Analysing the physiological adaptations of marine mammals and seabirds, this book provides a comprehensive overview of what allows these species to overcome the challenges of diving to depth on a single breath of air. Through comparative reviews of texts on diving physiology and behaviour from the last seventy-five years, Ponganis combines this research into one succinct volume. Investigating the diving performance of marine mammals and seabirds, this book illustrates how physiological processes to extreme hypoxia and pressure are relevant to the advancement of our understanding of basic cellular processes and human pathologies. This book underscores the biomedical and ecological relevance of the anatomical, physiological and molecular/biophysical adaptations of these animals to enable further research in this area. An important resource for students and researchers, this text not only provides an essential overview of recent research in the field, but will stimulate further research into the behaviour and physiology of diving.

Looking to the vast human history of water worship, a crucial study of our broken relationship with all things aquatic - and how we might mend it. Early human relationships with water were expressed through beliefs in serpentine aquatic deities: rainbow-coloured, feathered or horned serpents, giant anacondas and dragons. Representing the powers of water, these beings were bringers of life and sustenance, world creators, ancestors, guardian spirits and law makers. Worshipped and appeased, they embodied people's respect for water and its vital role in sustaining all living things. Yet today, though we still recognise that 'water is life', fresh- and saltwater ecosystems have been critically compromised by human activities. This major study of water beings, and what has happened to them in different cultural and historical contexts, demonstrates how and why some - but not all - societies have moved from worshipping water to wreaking havoc upon it, and asks what we can do to turn the tide. 'A far-ranging and gorgeously illustrated study, Water Beings explores humanity's enduring but always transforming connections to the wellsprings of life. A profound and entertaining book for a time when reimagining humanity's future has never been more vital.' - Caspar Henderson, author of The Book of Barely Imagined Beings 'With passion, rigor and creative depth, Strang eloquently takes readers across the world to further our understanding of water's natural, cultural, and symbolic qualities. Water beings are brought to life alongside relational beliefs and practices. This is a magnificent work that reflects a rich human/water/culture relationship, and explores possibilities to avoid a climate crisis future.' - Sandy Toussaint, University of Western Australia 'A spellbinding anthropological itinerary through the winding ways of serpentine water beings as they have manifested through history and across cultures. Luminously illustrated, ingeniously researched, and beautifully narrated, Strang's book is a treasure, a store of revelatory stories about how materiality, meaning, and myth have intertwined to create the aqueous spirits and deities that have accompanied human being and becoming.' - Stefan Helmreich, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Despite its remote and seemingly rigorous environment, the Antarctic is the world's most important habitat for seals, currently supporting more seals than all other parts of the world combined. As various national Antarctic programmes were established to study these animals, the need to standardize techniques became apparent. This book, arising from work by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (Group of Specialists on Seals), gives a detailed account of well-tried and, where possible, agreed methodologies, techniques, procedures and rationale for the collection and initial analysis of data on the biology and population ecology of Antarctic seals. This volume will not only help facilitate comparisons between different regions of Antarctica, but will also provide a guide for those studying seals in other parts of the world and those carrying out research on other large mammal species.

Visitors cannot help but be enchanted by the sea lions of Los Islotes. They emanate finesse and charm without a hint of illusion or wizardry. There is no incantation or voodoo, just an abounding sense of play that inspires every visitor. When it comes to wild animal encounters, Los Islotes is almost nirvana. Few places so close to a city can truly offer such a convenient and accessible opportunity to interact with Mother Nature in her untamed state. California sea lions are the main residents, strangely thriving in a place so accessible to tourists. Initial introductions begin at the surface; encounters are then formalized below the water as Poseidon's ocean ambassadors exuberantly whiz towards and around diver and snorkeler alike. With vivid underwater photography throughout by a uniquely positioned author, The Sea Lions of Los Islotes takes readers straight into the world of these most charismatic marine mammals.

