Marthán Bester wins Gold Medal of the ZSSA

Prof Marthan Bester sharing his thoughts and thanks during his Gold Medal award acceptance speech.

Prof Marthan Bester (2nd from the left) was awarded the ZSSA Gold Medal for his outstanding achievements in Zoology.

The MIMMP is delighted to share the news that our ‘founder’, Emeritus Professor Marthan Bester, was awarded the distinguished Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa at the 39th ZSSA Congress held in Skukuza, Kruger National Park!

­The Gold Medal award is presented biennially by the ZSSA Council for outstanding achievements in Zoology in Southern Africa over a number of years.

Award Citation:

“Marthán Nieuwoudt Bester has been instrumental in the continuing presence of scientific researchers in the South African Subantarctic. Marthán’s lifelong dedication to marine mammal conservation and research in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica is evidenced in his impressive publication record, supervision of students, capacity building of conservationists, field workers, students and colleagues.

His diplomacy in policy and management, alongside scientific excellence has resulted in continuation of long-term research programmes through turbulent times in South Africa’s history. He has promoted Antarctic awareness and research not only to his students and colleagues, but to thousands of undergraduates, schoolchildren and the public through publications, lectures and radio/ television appearances.

Marthán’s early work (1970’s) on morphology, biology and ecology of Subantarctic fur seals Arctocephalus tropicalis, remains fundamental work to date. He completed his DSc at the University of Pretoria (UP) in 1978. At UP (associated with Department of Transport - later Environmental Affairs) he became a Biologist undertaking 6-13 month expeditions to Gough and Marion islands (1974-1978), and Kerguelen and Marion Islands (1979-1982). He accompanied multinational expeditions to Southern Ocean islands (e.g. Heard, King George, Amsterdam islands) and Antarctica as researcher, and facilitated student involvement in international research expeditions to Bouvetoya, Macquarie Island and Antarctica. Between 1982-1996 he became Antarctic Research Officer (Mammals) to the Department of Environmental Affairs. During the period 1997–2002 he was promoted from Lecturer to Full Professor (2002–present) at UP. He has supervised 38 MSc, 13 PhD’s, 10 Postdoctoral fellowships to completion; with 3 MSc in progress, and continues to collaborate with leading academics from every continent (despite being retired).

His foremost scientific legacy: He conceived, initiated, maintained and managed (uninterrupted from 1983-2013) the intensive Marion Island southern elephant seal mark-recapture research endeavour. This programme stands as one of the longest running and most important large mammal datasets in existence globally and the foremost of its kind for the species. His research activities have led to the generation of >223 peer reviewed publications, as well as numerous (>100) technical reports, policy documents, book chapters, protocols and other literature authored and co-authored by MNB. His H-factor is 30: ISI Web of Science (31 July 2018), and his work has been cited >3000 times. Thomson Reuters ISI Essential Science Indicator 2013: MNB was listed in top 1% of researchers globally for Animal and Plant Sciences. He has been awarded five Outstanding Academic Achiever awards by UP and an honorary award for the feral cat eradication effort on Marion Island, by the DST Centre of Excellent for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University. His further recognition includes, amongst others being scientific advisor to RSA government sub-directorate on Antarctica and Islands, and a member of various national management and advisory groups and committees related to Antarctica and Prince Edward Islands (1984-2016). He served as a full member of SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research) Group of Specialists on Seals (GSS) (1984-2002); a founding member of the Antarctic Pack Ice Seals (APIS) steering committee of SCAR (1994-2002); Secretary of GSS and then revamped Expert Group on Seals (EGS) of SCAR (2000-2006); chair of the EGS (2006-2008), and is currently an Honorary conservation officer for the Government of Tristan da Cunha. He serves on editorial boards of Marine Ecology Progress Series, Polar Biology, and African Journal of Wildlife Research; has reviewed for ~50 internationally accredited journals, and has served as external evaluator on >70 dissertations/ theses, and grant - and peer review panels.

