For about 1 penny per American per year, the Marine Mammal Commission has met its Congressional mandate to conserve marine mammals for over 40 years.
We work to ensure that marine mammal populations are restored and maintained as functioning elements of healthy marine ecosystems in the world's oceans.
|
|
Remembering Lloyd F. Lowry
|
|
It is with deep sadness that we pass on the news that Lloyd F. Lowry died on 25 November 2018. Lloyd was a huge part of the Commission for many years, both officially and unofficially. He began his service to the Commission on our Committee of Scientific Advisors (CSA) beginning in 1989 and was the Chair of the Committee from 1995 to 2008. While serving on the CSA, Lloyd was a Marine Mammal Biologist with the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, where he worked from 1975 to 2000. Lloyd dedicated his life to studying arctic marine mammals of all kinds, including bowhead and beluga whales, ice associated seals, and walruses. He was a valued member of many advisory groups, such as the IUCN Pinniped Specialist Group and the North Pacific Research Board’s Science Panel, and chaired many Endangered Species Act Recovery Teams. He was an unofficial caretaker of the
Ke Kai Ola
monk seal hospital in Kona, HI. He is survived by his wife, Kathy Frost, who is also a leader in marine mammal research and conservation. For a tribute to Lloyd, one of Alaska's best-known marine mammal scientists, visit
this Memories article in Marine Mammal Science.
We send all our best wishes to her as we mourn the loss of our dear friend and colleague.
|
|
Manatee Health Assessments in Crystal River
|
|
On a frosty morning in early December, a team of nearly 200 researchers, veterinarians, students, and volunteers assembled at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge to help collect much-needed baseline information on the health of Florida manatees. During the cold winter months, these “silent sirens” (as they were once called) congregate in large numbers to bask in the warm waters of Three Sisters Springs. As they leave their warm water refuge to forage in Kings Bay and beyond, the research team is poised to gently capture and transport the manatees to a holding area where they work swiftly to collect as much data on each animal as possible before it is released back into the water. Much like a doctor’s checkup, the health assessments provide the research team with a glimpse as to how manatees are faring. Information of the health status of manatees in Crystal River is serving as a baseline for the research team, as the manatees that return to the Crystal River area each winter appear to be healthy and thriving. In comparison, the manatee population in southwest Florida has experienced significant mortalities as a result of
exposure to red tide-associated brevetoxin
,
and an Unusual Mortality Event was declared in 2013 due to unexplained deaths of manatees in the Indian River Lagoon on the east coast of Florida. In a population
estimated at just over 8,000 individuals
,
those deaths are a significant concern for this threatened population. Vicki Cornish, the Commission’s energy policy analyst, was invited by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Sirenia Project
to participate in the December 2018 health assessment in Crystal River, where she helped spot manatees as they emerged from the springs and talked to team members from all over Florida and the Caribbean about their involvement with manatee research, stranding response, and rehabilitation. A smaller team of researchers from USGS,
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
,
and University of Florida is planning a similar health assessment in the Indian River in 2019 to characterize the health and habitat use of manatees on Florida’s east coast.
|
|
The 2018 manatee health assessment team at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge (Vicki Cornish).
|
|
Hot Topics in Marine Mammal Conservation:
Raising the Profile of the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s Whale
|
The Northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) Bryde’s whale is the only year-round resident large baleen whale in the Gulf of Mexico. Typically occurring near the De Soto Canyon, off the Florida panhandle, this species has been relatively unstudied and remains largely unnoticed in the public eye. There are only an estimated 33 individuals in this population, some of which are thought to have been lost due to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Currently, the species is proposed for listing as endangered under the
Endangered Species Act. The main threats facing the GoM Bryde’s whale are collisions with vessels, acoustic disturbance from offshore oil and gas-related and military activities, as well as exposure to oil spills and pollution from agricultural runoff. Possible interactions with bottom-longline gear from the nearby reef-fish fishery are of concern but more information is needed on whale behavior and the nature of the fishery to better understand this potential threat. Current research, funded by fines from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, focuses on evaluating food chain relationships and critical features of Byde’s whale habitat. For more information, visit the National Marine Fisheries Service GoM Bryde’s Whale
page or our
website.