A multitude of direct and indirect human influences have significantly altered the environmental conditions, composition, and diversity of marine communities. However, understanding and predicting the combined impacts of single and multiple stressors is particularly challenging because observed ecological feedbacks are underpinned by a number of physiological and behavioural responses that reflect stressor type, severity, and timing. Furthermore, integration between the traditional domains of physiology and ecology tends to be fragmented and focused towards the effects of a specific stressor or set of circumstances. This novel volume summarises the latest research in the physiological and ecological responses of marine species to a comprehensive range of marine stressors, including chemical and noise pollution, ocean acidification, hypoxia, UV radiation, thermal and salinity stress before providing a perspective on future outcomes for some of the most pressing environmental issues facing society today. Stressors in the Marine Environment synthesises the combined expertise of a range of international researchers, providing a truly interdisciplinary and accessible summary of the field. It is essential reading for graduate students as well as professional researchers in environmental physiology, ecology, marine biology, conservation biology, and marine resource management. It will also be of particular relevance and use to the regulatory agencies and authorities tasked with managing the marine environment, including social scientists and environmental economists.

A multitude of direct and indirect human influences have significantly altered the environmental conditions, composition, and diversity of marine communities. However, understanding and predicting the combined impacts of single and multiple stressors is particularly challenging because observed ecological feedbacks are underpinned by a number of physiological and behavioural responses that reflect stressor type, severity, and timing. Furthermore, integration between the traditional domains of physiology and ecology tends to be fragmented and focused towards the effects of a specific stressor or set of circumstances. This novel volume summarises the latest research in the physiological and ecological responses of marine species to a comprehensive range of marine stressors, including chemical and noise pollution, ocean acidification, hypoxia, UV radiation, thermal and salinity stress before providing a perspective on future outcomes for some of the most pressing environmental issues facing society today. Stressors in the Marine Environment synthesises the combined expertise of a range of international researchers, providing a truly interdisciplinary and accessible summary of the field. It is essential reading for graduate students as well as professional researchers in environmental physiology, ecology, marine biology, conservation biology, and marine resource management. It will also be of particular relevance and use to the regulatory agencies and authorities tasked with managing the marine environment, including social scientists and environmental economists.

The Charismatic Mammals That Live In The Ocean Are A Constant Source Of Interest, Both For Scientists And Our Society At Large. Their Biology, Behavior, And Conservation Are Of Utmost Importance, As A Vast Number Of Species Are Currently Threatened. Intended For The Upper-Level Undergraduate Or Graduate Student Within Biology, Marine Biology, Or Conservation/Environmental Science, An Introduction To Marine Mammal Biology And Conservation Provides A Broad Introduction To Marine Mammal Biology Using Cutting Edge Information And Student-Friendly Learning Tools. The Text Begins With Chapters On The Evolution And Classification Of Marine Mammals And Their General Biology. It Moves On To Discuss The Behavior And Ecology Of Different Groups Of Marine Mammals, Such As Polar Bears, Otters, And Cetaceans. Part 3 Dives Into Many Different Conservation Issues Facing Marine Mammals, As Well As Discussions On How They Can Be Addressed. Closing Chapters Provide Information On How Scientists Study Marine Mammals, How Society Can Enjoy Observing The Animals While Making Sure They Are Preserved, And A Word To Students Looking To Pursue A Career With Marine Mammals.

Marine mammals command a high level of public attention, reflected in specific legislation for their protection and management in many countries. They also present particular challenges to ecologists and conservation biologists. They are mostly difficult to observe, they occupy an environment that is vast in its three dimensional extent, there are often perceived conflicts between marine mammals and people, and furthermore several species are now close to extinction.
Marine mammals have some intriguing features in their biology - the ability to dive to crushing depths, to perform breath-hold dives that defy our current understanding of mammalian physiology, and many have an ability to hunt down prey using sophisticated sonar that we are only just beginning to understand. Many species also have complex social structures. We still have much to learn about these extraordinary animals so a comprehensive and authoritative overview of current methodology is now timely. The intention of this book is both to summarize the state-of-the-art and to encourage innovation and further progress in this research field.

