Past Lectures (Archives) - American Cetacean Society


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PAST ACS/LA MONTHLY SPEAKER SERIES

For your reference, here are the previous lectures.

		TUESDAY APR 29, 2008 Monthly ACS Lecture Whale Slumber: What studies of marine mammals tell us about sleep by Jerry Siegel, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Center for Sleep Research
Sleep and rest states in marine mammals differ radically from those in terrestrial mammals. Recent work indicates that some marine mammals can be continuously alert for weeks. Cetaceans do not appear to have REM sleep, the sleep state associated with dreaming in humans. This talk will discuss sleep and rest states in marine mammals, compare them to those in land mammals and discuss the implications of marine mammal sleep for sleep evolution and function. Jerry Siegel majored in Psychology at City College of the City University of New York, and obtained his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Rochester. He has been a Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA since 1989 and has been teaching there since 1978. He is the director of the Siegel Lab at the Center for Sleep Research in the university's Department of Psychiatry. He has authored and co-authored a long list of publications. For more information on Dr. Siegel's work, visit his Sleep Research site.

		TUESDAY MAR 25, 2008 Monthly ACS Lecture Do you hear what I hear: Killer whale vocal development by Jessica Crance
Killer whales are highly intelligent social learners, and communicate using a wide range of complex vocalizations. Although these vocalizations have been described in great detail, little is known about the vocal development of killer whales. Studies have shown that during its first year of life, a killer whale calf will preferentially learn from its mother. However, little is known about the vocal development of killer whales after this time period, and it is thought that killer whales may have a "learning window" where they reach a point in their lives where they can no longer learn new vocalizations and their repertoire of calls becomes crystallized. Jessica Crance studied the vocalizations of the killer whales at SeaWorld San Diego over a five-year period. In particular, she is looking at the role of social status, age, and affiliation on the vocal development of killer whales, and how their call usage changes as they age, mature, associate with different individuals, and if they can continue to learn new calls throughout life Jessica was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. She majored in biology at the University of Arizona for with minors in chemistry and Spanish. Immediately after graduating from U of A, she started at the University of San Diego as a graduate student in their Marine Science Department. She plans on graduating and defending her thesis in May. Her advisor is Dr. Ann Bowles of the Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute.

		TUESDAY FEB 26, 2008 Monthly ACS Lecture Living Submarines: Respiratory and cardiovascular adaptations that enable seals to live in the marine environment by Hrvoje Smodlaka, DVM, PhD

Seals are true deep diving champions. Some species can dive for more than
one hour and reach depths up to 1500 meters. Hrvoje Smodlaka will show how
pinniped respiratory and cardiovascular systems reveal multiple diving
adaptations that set them apart from terrestrial mammals. Adaptations of
their musculoskeletal system are more obvious to the onlooker, however
respiratory and cardiovascular systems underwent major changes in order to
meet demands of deep diving. Especially, this is true when talking about
vasculature of the seal, that shows major adaptations for diving and it is
anatomically very different than in terrestrial mammals.

Doctor Smodlaka is a Croatia native of Croatia, currently working as an
Assistant Professor at the Western University of Health Sciences, College of
Veterinary Medicine in Pomona. He graduated from the University of Zagreb,
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
degree in 1998. Subsequently he completed his PhD degree at the University
of Tennessee (2004) where he did research in marine mammal anatomy. Upon his
graduation he worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia
(2004-2006).

TUESDAY
JAN 29, 2008
Monthly ACS Guest Lecture
Altered Oceans
by Ken Weiss

Los Angeles Times reporter Ken Weiss discusses "Altered Oceans," a five-part series that explores how manmade stresses on the seas have not merely polluted the Earth's watery skin but altered its basic chemistry. The result: Fish, corals and marine mammals are in retreat and the ocean's most primitive life forms -- algae, bacteria and jellyfish -- are proliferating. Ken talks about the process of researching and writing the series, how he coaxed his editors to look beyond Hollywood and even Britney and allow him to focus on disturbing trends surfacing in the living oceans.

The series has won a number of national and international awards including the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, George Polk Award for environmental reporting, Columbia Journalism School's John B. Oakes Award, and the American Geophysical Union's Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism. It was published July-August, 2006, and remains on the web site: www.latimes.com/oceans.

Kenneth R. Weiss, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times since 1990, focuses his coverage on coastal and marine science and policy. Before coming to the L.A. Times, Weiss spent six years in Washington, D.C., as a correspondent for newspapers owned by the New York Times and as a reporter for States News Service. Weiss was born and raised in the Southern California. He received a bachelor's degree in folklore from UC Berkeley, where he was editor of the college newspaper. Like way too many Californians, he suffers from an incurable addiction to surfing.

