marine mammals final

dolphin safe label in the eastern tropical pacific (ETP)

"dolphin-safe" came from trips that did not set on dolphins; they made only schools sets and log sets. -These trips all carry observers -Effectively does not allow dolphins sets or mortality -In the rest of the world, a statement by the captain that no dolphins were killed is sufficient to qualify as "dolphin-safe" -These trips did not carry observers

what is a circumpolar species

(adapted to very cold waters) ex: belugas, narwhals

what is an endemic species

(native to a limited geographic area) ex: river dolphins, Baikal seals

what is a disjunct species

(populations live in separate areas) ex: Atlantic and Pacific harbor porpoises, Alaska and California sea otters, Atlantic and Pacific walruses

what is a cosmopolitan species

(world-wide distributions). ex: harbor seals, common dolphins

Polar bear evolution

- Evolved in during the Pleistocene -Close relative of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) -Rapid evolution, adapted to marine life at least by 110 kya

reports falsified to IWC

-After the fall of the Communist Party in the USSR, it was revealed that their fleet had taken virtually every whale encountered and only reported a fraction to the IWC from the end of WWII -Almost 100,000 whales were taken and not reported -Particularly humpback whales: reported 2,710, killed 48,477 -Continued until an international observer program was instituted in 1972 - Japanese also concealed many catches as well -Rocha et al. estimated the total whaling catch at 2.9 million animals -Probably an underestimate of the total mortality as it cannot account for how many were struck and lost and later died.

what are the three types of speciation

-Allopatric speciation -Parapatric speciation -Sympatric speciation

function of singing

1. Singers are usually males, usually hang in the waters and sing in a head-down position 2. Singing is only done on the breeding grounds, separate feeding calls are used on the feeding grounds 3. Singers have been seen joining other males and becoming aggressive 4. Singers have been seen joining females and initiating mating

odontocete birthing

-Gestation is about 1 year -Calves are born tail first -At birth, the flukes and fins are folded over and fetal folds are visible on the sides -Within a day, the fins begin to stiffen -The light fetal folds may last for a several weeks or months -Allows researchers to guess approximate age -Mother guides calf to surface to breathe

polar bear birthing

-Give birth in November-December -Young are altricial, generally twins -Polar bears are the only marine mammal to regularly give birth to multiple young -Mothers may not feed for up to 8 months during the year she gives birth and must rapidly build up fat reserves in the remaining 4 months -3-year birth interval

sea otter birthing

-Gives birth in water, but have been known to give birth on land in the Aleutians -Single births -1-year cycle -6 months: conception, delayed implantation, birth -6 months: birth to weaning

The rise of the environmental movement

-Greenpeace became famous for confronting whalers at sea -Greenpeace eventually found that they could parlay their popularity with the public and large membership to become a successful political force -Still confront whalers at sea but eschew violence -As Greenpeace became more mainstream, more radical groups were formed, such as Sea Shepherd

what did the US have to do to comply with WTO

-It did not change the dolphin-safe definition for the ETP to match the AIDCP definition (Mexico's objective) -Opted instead to justify their definition for the rest of the world differently based on relative risk to dolphins. I think this means they would not change their definition. -One panel ruled in favor of Mexico, allowing them to imposed trade sanctions -The most recent panel ruled in favor of the US, allowing them to keep their new guidelines -No doubt more appeals are coming...

what did the combined studies of killer whales in WA discover (1980s)

-Lance Barrett-Lennard discovered 3 different types of pods with different social structures, food habits, and ranging patterns. -Identified levels of social organization in residents -Dialects -population bio -foraging -public attitudes changes

mating strategies - what goes down?

-Males compete for territories -Females assess males and their territories -Male size is the best predictor of mating success -The differences between phocids and otariids is associated with the degree of marine adaptation

sirenian birthing

-Manatees give birth in the water -Single birth -Calves stay with mothers 1-4 years -calving interval 2.5 years -Nurses from mammary glands at the base of the flippers -Calves begin vocalizing immediately - important for mother-calf recognition

acoustic display Male-Male competition ?

-keeps the males spaced apart -Females don't appear to be attracted to playbacks of male songs -Male-male aggression more commonly observed than male-female sexual activity -It can be attractive to females, but we don't have much evidence that it does *Songs change rapidly and the whole group adopts the change

what is an example of allopatric speciation

-pair species that live in cooler waters of northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere and are separated by warm tropical waters ex: Northern right whale dolphins and Southern right whale dolphins, Pacific whitesided dolphins and dusky dolphins, Northern elephant seals and southern elephant seals, Vaquita and Burmesiter's porpoiose

what happened when both countries appealed WTO

-that they had lost and both won their appeal so now -Supported Mexico's appeal that the label did discriminate against Mexico -Supported the US argument that the label was excessive for accomplishing the law's goals -Because the AIDCP was not automatically open to all countries (including ones that had no fishing interests in the ETP)

how are trees and grams made

-use parsimony to distinguish which hypothesized tree is the most likely -The Principle of Parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor, states the that the simplest explanation of the data is the preferred explanation *an explanation that requires the fewest assumptions or fewest steps

how to determine age of killer whales

1. Age is inferred for females from the combined information, average ages of first birth, of age of known calves , and some assumptions thrown in. 2. Age is inferred for males based on average age of physical maturity. 3. Average life span for females is thought to be about 50 y, with an estimated maximum longevity of 80 y 4. Average life span for males is thought to be about 29 y, with an estimated maximum longevity of 40 y 5. Age of first birth is about 14-15 y for females 6. Age of physical maturity is about 20 y for males 7. Gestation is 16-17 months based on captive studies 8. Give birth on average every 5 y