In addition to his achievements in the field of marine mammalogy, he led the programme which successfully eradicated feral cats from Marion Island. This work involved a commitment which lasted two decades (1972-1992), was (and remains) the largest successful island eradication of feral cats in history and has resulted in the recovery of the avian biodiversity on the island. He enabled >120 South African field assistants/students from a variety of cultural backgrounds to spend expedition years at Marion Island. As a consequence of their expedition research and experience gained, most of these “Sealers” have completed postgraduate degrees, and hold influential positions in research and conservation both nationally and internationally. His achievements are not only a result of his tremendous foresight, but also of dedication and a remarkable capacity for hard work. He is an excellent ambassador for Antarctic research, influential marine mammal scientist and a role model for many. Marthán’s mentoring success has been enhanced by his ability to encourage students and colleagues to look beyond his areas of expertise and he has facilitated this development by providing contacts with his wide global network of colleagues. He has always demonstrated great humility in the high profile world of marine mammal research and is not afraid to admit he does not know everything, and will assist colleagues and students alike to seek answers to their questions. He derives great pleasure in his students advancing their knowledge beyond his own, and provides every opportunity for them to do so. This is a critical attribute in encouraging a new generation of scientists who will look beyond current paradigms.”

Global review of seal entanglement published!

A young Antarctic fur seal entangled in fishing net at remote Bouvetoya in the Southern Ocean. Photo: Nico de Bruyn

Oceanic plastic pollution is a growing worldwide environmental concern, endangering numerous marine species. Pinnipeds (seals) are particularly susceptible to entanglement, especially in abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear and packaging straps. In this review published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, Emma Jepsen and Nico de Bruyn compiled a comprehensive global review of all pinniped entanglements reported in published literature over the last 40 years.

The majority of published records of entanglement emanate from North America and Oceania and are focused on a few populous species (notably, California sea lions and Antarctic fur seals). Reporting bias, skewed research effort and incomplete understanding of plastic pollution and pinniped abundance overlap, combine to cloud our understanding of the entanglement problem. Broader geographical effort in entanglement data collection, reporting of such data, and improved quantification of the proportions of populations, sexes and ages that are most susceptible, will aid our efforts to pinpoint priority mitigation measures. Click here to read the full article.

New paper in TREE: Translating Marine Animal Tracking into Policy

“Widespread Use of Marine Animal Tracking Data for Conservation Policy or Management. Tracking data are used in many ways to help species conservation, including being used to help designate protected area boundaries, to reduce bycatch, minimize vessel strikes, assess abundance, and quantify demographic parameters such as mortality rates.” Hays et al. (2019) Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Nico de Bruyn, Principal Investigator of the MIMMP, has been involved in an exciting paper that has just been published online in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The review lead by Graeme Hays, Deakin University (Australia), and with contributions from a group of international colleagues evaluates how well marine animal tracking data has been translated into policy and conservation.

There have been efforts around the globe to track individuals of many marine species and assess their movements and distribution, with the putative goal of supporting their conservation and management. Determining whether, and how, tracking data have been successfully applied to address real-world conservation issues is, however, difficult. Here, the authors compile a broad range of case studies from diverse marine taxa to show how tracking data have helped inform conservation policy and management, including reductions in fisheries bycatch and vessel strikes, and the design and administration of marine protected areas and important habitats. Using these examples, we highlight pathways through which the past and future investment in collecting animal tracking data might be better used to achieve tangible conservation benefits.

Click here to access the paper!

Marthán Bester on RRS Discovery expedition to Tristan da Cunha Islands

The RRS Discovery in port. Photo: Marthan Bester

Currently, Marthán Bester is participating in the UK Overseas Territories ‘Blue Belt’ programme at the Tristan da Cunha Islands (TdC) (http://www.tristandc.com/wildlife/bluebelt.php) with the blessing of the TdC Government. The top predator (especially Subantarctic fur seal) research that is envisaged will feed comparative information into MIMMP. To this end he travelled to the UK on 04 March, visited our colleagues at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge for a day, and slotted in with the BAS arrangements to get their, and other personnel from CEFAS and RSPB, to the Falkland Islands by RAF airbridge. This entailed a 15 hour (5 + 10) flight from the Royal Airforce Base at Brize Norton, using a seated Airtanker A330 (with a brief re-fuelling stop at the Cape Verde Islands), to Mount Pleasant RAF airfield outside of Port Stanley, East Falkland Islands.

