[MARMAM] New publication on effects of dolphin watching on spinner dolphins in Reunion Island

[Belen Quintana]

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to share that our paper "Dolphin Watching and Compliance to
Guidelines Affect Spinner Dolphins’ (Stenella longirostris) Behaviour
in Reunion Island" has been published in the *Animals *special issue *: Zoo
and Wild Animals Welfare Assessments *
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/animals/special_issues/Zoo_Wild_Animals_Welfare_Assessments

The paper is available in PDF format here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/9/2674/pdf

ABSTRACT:

Marine wildlife tourism has rapidly developed in Reunion Island, due to a
large demand for interactions with a resident population of spinner
dolphins (Stenella longirostris). The presence of dolphin-watching vessels
close to dolphin groups can cause short-term impacts on their
behaviour; cumulative
incidences likely result in deleterious long-term impacts on the
population. Using scan sampling, we collected behavioural data on spinner
dolphins to evaluate the short term effects of dolphin watching on their
behaviour. The dolphins were less likely to begin socialising or diving while
travelling and more likely to stay travelling and milling in the presence
of vessels. Additionally, activity budgets for resting and socialising
decreased simultaneously with increased travelling and milling. Avoidance
responses significantly increased with an increase in the number of vessels
and non-compliance with the local dolphin-watching guidelines. These
behavioural responses are likely to have energetic costs for the dolphins,
which may lead to decreased survival and reproductive success at individual
and population levels. More restrictive regulations, increased surveillance
and animal-based measures are key tools to adapt the conservation efforts
in Reunion Island. Further studies on the island’s resident dolphin
populations are necessary to ensure the continuity of dolphin watching
activities
in a sustainable manner.



Please feel free to reach out (belenquint...@cetdm-asso.org) with questions.


Kind regards,

Belén Quintana

*Équipe Quiétude - Observation respectueuse des cétacés et tortues marines
à La Réunion*
https://cedtm-asso.org/quietude/

*>> Formez-vous à l'approche des cétacés sur omega.upilty.fr !
*
*>> 100 Mesures pour dessiner l'avenir de l'activité d'observation des
cétacés à La Réunion ? Découvrez, soutenez, participez !
*

[image: CEDTM-quietude.png]

*Centre d'Etude et de Découverte des Tortues Marines (CEDTM)*
19, Cité des Frangipaniers
97424 Piton Saint Leu, La Réunion
Tel : (+262) 02 62 91 35 28
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[MARMAM] Cetacean bycatch mitigation in Indian Ocean drift gillnet fisheries

[Jeremy KISZKA]

Dear MARMAM community

On behalf of my coauthors, I have the pleasure to share that the following 
article has been published yesterday: 

Kiszka, J., Moazzam, M., Boussarie, G., Shahid, U., Babar, K. and Nawaz, R., 
2021. Setting the net lower: a potential low-cost mitigation method to reduce 
cetacean bycatch in drift gillnet fisheries. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and 
Freshwater Ecosystems.


Abstract: 
Bycatch is the most significant threat to marine megafauna (sea turtles, marine 
mammals, elasmobranchs, seabirds) worldwide, and the leading cause of the 
decline of several cetacean species. The bycatch issue in the Indian Ocean is 
poorly understood, but high bycatch levels in gillnet fisheries have been 
documented for the past two decades, in both small-scale and semi-industrial 
fisheries. Unfortunately, methods to reduce bycatch are often unavailable, 
financially non-viable or socially unacceptable to fishermen.
Using a network of trained boat captains in the tuna drift gillnet fishery in 
the Arabian Sea, targeted catch and bycatch data were collected from 2013 to 
2017 off the coast of Pakistan (northern Indian Ocean). Two fishing methods 
using multifilament gillnets were used: surface deployment and subsurface 
deployment (i.e. headline of net set below 2 m depth).
Predicted catch rates for targeted species did not differ significantly between 
the two fishing practices, although a drop in tuna (6.2%) and tuna-like (10.9%) 
species captures was recorded in subsurface sets. The probability of cetacean 
bycatch, however, was 78.5% lower in subsurface than in surface sets.
Cetacean bycatch in tuna drift gillnet fisheries has the potential to be 
significantly reduced at a relatively low cost for fishers. However, further 
research with an appropriate sampling design and a large sample size is 
required to confirm the efficacy of the proposed mitigation method. The 
acceptability and adoption of subsurface setting by fishers also needs to be 
further investigated. Despite some limitations, this preliminary study also 
highlights the importance of crew-based observer data as an alternative source 
of data when observers cannot be deployed on fishing vessels.
Here is the link to the paper: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.3706 
 Please contact me 
(jeremy.kis...@gmail.com ) if you have any 
questions. 