Three phases of Mating Cycle

1. Estrus 2. Delayed implantation -Pinnipeds must use delayed implantation to synch mating with the time they arrive at the rookery. -Allows annual reproduction cycle when gestation is much less than a year. 3. Fetal growth -Duration is constant across species -Growth rate is not

what is the importance of size

1. Larger animals can store more energy and use it more efficiently -Allows longer migrations: greater distances between feeding and breeding grounds 2. Can spend more time on the breeding grounds -Males can compete for mates longer -Females can lactate longer 3. Larger males can compete against other males better 4. Larger females can produce larger and more precocial young with greater probability of survival

How was social organization and levels determined in the killer whales in WA

1. Matrilineal group - the basic population unit consisting of a mother and her offspring -3-4 individuals, up to 9 2. Subpod - consists of one or more matrilines and are always found together -Usually 2 matrilines, but ranges from 1-11 3. Pod - an accumulation of subpods that are frequently seen togther, but breaks up into subpods and then coalesce -1-5 subpods, 10-20 whales -Pods are acoustically differentiated from one another 4. Clan - a group of pods that have similar dialects -This suggests that these pods may grow and split into separate pods, and the similarity of their dialects allows one to trace which pods have a common lineage -Found also that the death of a matriarch can occasionally destabilize a matrilineal group, and subpods may reorganize 5. Community - separate communities have separate home ranges -Northern community has 3 clans -Southern community has 1 clan

Long-term Results and focus in sarasota

1. Reproduction 2. Population trends - increasing since a statewide ban on gillnetting enacted -The ban eliminated a competitor for some of their prey 3. Long-term residency of up to 5 generations 4. Discovered female bands living in different core areas -Females focus on raising young in protected and productive areas 5. Male alliances -First described in bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia: long-term associations between males -Males focus on gaining access to females -Population units -Sarasota community surrounded by a Gulf of Mexico community offshore, a Tampa Bay community to the north, and Charlotte Harbor/Pine Island Sound to the south 6. Age Distribution 7. Longevity -Males and females can breed into their late 40's -Oldest female died at 67 years old, oldest male 52 years old -Ecological studies of dolphin prey species -Eat a variety of fish species: pinfish the most prominent, but also mullet, croakers, and others -Metabolism -Dolphins have a higher metabolism in the summer than the winter 8. Thermoregulation costs are higher in summer -Water temperatures approach body temperature -Blubber layer thickens in winter 9. Threats to the populations -Boat collisions -4% of dolphins have collision scars -Dolphins alter dive patterns and whistle patterns as boats approach

what are the 3 types of vocalizations

1. Whistles -frequency modulated 2. Echolocation clicks -High repetition rate and high frequency 3. Burst pulse sounds -Low-frequency, high-repetition rate clicks -Conducted a series of experiments showing that a dolphin could distinguish among the whistles of our dolphins -Found that neonates produced unstereotyped whistles a few days after birth but these became refined with age and developed a signature whistle after 2 months or longer

what changed in fishing after all the issues

100% observer coverage on the international fleet -Limit on mortality of 19,500/y for the international fleet, ratcheted down over 5 years until a limit of 5,000/y -By the next year, however, mortality plunged below 5,000 -This agreement was voluntary however for the countries

how large is a sperm whales brain and what's cool about dolphins

8 kg -Jerison found that once corrected for body size, bottlenose dolphins have brains comparable to our own in size

how are cetaceans identified

Dorsal fin nicks and notches on dolphins -Dolphin biologists pioneered the use of photo-identification to distinguish individuals -Computer programs now aid individual id Underside of humpback whale flukes -Mottling pattern of blue whales Scars on manatees from hits from propellers -Large majority have been hit and marked Genetics -The new and upcoming and expensive way to ID animals -Potentially useful for large populations

sea otter

Enhydra lutris

International Whaling Commission

Established in 1946 to set quotas on the whaling nations ii. Its original purpose was to regulate fishing, not ban it. Originally a small club of whaling nations; now there are 89 members. iii. Since the 1970's it has become a battleground between pro-whaling and anti-whaling countries. b. The whaling countries: Japan, Iceland, Norway c. The whaling countries who used to whale but not any more: US, UK, others i. Except for aboriginal whaling: US, Canada, others d. Ardently anti-whaling countries: Australia, New Zealand e. Countries who never whaled but joined the IWC f. Animal rights and environmental groups

what are the costs of reproduction (males vs females)