After a very pleasant four days in Port Stanley, they boarded the RRS Discovery, an oceanographic research vessel, on 11 March, due to sail for the Tristan da Cunha Islands today, 12 March. After 9 days of sailing to the TdC, Marthán and three others will be landed on the main island of TdC for their particular purposes. The ship then goes off on a 10-day oceanographic survey of the seamounts around Gough Island to the south, before returning to TdC.

On TdC Marthán will be assisted in the field (Seal Bay) by the TdC Conservation Department, deploying satellite-linked dataloggers on lactating fur seal females, and servicing our automated fur seal attendance pattern logging system that was put up in September 2018. After 10 days of surveying, the 4 pax and some passengers will be retrieved from TdC, and the expedition ends in James Town, St Helena some days later. Marthán will be returning to South Africa soon after. Watch this space for a narrative about the unfolding of this expedition!

Kyle Lloyd's lab visit to Montana State University starts

Kyle Lloyd (MIMMP PhD student) has started his 3 month visit to Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, USA. Kyle will be collaborating with Prof. Jay Rotella and colleagues of the Ecology Department to further his research on the population ecology of male southern elephant seals. The topics of his research will focus on environmental drives of pre-breeder vital rates and factors influencing senescence patterns in breeders. Kyle hopes to develop his skills in population modelling and to strengthen the MIMMP's budding relationship with MSU. Despite being cold and snowy at the moment, Bozeman offers a breathtaking environment to stimulate the Sealer's mind.

Read more about our colleagues fantastic work in Antarctica: http://weddellsealscience.com/project.html

New paper on making the most of mark-recapture survey data

A novel approach to dealing with complex capture-mark-recapture data has been published in the journal Ecology & Evolution, by MIMMP postdoc, Chris Oosthuizen, and colleagues.

In life‐history analysis, the best solution to deal with unobservable states is to eliminate them altogether. In this paper, the authors achieve this objective by fitting novel multievent‐robust design models which combines robust design capture data collected during discrete breeding seasons with observations made at other times of the year. They use this approach to estimate breeding probabilities of female elephant seals. This flexible modeling approach can easily be adapted to suit sampling designs from numerous species which may be encountered during and outside of discrete breeding seasons. To read the full paper click here.

Marthan Bester: new FELLOW of the Royal Society of South Africa!!

Prof Marthan Bester pleased with another successful tracking device deployment on a southern elephant seal bull at Gough Island in 2015. Photo: Nico de Bruyn

Retired Emeritus Professor Marthan Bester, the initiator of the MIMMP and it’s Principal Investigator for three decades, will join the illustrious ranks of Fellowship of the Royal Society of South Africa during 2019.

This fantastic accolade is bestowed for his lifetime of dedicated research and conservation efforts related to Subantarctic and Antarctic marine mammals, and particularly seals. Furthermore, his central role in the worlds largest successful island eradication of feral cats is regarded as a conservation success story the world over. His achievements are too numerous to recite, but importantly, he has achieved all this while being a generous mentor to hundreds of students, field personnel and colleagues. For more stories about the incredible legacy of the MIMMP and history of the cat eradication efforts, consider buying our popular legacy book “Pain forms the Character”.

A young Marthan Bester traversing the snowy mountains of Marion Island in the 1970’s. Photo: Grant Craig

Chris Oosthuizen wins British Ecological Society 2018 photo competition!

“Stand out from the crowd” by Chris Oosthuizen. Overall winner of the 2018 BES photographic competition.

