What role did the Soviet play in whaling?
Soviet whaling vessels indiscriminately killed many, and many species of whales, and that they hid that information from the IWC.
Who worked hard to ensure that the truth of the kills by the Soviet were made public?
Russian scientist
What are seismic surveys?
large scale, geophysical operation that introduce high amplitude, low frequency, impulsive sounds into the environment at high repeat rate for long periods of time and sometimes over large geographical areas
What is the difference between 2D, 3D & 4D seismic sensor arrays?
2D: single seismic streamer and single sound source - lower data density and less detailed mapping
3D: multiple seismic streamers and sound source array- higher data density (more sensors/area) and finer detailed mapping
4D: 3D surveys repeated over time - measure change in subsurface features, regularly occur with oil and gas extraction
What are the loudest single sound source that we (humans) put into the ocean?
seismic surveys
How often do those sounds occur during a typical seismic survey?
every 10 seconds for about 12 hours or more
Know the species that we discussed that have been shown to respond behaviorally to seismic sounds.
- feeding beaked whales demonstrated avoidance
- 50% of migrating gray whales avoided exposures
- critically endangered west population of gray whales travel faster, change directions less, further from shore
Sperm whale seismic study
Controlled exposure experiments of D-tagged whales before, during and after exposure
Foraging observed, echolocation buzzes proxy for prey capture attempts, pitch angle pattern used as proxy for locomotor effort
buzz rates varied depending upon distance, overall buzz rates decreased and locomotor effort decreased during exposure. Not avoidance.
Zooplankton/Right whale seismic study
exposure to air gun signal decreased abundance and increased mortality in adult and larval
impacts observed up to 1.2 km
Zooplankton are the base of the marine food web and prey of large whales
Know the history of opening up the Atlantic and Arctic to seismic surveys - from the Obama through the Trump administrations.
- 2014: US moves towards Atlantic oil exploration
- 2016: Obama bans oil drilling in large areas of Atlantic and Arctic ( reverses plan to explore and places protections)
- 2018: Trump moves to open nearly all offshore water to drilling (Virtually all US outer continental shelf open)
- Now: Trumps plan is set aside
Has NOAA permitted multiple seismic surveys in the Atlantic?
Yes, permitted 5 large scale survey efforts in mid Atlantic
Who is Jim Estes?
- greater than 30 year career studying sea otter ecology and repopulation patterns in Aleutians
- noticed that killer whales were eating sea otters
Explain the Aleutian Coastal Ecosystem (3 trophic level system)
Sea otters keep urchins in check, result: healthy kelp forest with high spp. diversity
W/o sea otters, urchins eat kelps to the floor and low spp diversity
How did Jim Estes test his hypothesis?
Hypothesis: killer whales as a mortality agent
1. Stat analysis: supports hypothesis, statistically speaking you would have seen an attack pre 1991 if they were occurring
2. Metabolic Study: calculated number of killer whales needed to eat sea otters to account for 40,000 missing otters (3.7 whales)
3. Natural experiment: supports hypothesis, two areas, one area killer whales had access the other didn't. In one exposed to killer whales 76% decrease in sea otters
Why did killer whales switch their prey from large whales, to pinnipeds to sea otters?
#NAME?
According to Dr.Flemings lecture, what is the whale pump?
Whales take nutrients by eating and then can add nutrients into the environment through their excretions
acclimation vs adaptation
Acclimation: alteration of physiology or behavior, physiological extension of ecological range
Adaptation: shifting genetic composition, a new ecological range
What is the rate at which sound is increasing in the environment?
3 dB per decade
What the largest single contributor to that increase in sound is?
commercial shipping
How can anthropogenic sound impact marine mammals?
acoustic masking makes it difficult to communicate and the sounds can cause stress to the animals (911 study)
What are the different regions of the vertebral column?
cervical: neck, support for head
thoracic: rib bearing, support for diaphragm
lumbar: between thoracic and caudal vert., support locomotory muscles
sacral: attached to pelvis - 'no' sacrals (by definition) in cetaceans
caudal: tail (the coccyx in humans); in mm with 'no' sacrals, the anteriormost caudal vert is defined by the presence of a chevron bone
Where is the diaphragm?
in most other mammals, the diaphragm extends from the vertebral column to the sternum, passing caudal to the heart
Separates thoracic and abdominal cavities
Extends from sternum to lumbar
what is different about the manatee diaphragm than that of other mammals?