Females: -eggs are expensive, giving birth and lactation are energetically very expensive *Females must be selective; they can't afford to waste energy mating with some genetic loser -their focus is on survival of their young: access to productive feeding grounds, parental teaching, cultural transmission, and reducing the risk of predation Males: -sperm are cheap, and little or no care is given to the young -Energy allows for additional growth and competition

short-finned pilot whale

Globicephala macrorhynchus

What new method did Blair Irvine use in Sarasota

He expanded the project in 1974 to include the new method of radio-tagging to determine daily movements and to determine whether bottlenose dolphin -Captured our own dolphins for research purposes only -Improved visual tags and tested radiotags -Describe capture

mate choice among whales

Humpback whales "sing" - broadcasting their availability over long distances -it's not known why females choose certain males *Sexual Dimorphism: Females are slightly bigger than males

what started bottlenose dolphin research in Sarasota bay

In 1970, Blair Irvine started a tagging study of bottlenose dolphins in the Sarasota Bay area to study the residency of the dolphins in the bays. -Accompanied a commercial collector to tag the dolphins he did not want -Found that bottlenose dolphins were year-round residents -Repeated sightings of some of the same animals together during 1970-71 suggested that they might live in relatively stable social groups

players and program of tuna-dolphin controversy

Industry -Fishermen -Owners -Canneries Environmental groups -Conservationists -Animal rights groups Management -NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) -IATTC (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission) -National programs in Latin America Countries -US -Non-US -The fishing area -Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP)

history of dolphin intelligence

John Lilly: neurobiologist who became fascinated by the brain size of dolphins and whales -Conjectured that dolphins had language and were intelligent -Identified distress calls -argued that dolphins could mimic human speech *lots of interest from public

what type of selection are large animals like marine mammals

K-selection Low reproductive rates -Single births typical, twins only common in polar bears Relatively high survival of offspring -High parental investment -High lactation costs -Long calving intervals -Long learning periods possible

who expanded the killer whale study

Ken Balcomb expanded this study into US waters in 1976 -There is a Northern Resident population and a Southern Resident population -Al Erickson conducted the first radiotracking studies in 1976. -Tracked two transient whales that was part of a group originally captured for live display for 10 days. -Collected data on movements, travelling speed (ave. 68 miles/day), and diving behavior (longest dive was 17 min.) - John Ford, a graduate student, began studying killer whale vocalizations

population biology in WA regarding killer whales

Killer whales are easier to determine sex than most other marine mammals -Adult males have taller dorsal fins -The color pattern on their underside is different in males and females -Most undetermined sex animals are calves or juveniles. Eventually they will either breach (showing their underside), give birth to a calf, or sprout a tall dorsal fin.

white-beaked dolphin

Lagenorhynchus albirostris

white-sided dolphin

Lagenorhynchus obliquidens

what did US management do for tuna dolphin controversy

Led to measures designed to reduce dolphin mortality -Fishermen-developed measures: Backdown procedure, Fine-mesh Medina Panel -Government measures: a. Research into improved release methods b. Fleet-wide limits on dolphin mortalities (20,000/year) c. Observer program on US boats

odontocetes life cycle

Life cycle is less compartmentalized - feed and breed at the same time

why are strandings useful

Life history a. Sensory biology b. Group behavior c. Fishery interactions

mating strategies

Male-Male Competition & Female Choice *not mutually exclusive, can happen at the same time

Recovery of whale populations

Many of the large whale species have been making comebacks -Gray whales have recovered back to their presumed historical abundance and have been taken off the endangered species list -Humpback, blue, and sperm whales are also recovering. Some stocks of humpback whales were delisted or downlisted

Methods using tagged animals

Mark-recapture abundance estimates -Need a high percentage of the population to be marked to get reliable mark-recapture estimates N = (n/m)M Population size = (Number observed/number of marked observed) * Number marked -Association matrices -can be calculated to understand social structure and long-term relationships among individuals

who disagreed with Peter Tyack regarding dolphins signature whistles

McCowan and Reiss argued that these whistles are mainly just contact calls based on captive dolphins -Argued that signature whistles were largely an artefact of the classification method (using human judges) -Used a computerized classification that they argued was more objective than human judges

humpback whale

Megaptera novaeangliae

true's beaked whale

Mesoplodon mirus

who started the Killer whales study

Michael Bigg, a Canadian scientist began surveys -Using public sightings, he estimated a population size of 250-300 -Developed photo-identification method for monitoring individuals -Photographed nicks in and shape of the dorsal fin and the pattern of the grey saddle patch

Pinniped mating sequence

Migrate back to rookeries -Requires navigation to return to the same beach -Some return to the beach they were born - philopatry -Need stored-up energy Series of Events 1. Males arrive first and set up beach territories 2. Males compete for territory or for groups of females and attempt to accumulate a harem 3. Females arrive after the males 4. Give birth almost immediately after 5. Parental care

what was the effect of US Dolphin-safe policy vs. AIDCP

Mortality has declined dramatically since 1992 -Over 96% of sets on dolphin-associated tuna result in no dolphin mortalities -If the US "dolphin-safe" policy was responsible, the number of sets should have decreased due to vessels changing to log sets or school sets (it did not) -If the AIDCP was responsible, the mortality-per-set should have decreased due to improved performance (it did)

who is Roger Payne

Most famous for his recording of humpback whale songs with Scott McVay -Also his subsequent research on southern right whales in Argentina -Suggested that the sounds of fin whales and blue whales can cross oceans -The song is made up themes and phrases within the themes that are repeated a variable number of times before moving on to the next theme -Themes are sung in a particular order before starting over

killer whale

Orcinus orca

what happened with the declaration of panama (1995)