MIMMP postdoc, Dr. Chris Oosthuizen, has been announced as the overall winner of the British Ecological Society Annual Photography Competition 2018, for his image “Stand out from the crowd”!!

“Stinkpot special: Penguin a la King” by Chris Oosthuizen, winner of the Dynamic Ecosystems category within the BES 2018 photographic competition.

As if that is not wonderful enough, he also topped the “Dynamic Ecosystems” category with a winning shot entitled “Stinkpot special: Penguin a la King”, showing a Giant petrel preying on a king penguin chick at Marion Island.

For further interesting details behind these remarkable photos read this article.

To view all winning images visit the British Ecological Society website.

Field assistant posts for Marion Island 2019-2020 - CLOSED

Three field assistant positions (2 x "Sealers" and 1 x "Whaler") are once again available at Marion Island, April 2019 - May 2020. All three positions are embedded within the research programme: "Marion Island Marine Mammals: Individual Variation and Population Processes in Changing Environments", maintained through the University of Pretoria.

For instructions please read the advertisements carefully here:

Mammalogist- Seals

Mammalogist- Killer Whales

Application link  below:

APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA OUR ONLINE SYSTEM*(click on text to redirect).

DEADLINE: 30 September 2018

*Emailed submissions will not be accepted.

An overview documentary of what you might expect in these positions can be viewed here and further insight about our science gained by listening to a public talk (here) or viewing our publications. Additional information about the positions and a background to the  programme can be found on our programme history, 'working with us' and FAQ pages.

If you want a good idea of what life as a sealer is all about on Marion, consider purchasing a copy of our book - 'Pain forms the Character' 

MIMMP postdoc Chris Oosthuizen in Svalbard, Arctic!

The MIMMP has a long history of conducting research in the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic ecosystems; one of our flagship projects, the demographic study of Marion Island’s southern elephant seal population, is now continuing into its 35th consecutive year. But we are always interested in collaborating with other research teams. For example, Marion Island sealers were represented on all seven of the seal and seabird research expeditions undertaken by the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) at Bouvetøya between 1996/97 and 2017/18. We have less experience of working in the Arctic, but it is within the context of our Bouvetøya collaboration that Chris Oosthuizen (current Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme postdoctoral researcher) recently found himself in the Svalbard Archipelago.

Spitsbergen is the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago (Photo: Chris Oosthuizen)

Dr Andrew Lowther at the team’s campsite on Midtøya. (Photo: Chris Oosthuizen)

Location map of Norway and Svalbard (encircled). (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Svalbard is a large archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean north of continental Norway. At 78°N, Longyearbyen on the island Spitsbergen is the northernmost year-round settlement on Earth and only 1300 km from the North Pole. Chris was invited to participate in the Svalbard expedition by Dr Andrew Lowther of the Norwegian Polar Institute, with whom he has worked on Bouvetøya for two summer seasons. Dr Lowther is leading a project investigating the impacts of drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) on marine mammals in terms of disturbance and the use of drones as alternate research platforms. This project aims to provide best practise guidelines regarding the appropriate use of drones around wildlife by developing flight profile standards that are 1) capable of delivering scientific goals and 2) create insignificant levels of disturbance when used in both scientific and a recreational setting. For the work conducted during May and June, the team camped near a harbour seal colony on Midtøya, a small island adjacent to Prins Karls Forland. This is the only harbour seal colony in Svalbard and the northernmost one in the world.

A drone passes over hauled out harbour seals during behavioural experiments. (Photo: Chris Oosthuizen)

Mammals moving in the Anthropocene: new paper in SCIENCE

Tucker et al. (2018) Moving in the Anthropocene: Global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements. Science 359: 466-469.

Sometimes a collaboration that started on one topic can turn into something productive on a somewhat different one! A paper published today in the journal Science, on which MIMMP PI, Nico de Bruyn, is a coauthor represents such a case. This paper, led by Marlee Tucker, uses tracking data from multiple terrestrial mammals to show that humans are causing major changes in the way wild mammals move in the landscape.  

