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Ecology Program Overview

Program summary 

As human populations continue to expand and intensify their use of the marine environment to harvest food, extract minerals and oil and gas, dispose of wastes, and for transportation and recreation an understanding of the basic biology of marine animals becomes more critical. It is only through an understanding of how animals inhabit the oceans that human impacts can be minimized.

The strategic objective of the Ecology Program at HSWRI is to understand where marine animals live, what vertical and geographic habitats are of key importance, and how various biological and physical factors affect their survival and reproduction. The tactics that we use include basic population surveys and demographic analysis, telemetry and remote sensing technologies, behavioral observations, dietary analyses, physiological and biomedical monitoring, bioacoustic studies, and molecular genetic analyses. 

Conservation impact 

Humans and marine mammals are linked by their dependence on the ocean, particularly the coastal zone, for places to live, find food, reproduce, and raise their young. Pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) share beaches and coastal waters with humans, and they eat some of the same fish and invertebrate species that we enjoy. Pinnipeds may serve as reservoirs for diseases that can have substantial effects on humans, pets, and domesticated food animals. Conversely, the term "pathogen pollution" has been coined to describe the harmful impacts of human sewage outfalls on marine ecosystem health. Studying the impacts of environmental change and fluctuations in food quantity or quality on pinniped populations may help us predict and evaluate the potential implications of these changes for human health. Studies such as ours, that address the health of marine mammals in an ecosystem (or "big picture") context, are increasingly important; marine mammals are serving as an early warning system of the increasing pressures facing the world's oceans.

 

 
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Ecology
Understanding the oceans and its many inhabitants