Panama was negotiated amongst environmental groups, IATTC, industry, and fishing countries -US promised to change the dolphin label -Countries agreed to individual vessel limits -Now 5000 total mortality/year divided on a per-vessel basis -Each boat has about 50/y limit -Even-more restrictive mortality limits for each dolphin stock -If limit is exceeded, the entire fleet is prohibited from setting on that dolphin stock for the remainder of the year -Established an alternative "dolphin-safe" label definition for the ETP -Only tuna caught in sets with zero dolphin mortality -Allowed sets on dolphins, but not mortality

harbor seal

Phoca vitulina

Otariids and phocids nursing strategies

Phocids have short lactation times -Hooded seals wean their pups after 4 days -Frequent nursing -High fat content of milk -Efficient conversion of milk by pups -Abrupt weaning Otariids have longer lactation times -Females must leave pups to feed -Several-day gaps in feedings -Pups gather in creches while mothers are at sea feeding

vaquita

Phocoena sinus

what is a new methods used for observing animals from above

Photogrammetry -Body condition -Breath sampling -Allows animals to be measured from aerial photographs -Social spacing in herds -Length of independence of calves -Growth rate of individuals in captivity -Pinniped rookery counts and spacing -Vocal behavior also studied with hydrophones

what is the social brain hypothesis & who proposed it

Proposed by Dunbar (1998) -Hypothesis: Primates evolved large brains to manage their unusually complex social systems -Found a quantitative relationship between brain size and social group size

false killer whale

Pseudorca crassidens

who is Lou Herman

Psychologist who took a more scientific approach to determining language abilities -Constructed an artificial language that dolphins were able to learn -Inspired by similar studies in primates that were taught sign language -Used both gestures and computer-generated sounds to train dolphins to understand commands -Could train the dolphins to understand syntax

what has come out of killer whale research

Public attitudes have changed Public is very protective of the whales - no captures in these waters have been conducted for decades -Main issues now are pollution, habitat destruction, declining salmon stocks, and potential disturbance by a large whale watching industry -We don't know the causal factor but the decline mirrors the decline in the chinook salmon they prey on. -Canada has begun protecting critical habitat and there has been a lot of transboundary cooperation on this issue.

who is Ron Shusterman

Replicated Herman's work with sea lions and got similar results -They disagree on the meaning of these results. Herman ascribes linguistic capabilities to the dolphins, while Shusterman argued this may not be more than a trained response -And then there was Hoover the talking harbor seal... -Dtags have revolutionized the study of animal vocalizations -Short-term attachment with suction cups -Records sounds of dolphins in the wild

what dialects were discovered in WA regarding killer whales

Resident pods have distinctive dialects that are stable Transients have simpler, more variable vocal repertoires -More homogeneous, not distinct differences among different pods -Transient pods are smaller -Appears to facilitate communication with different pods -Because their marine mammal prey can hear the killer whale's vocalization, transients are largely silent and rely on passive acoustics to locate and ambush their prey.

who is Peter Tyack

Revisited the signature whistle hypothesis by doing... -field work - conducted playback experiments to wild dolphins -captive work - used novel technology ("vocalites") to determine which dolphin in a group was whistling -His work supported the validity of the signature whistle hypothesis -Suggested that these signature whistles function as "names"

sea otters mating

Sea otters have a polygynous mating system -Males set up territories -Exclude other males -Females move freely through territories -Females with pups are harassed however, apparently to force separation and induce estrus -Breeding occurs in water -Breeding is not particularly seasonal

what did the declaration panama become

This became the Agreement for the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP) -The US ratified it with the condition that research on the stress of purse-seine operation on dolphins be conducted and either -is proved to have a population-level affect on dolphins -no proof is found of a population-level affect on dolphins

bottlenose dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

what quotas were set in 1964 on whaling nations

Used the Blue Whale Unit to manage the whales -1 blue = 2 fin = 2.5 humpback = 6 sei whales -A disastrous management scheme that encouraged whalers to take whales regardless of the status of the population -In 1949, a species-specific quota was set for humpbacks, but the Blue Whale Unit remained until 1972 Takes of whales show a trend towards smaller species as the larger ones become more and more depleted

world trade organization take aways

WTO ruled in September 2011 -Supported Mexico's argument that the label was excessive for accomplishing the law's goals -Mexico argued that the AIDCP was a successful alternative to the US management policy -Supported the US argument that the label did not discriminate against Mexico -US argued that other fisheries around the world do not have a major impact on dolphin populations

baleen whales migrate when giving birth

Widely separate feeding and breading seasons and areas: -Summer in cold, productive waters where they feed -Winter in warm waters where they fast and breed Gray, right, and humpback whales favor coastal or bays to give birth -More protected from predators? -Mating behavior suggests sperm competition -Two-year breeding cycle is common

California sea lion

Zalophus californianus

what is a clade

a monophyletic group

what does it mean when species is in stasis

a species that undergoes little or no change over time

whale uses

a. Oil was used for lighting, manufacture of soap b. Meat was fed to the poor c. Balaen was the plastic of the age: used for corsets, springs d. Vertebrae used as seats, ribs as supports for houses

Time-depth-recorders

add the additional dimension of depth if you get the device back -can record speed, sounds, environmental and physiological data -Satellite tags can also collect this type of data and report a summary of dive depths or other information without recapture -D-Tags can record vocal behavior -Can overlay environmental data to the movements and dive

how do marine mammals keep their sperm at good temps

are positioned in the body so they experience lower temperatures, physical separation from body core and vascular counter current heat exchangers -between fat and muscles

odontocete migration

b. Adult male sperm whales migrate seasonally from the poles to the tropics, but not the females.