In manatees, the diaphragm essentially follows the vertebral column passing dorsal (above) to the heart.
Heart lies below diaphragm
Which marine mammals possess homodont teeth?
Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphins)
Trichechus manatus (manatees)
Which marine mammals possess heterodont teeth?
California sea lion
Harbor seal
Enhydra lutris (sea otters)
Which marine mammals possess nasal chonchae (AKA turbinates, the scrolls of bone in the nasal cavity) & a cribiform plate?
Sea lion, Harbor seal, Sea otter, Manatee
What the goal of the MMPA?
to prevent depletion of marine mammal populations as a result of human activities and to restore depleted population
Define take
harassing, hunting, capturing, killing or collecting or attempting to harass, hunt, capture, kill or collect a marine mammal
What events led to the establishment of the MMPA?
1. Commercial whaling
2. Hunt of Baby Harp Seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) Mostly in Maritime Canada
3. "Tuna-Dolphin Problem
MMPA exemptions
1. Aboriginal hunts
2. Permit System
Aboriginal hunts
(a) Makah Indian Tribe - 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay - up to 20 gray whales/ 5 yrs
(under review - hunt not on-going now)
(b) Alaskan Inupiat hunters - may take up to 75 bowhead whales/yr'
Permit system
(a) taking and importing of marine mammals for some scientific research, education and public display
(b) taking incidental to military and commercial
activities (e.g. seismic testing)
(c) taking as incidental catch in fishing operations***
History of the Yellowfin Tuna Fishery
- Began as hook and line (targeted, low bycatch). - Off-shore tuna fishing begins in ETP (eastern tropical pacific), US fleet dominates.
- Other nations caught tuna more cheaply, US suffered.
- Purse seine & hydraulic power block invented, tuna catch doubles (overexploited & incidental take of dolphins)
- Bill Perrin brought back evidence of large dolphin kills in tuna purse seine nets
- Mandated observers go out on all (US & non US) vessels, new back-down & Median strip, drop in dolphin mortality
- Starkist voluntarily stops selling tuna caught by fishing dolphins
- US adopts Dolphin Safe label
- US puts moratorium on fishing tuna by fishing dolphins
- New "Dolphin Safe" label (2003) that lasted for 22 days (no dolphins were harmed)
- Congress required NOAA to carry out experiments, NOAA did not, NOAA sued , NOAA carries out studies found no adverse impact
- Dolphin safe now: no dolphins set upon
Dolphin set
target: dolphin
catch: large, sexually mature tuna
bycatch: dolphin
School set
target: large schools of tuna at surface
catch: immature and mature tuna
bycatch: other tuna spp. and other fishes
log set
target: a log or any large floating object (natural attractor of biota (aggregate organisms))
catch: mature and immature tuna
bycatch: everything
What are the type of stranding and how are they defined?
Single: one individual (cow/calf pair), can be live stranded or dead, includes all cetaceans
Mass: more than 2 individuals, usually includes live, primarily odontocetes
Epizootics: mortality extended over time/space, linked with disease, includes all spp. , initiates "Unusual Mortality Response
Natural causes of single strandings
#NAME?
Human induced causes of single strandings
#NAME?