Clearly, this terrestrially centered paper does not contain data from our Marion Island marine mammals. It was a collaboration started years ago with Marlee Tucker, using some tracking data from Marion Island seals (not used here), that resulted in Nico's intellectual involvement here. This paper makes for an interesting read and brings to mind the question of how the marine environment might compare........  

Of Man, seals, cats and mice: Mongabay news commentary

Feral cats are long gone from Subantarctic Marion Island. Photo: Philippa Drennan, 1984, courtesy of the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa

Many Subantarctic islands have historically felt the effects of seal hunters and the purposeful or accidental introduction of alien mammals. Mice, rats, rabbits, cats, goats, sheep, deer, cows... the list goes on, and the effects have often been devastating to native fauna and flora. Given the contemporary understanding of the negative effects of invasive species, many nations have increasingly ambitious eradication programmes. These are wise investments. Read why the Marion Island story is one to learn from at leading enviro-news website: Mongabay.

Elephant seals show remarkable consistency in 3D foraging behaviour!

In a changing ocean environment, would a deep-diving top predator consistently return to specific areas to find food? Would such a predator show consistent diving behaviour over multiple foraging trips? In the face of rapid environmental change, these were questions we were interested in exploring for southern elephant seals at Marion Island, using tracking and diving data spanning several years. 

A young male southern elephant seal sporting a SMRU tracking device. Photo: Nico de Bruyn

Individual-level specialization in forage strategies may confer advantages to individual animals over longer time periods, even though it may also incur shorter-term costs. In a recently published paper in the journal Animal Behaviour, we illustrate long-term (up to 7-year!) fidelity of individual elephant seals to not only their foraging ranges, but also the depth layers targeted during foraging migrations. We hypothesize that the strong fidelity displayed by individual animals may limit the individual-level adaptability of elephant seals to rapid environmental changes. Furthermore, we recommend more long-term longitudinal studies to quantify the influence of individual specialization on our understanding of the population-level ecology of elephant seals, as well as other key predators.

McIntyre et al. (2017) in Animal Behaviour

Read the full story here: McIntyre et al. (2017) Slow to change? Individual fidelity to three-dimensional foraging habitats in southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina. Animal Behaviour 127:91-99. 

Killer whale social life at Marion Island

Marion Island killer whale Social Networks. Reisinger et al. 2017 Behavioral Ecology

Killer whales are considered highly social animals, however, social structure has been quantitatively studied in few populations. We have been running a photographic identification programme of killer whales at Marion Island in the Southern Ocean since 2006, and we recently used this dataset to explore how individuals associate with each other and how this correlates with their genetic relatedness. In a new paper published in the journal Behavioral Ecology we show that killer whales at Marion Island have small social modules which are mostly stable over years, but that these can be dynamic over shorter time periods. This may be a response to environmental conditions. The social modules which we identified comprise non-kin as well as kin, in contrast to the highly matrifocal structure in some other killer whale populations.

Kinship and association in a highly social apex predator population, killer whales at Marion Island

Ryan R. Reisinger, Charlene Beukes (née Janse van Rensburg), A. Rus Hoelzel and P.J. Nico de Bruyn

Behavioral Ecology

https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx034

INTRODUCING 2017/2018 OVERWINTERING SEAL & KILLER WHALE FIELD PERSONNEL

The 'new' killer whale and seal field scientists for the 2017/18 13-month long expedition to Marion Island are into their first month alone since the ship departed back to RSA with all the Takeover - and previous expedition team members.

Yinhla Shihlomule is back for a 2nd year as sealer, being joined by Andre van Tonder and Rowan Jordaan for the year.

The 2017 5-week Relief voyage (Takeover) ended a WEEK ago, with the SA Agulhas II bringing home the 2016/2017 killer whale and seal field personnel, Nasreen Khan, Kyle Lloyd and Sydney Tshilingalinga (the latter two will be taking on PhD and MSc degrees respectively, at the University of Pretoria with Principal Investigator, Nico de Bruyn).