Late-breaking news: Japan leaves the IWC

b. Rather than high-seas whaling in the Antarctic, they will return to coastal whaling off Japan, a long-time traditional fishery. c. The fishery remains unprofitable; government subsidies have propped up the industry for decades. The government is proposing to continue those subsidies. d. People's tastes have changed and whale meat is becoming a niche market. e. People's attitudes in favor of whaling have changed as well. f. There still remains an argument about the importance of tradition and culture of whaling to Japan: the same arguments made by the Inuit and the Makah.

radiotags

began in 1970s -Current tags have become smaller, more complex, and gather more types of data -allows one to track an animal's movements -Can get surfacing data and dive durations because the conductance of sea water attenuates signal -Tracking in fresh water allows continuous signals because fresh water does not attenuate signal like sea water does

what are cladograms or phylogenetic trees

branching diagrams that represent the hypothesized descent from ancestral species to descendent species

Satellite tags

can be used to track movements without directly following the animal in the field -Satellite tagging of manatees has been the most successful tagging program for any marine mammal -Development of attachments that can be replaced without recapturing the manatee and that have a safety link that will release the tag becomes entangled

Archival tags

can collect movement and other data for a specific amount of time before popping off and up to the surface and transmitting its data to a satellite for recovery

who is Karen Pryor

conducted a study that showed that dolphins could be trained to create novel behaviors

what is a crown group

contains the living members of a clade along with the extinct descendents of the most recent common ancestor

what are reproductive strategies driven by

costs of reproduction

what was unique about sarasota bay

could serve as a "natural laboratory" for future dolphin research. -Limited home range in sheltered waters facilitated field work -Ability to find specific individuals on a relatively predictable basis -Good conditions for safe capture and release

male-male competition

easy to observe - big males fighting for access to females or competitive displays to attract females. ex: Elephant seals - male vocal displays, chest-to-chest shoving matches, fierce fights.

what is a stem group

extinct members of a clade that are more closely related to the crown members of their own clade than the crown members of other clades

who are Worthy and Hickie (1986)

found primates and most odontocetes have larger brains than would be predicted

who is Katy Payne

found that all males sing the same song -Subsequent work has found that the song is the same throughout the same ocean basin -the song can change over the season and the changes are seen in widely separated breeding grounds

what are the smaller populations called that result from peripatric speciation

founder populations

what about odontocete testes

have countercurrent heat exchanger that cools arterial blood to the testes

what happened in 1990s for sarasota

interests had expanded to assessing the health of the population. -these urban dolphins exposed to constant boat traffic and decades of exposure to pollutants generated by a couple of mid-sized cities -The combinations of regular boat surveys observational and capture-release efforts have resulted in a suite of background information on most of the identifiable resident dolphins -Captures: Sex, age from tooth extraction, genetics and maternal lineage from blood sample, health and body condition from blood sample, signature whistles from recordings, contaminant loads from blubber sample -Observations: reproductive success, social association patterns, ranging patterns, multi-generational residency -Strandings: Chronicles losses to the population, causes of death, food habits

what is hybridization (type of speciation?)

mating between 2 species produces a third species ex: the Clymene dolphin appears to be a hybrid between the spinner dolphin and the striped dolphin ex: interbreeding among southern hemisphere fur seals, possibly due to populations being hunted to low levels resulting in genetic bottlenecks.

female choice

more subtle - females evaluate fitness of males and choose among them

what cetacean and manatee testes

not much is known about them

special case of allopatric speciation

peripatric speciation where populations on the edge of the species range becomes isolated and diverges

phocids vs otariids

phocids do not expend a ton of energy and do not work as hard during foraging as otariids *otariids operate at a higher metabolic rate

what is allopatric speciation

when a new species arises from geographic isolation such as... -a physical barrier separating two or more populations and over time the lineage divides

what is parapatric speciation

when a new species arises from within a continuous species range -barriers to mating randomly can be geographic but also can be ecological -Mating is much more likely between neighbors than animals further away. Possible example: Offshore and coastal populations of bottlenose dolphins have overlapping ranges, but differ in food habits, habitat, morphology, and genetics. These populations are not considered two different species, but perhaps are incipient species in the making.

what is adaptive radiation

when a single or small group of ancestral species rapidly diverge into numerous descendant species

what is sympatric speciation

when speciation occurs within the species range -The barriers are ecological, such as different feeding specializations Possible example: Resident and transient populations of killer whales have different diets (fish vs. marine mammal eaters) and different but overlapping ranges. Genetic evidence suggests they are different species.