Order Cetacea
Dolphins, Whales , Porpoises
2 suborders, 14 families
-Most closely related to artiodactyls (even toed ungulates; e.g. cow, pig, camel, hippo)
-generally large body size
-highly streamlined
-almost complete loss of hair
-blubber for insulation
-telescoping of skull
-nostrils on top of head
-jaws elongated
-tail flukes produce wing like lift based thrust forces for propulsion
-many have dorsal fin/ridge
-almost exclusively carnivorous
Order Sirenia
Trichechidae: Manatees
Dugongidae: Dugongs
- Most closely related to elephants and hyraxes
- restricted to warm subtropical and tropical waters
-vulnerable to cold shock @ 15C/60F
-Almost exclusively herbivorous (only mm that are)
-non ruminant herbivores ("hind-gut digesters")
-may eat 55-90 kg /day
-slow moving, placid disposition
-meat keeps well, directly hunted for food
Order Carnivora
Otarridae: sea lions, fur seals
Phociade: true seals
Odobenidae: walruses
Mustelidae: marine/sea otters
Ursidae: polar bears
Most closely related to ursids (bears), mustelids (otters and weasels), canids (dogs) and felids (cats)
Family Phocidae
-cannot rotate hind limbs under body,
-hind limbs used for underwater propulsion --> fore limbs tucked in and hind limbs produce lift-based thrust forces
-lack external pinnae
Family Mustelidae
- Diverse; includes weasels, ferrets, polecats and otters
-Most otters are FW
-2 confined to marine habitat
Suborder Mysticeti
baleen whales
-filter feeders
-symmetrical skull
-paired blowhole
-large body size (6-30m)
-fewer species (11+)
- 4 families
Suborder Odontoceti
toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises
-teeth; predators
-asymmetrical skull
-single blowhole
-more variable body size (1-18m)
-more species (67+)
-10 families
What are the single species families?
Odobenidae, Physeteridae, Neobalaenidae/Cetotheridae, Eschrichtidae
Steller's Sea Lion
Eumetopias jubatus
Order Carnivora
Family Otariidae
-pinniped
-heavily exploited by humans
-classified as endangered and threatened by MMPA in different parts of its range
-largest otariid species
- sexual dimorphism (huge males)
Northern Fur Seal
Callorhinus ursinus
Order Carnivora
Family Otariidae
-Pinniped
- rely on fur for insulation (hunted extensively)
-"discovered" in mid 1700's by Russians Steller & Pribilof
Weddell Seal
Leptonychotes weddellii
Order Carnivora
Family Phocidae
-pinniped
-placid; remarkable divers- over 600m; 70 minutes
Northern elephant seal
Mirounga angustirostris
Order Carnivora
Family Phocidae
-second largest pinniped
-deep diver
-almost hunted to extinction in 1800's now >1,000 individuals
-successful conservation story
Walrus
Odobenus rosmarus
Order Carnivora
Family Odobenidae
-largest pinniped other than elephant seals
-only extant pinniped with tusks in male and females
-use tusk to pull on ice
-heavily exploited (oil, tough hide, TUSKS for ivory)
-use hind flippers to produce lift based thrust forces to swim
-global climate change and sea ice loss (conservation threat)
Sea otter
Enhydra lutris
Order Carnivora
Family Mustelidae
- largest otter
-usually lies on back
-use hind limbs to produce lift based thrust forces for high-speed swimming
-endangered
Polar bears
Ursus maritimus
Order Carnivora
Family Ursidae
-evolutionary most recent form (1/2 - 1 MY history)
-largest bear
-more streamlined than other bears
-big, oar like feet used for swimming
-fore limb used to swim- 'drag based propulsion'
-eats seals, walruses, cetaceans
-directly exploited for fur; now protected
West Indian Manatee
Trichechus manatus
Order Sirenia
Family Trichechidae
-in Florida, susceptible to boat-strike
-individually identifiable by vessel-strike scarring patterns
-although large, they are sensitive to cold stress and seek warm water when water temperatures drop.
-down-listed from endangered to threatened in 2017 in US
Steller's Sea Cow
Hydrodamalis gigas
Order Sirenia
Family Dugongidae
-HUGE (7-8m, approx. 10,000 kg)
-slow, arctic species
-no functional teeth
-feed on kelp
-discovered in 1741 by shipwrecked Russian named Steller, tasted good!
