Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation PDF
Preview Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation
MARINE MAMMALS BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION MARINE MAMMALS BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION Edited by Peter G. H. Evans Sea W'I/ell Foundation Oxford, Eng/and and Juan Antonio Raga Unil'ersity of Valencia Va/ellcia, Spain Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of COl1gn:ss Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marine mammals: biology and conservation/edited by Peter G.H. Evans and Juan Amonio Raga. p. em. Includes bibliograph.ical n:fen:nccs and index. ISBN 978-0-306-46573-4 ISBN 978-1-4615-0529-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978--1-4615-0529-7 I. Marine mammals. 2. Wildlife oonservalion. I. Evans. Peler G. H. [I. Raga. Juan Amonio. QL713.2 .M354 ZOOI 599.5-dcZI ZOOl041359 fr? ~ M1NISTERlO G£MRALIIAI Of. MEDIO AMBI(NTE VAliNCIANA CONSEllEItIA DE VNIVE~ITF\T MEOIO AMBIENTf ID(tvALENCIF\ Cover phOIO: Atlantic Sponed Do[phins underwater- B. Wiirsig. Back cover phOIOS from left top: Mating herd of Rorida manalees- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservalion Commission. Sea oner bn:aking open a clam-Po Chanin. and Two adult male New Zealand fur seals lighting- I. Stirling. Spine photos: Adu!! male walrlls-1. Slirling and Polar bear on icc- I. Stirling. Cover design by Susanne Van Doyne (Trade Design Group). ISBN 978-0-3Q6..46573-4 © 2001 Springer Science+Busirn:ss Media New York Originally published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. New York in 2001 hllp:f/www.wkap.nl! 10987654321 A c.I.P. record for th.is book is available from lhe Library of Congress All rights n:served No pan of this book may be reproduced. slored in a retrieval system. or tT3flsmined in any fonn or by any means. electronic. mechanical, pholocopying, microfilming. recording. or otherwise, without wrine" pennission from lhe Publisher Preface Interest in marine mammals has increased dramatically in the last few decades, as evidenced by the number of books, scientific papers, and conferences devoted to these animals. Nowadays, a conference on marine mammals can attract between one and two thousand scientists from around the world. This upsurge of interest has resulted in a body of knowledge which, in many cases, has identified major conservation problems facing particular species. At the same time, this knowledge and the associated activities of environmental organisations have served to introduce marine mammals to a receptive public, to the extent that they are now perceived by many as the living icons of biodiversity conservation. Much of the impetus for the current interest in marine mammal conservation comes from "Save the Whale" campaigns started in the 1960s by environmental groups around the world, in response to declining whale populations after over-exploitation by humans. This public pressure led to an international moratorium on whaling recommended in 1972 by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, and eventually adopted by the International Whaling Commission ten years later. This moratorium largely holds sway to this day, and further protective measures have included the delimitation of extensive areas of the Indian Ocean (1979) and Southern Ocean (1994) as whale sanctuaries. The United States was one of the first countries to introduce specific legislation for marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. This not only significantly advanced conservation action in that country, but also stimulated research through the availability of more substantial resources for scientists. Other countries such as Australia and New Zealand have followed with their own legislative measures. In the last three decades of the twentieth century, various global conventions for environmental protection have been established, including the MARPOL Agreement (1973/78) for control of marine pollution; UNCLOS (1982) -the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; and the Earth Summit (1992) -Convention on Biological Diversity. In recent years, conservation problems facing marine species have driven several coastal nations to develop protective measures. Specific regional agreements that have been established in Europe include OSP AR - the Oslo Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (1992), and, specifically for cetaceans, the "Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Sea" (ASCOBANS) (1992), and the "Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic v VI Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation Area" (ACCOBAMS) (1996), within the Bonn Convention -the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (1979). Marine mammal science has developed especially in North America. This is reflected in the formation in 1981 of the Society of Marine Mammalogy (MMS) in that continent, with members drawn particularly from the United