer whales can be heavily trafficked by large ships, with transits occurring on average once every hour in busy shipping lanes. We modeled behavioral responses to ship during 35 "natural experiments" as a dose–response function estimated received noise levels both broadband and audiogram-weighted terms. Interpreting effects is contingent subjective seemingly arbitrary decision about severity threshold indicating...
Odontocetes produce a range of different echolocation clicks but four groups in families have converged on producing the same stereotyped narrow band high frequency (NBHF) click. In microchiropteran bats, sympatric species evolved use acoustic niches and subtly signals to avoid competition among species. this study, we examined whether similar adaptations are at play porpoise that NBHF clicks. We used six-element hydrophone array record harbour Dall's porpoises British Columbia (BC), Canada,...
Habitat loss is a leading cause of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. For marine species that rely on acoustic cues to navigate, find food or select mates, sound key element their environment. Chronic forms human-generated ocean noise have the potential mask communication signals over substantial fractions functional areas for year, which makes masking qualitatively similar stressor habitat loss. International policy decisions chronic are evolving, creates an opportunity advance...
Abstract Wildlife species and populations are being driven toward extinction by a combination of historic emerging stressors (e.g., overexploitation, habitat loss, contaminants, climate change), suggesting that we in the midst planet’s sixth mass extinction. The invisible loss biodiversity before have been identified described scientific literature has termed, memorably, dark critically endangered Southern Resident killer whale ( Orcinus orca ) population illustrates its contrast, which term...
Abstract Effective conservation of threatened populations requires identification the processes limiting recovery. When multiple population are potentially limiting, they sometimes analyzed independently, often using different datasets. Analytically, this is suboptimal, as correlated, which can lead to biased estimates parameters and quantities interest. Integrated models (IPMs) synthesize several data streams in same probabilistic framework circumvent these issues. Lack prey was identified...
Abstract Like many endangered wildlife populations, the viability and conservation status of ‘southern resident’ killer whales Orcinus orca in north‐east Pacific may be affected by prey limitation repeated disturbance human activities. Marine protected areas (MPAs) present an attractive option to mitigate impacts anthropogenic activities, but they run risk tokenism if placed arbitrarily. Notwithstanding recreational industrial marine traffic, number commercial vessels local whalewatching...
Respiratory rate (mean number of breaths per minute) and respiratory interval time between breaths) can offer insight into a diving mammal's activity state, metabolic rate, behavior, synchronization due to social cohesion. Also, reflect an individual animal's health has the potential be informative remotely assessed metric for monitoring animal in endangered whale species populations such as southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Using data collected from noninvasive, land-based...
Several legal acts mandate that management agencies regularly assess biological populations. For species with distinct markings, these assessments can be conducted noninvasively via capture-recapture and photographic identification (photo-ID), which involves processing considerable quantities of data. To ease this burden, increasingly rely on automated (ID) algorithms. Identification algorithms present an opportunity-reducing the cost population assessments-and a challenge-propagating...
Marine mammal protections require increased global capacity
Bioenergetic approaches are increasingly used to understand how marine mammal populations could be affected by a changing and disturbed aquatic environment. There remain considerable gaps in our knowledge of bioenergetics, which hinder the application bioenergetic studies inform policy decisions. We conducted priority-setting exercise identify high-priority unanswered questions with an emphasis on relevant conservation management. Electronic communication virtual workshop were solicit...
Abstract Researchers can investigate many aspects of animal ecology through noninvasive photo–identification. Photo–identification is becoming more efficient as matching individuals between photos increasingly automated. However, the convolutional neural network models that have facilitated this change need training images to generalize well. As a result, they often been developed for individual species meet threshold. These single‐species methods might underperform, ignore potential...
Abstract Controlled exposure experiments that measure animal response to vessels can inform relevant wildlife‐viewing guidelines and reveal how they make decisions about changes in their environment. Previous experimental studies documented stereotyped avoidance responses by killer whales boats. Additional observations collected during these showed an apparent shift behaviour at high traffic levels. Our study tested experimentally whether did respond differently approach few (1–3) versus...
Conventional smoothing over complicated coastal and island regions may result in errors across boundaries, due to the use of Euclidean distances measure interpoint similarity. The new Complex Region Spatial Smoother (CReSS) method presented here uses estimated geodesic distances, model averaging, a local radial basis function provide improved complex domains. CReSS is compared, via simulation, with recent related techniques, Thin Plate Splines (TPS), low rank TPS (GLTPS), Soap film smoother...
As sublethal human pressures on marine wildlife and their habitats increase interact in complex ways, there is a pressing need for methods to quantify cumulative impacts of these stressors populations, policy decisions about allowable harm limits. Few studies population consequences individual stressors, fewer synergistic effects. Incorporating all sources uncertainty can cause predictions span the range from negligible catastrophic. Two places were identified bound this problem through...
Abstract Evolutionary relationships among cetaceans within the family Delphinidae have been difficult to resolve due high number of species and their relatively rapid radiation. This is case for dolphin currently placed in genus Lagenorhynchus , relations Cephalorhynchus Lissodelphis species. Phylogenetic these investigated using multiple lines evidence, that evidence consistently suggests six assigned do not form a monophyletic group. Here, we summarize findings from studies morphology,...
There is growing concern about impacts of ship and small boat noise on marine wildlife. Few studies have quantified anthropogenic ecologically, economically, culturally important fish. We conducted open net pen experiments to measure Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) juvenile salmon (pink, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, chum, keta) behavioural response generated by three boats travelling at different speeds. Dose-response curves for estimated 50% probability eliciting a broadband received levels...
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) were hunted commercially in Canada's Pacific region until 1966. Depleted to an estimated 1,400 individuals throughout the North Pacific, humpback are listed as Threatened under Species at Risk Act (SARA) and Endangered US Act. We conducted 8-year photo-identification study monitor whale usage of a coastal fjord system British Columbia (BC), Canada that was recently proposed candidate critical habitat for species SARA. This participatory research...