Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring Meeting – Summary and Presentations

April 7-8, 2015

New Orleans, Louisiana

Meeting summary report

Full meeting program and project descriptions

Welcome and Introductions

• Welcoming Remarks (Vicki Cornish, Marine Mammal Commission)

Overview of Marine Mammal Stocks and Human Activities

• The Big Picture – Marine Mammals and Threats in the Gulf of Mexico (Laura Engleby, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Regional Office)

Current Research and Monitoring Programs

I. Abundance, Distribution, and Stock Structure

• NMFS Research on Cetacean Abundance, Distribution and Stock Structure in the Gulf of Mexico (Keith Mullin, NMFS Pascagoula Laboratory)
• Passive Acoustic Monitoring for Marine Mammals in the Gulf of Mexico (John Hildebrand, Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
• Sperm Whale Dive Behaviors Reveal Changes in Benthic Foraging Around Macondo Spill Site (Bruce Mate, Oregon State University)
• Monitoring Population Dynamics of the Florida Manatee (Leslie Ward, Florida Wildlife Research Institute)

II. Health, Strandings, and Life History

• Overview of the Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Stranding Network (Erin Fougeres, NMFS Southeast Regional Office)
• Overview of Cetacean Stranding Data from the Gulf of Mexico, 2000 – 2014 (Jenny Litz, NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center)
• Bottlenose Dolphin Research on Florida’s West Coast: Four Decades of Research, Five Generations of Dolphins, and Three Generations of Scientists (Randy Wells, Chicago Zoological Society / Sarasota Dolphin Research Program)
• Bottlenose Dolphin Health Assessment Studies in the Gulf of Mexico (Lori Schwacke, NOAA National Ocean Service)

III. Understanding Effects of Human Activities

• Requirements for Epidemiological Studies to Understand Biological and Chemical Effects on Cetaceans (Teri Rowles, NMFS Office of Protected Resources)
• Variability in the Gulf of Mexico’s Marine Acoustic Environment (Chris Clark, Cornell University)
• Recreational interactions – Growing Threats to Gulf Marine Mammals (Katie McHugh, Chicago Zoological Society/Sarasota Dolphin Research Program)
• Commercial Fisheries and Marine Mammal Bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico (Lance Garrison, NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center)

Priority Information Needs and Knowledge Gaps – Recent Assessments

• Gulf of Mexico Long-Term Monitoring Programs Case Study: Assessment of Marine Mammal Monitoring Programs and Gap Analysis (Libby Fetherston, Ocean Conservancy)
• Summary of 2013 Gulf of Mexico Regional Workshops: Cooperative Conservation for Marine Mammals in the Gulf (Laura Engleby, NMFS Southeast Regional Office)
• Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) Build-out Plan and Marine Mammal Monitoring (Barb Kirkpatrick, GCOOS)
• Mammal Monitoring for Geological and Geophysical Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (Jennifer Bosyk, Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM))

Evening Poster/Social Session

• Archiving and Accessing a ‘DNA Register’ for Individual Identification and Stock Structure of Sperm Whales in the Gulf of Mexico (Scott Baker, Oregon State University)
• Various posters – species demographics and distribution (Ruth Carmichael and Noel Wingers, Dauphin Island Sea Lab):
  • Sighting Demographics of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) in Alabama and Mississippi waters
  • Modeling West Indian Manatee Movements Informs Space Use Patterns and Phenology in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
  • Distribution of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Alabama Waters from 2004-2013
• Gulf of Mexico Dolphin Identification System (GoMDIS) – A Collaborative Tool for Bottlenose Dolphin Conservation & Monitoring (Carolyn Cush, Chicago Zoological Society)
• An Apparent Increase in Bottlenose Dolphins in Upper Galveston Bay: City Slickers or Tourists? (Kristi Fazioli, University of Houston – Clear Lake Environmental Institute of Houston)
• Long-term Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico (Kaitlin Frasier, Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
• Assigning Tursiops Strandings to Stock Using Stable Isotope Ratios (Aleta Hohn, NMFS Beaufort Laboratory)
• Marine Mammal Toxicological Research and Education: Five summers in the Gulf of Mexico in Response to the Deepwater Horizon Disaster (Iain Kerr, Ocean Alliance)
• Various posters – biological monitoring and habitat characterization (Ibiza Martinez-Serrano, Universidad Veracruzano):
  • Biological Monitoring Program Based on Indicator Species of Ecological Integrity in the National Park “Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano” (Veracruz Reef System)
  • Use and Characterization of Habitat by the Antillean Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) in the South of Veracruz, Mexico
• Various posters – marine mammal assessment (Paula Moreno, USM Gulf Coast Research Laboratory):
  • Independent Advisory Team for Marine Mammal Assessment
  • Gulf Coast Research Laboratory: Marine Mammal Research
• Passive Listening, Active Mitigation: Passive Acoustic Monitoring and Mitigation of Oceanic Delphinids during Mid-Water Net Trawl Sampling on NOAA’s R/V Pisces (Thomas Norris, Bio-Waves, Inc.)
• Predictive Spatial Modeling of Seasonal Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Distributions in the Mississippi Sound (Jonathan Pitchford, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies)
• Can Simple Tackle Modifications and Use of Fish Descenders Decrease Harmful Fishery Interactions with Bottlenose Dolphins? (Steve Shippee, Marine Wildlife Response)
• USGS Manatee Research in the Gulf of Mexico: Movement and Habitat Use in the Northern GOM to Assist BOEM with Management of Coastal Resources (Dan Slone, U.S. Geological Survey)
• Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Stranding Response and Research (Moby Solangi, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies)
• Bile Collection Technique in Subsistence Harvested Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus leucas): Proof of Concept Study (Raphaela Stimmelmayer, North Slope Borough)

Data Sharing as a Mechanism for Collaboration and Capacity Building

• Data Sharing 101- The 5 W’s and Some Existing Opportunities to Share Marine Mammal Data (Samantha Simmons, Marine Mammal Commission)
• GRIIDC: Establishing a Gulf of Mexico Data Cooperative (Jim Gibeaut, GRIIDC/Harte Research Institute)

Developing a Monitoring Framework for the Gulf

• Towards a Gulf-wide Bird Monitoring Network: Identifying Objectives to Prioritize Action (John Tirpak and Randy Wilson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Funding Opportunities in the Gulf

• Funding Opportunities in the Gulf (Kathryn Mengerink, Environmental Law Institute)
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Overview (Jean Cowan, NOAA Restoration Center)
• Restoration Trust Fund Allocations (John Ettinger, RESTORE Act Ecosystem Restoration Council)
• NOAA-led RESTORE Act Science Program (Roger Helm, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/ RESTORE Act Science Program)
• Centers of Excellence and Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (Andy Shepard, Florida Institute of Oceanography/RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence/Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative)
• Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (Jon Porthouse, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund)
• National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program/Ad‐hoc Research Funders Forum  (LaDon Swann, Auburn University and NAS Gulf Research Program Advisory Board)
• BOEM Environmental Studies Program (Rodney Cluck, BOEM Environmental Studies Program)
• Joint Industry Program – Research Program Update (Gary Wolinsky, Chevron/Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Program)