-extinct by 1768- 27 years between discovery and extinction
North Atlantic Right Whale
Eubalaena glacialis
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Family Balaenidae
-Most endangered baleen whale in Atlantic (under 500 indv)
-ID by using 'callosities' skin growths
Blue whale
Balaenoptera musculus
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Family Balaenopteridae
-largest living animal
-cosmopolitan
-endangered
-ID: pigmentation pattern (spotting) on body
Humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Family Balaenopteridae
-"big winged New Englander"
-Visits mid Atlantic waters
-cosmopolitan
-endangered
-ID pigmentation pattern on tail flukes
Grey whale
Eschrichtius robustus
Order Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Family Eschrichtiidae
-single species family
-1st mm species to be removed from Endangered species list
Sperm whale
Physeter macrocephalus
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Physeteridae
-largest odontocete (18m)
-single species family
-head approx. 35% of total body length
-champion diver (estimated max 2 hours, 2,000m)
-probable suction feeder
-endangered
Cuvier's beaked whale
Ziphius cavirostris
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Ziphiidae
-found in NC waters
-appear to be vulnerable to negative impacts of mid-frequency sonar
Blainville's Beaked whale
Mesoplodon densirostris
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Ziphiidae
-found in NC waters
-appear to be vulnerable to negative impacts of mid-frequency sonar
Bottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Delphinidae
-our local delphinid
-medium sized
-two forms: costal/estuarine and offshore
-most commonly stranded species in NC
-entanglement in fishing gear contributes substantially to mortality
-ID dorsal fin scarring (from fishery)
Vaquitq
Phocoena sinus (vaquita)
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Phocoenidae
-discovered in 1958
-endemic to upper Gulf of California, Mexico
-killed in fishing operations
-critically endangered (<30 indv.)
Baiji - Yangtze River dolphin
Lipotes vexillifer (baiji)
Order Cetacea
Suborder Odontoceti
Family Lipotidae
-functionally extinct
-Threats: extreme habitat destruction; direct hunting
-Ex-situ conservation- removal to preserve for protection
-No baiji translocated successfully- zero animals there
-13 indv. surveyed in 1997
-0 indv. found in 2006 - functionally extinct
ID by vessel strike scarring patterns
Trichechus manatus
West Indian Manatee
ID by using 'callosities' skin growths
Eubalaena glacialis
Northern Right Whale
ID pigmentation pattern on tail flukes
Megaptera novaeangliae
Humpback whale
ID by pigmentation (spotting) on body
Balaenoptera musculus
Blue whale
ID dorsal fin scarring (from fishery)
Tursiops truncatus
Bottlenose dolphin
use HIND flippers to produce LIFT based thrust forces
Walrus, Phocids, Sea otter,
use TAIL FLUKES produce wing like LIFT based thrust forces for propulsion
Cetceans, Dugong
FORE LIMBS used to swim- 'DRAG based propulsion'
polar bears
What was the first international wildlife conservation treaty (and what species it protected)?
1911 North Pacific Fur Seal Convention
protected Northern Fur seals & sea otters
What was the first marine mammal to be removed from the Endangered Species List? Has any other species that we have learned about been removed for the Endangered Species List?
Grey whales, some populations of humpbacks
How did Andre Wyss investigate the evolutionary relationships within the pinnipeds? What characters did he use, and are pinnipeds monophyletic or diphyletic?
careful morphological analysis including appendages
Pinnipeds share synapomorphy of elongate digit 1 on hand of forelimb & elongate 1 & 5 on foot of hindlimb
Pinnipeds are monophyletic
who is Enalioarctos?
- A new fossil FROM THE PACIFIC described by Annalisa Berta
- > 23 MYO
-transitional form (swam w/ both fore & hind limbs)
-suggests shared common ancestry of ALL pinnipeds in Pacific >23 mya
What is the synapomorphy for cetaceans? What is the synapomorphy for artiodactyls? What is the synapomorphy for mesonychids?
cetaceans: specialized dense bulla
artiodactyls: astragalus
mesonychids: specialized tooth
Shimamura 1997 graph
used SINES
artiodactyls paraphyletic
left out cetaceans
Thewissen 2001 graph
used morphological characters
grouped cetaceans and artiodactyls together : cetartiodactyla
Pre 1994 TRADITIONAL VIEW of Artiodactyla & Cetaceans
artiodactyls are monophyletic
Graur & Higgins 1994 graph
used mtDNA & nuclear genome
artiodactyls are paraphyletic
left out cetaceans
Who/what is Ambulocetus natans?
- "walking whale"
- transitional form of cetacean, has dense bulla
- sea lion size
- teeth like mesonychids
- no ankle bones to be described
Thewissen 1994
Who/what is Pakicetus?
- oldest known cetacean
- possessed artiodactyl ankle
- no preserved hindlimbs
- teeth similar to mesonychids
Gingerich 1983