 ENJOY THE YEAR YINHLA, ANDRE AND ROWAN!

L-R: Andre van Tonder, Rowan Jordaan and Yinhla Shihlomule are the M74 SEALERS!! (Rowan is also responsible for the killer whale work). Photo: Nico de Bruyn

CAT HUNTER & SEALER LEGACY BOOK PUBLISHED!

Four decades of adventure, tribulations and successes are shared through the memories of the remarkable individuals that hunted feral cats and studied seals on remote Subantarctic Marion and other Southern Ocean islands.

LIMITED STOCK AVAILABLE AND GOING FAST!

"PAIN FORMS THE CHARACTER" delves to the heart and soul of what the life of a 'cat hunter' or 'sealer' on a remote cold, windswept island in the great Southern Ocean for a year or more is like. By interweaving factual background and the remarkable anecdotes from over 100 contributors, editors NICO DE BRUYN and CHRIS OOSTHUIZEN, provide entertaining context to the remarkable science and conservation achievements attained over >40 years on these starkly beautiful fringes of the world. This precious legacy continues to this day!  

To purchase this beautiful fully illustrated, colour, hard-cover coffee table book visit the 'SHOP' page on this website.  

ALL PROCEEDS ARE USED FOR CONTINUED RESEARCH WITHIN THE MIMMP.

MIMMP sealers on National Geographic expedition!

Tristan da Cunha. Photo: Nico de Bruyn

PRISTINE SEAS – National Geographic

EXPEDITION to Tristan da Cunha

The goals of the Pristine Seas project are to find, survey, and help protect the last wild places in the ocean. To this end, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project, in collaboration with the Royal Society for the Protections of Birds (RSPB) and the Tristan da Cunha Government will conduct a 21-day expedition to Tristan da Cunha, Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough islands in January-February 2017.  Primary goals of the expedition are to conduct comprehensive quantitative surveys of the health of its largely unknown marine environment, and produce a documentary film to highlight this unique ecosystem and its people.  Prof. Marthán Bester and PhD student Mia Wege (MIMMP sealers) from the Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology & Entomology, Pretoria University will join the expedition and continue ongoing seal research (see below Philately commemoration of this seal effort).

The expedition vessel SVS Grenville (http://specialisedvesselservices.com/vessels/svs-grenville/) left Cape Town, South Africa on January 8, 2017 and has just arrived at Tristan.  Scientific exploration and filming of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago for 21 days will ensue, the ship returning to Cape Town on the 12th of February.

Progress during the expedition can be followed on:

http://nationalgeographic.org/projects/pristine-seas/tristan-da-cunha-expedition/

TRISTAN DA CUNHA Biodiversity - Stamp Issue Part 1

The first day cover for this stamp issue, which includes a stamp depicting a Subantarctic fur seal, also carries the logo of UP in recognition of the project entitled 'Subantarctic Fur Seals at the Tristan da Cunha Islands' that the Mammal Research Institute have been carrying out (from 2009) under the direction of Prof. Marthán Bester, involving ‘Sealers’ from the Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme (MIMMP) of Prof. Nico de Bruyn. The project was developed by Prof. Bester at the behest of the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department, and is executed under permit from the Tristan da Cunha Government. The Biodiversity Stamp Issue can be viewed at: http://www.tristandc.com/po/stamps201611.php

Whiskers tell us what elephant seals eat.. and when!

New paper on whisker replacement phenology and growth rate in southern elephant seals!

Lübcker N, Condit R, Beltran RS, de Bruyn PJN, Bester MN. 2016. Vibrissal growth parameters of southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina: obtaining fine-scale, time-based stable isotope data. Marine Ecology Progress Series 559: 243-255. doi: 10.3354/meps11899

Stable isotope analysis is based on the principle “you are what you eat” – in other words, the biomolecule composition of a consumer’s body tissues can give us an indication of diet over time.