|
A surfacing Gulf of Mexico Bryde's whale (NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center).
|
|
Sharing Cetacean Knowledge
|
|
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) recognizes that the United States has a vital role to play in the conservation of marine mammals worldwide. The Marine Mammal Commission works to ensure that threats facing marine mammals are identified, and collaborates with managers and researchers in other countries to further the conservation of imperiled species. Over the last decade, the Commission has been instrumental in supporting conservation efforts for endangered freshwater cetacean populations, particularly in Asian rivers. As part of longstanding international collaboration on the conservation of the Mekong River population of Mekong River
Irrawaddy dolphins, the Commission supported four Cambodian dolphin researchers from
WWF-Cambodia to visit the
Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program in Florida (led by Committee of Scientific Advisors Randy Wells) for two weeks of training and sharing of research methods. Accompanied by Dr. Lindsay Porter from the Sea Mammal Research Unit of Scotland, the Cambodian team participated in many aspects of the research underway in this 48-year study of bottlenose dolphins. In particular, the Sarasota team shared field and lab methods for dorsal-fin based individual photo-identification of wild dolphins, a key element of long-term dolphin population assessment in both Sarasota Bay and on the Mekong. In meetings with Marine Mammal Commissioner Gulland and Executive Director Peter Thomas, the group developed a schedule for continued future cooperation on population assessment and other research on the Mekong.
|
|
Pictured above: WWF-Cambodia Mekong team on the water in Sarasota (Lindsay Porter SMRU).
|
|
Alaska Co-management Review Progresses from Field Visits to Data Analysis
|
|
The Co-Management Review Steering Committee after their meeting on November 8-9 in Anchorage, AK (Jared Jefferies).
|
|
After a successful summer and fall of conducting hunter focus groups and interviews with over 70 people, Commission co-PIs Jenna Malek and Vicki Cornish are in the process of drafting a report summarizing our “
Review of Marine Mammal Co-management in Alaska
.” Using the information collected from hunters, resource users, Alaska Native organization (ANO) members, and federal agency staff, they are working with the project Steering Committee to finalize the recommendations arising from the review. In a productive November meeting, the Steering Committee discussed preliminary recommendations focused on: clarifying partner roles and responsibilities; enhancing communication; and integrating younger generations into co-management activities. Jenna is planning to return to the participating communities and federal agencies in February and March to share project results and the final report is expected to be completed by March 2019. The co-PIs have also been attending ANO meetings in Anchorage over the last several months to provide updates on the project. Commission Chairman, Daryl Boness, joined them in mid-December to provide an update to the Indigenous People’s Council for Marine Mammals (IPCoMM). At that meeting, Dr. Boness also shared details about the Commission’s
current funding opportunity
focused on Alaska marine mammals that are important for subsistence.
|
|
Commission’s Grant Program to Focus on Climate Change and Alaska Native Communities in 2019
|
The Commission's FY19 Research Grant Program focuses on "Impacts of a changing ocean on marine mammals of importance to Alaska Natives”. Maintaining marine mammals as functioning elements of healthy ecosystems and as resources for subsistence needs of Alaska Native communities, requires understanding the role of marine mammals in the ecosystem and how they may be impacted by ongoing changes in the environment. Access to accurate and precise information is imperative for sound decision-making, and can be facilitated by co-production of knowledge between scientists and Alaska Native communities. For additional details please visit
our website.
|
Credit: Vicki Beaver | Permit #14245 | NOAA/AFSC/NMML and the North Slope Borough
|
|
Marine Mammal Commission scientific advisors, staff, and science in the news
|
|
Commission-affiliated scientists have been featured in a variety of media publications over the last few months, while sharing their expertise on a variety of topics. For a reminder of who our Commissioners, Committee of Scientific Advisors, and Staff are, visit
our website
. Some of the ongoing scientific accomplishments of these world-renowned marine mammal scientists are reflected below in newspapers, magazines, and more!
|
|
False killer whales, October 15, 2010. (Robin Baird, Cascadia Research, NMFS Permit # 731-1774)
|
Credit: Dr. Samantha Simmons, Scientific Program Director of the Marine Mammal Commission (taken under NMFS permit #87-1743)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
