Biography Of A Blue Whale, Told Through Ear Wax (National Geographic article)

My friend Sheyka Nugraheni has a knack in collecting cool articles online. She often posts them on her Facebook. To make those articles available online for non FB users (or those who are not our, well, FB friends), I will start copy paste the articles here. Starting with this first one from National Geographic, written by Ed Yong. I'm particularly interested in this article because it shows how we can understand life history of a whale from a stranded specimen. You can also read the full article here.

Thanks a lot, Sheyka!

Blue whale earplug, extracted from a dead individual. Credit: Michelle Berman- Kowalewskic, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, nationalgeographic.com

Biography Of A Blue Whale, Told Through Ear Wax
by Ed Yong


A few years ago, Stephen Trumble contacted the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and asked if they had some earwax from a blue whale.

They did.

In 2007, a large ship travelling off the coast of California collided with a male blue whale, ending its life at the tender age of 12. It was one of three similar strikes that year. The animal’s 21 metre carcass washed up on the beach, and scientists from the local museum examined and dissected it with machetes and excavators. They collected several tissues and organs, including a 25-centimetre tube of earwax.

Earplugs are common to blues and other large whales like fins and humpbacks. They are similar to the ones in your ears, although obviously much bigger. Each is an oily build-up of wax and fats that accumulates through the whale’s life. “It looks like a long candlestick that’s been beat up a bit,” says Sascha Usenko, Trumble’s colleague at Baylor University. “It’s not appealing-looking.”

Registration form and blurbs for the 1st National Indonesian Marine Mammal Stranding Workshop

Apologies for the slooowwwhh update. August and September (make it July as well) have been impossibly busy. 

But at least now I can update you about the 1st National Indonesian Marine Mammal Stranding Workshop. The registration form is finally available here (deadline 15 October 2013). The program blurbs can be read at the Southeast Asian Marine Mammal Stranding Network SEAMMSN website. Herewith I also give you the blurbs:

Definition for residency or site fidelity

Below is the working definition of residency or site fidelity of marine mammals compiled by Aine O’Shea, a member of the international MARMAM mailing list, posted on 13 July 2013. Thanks a lot Aine for allowing me to post the article in its entirety on my blog! If you want to contact Aine directly, her email is osheaine@gmail.com.

Aine's compilation helps my thoughts on the residency patterns of small cetaceans in Lovina (pix by myself)

 

Following a request I submitted to MARMAM last week regarding a definition for residency / site fidelity, I have received some information which I would like to share with the MARMAM site.  

- It varies and there is no standard definition

- The term "site fidelity" is borrowed from studies of terrestrial taxa, and in many cases those animals (whether they're mammals, lizards etc.) have very narrow ranges and/or territories that are easily defined.  This isn't the case with most cetaceans

- Residency is in the eye of the beholder

Update on November workshop & stranding events

A short update for the November stranding workshop. The workshop is now titled “The 1^st National Indonesian Marine Mammal Stranding Workshop”. It’s still from Monday, 25 November to Thursday, 28 November 2013. However, 25 November event starts with dinner and opening ceremony by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries during dinner. Hence we recommend participants to arrive by Monday, 25 November late morning or afternoon, instead of Sunday, 24 November.

Registration form is still being finalised, so is the invitation letter. We hope to put the registration form online by late next week. Also, we hope to put the tentative schedule online by the end of August. The rough idea is: Day One for 1^st Responder workshop and training, Day Two for vet and bycatch lectures, and Day Three for vet lectures and necropsy demo (see below).

1st National Marine Mammal Stranding Training Workshop (Bali, 25-28 November 2013)

The 1st National Marine Mammal Stranding Training Workshop for Indonesia will be conducted in Sanur, Bali on 25-28 November 2013. The training programme is organised by the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center, Ocean Park Hong Kong and the University of St Andrews Scotland, endorsed by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia and supported by Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, the South East Asian Marine Mammal Stranding Network, World Wildlife Fund Indonesia and the International Whaling Commission.

The workshop will be conducted in English (with Indonesian translation), for participants from Indonesia and the Asian region.   Day One will be dedicated to 1st responder training, which will train people how to rescue live stranded marine mammals. The remaining days of the workshop will focus on the veterinary aspects and fishing gear entanglement aspect of stranding events. Hands-on necropsy demo is optional upon the availability of a Code 2 carcass (fresh dead).

Registration will be open from 1st August 2013. Funding for some participants is available (details tba). For further information, contact Putu Liza Mustika (‘Icha’) at putu.liza@my.jcu.edu.au or +62 821 4755 2611.


Update 6 August 2013:
Click this for the November workshop updates (including possible necropsy demo)

Lokalatih Nasional Mamalia Laut Terdampar I Indonesia (Bali, 25-28 November 2013)

Lokalatih Nasional Mamalia Laut Terdampar I di Indonesia akan dilaksanakan di Sanur, Bali pada tanggal 25-28 November 2013. Program pelatihan ini diorganisir oleh Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center, Ocean Park Hong Kong dan University of St Andrews Scotland. Program ini didukung oleh Kementrian Kelautan dan Perikanan Indonesia, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, South East Asian Marine Mammal Stranding Network, WWF Indonesia dan International Whaling Commission.

Bahasa pengantar pada lokalatih ini adalah bahasa Inggris dengan terjemahan. Peserta berasal dari Indonesia dan kawasan Asia. Hari pertama adalah tentang pelatihan 1^st responder (penanggap pertama), yaitu bagaimana menyelamatkan mamalia laut yang terdampar hidup. Hari kedua-keempat akan dititikberatkan pada aspek kedokteran hewan dan kejadian terjerat alat tangkap. Praktikum nekropsi akan dilakukan jika ada karkas Kode 2 (mati segar).

Registrasi akan dibuka dari tgl 1 Agustus 2013. Ada kemungkinan pendanaan untuk beberapa peserta (informasi menyusul). Untuk informasi lebih lanjut, silakan kontak Putu Liza Mustika (‘Icha’) di putu.liza@my.jcu.edu.au atau +62 821 4755 2611.

OMG... another mass dolphin watching in Kiluan Bay, Lampung...

Just a shortie because I seem to have very little time to write these days...

But I just found a very new YouTube video (dated 10 June 2013) on a mass dolphin watching tourism in Kiluan Bay, Lampung. Click this link to watch:



Seems to be a very interesting place to conduct a Lovina-like project there to measure its sustainability, see what people think about the industry, and also to count the economic benefit to the locals...

PS, rather OT: Blogger users, if you have a problem posting YT videos on your new blogs, try use old embedded code, and make sure you post it on HTML format...