Visit the Los Angeles Times Altered Oceans special report online.

More information on chosing fish: Seafood Watch (Monterey Bay Aquarium) & Heal The Bay's Safe Seafood Guide.

TUESDAY
NOV 27, 2007
THE HARBOR SEALS OF LA JOLLA: Protecting San Diego Natural Resources for future generations

by Saul Alarcon Farfan

In the early 1990s, harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) began using Casa Beach, also known as Children's Pool, in La Jolla as a haulout and pupping area. With coastal bluffs on one side and a 15-foot seawall on the other, there can hardly be a more ideal location to allow humans the opportunity to observe these wild animals without interfering with their natural behaviors. The site attracts an estimated 80,000 visitors a month.

Unfortunately, a small but vocal group of residents has take issue with the seals and actively tries to harass them. There have been lawsuits and confrontations on the beach as well as in the San Diego City Council for over a decade now, and the issue is far from resolved. In the meantime, volunteers from several organizations stand watch to protect the seals and educate the public.

The presentation will talk about threats to life on Earth, with special emphasis on coastal ecosystems and the connection between terrestrial and ocean ecosystems. The presentation will use pinnipeds with an emphasis on San Diego harbor seals as a case study.

WiLDCOAST Wildlands Conservation Program Manager Saul Alarcon Farfan received a M.S. in Natural Resource Management and a Graduate Certificate in Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems from the University of Michigan. Saul has worked on natural resource issues for the U.S. and Mexican government on both sides of the border. Before taking his current position, Saul worked with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Jones & Stokes as a biological consultant.

San Diego Coastal Habitats Coalition volunteers Ellen Shively and Cindy Benner will assist Saul with the presentation.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER: Francois Gohier

World renowned photographer, author and naturalist Francois Gohier will share some of his photos and stories of encounters with marine mammals all over the world.

Francois Gohier, who has lived in San Diego, California, since 1988, grew up in the Basque Country in Southwest France where he developed an interest for nature and photography while hiking and climbing in the Pyrenees.

While sailing in the Gulf of California in 1977, Francois met Dr. Theodore Walker, a Pacific Gray whale specialist, and later joined him on trips to Laguna San Ignacio. Since then, Francois has returned to Baja California almost every winter. He has photographed whales and dolphins along the coasts of North and South America, Australia, and Europe.

Francois has written several books on whales both in the US and France. Over the years, his photographs of marine mammals have illustrated magazine stories and field guides.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

SEA OTTERS ABOUND IN THE HARBOR: Exploitation and recovery of California’s smallest sea mammal
by Lilian Carswell

Sea otters once lived in coastal waters along the North Pacific rim, from Japan to Baja California. After being hunted to the brink of extinction, they have been protected since 1911. The California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) has recovered in part of its historic range, but still faces formidable obstacles. While the 2007 spring survey tallied 3026 animals, the highest count so far, the two previous years actually showed declines.

Lilian Carswell will cover the California sea otter evolution and history to its outlook in the future. She will also address the amazing adaptations that that allow it to be the most aquatic member of the scientific Order Carnivora and its role in the ecosystem. She will cover the efforts being made to study and manage the species, the significant threats it still faces, its role as a sentinel species and the prospects of sharing their environment closely with humans.

For the past several years, Lilian Carswell has worked as a biologist for recovery of the threatened southern sea otter, and she is currently the Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Marine Conservation Coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She is also completing a Master’s degree in ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, with Dr. James Estes, focusing on sea otter demography.

Lilian grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in Environmental Science and English. She went to graduate school at Columbia University in New York City, spent a year teaching American literature at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, and ultimately completed a PhD in American Literature. Her dissertation was on representations of animals in late-19th century American literature and focused on the influence of Darwinian ideas on these representations. Since then, however, Lilian has returned to biology out of a desire to study the animals themselves.

She has surveyed for threatened and endangered northwest US forest species in Washington, conserved Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in Texas, tracked red wolves in Florida, and worked on island fox recovery issues in California. She has participated in studies of cetacean abundance and ecology off British Columbia and Alaska and in the waters of the Pacific Islands. Most recently, she spent six weeks on Bering Island in Russia studying sea otter demography and ecology.

While the experience of wildness is her greatest source of joy, she believes that threatened species should be preserved not merely for human benefit but for the sake of their own future generations and the ecosystems that they sustain.

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