States. Most text books on marine mammals emanate from the USA. Ninety percent of contributors to the recent Smithsonian text "Biology of Marine Mammals" and its companion volume "Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals" also come from the United States. Largely due to lack of resources, the study of marine mammals in Europe has tended to fall behind North America. However, as a result of the increased interest in scientific and conservation aspects of marine mammals in Europe, and the need to disseminate this knowledge in the region, the European Cetacean Society (ECS) was founded in 1987. This society has progressively consolidated as an organisation interested in fostering cetacean (and other marine mammal) research. The ever increasing and enthusiastic attendance of students at ECS annual meetings raised the need to provide them with specialised up to date information on marine mammals that is usually absent from most university courses. For this reason, and with sponsorship from the International University Menendez Pelayo, the First European Seminar on Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation was organised in 1996 in Valencia (Spain). After this course, the possibility of producing a book for undergraduate and graduate students was considered, and this eventually materialised in 1998, following contributions to the Second European Seminar. During the 1990s there has also been growing interest in marine mammals from other parts of the world, particularly South America, Asia, and Australasia. In 1996, for example, a new society called Sociedad Latino Americana de Especialistas en Mamiferos Aquaticos (SOLAMAC) was founded, bringing together marine mammalogists from throughout that subcontinent, and a society catering for the Pacific region is in the progress of being formed. We have tried to take account of this in the contributions to this volume. Our book is aimed particularly at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, although it should also be of value to teachers and indeed anyone with a special interest in marine mammal science. We have tried to provide a wide range of views and perceptions on the biology and conservation of marine mammals, but with emphasis upon applied aspects of research given the pressing conservation problems that marine mammals face at present. Within the confines of a single book, it is impossible to cover extensively every subject within marine mammal science. We have Preface Vll therefore been selective, opting away from a more comprehensive but necessarily less detailed book on the subject (for which there is already an excellent text by Annalisa Berta and James L. Sumich .entitled "Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology", published by Academic Press). Our emphasis has been on evolution, ecology, behaviour, and various aspects of marine mammal health and conservation, not only because of the needs for applied research in those subject areas in this modem world but also because these have proved to be of particular interest to students. We only briefly touch on aspects of anatomy and physiology, for example. For people specialising in those areas, we recommend the relevant chapters in the recent book "Biology of Marine Mammals", edited by John E. Reynolds III and Sentiel A. Rommel, and published by the Smithsonian Institution, USA. Our book is structured around seventeen chapters, grouped into five sections. Each section has a short introduction that attempts to provide an overview of that theme, filling in some gaps, and identifying key literature references. The first section is on Life History and Ecology and includes chapters under the following headings: "Life history strategies of marine mammals" by Peter Evans and Ian Stirling; "How persistent are marine mammal habitats in an ocean of variability? - habitat use, home range and site fidelity in marine mammals" by Arne Bj0rge; and "Ecological aspects of reproduction of marine mammals" by Christina Lockyer. The second section on Sensory Systems and Behaviour consists of three chapters dealing with "Sound and cetaceans" by Jonathan Gordon and Peter Tyack; "Behavioural ecology of cetaceans" by James Boran, Peter Evans and Martin Rosen; and "New perspectives on the behavioural ecology of pinnipeds" by Humberto Luis Cappozzo. The third section concerns Survey and Study Techniques, including also three chapters: "The assessment of marine mammal population size and status" by Philip Hammond; "Acoustic techniques for studying cetaceans" by Jonathan Gordon and Peter Tyack; and "Applications of molecular data in cetacean taxonomy and population genetics with special emphasis on defining species boundaries" by Michel Milinkovitch, Rick LeDuc, Ralph Tiedemann and Andrew Dizon. Under the fourth section on Health, Parasites, and Diseases, are three chapters: "Marine mammal health: holding the balance in an ever-changing sea" by Joseph Geraci and Valerie Lounsbury; "Living