Many marine mammals communicate by emitting sounds that pass through water. Such sounds can be received across great distances and can influence the behavior of these undersea creatures. In the past few decades, the oceans have become increasingly noisy, as underwater sounds from propellers, sonars, and other human activities make it difficult for marine mammals to communicate. This book discusses, among many other topics, just how well marine mammals hear, how noisy the oceans have become, and what effects these new sounds have on marine mammals. The baseline of ambient noise, the sounds produced by machines and mammals, the sensitivity of marine mammal hearing, and the reactions of marine mammals are also examined.
An essential addition to any marine biologist's library, Marine Mammals and Noise will be especially appealing to marine mammalogists, researchers, policy makers and regulators, and marine biologists and oceanographers using sound in their research.

The Bottlenose Dolphin presents for the first time a comprehensive, colorfully illustrated, and concise overview of a species that has fascinated humans for at least 3,000 years. After reviewing historical myths and legends of the dolphin back to the ancient Greeks and discussing current human attitudes and interactions, the author replaces myths with facts--up-to-date scientific assessment of dolphin evolution, behavior, ecology, morphology, reproduction, and genetics--while also tackling the difficult issues of dolphin conservation and management. Although comprehensive enough to be of great value to professionals, educators, and students, the book is written in a manner that all dolphin lovers will enjoy. Randall Wells's anecdotes interspersed throughout the work offer a first-hand view of dolphin encounters and research based on three decades working with them. Color photographs and nearly 100 black and white illustrations, including many by National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklin, beautifully enhance the text. Readers of The Bottlenose Dolphin will better appreciate what dolphins truly are and do, as well as understand some of the controversies surrounding them. While raising compelling questions, the book provides a wealth of information on a legendary species that is loved and admired by many people.

A bold and lyrical exploration of our fraught relationship with the sea's most magnificent inhabitant, the whale. Whales loom large in the human imagination. From a history of animals being harpooned worldwide to today's ecotourism operators and the work of marine biologists, whales have, for centuries, attracted myth, symbolism, significance, and exploitation. But whales, and the waters they inhabit, are changing. Even as the international community draws closer to a ban on factory whaling, whales surface with disturbing news from the deep. Once-rare whale strandings, pollution and toxins accrued in whale bodies, plastics consumed by whales, the stress of exposure to industrial sound, and diseases contracted from livestock are direct results of human activity. Incisive, provocative, and timely, Fathoms uses the story of the whale to examine our own story and that of the health of the planet.

Growing human populations and higher demands for water impose increasing impacts and stresses upon freshwater biodiversity. Their combined effects have made these animals more endangered than their terrestrial and marine counterparts. Overuse and contamination of water, overexploitation and overfishing, introduction of alien species, and alteration of natural flow regimes have led to a 'great thinning' and declines in abundance of freshwater animals, a 'great shrinking' in body size with reductions in large species, and a 'great mixing' whereby the spread of introduced species has tended to homogenize previously dissimilar communities in different parts of the world. Climate change and warming temperatures will alter global water availability, and exacerbate the other threat factors. What conservation action is needed to halt or reverse these trends, and preserve freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world? This book offers the tools and approaches that can be deployed to help conserve freshwater biodiversity.

In 2006, vaquita, a diminutive porpoise making its home in the Upper Gulf of California, inherited the dubious title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Nicknamed “panda of the sea” for its small size and beguiling facial markings, vaquita have been in decline for decades, dying by the hundreds in gillnets intended for the commercially valuable fish, totoaba. When international crime cartels discovered a lucrative trade in the swim bladders of totoaba, illegal gillnetting went rampant, and now the lives of the few remaining vaquita hang in the balance. Author Brooke Bessesen takes us on a journey to Mexico’s Upper Gulf region to uncover the story. She interviewed townspeople, fishermen, politicians, scientists, and activists, teasing apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear. When diplomatic and political efforts to save the little porpoise failed, Bessesen traveled with a team of veterinary experts in a binational effort to capture the remaining ten vaquita and breed them in captivity—the only hope for their survival. In this fast-paced, soul-searing tale, she learned that there are no easy answers when extinction is profitable. Whether the rescue attempt succeeds or fails, the world must ask itself hard questions. When vaquita and the totoaba are gone, the black market will turn to the next vulnerable species. What will we do then?

