By Jess Daly, SRC Intern In developing nations it is often difficult to effectively enforce marine conservation laws because of a lack of staff and funding. With so little government intervention, it may be unclear to what extent the rules are being followed. A 2017 study by Shalli et al. examined how alternative methods of […]
By Molly Rickles, SRC Intern In this study, Fuji looked into how ecological factors impact sea otter’s tool use. Sea otters are known to be near shore foragers that carry food on the surface, and have been observed to use tools to eat their prey. In many other species, tool use has been found to […]
By Luisa Gil Diaz, SRC Intern In “Horizontal and vertical movements of white marlin, Kajikia Albida, tagged off the Yucatan Peninsula”, Vaudo et al research the ecology and habitat use of white marlin to improve management measures, particularly within fisheries. White Marlin are a highly migratory and prized sport fish that has recently come under […]
By Elana Rusnak, SRC intern and MS student Just as with humans, animals have many kinds of bacteria in their gut that helps them with acquiring the nutrients from the food they eat, as well as boosting their immune system (Khosravi & Maxmanian, 2013). Many species that migrate from breeding to non-breeding grounds during the […]
By Delaney Reynolds, SRC Intern Earth’s climate is warming, and rising temperatures are impacting animal species and their habitats in alarming ways. Since 1970, temperatures have increased approximately 0.17°C (0.3°F) per decade (Dahlman, 2017). Such changes threaten animals’ ability to adapt to increased heat and induced stress. In the article, “Can animal habitat use patterns […]
By Patricia Albano, SRC Intern Metabolic rate and prey acquisition behavior can be revealing factors in studies examining physiological adaptations to unpredictable environments. Specifically, otariids (sea lions and fur seals) display an energetically expensive lifestyle due to their high costs of thermoregulation which can provide challenges in equatorial regions such as the Galapagos where resources […]
By Amanda Stoltz, SRC Intern If you’ve ever gazed upon sea lions loafing about in the Californian sun, you might be inclined to think that they are lazy animals. However, as with most marine mammals, sea lions live an active life under the water’s surface. Much of their underwater behavior is unknown to scientists, but […]
By Mitchell Rider, SRC Intern and MS student Seabirds have been attracted to vessels for centuries, but more recently, they have been observed to aggregate in large quantities near fishing vessels to feed on fish scraps or bait (Croxall et al. 2012; Phillips et al. 2016). Their interactions with fishing vessels have been observed and […]
By Josh Ratay, SRC Intern Although conservation deals heavily with environmental data, social aspects of conservation initiatives are also extremely important. When human-related considerations are taken into account, certain trade-offs must often be made, but the end result is usually more effective at fulfilling the goals of the project, particularly at the local level. In […]
By Olivia Schuitema, SRC Intern Light pollution has increased fiercely over the last century, resulting in mass fatality events in seabirds, one of the most endangered groups of birds (Rodríguez, 2017). This phenomenon, called “grounding,” happens when land-based artificial lights attract seabirds to the shore, causing them to crash into human-built structures such as buildings […]