Most of the Lab just finished up presenting and attending the William Watkins Memorial Marine Mammal Bioacoustics Symposium held at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. This was a fantastic meeting and conference put together by Laela Sayigh, our WHOI collaborator. Bill was one of the founders of marine mammal bioacoustics, creating the first library of marine mammal sounds. He passed away in 2004, with obituaries in the NY Times, Boston Globe and elsewhere. Talks and poster topics ranged from understanding the effects of sonar and noise on cetaceans to best methods to acoustically detect and classify various cetacean species. From our lab, we presented talks on:
Hearing in wild beluga whales: variability and trends in consistently good ears (Aran); Whistle characteristics and daytime dive behavior in Hawaiian pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) (Tammy); Spatiotemporal variability in coral reef soundscapes: associations with biota and vessel activity (Max); and Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) vocalizations in Nantucket Sound (Thea). The full program is on the website above. It was a great meeting, lots of planning new projects and new collaborations. Great work team and thanks Laela!
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| Saturday night this team gave great memorial talks about Bill Watkins. |
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| Tammy Silva giving her talk on spotted dolphin acoustic behavior. |
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| Bill Watkins recording sounds in the Antarctic. |