Although bats and dolphins live in very different environments, are vastly different in size, and hunt different kinds of prey, both groups have evolved similar sonar systems, known as echolocation, to locate food and navigate the skies and seas. While much research has been conducted over the past thirty years on echolocation in bats and dolphins, this volume is the first to compare what is known about echolocation in each group, to point out what information is missing, and to identify future areas of research.
"Echolocation in Bats and Dolphins" consists of six sections: mechanisms of echolocation signal production; the anatomy and physiology of signal reception and interpretation; performance and cognition; ecological and evolutionary aspects of echolocation mammals; theoretical and methodological topics; and possible echolocation capabilities in other mammals, including shrews, seals, and baleen whales. Animal behaviorists, ecologists, physiologists, and both scientists and engineers who work in the field of bioacoustics will benefit from this book.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are among the world's most mysterious and beautiful animals, and there are many opportunities to see them in the seas around Europe. This comprehensive and authoritative guide covers everything you need to know about where, when and how to watch them. Packed with useful information and top tips to help you get the most out of your trip, it includes a thorough account of whale-watching opportunities in every European country where organised whale-watching takes place, as well as detailed accounts of every cetacean species found in Europe and a fascinating introduction to their world. Whether you want to watch Blue Whales in Iceland, Bottlenose Dolphins in Wales, Narwhal in Greenland or Sperm Whales in Greece, this comprehensive guide is the ideal companion.

Among all the large whales on Earth, the most unusual and least studied is the narwhal, the northernmost whale on the planet and the one most threatened by global warming. Narwhals thrive in the fjords and inlets of northern Canada and Greenland. These elusive whales, whose long tusks were the stuff of medieval European myths and Inuit legends, are uniquely adapted to the Arctic ecosystem and are able to dive below thick sheets of ice to depths of up to 1,500 meters in search of their prey-halibut, cod, and squid. Join Todd McLeish as he travels high above the Arctic circle to meet: Teams of scientific researchers studying the narwhal's life cycle and the mysteries of its tusk Inuit storytellers and hunters Animals that share the narwhals' habitat: walruses, polar bears, bowhead and beluga whales, ivory gulls, and two kinds of seals McLeish consults logbooks kept by whalers and explorers and interviews folklorists and historians to tease out the relationship between the real narwhal and the mythical unicorn. In Colorado, he visits climatologists studying changes in the seasonal cycles of the Arctic ice. From a history of the trade in narwhal tusks to descriptions of narwhals' vocalizations as heard through hydrophones, Narwhals reveals the beauty and thrill of the narwhal and its habitat, and the threat it faces from a rapidly changing world. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHwaqdKyLCQ&list=UUge4MONgLFncQ1w1C_BnHcw&index=9&feature=plcp

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction (ALWTR) plan to protect endangered large whales from entanglements in commercial fishing gear, which can cause injury or death. Because whales continued to die after the ALWTF plan went into effect, NMFS proposed revisions in 2005. The author of this book discusses these issues, as well as the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which requires the NMFS to establish take reductions teams for certain marine mammals to develop measures to reduce their incidental takes. Other bills that specifically address marine mammal regulatory and management issues are examined as well. Furthermore, while some of these issues can be addressed administratively, in regulations proposed and promulgated by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, others likely would require statutory change. This book lays out the range of issues likely to be raised during reauthorization debate, the reasons behind them, and possible proposals that could be offered to address these concerns. This book consists of public domain documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

Apes and dolphins: primates and cetaceans. Could any creatures appear to be more different? Yet both are large-brained intelligent mammals with complex communication and social interaction. In the first book to study apes and dolphins side by side, Maddalena Bearzi and Craig B. Stanford, a dolphin biologist and a primatologist who have spent their careers studying these animals in the wild, combine their insights with compelling results. "Beautiful Minds" explains how and why apes and dolphins are so distantly related yet so cognitively alike and what this teaches us about another large-brained mammal: Homo sapiens.