A southern elephant seal's whiskers can tell us what the animal ate, and when it did so! Photo: Nico Lübcker

The nitrogen and carbon stable isotope ratios originating from the diet are chronologically deposited along the length of inert but growing keratinous tissues, such as whiskers (vibrissae), hair, and nails. Analyses of keratinous tissues provide a history of the individual’s diet.  Importantly, the timing of the whisker growth rates or replacement pattern is required to link the ‘stored’ dietary data to the specific time when the actual eating occurred. We sampled whiskers from southern elephant seals (SES) at Subantarctic Marion Island to define the prevalence and timing of their whisker replacement. Secondly, we could determine their whisker regrowth rate thanks to our knowledge of the ages of the sampled animals.

Contrary to the previously described asynchronous whisker-shedding pattern of SES, 71.1% of individuals displayed whisker shedding during the annual pelage moult. Furthermore, the whisker growth ceased once the maximum length was reached, and the whiskers are retained before being replaced. The whisker growth followed a von Bertalanffy growth function as the growth rate decreased near the asymptotic length. The resolution of the isotopic data obtainable per 2 mm whisker section ranged from 3.5 days at the tip to >40 days at the base of the whisker. Using these defined growth rates and shedding patterns, researchers can prudently apply timestamps to stable isotope values captured along the whiskers of SES.

We can now more confidently assess the timing of foraging and what has been eaten while the seals are unobservable out at sea for months on end!

Written by: Nico Lübcker [nlubcker@zoology.up.ac.za], ResearchGate profile . 

Nico checking on a big boy's whiskers!

MIMMP Postdoc, Dr Chris Oosthuizen, at King George Island

 Baby southern elephant seal in a snowstorm, King George Island, South Shetlands. Photo: Chris Oosthuizen

Chris Oosthuizen on expedition. 

The fishery for krill (Euphausia superba) is the largest fishery in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass removal. CCAMLR (the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources) is responsible for managing the harvest of all Southern Ocean living resources, including krill. CCAMLR aims to ensure that harvesting is sustainable, not only for the harvested species such as krill, but also for dependent predator species such as whales, seals and penguins.

Presently, over 95% of krill fishing is conducted in the West Antarctic Peninsula and South Orkney Islands regions, and it is within this context that Chris Oosthuizen (current Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme postdoctoral researcher) finds himself at the South Shetlands Islands. Chris is working on a collaborative project which includes colleagues from the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Instituto Antártico Argentino and the University of Pretoria. Field work on southern elephant seals, Gentoo and Adélie penguins is now underway at Stranger Point near the Argentine Base Carlini on Isla 25 de Mayo/King George Island, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The data on predator foraging behavior collected during this (and past) field season(s) assist CCAMLR in the development of spatially and temporally relevant feedback strategies for long-term management of the krill fishery, including the planning process for Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s). 

Text: WC Oosthuizen

Field assistant positions Marion Island 2017-2018 - NOW CLOSED

Southern elephant seal census, Marion Island. Photo: Nico de Bruyn

Three field assistant positions (2 x "Sealers" and 1 x "Whaler") are once again available at Marion Island, April 2016 - May 2017. All three positions are embedded within the research programme: "Marion Island Marine Mammals - sensitivity to global drivers of environmental change".

For instructions and more information:
Mammalogist - Seals
Mammalogist - Killer Whales

Read the advertisements carefully and follow the application instructions therein, taking special note of the need for 'hard copy' applications as stipulated by DEA. An official Z83 form can be downloaded here.

An overview documentary of what you might expect in these positions can be viewed here and further insight about our science gained by looking at our publications. Additional information about the positions and a background to the programme can be found on our programme history, 'working with us' and FAQ pages.

Inquiries and cover letters may be sent to Prof Nico de Bruyn (pjndebruyn[at]zoology.up.ac.za), but note that official applications need to be sent to DEA (see above).

DEADLINE: 20 October 2016