Greetings MARMAM! Join us on *Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 9 AM PST (12 PM EST / 5 PM GMT)* for the next SMM Seminar Editors' Select Series: Sperm whale echolocation and foraging behavior during different sea states and sonar exposures: indications of masking? with Dr. Saana Isojunno of the University of St Andrews. Free to attend. Registration required. Presented online on Zoom. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_75zf9B7DTku5rJp1yqIlpQ
Space on Zoom is limited to the first 500 attendees. The talk will also be streamed live on the SMM Facebook page. *The SMM Seminar Editors' 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. * *About this talk:* Marine mammals that rely on sound for important life functions, such as echolocation, have evolved strategies to cope with auditory masking. However, these may not be completely effective or cost-free, raising concern for anthropogenic noise impacts. We investigated whether sperm whales (N=15 individuals with sound- and movement recording tags) exhibited behaviors consistent with masking during experimental exposures to navy sonar and wind-generated surface noise. Compared to strong variation with depth, foraging and echolocation behavior was relatively stable throughout different sea states and sonar exposures. Nevertheless, small increase in apparent click levels and reduced prey capture attempts were consistent with our hypotheses for masking from sea state and sonar. *About the presenter:* Dr Saana Isojunno is behavioral ecologist at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, based at the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) but also working closely with the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU). She majored in fisheries and hydrobiology (University of Jyvaskylä, Finland), before she moved to St Andrews where she gained a masters in Marine Mammal Science in 2008, and PhD on sperm whale foraging behavior and anthropogenic disturbance in 2014. Her research strives to better understand how individuals respond to, and cope with, environmental stressors and human activities. She focuses on applied questions such as the effects of underwater noise and marine renewables, but drawing from fundamental science such as the non-consumptive effects of predators on prey. Best regards, *Ayça Eleman, Ph.D. Candidate* *Theresa-Anne Tatom-Naecker, Ph.D. Student* *Eric Angel Ramos, Ph.D.* *Student Members-at-Large* Society for Marine Mammalogy
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