Noting that apes and dolphins have had no common ancestor in nearly 100 million years, Bearzi and Stanford describe the parallel evolution that gave rise to their intelligence. And they closely observe that intelligence in action, in the territorial grassland and rainforest communities of chimpanzees and other apes, and in groups of dolphins moving freely through open coastal waters. The authors detail their subjects ability to develop family bonds, form alliances, and care for their young. They offer an understanding of their culture, politics, social structure, personality, and capacity for emotion. The resulting dual portrait with striking overlaps in behavior is key to understanding the nature of beautiful minds.

Famed in story as "the great leviathans," sperm whales are truly creatures of extremes. Giants among all whales, they also have the largest brains of any creature on Earth. Males can reach a length of sixty-two feet and can weigh upwards of fifty tons.
With this book, Hal Whitehead gives us a clearer picture of the ecology and social life of sperm whales than we have ever had before. Based on almost two decades of field research, Whitehead describes their biology, behavior, and habitat; how they organize their societies; and how their complex lifestyles may have evolved in this unique environment. Among the many fascinating topics he explores is the crucial role that culture plays in the life of the sperm whale, and he traces the consequences of this argument for both evolution and conservation. Finally, drawing on these findings, Whitehead builds a general model of how the ocean environment influences social behavior and cultural evolution among mammals as well as other animals.
The definitive portrait of a provocative creature, "Sperm Whales" will interest animal behaviorists, conservationists, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists as well as marine mammalogists.

Wild dolphins are an elusive subject. How can you study the behaviour of animals usually visible only as a glimpse of rolling dorsal fins heading for the horizon? Two scientists in the field have assembled a variety of discoveries about dolphins, from tiny spinners to familiar bottle-nosed dolphins, and their whale cousins, including pilot and killer whales. The researchers have followed dolphins in boats, tracked them from shore, dived among them, and used genetic analysis and artificial language to read their life history from a single tooth. This text not only surveys interesting research on dolphin behaviour, but it also offers lay readers a look at the scientific mind at work.

This absorbing book is the first comprehensive scientific natural history of a dolphin species ever written. From their research camp at Kealake'akua Bay in Hawaii, the authors followed a population of wild spinner dolphins for more than twenty years. They observed marked animals by ship, by air, from a cliffside observation post, by radiotracking their movements, and by studying the details of their underwater social life with the use of a windowed underwater vessel. Beginning with a description of the spinner dolphin species, including its morphology and systematics, the book examines the ocean environment and organization of dolphin populations and the way this school-based society of mammals uses shorelines for rest and instruction of the young. An analysis of the dolphins' reproductive patterns, which resemble those of other group-dwelling mammals such as certain primates, suggests a fission-fusion society. Vision, vocalization, hearing, breathing, feeding, predation, integration of the school, and school movement are all examined to give the fullest picture yet published of dolphin biological life. One of the most striking features of the species is the length of the period of juvenility and instruction of the young. The authors argue that dolphins may legitimately be called "cultural", and they turn in their conclusion to a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of this marine cultural system with its behavioral flexibility and high levels of cooperation. In a challenging new interpretation of how cultural organisms may evolve, they propose that spinner dolphin society be viewed as a set of nested levels of organization that influence one another by selectional biases. The resultingcooperative patterns support both the sociology and the cultural levels of organization, without being overridden by the supposed imperative of kin selection. Twenty years in the making by a renowned scientist and his associates, this absorbing book is the richest source available of new scientific insights about the lives of wild dolphins and how their societies evolved at sea.