what about phocid testes

wrapped in veins that are cooled by superficial veins from skin surface of flipper

what 3 different types of pods did Lance Barrett-Lennard discover

1. Residents - these pods were the most intensively studied. -They live in the area from June-November and then leave. Still don't know where they go in winter. -Fish-eaters whose presence coincided with salmon runs -Pods are extremely stable -John Ford showed dialects existed in these residents 2. Transients - seen less often in the area -Mammal eaters - feeding on pinnipeds and small cetaceans -Dialects very simple and more homogenous 3. Offshores - still not well studied, probably fish eaters (halibut, sharks)

what is estrus

the time period of max reproductive receptivity of female mammals as well as associate receptive behavior

sirenian mating

-Free-for-all mating system -Groups of males follow females in estrus waiting for opportunities to mate (estrus lasts for 3-4 weeks) -Multiple matings -Females may delay pregnancy when resources are low

odontocete mating

-Generally seasonal -Postural displays by males important in courtship

what's the ish with large brains

-Brains are expensive, metabolically speaking -Large brains may slow growth -difficult to directly compare marine mammal brains with those of terrestrial animals *Meerkats don't fit this pattern: they are social but not particularly big-brained.

polar bear mating

-Breed in the spring on ice or land, Mar-June -Ovulation triggered by the act of mating (Induced ovulation) -Implantation is delayed for about 5 months

what spurred the dolphin-safe label

-By early 1980's the non-US fleet had expanded and by the early 1990's the US fleet had dwindled to just a few boats -In 1990, Sam LeBudde talked his way onto a Mexican purse seiner as a crewman. He took video of dolphins dying in the net. -Environmentalists seized the chance to republicize the issue -Fishermen argued that the boat was an anomaly: the seiner had no Medina panel, no backdown procedure, and the skipper had no experience with dolphins US Congress banned dolphin sets, embargoed the tuna from countries that continued to fish on dolphins

odontocete parental care

-Calves can travel with the adults because it can draft alongside the mother -the mother-calf bond is strong and long-lived (2-5 years and up to 10 years in one case)

observing animals from afar

-Can see mostly surface behaviors -Clifftop observations allow a vertical view in some circumstances -Theodolite can be used to measure detailed movements -Blimps allow both a vertical view and limited mobility -Drones have recently been used in marine mammal studies

cetacean evolution

-Closest terrestrial relatives are the artiodactyls, the even-toed ungulates -Molecular evidence also suggests hippopotamuses -Recent morphological evidence suggests the Raeollid artiodactyls were closer however -Indohyus is a cat-sized artiodactyl recently discovered in Pakistan *Largely aquatic suggesting that the cetaceans evolved from at least partly aquatic ancestors.

what did they discover in WA regarding killer whale foraging

-Cooperative hunting often observed -Use spread formations to hunt for salmon -Use pack hunting to attack whales (transients)

how do mums and pups navigate the rookeries

-Crowded rookeries require ability of mothers and pups to recognize each other -Use a combination of vocal calls and smell -Nursing begins immediately

Rookeries are often separated from the feeding grounds

-Difficult to find mates on the feeding grounds -Must migrate to a particular place at a particular time -Rookeries are isolated, protected from predators -Usually islands

what issues are there with fully marine animals and mating like baleen whales

-Difficult to have exclusive access to a territory -Can have exclusive access to a female by escorting her constantly (prolonged courtship) -Suggests that being fully adapted to a marine environment brings different options and limitations in the mating system compared to pinnipeds -there is no defending of territories or females as in pinnipeds

sirenian evolution

-Evolved in about the same time and place as cetaceans (Eocene, Tethys Sea) -Closest terrestrial ancestor is the hyrax also related to elephants -They all have horizontal tooth replacement. Teeth are replaced continuously from the rear. The teeth migrate forward as the forward-most teeth are worn by the sand in their food and eventually fall out. -They all have bilophodont (double crested) teeth -Other rostral similarities

Pinniped evolution

-Evolved in the North Pacific about 27-25 mya -Descended from bearlike and/or otterlike terrestrial ancestors -There has been a long-time controversy about whether pinnipeds are monophyletic or diphyletic. -Opinion has flipped back and forth, but now most scientists believe they are monophyletic.

Sea otter evolution

-Evolved in the North Pacific at the beginning of the Pleistocene, 1-3 mya -Closest relatives are river otters, genus Lutra -Trends: Sea otters are the larger than river otter with thicker fur

odontocete senescence

-Female pilot whales appear to continue lactating even after ovulation has stopped -Suggests long-term investment in offspring and calves of offspring

field vs lab work

-Field work sheds insight on what behaviors appear important and the context that they are used -Laboratory work allows one to observe behavior in detail and conduct more-controlled experiments

what did they do in sarasota

-Found 11 of the 12 dolphins tagged in 1970-71 in the same area, suggesting long-term site fidelity -looking at daily movements, dive durations -found females with their calves frequented "nursery areas" that were productive and protected -Estimated population size at about 100 dolphins (N) using mark-recapture methods N = (# dolphins marked) x (total dolphins observed) / (total marked dolphins observed) -Found that the population was local and resident and therefore vulnerable to concentrated takes by live-display industry

