Project: "Characterization of Nutritional Status in Feeding Gray Whales"
Partner: Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, U of CA
Location: Worldwide
An increase of gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) strandings in recent years has prompted evaluation into the health of this once endangered population. The cause of a recent unusual mortality event is still unknown because the response and diagnostic systems were not sophisticated enough to determine cause of death in most cases. Many stranded whales observed along the migration route were severely emaciated, and starvation is a leading hypothesis. With a grant from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, the Wildlife Health Center study can provide a much needed tool to help assess the nutritional condition of this population. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, the nutritional status of feeding and fasting gray whales can be analyzed.
Project: "The status and exploitation of shark species in south west Madagascar and the development of a long term conservation and management strategy to contribute to sustainable shark exploitation."
Partner: Blue Ventures Conservation
Location: Madagascar
The current status and exploitation of sharks in the Morombe region of south west Madagascar continues to be a concern. Blue Ventures Conservation is conducting a profile of the local shark fisheries along with baseline information on the shark species present in the region. Socioeconomic research on the significance of shark fishing to the local population is also being assessed. This research can help design a local level management strategy to improve the conservation status of sharks in the region. By involving a participatory approach, local stakeholders will be encouraged to become involved. The SWBGCF supports this research through funding a study to be conducted for three years that will help contribute to the National Plan of Action (NPOA) for shark conservation in Madagascar.
Project: "Killer Whale energetics-how much food do they eat?"
Partner: Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
Location: Worldwide
Knowing how much energy an individual whale requires is fundamental to resolving a number of questions about the role it plays in its ecosystem. SWBG Conservation Fund supports this study to help determine how whales have solved the complex bioenergetic relationships of energy intake and expenditure and what impact they are eventually having on their system. Under captive conditions it is relatively straightforward to measure the metabolic rate of a whale. This data can then be used to estimate energy needs of the whales in the wild. By assessing the metabolic rate of captive killer whales and relating it to heart rate, the study can evaluate metabolic expenditures of free-ranging whales and ultimately apply this information to the conservation and protection of wild whales.
Project: "Long term monitoring of the Galapagos penguin and flightless cormorant"
Partner: Charles Darwin Foundation/WildCRU
Location: Galápagos Islands
Ecological monitoring of the Galápagos penguin and flightless cormorant in the Galápagos Islands is imperative for conservation of these animals. This goal of this project is to provide essential data to determine whether the populations of the two species are stable, increasing, or decreasing and then help diagnose the causes of population change. A grant from the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund helped support continuation of the annual penguin and cormorant censes and complementary work on the ecology and demography of both species. The outputs derived from this research will allow the Galápagos National Park Service (GNPS) to take scientific-based management actions to protect these two endemic seabird species and associated marine biodiversity in western Galápagos.
Project: "What really stinks for seabirds? Exploiting sensory ecology to reduce seabird bycatch"
Partner: Marine Conservation Unit, Dept of Conservation
Location: New Zealand & Australia
Longline fisheries have frequent and often fatal interactions with seabirds. Marine Conservation Unit has experimentally tested one possible solution to the seabird-fishery interactions that involves dripping a small amount of school shark (Galeorhinus galeus) liver oil on the ocean surface behind fishing vessels. This reduces the number of seabirds attending fishing vessels and seabird foraging activity. SWBGCF supports the further work that will include testing shark liver oil with additional seabird species in new geographic areas, as well as identifying both the effective ingredients in the oil and alternative deployment strategies for these ingredients. Proven methodologies to address these issues will be conducted with trials in New Zealand and Australia. Results to facilitate application of the methods identified to reduce seabird bycatch in fisheries will then be disseminated.
Project: "James River Atlantic Sturgeon Restoration Project"
Partner: James River Assoc.
Location: Virginia, United States
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) is an ecologically and economically valuable fish species that is being targeted for restoration. Historically abundant in the James River, this large, primitive, macroinvertivore has virtually disappeared due to over fishing and habitat degradation. The James River is one of the major tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. A SWBG Conservation Fund grant supports the management and restoration of this species through a study to assess the habitats in which the species was once common. Initial steps in the assessment of the potential for restoration of the James River sturgeon population will include verification of current population status and evaluation of the suitability of current river habitats for all life stages.
Water quality in the James River has improved significantly in the past 20 years.
Project: "Reducing Marine Turtle Bycatch in Panama's Longline Fisheries"
Partner: World Wildlife Fund
Location: Panama
A major threat to marine turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) is bycatch in longline fisheries that use traditional J-hooks. New circle hooks offer a potential win-win solution to this problem because they reduce marine turtle bycatch without reducing targeted fish catches, but these hooks need further testing to make the case for large-scale change. A grant from SWBGCF will directly engage Panamanian fishermen on a regional and local level by distributing 15,000 - 20,000 circle hooks for testing and observation. Panama has the second largest fishing fleet in the EPO, which means there is significant opportunity to recruit a large number of fishermen to support marine conservation and sustainable fisheries while also significantly reducing marine turtle mortalities in the long-line fishery in the EPO.
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