Best,

Jeremy


Jeremy Kiszka (PhD)
Assistant Professor
Marine Conservation Ecology lab
https://marineconservationecologylab.com 
Department of Biological Sciences
Coastlines and Oceans Division
Institute of Environment
Florida International University

24th Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Co-Chair
https://www.smmconference.org 




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[MARMAM] New publication on Whale-watch vessel noise levels (Dra Patricia Arranz)

[Patty Arranz]

Dear Colleagues,

The paper ‘*Whale-watch vessel noise levels with applications to
whale-watching guidelines and conservation'* has been published in the
journal *Marine Policy*. You can download the pdf from this link:
https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0308-597X(21)00387-0:



The work is the result of the joint effort of researchers from the
University of La Laguna (Spain), Aarhus University (Denmark) and Murdoch
University (Australia) as well as the collaborating tour operators from
Exmouth, Australia and Tenerife, Canary Islands.



Authors: Patricia Arranz, Natacha de Soto, Peter T. Madsen, Kate R. Sprogis.


The number and size of whale-watching and swim-with-cetacean vessels are
increasing worldwide, but the noise impact on targeted species depends on
vessel source characteristics and levels, which remain largely
unquantified. Here, we report the acoustic characteristics from 13
whale-watching vessels from Australia and Canary Islands to inform a
discussion of emission standards for this growing industry.

We show that the noise source levels from commercial tour vessels can vary
by >20 dB, and we highlight that a vessel with third octave source levels
<120 dB re 1µPa  >100 m away from targeted  cetaceans will generally not
increase ambient noise levels at their location  resulting in a very low
risk of impacts on behaviour and masking communication. To strive towards
these low impact standards we  recommend that vessels comply with a
broadband source level (0.2–10 kHz) <150 dB re 1 µPa (RMS) when they are
within 500 m of the cetaceans.



Reference:



Arranz, P., N. A. de Soto, P. T. Madsen, and K. R. Sprogis. 2021.
Whale-watch vessel noise levels with applications to whale-watching
guidelines and conservation. Marine Policy 134:104776. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104776.



Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Patricia, Natacha, Peter and Kate
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[MARMAM] U.S. Navy Living Marine Resource Program Need Topics - call for pre-proposals

[LMR Program]

The U.S. Navy Living Marine Resources (LMR) applied research program is
seeking pre-proposals pertaining to five need topics.  The FY22 need topics
include: 1) demonstrate and validate the ability of existing sparse
acoustic array technology to address Navy marine species monitoring goals,
2) demonstrate existing marine mammal tag technologies, 3) improve the
ability to identify calling individual from acoustic tags.



Details regarding the need topics mentioned above and what information is
required in a pre-proposal can be found at
https://www.navfac.navy.mil/lmr/proposals. All pre-proposals should be
submitted via email to exwc_lmr_prog...@navy.mil. Pre-proposals pertaining
to these need topics will be accepted until 11:59 PM PST on 02 December
2021. If invited, offerors will be asked to submit a full proposal.
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[MARMAM] New publication: Trait-mediated shifts and climate velocity decouple an endothermic marine predator and its ectothermic prey

[Lesley Thorne]

Dear colleagues,

My co-author and I are pleased to share our new paper examining
distributional shifts in long-finned pilot whales and their prey:

Thorne, L.H. and Nye, J.A., 2021. Trait-mediated shifts and climate
velocity decouple an endothermic marine predator and its ectothermic
prey. *Scientific
Reports*, *11*(1), pp.1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97318-z

Abstract: Climate change is redistributing biodiversity globally and
distributional shifts have been found to follow local climate velocities.
It is largely assumed that marine endotherms such as cetaceans might shift
more slowly than ectotherms in response to warming and would primarily
follow changes in prey, but distributional shifts in cetaceans are
difficult to quantify. Here we use data from fisheries bycatch and
strandings to examine changes in the distribution of long-finned pilot
whales (*Globicephala melas*), and assess shifts in pilot whales and their
prey relative to climate velocity in a rapidly warming region of the
Northwest Atlantic. We found a poleward shift in pilot whale distribution
that exceeded climate velocity and occurred at more than three times the
rate of fish and invertebrate prey species. Fish and invertebrates shifted
at rates equal to or slower than expected based on climate velocity, with
more slowly shifting species moving to deeper waters. We suggest that
traits such as mobility, diet specialization, and thermoregulatory strategy
are central to understanding and anticipating range shifts. Our findings
highlight the potential for trait-mediated climate shifts to decouple
relationships between endothermic cetaceans and their ectothermic prey,
which has important implications for marine food web dynamics and ecosystem
stability.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97318-z

Best,
Lesley


Lesley Thorne, Assistant Professor
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Stony Brook University,  Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000
631.632.5117
www.thornelab.com
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