The 1982 Moratorium

-More and more non-whaling nations were brought into the IWC -Encouraged and sometimes paid to do so by the anti-whaling countries -IWC was to use that time for its Scientific Committee to assess stocks and recommend a management scheme -Japan, Iceland, and Norway continued whaling -Iceland and Norway filed objections to the moratorium harvest whales within their own waters -Japan began "scientific whaling" in the Antarctic -Japan held off from conducting "scientific whaling" because the US had threatened to revoke access to US fishing grounds to Japanese fishing fleets. -The US later revoked access anyway and the Japanese no longer had an incentive to comply with the moratorium -They also note that 10 countries, including the US, are whaling nations -Now also a 50/50 split in the IWC -Japan has curtailed its whaling and has began new research. -Gave rise to a new science: forensic genetics

polar bear raising

-Mother keeps cubs with her -Provides opportunity for learning by cubs -Hibernation is induced by lack of resources, not photoperiod

sexual dimorphism

-Pinniped males are up to 10X larger than females -Adult baleen females are 5% larger than males -Killer whale Adult males have much taller dorsal fins than females -Narwhal tusks longer? -Noses of elephant and hooded seals -Male spinner dolphins have anal humps

examples of founder populations

-Polar bears are descended from Siberian brown bears, Polar bears became isolated at the fringe of the brown bear's range and adapted to living on the ice and feeding on the sea -(although not an example of speciation): Northern elephant seals were decimated throughout most of their range by hunter in the late 1890's (for their oil). A small colony of animals on Isla Guadelupe remained. After protection by Mexico and eventually recolonized their former range. *Because the population went through a genetic bottleneck, the current population is descended from the original 20-100 animals and have very low genetic diversity *This is a conservation concern because low diversity may leave the species vulnerable to new diseases or environmental change.

why delayed implantation

-Promotes synchrony of mating -Allows the meshing of an annual environmental cycle with a shorter gestation period

Characteristics of long-term studies in sarasota

-Questions change: ex. Movements, residency, life history, health assessment -Techniques change: ex. Testing new methods that can be transferred to other studies -Focus changes: from fate of individuals to populations to communities to ecosystem. Focuses also changes to lower levels - physiology

what is unique about killer whales communication (john ford)

-Some calls are shared with other pods, but not the whole set -Suggested these calls indicates pod affiliation, maintains pod cohesion, coordinate group behaviors -Found that these calls can change over time -These different dialects are found in different matrilines, suggesting that the calls are learned and culturally transmitted to from one generation to the next -One call held in common by different pods appeared to be used mainly in interpod meetings -Juveniles are capable of mimicry; 2 separated from their pods were recorded mimicing sea lions -Effects of killer whale sounds on other marine mammals 1. Gray whales head for the kelp to hide 2. Playbacks of killer whales designed to chase spotted dolphins to leave a tuna purse-seine net caused them to panic and hit the net instead 3. Porpoises and other non-whistling species stop echolocating Groups of humpback whales have been observed "mobbing" killer whales that are on the hunt

odontocete sexual dimorphism

-Sperm whale males are 1.6X larger than females -Bottlenose dolphin males larger -Harbor porpoise females are larger

The research mandated by Congress a. Abundance surveys

-Stress studies Slide -Blood analyses -Radio-tagging & tracking (to allow re-capture of previously caught dolphins). -Blood analyses -Skin stress protein analyses -Genetic relatedness (cow/calf separation) -Thermal Stress -Pregnancy status / abortions -Behavior studies -Satellite tagging -EKG (heart rate and muscle damage) -Necropsy study

Pinnipeds display mild to extreme polygyny

-The distribution of females is a determinant of the mating system -Clustered distribution can lead to polygyny and extreme sexual dimorphism ex: Elephant seal males up to 10X larger than females -Scattered distribution can lead to monogamy and little sexual dimorphism ex: Ice seals *the most extreme forms of polygyny are those species that mate on land

why do gray whales migrate

-There is a separation of feeding and breeding grounds -Allows young to be born in warm and protected waters -Lower risk of predation - fewer killer whales?

Baitboat fishing, post-WWII to 1959

-Used dolphins to find large tuna -Tied to coastal areas because the fishery depended on catching fresh bait to attract the tuna by chumming

mating underwater? what's that about

-Walruses have a lek system that relies on underwater mating displays by the males to attract females -males display acoustically and patrol particular beaches -Mating by non-territorial males either on the edges of harems or in the water -Females may mate away from the harem but raise their pups inside one for protection -Pup have been killed when caught in an area where male-male battles are occurring

odontocete lactation

-Weaning after about 18 months in bottlenose dolphins -Calves don't suck milk; the milk glands are muscular and milk is forcibly expressed into the calf's mouth -The calf rolls its tongue, directing the milk down the throat. -Suckling takes cooperation and coordination to pull off. It is all underwater and lasts only seconds.

