Read Lab

Kona Integrated Ecosystem Assessment research cruise

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:31:47 +0000

Meagan is currently on the Kona Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) cruise with NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The goal of this cruise is to further our understanding of the unique marine ecosystem along the Kona Coast of the Big Island. Meagan is helping with active acoustics to study cetacean prey distribution. You can follow along here.

New Paper on Harbor Porpoise Conservation

read — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:58:58 +0000

Andy recently published a review of measures used to reduce by-catches of harbor porpoises in gill net fisheries of the Gulf of Maine in the journal Endangered Species Research. The paper is part of a Special Theme Issue on reducing marine mammal by-catch in gill net fisheries. The Open Access article is available here.

New paper on the resource partitioning of marine predators

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:49:47 +0000

Meagan Dunphy-Daly is a coauthor on a new paper in Marine Ecology Progress Series describing some of her previous research in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The paper focuses on the trophic interactions between dolphins and sharks. You can download the paper here.

New Paper on Singing Humpbacks in PLoS One by Joy Stanistreet

read — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:24:54 +0000

Joy is the first author on a new paper in PLoS One describing her work tracking singing humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank. Her co-authors are Denise Risch and Sofie Van Parijs from NOAA Fisheries, which released a nice press release describing the work.

“Predators of the Sea” Traveling Trunk at the NC Maritime Museum

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:17:40 +0000

Read Lab members Kristina Cammen, Meagan Dunphy-Daly, and Amanda Kaltenberg have developed a “Predators of the Sea” traveling trunk for the North Carolina Maritime Museum. The traveling trunk was developed for 4^th-6^th grade students to learn about marine predators. Lessons focus on the differences between marine predators (e.g., sharks and dolphins), the differences between individuals within a population of marine predators, and why certain predators choose specific habitats. The trunk includes a variety of activities, including measuring a life-sized bull shark image, matching dolphin dorsal fins, and studying prey habitat maps. Kristina, Meagan, and Amanda successfully debuted the trunk with two of Mrs. Eura Lawrence’s 6^th grade classes at Beaufort Middle School on April 23^rd. The trunk was also displayed at the Scientific Research and Education Networking event at the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium on April 25^th. Teachers can check the trunk out of the North Carolina Maritime Museum to use in their class for a two-week period. The trunk was created with support from the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence, the Duke University Marine Laboratory, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum. For more information about reserving the traveling trunk, please visit http://www.ncmaritimemuseums.com/beaufort/programs/outreach.html.

Amanda, Meagan, and Kristina debut their traveling trunk activities at Beaufort Middle School.

The trunk on display for teachers at the aquarium.

Great white shark seen during marine mammal survey!

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:56:41 +0000

Our research team spotted a great white shark while conducting a marine mammal survey in Onslow Bay on Wednesday, April 24th. The shark was approximately 12 miles out of Bogue Inlet and was feeding on a floating humpback whale carcass. The story made it to the local news:

http://www.wcti12.com/news/fisherman-talks-about-close-encounter-with-shark/-/13530444/19901310/-/121sra9z/-/index.html

A great white shark swimming off the coast of North Carolina

A great white shark feeding on a humpback whale carcass

A tiger shark feeding on a humpback whale carcass

New paper on the Marine Mammal Protection Act

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:16:40 +0000

Meagan Dunphy-Daly and Andy Read contributed to a new publication, “The Marine Mammal Protection Act at 40: status, recovery, and future of U.S. marine mammals.”

IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group

read — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:53:58 +0000

The web site of the Cetacean Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a great place to get information on the status of whales, dolphins and porpoises and updates on recent conservation projects directed at cetacean populations at risk. Check it out!

Follow the 2013 Antarctic research project!

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:33:53 +0000

Today is the start of the journey from Punta Arenas, Chile through the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. Andy, along with others from the Duke Marine Lab, will be studying humpback, minke, and killer whales. You can follow their journey here!

New paper published in Biological Conservation

Meagan Dunphy-Daly — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:59:26 +0000

The manuscript “A field test of acoustic deterrent devices used to reduce interactions between bottlenose dolphins and a coastal gillnet fishery” was recently published in Biological Conservation. The paper was led by Danielle Waples and all co-authors are either current or former members of the Read Lab!