Speaker: Steph Bennington, Postdoctoral Scholar, Ocean Ecology Lab, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University

Topic: Thirty, forty and fifty years: The joy of longitudinal data for studying the ecology of marine mammals and seabirds

The life-histories of marine mammals and seabirds tend towards long-lived and slow to reproduce. Collecting the requisite amount of data to explore questions about their ecology and biology can therefore be expensive and challenging. Here, I present on my research in both Aotearoa New Zealand and in the northeastern Pacific where I have faced the joys and tribulations of working on three longitudinal datasets that are rich in data and provide interesting insights into the lives of these charismatic animals. The research includes high-resolution capture-recapture and associated data on specific populations of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Fiordland National Park and Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) in Banks Peninsula, and low-resolution but species rich data on seabirds and marine mammals off the Washington coast.