Pre-industrial whaling history

-Whaling, or at least eating whales goes back to the Stone Age -The first records of organized hunting of whales are about 1000 years old (The Basques began coastal whaling on right whales) -By the 1500s, local populations were depleted, and whalers ranged often as far as Labrador and Newfoundland to hunt whales -Rorquals (Balaenoptera: blue, fin, sei, bryde, and minke whales) were too fast to be caught by boats that sailed or were rowed 1. They focused on right whales, bowhead whales, humpback whales, and sperm whales 2. Right whales are big, slow, and, very importantly, float when dead

what is a monophyletic group

-a group derived from a common ancestor ex: the sirenians are a monophyletic group arising from the same ancestor ex: a non-monophyletic group - the river dolphins are not members of the same clade, they arose independently

who are David and Melba Caldwell

-found that every dolphin had its own unique whistle: signature whistles -used to communicate identity, location, and perhaps emotional state

Behavioral Sampling Methods

Ad Libitum Sampling -informal, non-systematic, and often used in field notes. Focal Animal Sampling -All occurrences of specified actions of one individual are recorded during a predetermined sample period -can provide unbiased data relevant to a wide variety of questions All Occurrence Sampling -All occurrences of a particular behavior by all individuals -provides the rate of occurrence of a behavior -focus on a particular behavior Instantaneous or Scan Sampling -An animal's activities are recorded at pre-selected moments -Samples behavioral states -Focus on the percent of time spent in a certain activity -Focus on synchrony of behaviors for multiple individuals

Critter-cam

An animal-mounted video camera that allows a brief, motion-sickness-inducing glimpse of an animal's life from their own perspective

Industrial whaling

Around 1860, key technological advances occurred 1. Steamships began to replace sailing ships -Fast enough to chase rorquals -Not dependent on wind direction 2. Svend Foyn, a Norwegian, invented the harpoon gun to kill whales more efficiently 3. Compressors allowing air to be pumped into dead whales to keep them afloat -By 1915, the local humpback population was extirpated 4. In 1925, factory ships were introduced -Whales were harpooned by catcher boats and brought to the factory ship for processing -Could render a whale in one-half hour -The US whalers largely did not convert to steam and eventually the practice died out

Purse-seine fishing

Began with the development of synthetic nets and the power block (a large winch) 1. Dolphin sets: Used dolphins to locate tuna and encircled both species -Caused large incidental mortalities to dolphins -Fishermen would enter the water to release as many as they could 2. Log sets -Fishermen encircled floating objects under which smaller tuna aggregated -More recently, the fishermen have turned to deploying FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) -High bycatch mortality of non-dolphin species -Bycatch is mortality to species that were not intended to be caught (Sharks in particular, Sea turtles, Mahi mahi, rainbow runners, and other bony fishes) 3. School sets -Fishermen encircled small tuna at the surface -Comparison of bycatch and catch of different set types

history of tuna dolphin controversy

Bill Perrin made a trip on a purse seiner and observed large numbers of dolphins dying during purse-seine sets -Gave a talk in 1969 at a small marine mammal conference describing his findings i-Caused a public outcry that eventually led to the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)

who is Laela Sayigh

Continued playback experiments focusing on mothers and former calves -Followed dolphins in Sarasota and found about half of all whistles were signature whistles in the wild -often used when socializing (as would be expected if these were signature whistles), and not during traveling (as would be expected if these whistles were contact calls) -Found that male calves had similar signature whistles to their mothers while female calves did not -Tested human vs. computer methods with known samples from 20 Sarasota dolphins and found humans were far more accurate at discriminating between the the known samples than the computerized method -Answered all the criticisms by McCowan and Reiss

common dolphin

Delphinus delphis

Aboriginal whaling

Several countries allow aboriginal whaling using historical hunting methods -The US is still a whaling country. The Inuit of Alaska still take bowhead whales -This puts the US in an awkward position: pressing whaling countries to stop whaling on the one hand and arguing for quotas for the Inuit (Alaska) and Makah (Washington) tribes on the other i. The most recent controversy surrounds the Makah tribe who, by their 1855 treaty rights, are allowed to take whales. ii. From the 1920's until 1999, they stopped because of the endangered status of the gray whale. iii. The species recovered and came off the endangered species list in 1994, and the Makah took a couple of gray whales in 1999. The emphasized the importance of the tradition in their culture. iv. Since then have been tied up in legal action and MMPA permit review. v. The matter is currently under review by an Administrative law judge, quotas have been proposed (20 whales over 10 years), and whaling could begin again soon.

who is John Ford and what did he find

Studied killer whales in British Columbia -Found dialects specific to killer pods -Pods are unusually stable: both males and females stay with the pod -Have a repertoire of different calls: Whistles when socializing, Echolocation clicks, Discrete pod-specific pulsed calls when traveling or feeding

Killer whales in Washington and British Columbia study

Studies began in 1970 to determine the affects of takes on the local populations of killer whales -Beginning in about 1965, killer whales were being captured in this area for public display -Fishermen were encouraged by the Canadian government to shoot the whales to reduce competition for salmon

what is beneficial for traveling pinnipeds

The greater the size, the longer the distance possible between feeding and breeding areas and the more energy that can be stored -Otariids can't store enough energy to last the breeding season and must feed near the rookery -Phocids do store enough energy *Must balance the length of time spent breeding vs. the cost of long fasting and potential injuries while competing for mates

how were whalers early naturalists

studied intensely the animals they hunted Gathered information on -Diving behavior and respiration rates -Speed and evasive behavior -Migrations and habitat -Anatomy

what did the NMFS rule

that there was no population effect, and the inevitable happened a. NMFS got sued (as always) b. NMFS lost (as always) c. The dolphin-safe label remains the same in the US d. This led to consequences to the US within the IATTC because other countries felt betrayed by the US' inability to keep its promise to change the definition of "dolphin-safe"