together: the parasites of marine mammals" by Javier Aznar, Mercedes Fernandez, Juan Balbuena, and Juan Antonio Raga; and "Mass mortalities in marine mammals" by Mariano Domingo, Seamus Kennedy and Marie Van Bressem. viii Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation The fifth and last section focuses upon Conservation and Management, and features five chapters on "Marine mammals and ecosystems: ecological and economic interactions" by Enrique Crespo and Martin Hall; "Environmentalists, fishermen, cetaceans and fish: is there a balance and can science help to find it?" by Martin Hall and Gregory Donovan; "Organohalogenated contaminants in marine mammals" by Ailsa Hall; "Cetaceans and humans: influences of noise" by Bernd Wiirsig and Peter Evans; and "Global climate change and marine mammals" by Bernd Wiirsig, Randall Reeves and J.G. Ortega-Ortiz. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the panel of almost thirty scientists, drawn from nine countries, who contributed chapters on the specific topics within their field of interest. Each chapter has been reviewed additionally by at least two recognised authorities in its respective field, and for their incisive and helpful comments, we thank: John R. Baker, Juan Antonio Balbueno, Arne Bj0rge, John Calambokidis, Philip J. Clapham, Christopher W. Clark, Justin G. Cooke, James D. Darling, Douglas P. DeMaster, Karen L. Forney, Roger L. Gentry, Joseph R. Geraci, David 1. Gibson, Eric P. Hoberg, A Rus Hoelzel, Aleta A Hohn, Vincent Janik, Paul Jepson, Robert D. Kenney, Robin J. Law, Burney J. Le Boeuf, David J. Marcogliese, Simon P. Northridge, Gianni Pavan, William F. Perrin, Andrew J. Read, Peter J.H. Reijnders, W. John Richardson, Randall S. Wells, Koen van Waerebeek, Graham AJ. Worthy, and Bernd Wiirsig. Photographs to accompany this book were kindly provided by A Aguilar, 1. Birks, A Bj0rge, J.-M. Bompar, J. Boran, L. Cappozzo, P. Chanin, E. Crespo, P. Evans, M. Fedak, J. Geraci, D. Glockner, J.A Gomez, J. Gordon, B. Haase, A Hall, M. Hall, T. Henningsen, J. Heyning, B. Hicks, S. Kraus, F. Larsen, V. Lounsbury, J. Moncrieff, P. Morris, K. Norris Library, R. Pitman, J.A Raga, F. Ritter, W. Rossiter, M. Scheer, E. Secchi, T. Simila, C. Smeenk, 1. Stirling, N. Tregenza, F. Trujillo, P. Tyack, T. Walmsley, B. Wilson, J. Wang, S. Wright, B. Wiirsig, K. Young, and E. Zuniga. Support for the publication of this book was generously provided by the Conselleria de Medio Ambiente of Generalitat Valenciana, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente of Spain, and the University of Valencia. Finally, we would like to thank Bridget Eichoff for her valuable assistance in the formatting of chapters, and Joanna Lawrence of Kluwer AcademiclPlenum Publishers for her continuous help and encouragement during this book's production. Peter G.H. Evans and Juan Antonio Raga Contents A) INTRODUCTION: LIFE HISTORY & ECOLOGY 1 1. Life history strategies of marine mammals 7 Peter G. H. Evans and Ian Stirling 2. How persistent are marine mammal habitats in an ocean of variability? 63 Arne Bj¢rge 3. Ecological aspects of reproduction of marine mammals 93 Christina Lockyer B) SENSORY SYSTEMS AND BEHAVIOUR l33 4. Sound and cetaceans l39 Jonathan Gordon and Peter Tyack 5. Behavioural ecology of cetaceans 197 James R. Boran, Peter G. H. Evans, and Martin 1. Rosen 6. New perspectives on the behavioural ecology of pinnipeds 243 Humberto Luis Cappozzo C) SURVEY AND STUDY TECHNIQUES 265 7. Assessment of marine mammal population size and status 269 Philip S. Hammond 8. Acoustic techniques for studying cetaceans 293 Jonathan Gordon and Peter Tyack IX x Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation 9. Applications of molecular data in cetacean taxonomy and population genetics with special emphasis on defining species boundaries in cetaceans. 325 Michel C. Milinkovitch, Rick LeDuc, Ralph Tiedemann, and Andrew Dizon D) HEALTH, PARASITES AND PATHOGENS 361 10. Marine mammal health: Holding the balance in an ever changing sea 365 Joseph R. Geraci and Valerie Lounsbury 11. Living together: The parasites of marine mammals 385 F. Javier Aznar, Juan A. Balbuena, Mercedes Fem{mdez, and J. Antonio Raga 12. Marine mammal mass mortalities 425 Mariano Domingo, Seamus Kennedy, and Marie-Fran~oise Van Bressem E) CONSERVATION & MANAGEMENT 457 13. Interactions between aquatic mammals and humans in the context of ecosystem management 463 Enrique A. Crespo and Martin Hall 14. Environmentalists, fishermen, cetaceans and fish: Is there a balance and can science help to find it? 491 Martin Hall and Gregory P. Donovan 15. Organohalogenated contaminants in marine mammals 523 Ailsa J. Hall 16. Cetaceans and humans: influences of noise 565 Bernd Wiirsig and Peter G. H. Evans Contents xi 17. Global climate change and marine mammals 589 Bernd Wiirsig, Randall R. Reeves and J. G. Ortega-Ortiz SYSTEMATIC LIST OF MARINE MAMMALS 609 INDEX 615
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