Marine Mammal Biology 2 - Field Course
The course will cover topics of field methods on how to study wild marine mammals.
- Introduction to becoming a behavioral biologist and how to plan field work.
- Legal framework for working with marine mammals in the wild.
- Methods of data collection in the field with focus on GPS distribution, Photo-identification, video recording and acoustic recordings.
- Methods of data analysis, such as Photo-ID and Bio-acoustics.
- Noise in the ocean and effects on marine life, especially marine mammals.
Special emphasis will be given on the biology and life cycles of the 15 locally abundant marine mammal species in the Vestfjord.
Knowledge
Be able to identify different locally abundant marine mammal species, describe their ecology and main lifecycles, learn and apply research methods and ethical issues in marine mammal field work.
Have basic knowledge of Photo-identification of whales and vocal research and vocalizations of marine mammals.
Skills
Be able to plan and conduct field work of marine mammals in the wild.
Be able to apply scientific knowledge and relevant results from biological research in field investigations.
Be able to analyze and write up field data and create a scientific report and work in a team.
General competence
Have insight into the most relevant ethical and technical issues concerning marine mammal field work.
Have broad level of understanding of the ecology and behavior of northern marine mammals.
Be able to synthesize and communicate research in key subject areas both written and verbally.
Be able to exchange knowledge and viewpoints between team members and the expert community.
- Lectures.
- Boat based day trips.
- Learning the methods of monitoring such as GPS tracking and location, notes, photo-identification of individual animals and underwater sound recordings.
- Data analysis (Photo-ID) and writing a field report.
Compound assessment (SV): pass/fail.
Compulsory participation (OD): approved / not approved.
Written assignment (OP): pass/fail.
