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Library Seminars: Upcoming Seminars

Population consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for pelagic whale and dolphin species

by Claire Myers on 2021-09-08T11:11:00-04:00 | Comments

Presenters: Tiago A. Marques, University of St Andrews, Senior Research Fellow; Len Thomas, University of St Andrews, Professor of Statistics

Sponsor: NOS and NOAA Central Library

Seminar Contacts: NOAA Central Library Seminars, library.seminars@noaa.gov 

Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7631122386795335949 

Summary: We used an age, sex and class structured population dynamics model to evaluate impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on 15 cetacean stocks in pelagic waters of the US Gulf of Mexico. The model builds on a similar one created for Bay, Sound and Estuary bottlenose dolphins; we used differences in gestation duration between species to scale baseline demographic parameters, spatial density surfaces to quantify the proportion of the stock affected, and expert opinion to obtain distributions on survival impact. Estimated impacts ranged substantially between stocks; spatial overlap with oil footprint being the most important determinant.

Keywords: Deepwater Horizon, oil spill 

Bios: Tiago Marques is Senior Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews (where he obtained his PhD in 2007) and Invited Lecturer at the Universidade de Lisboa (where he obtained his MSc in 2002 and BS in 1998).  He has a wide range of research interests within the general field of statistical ecology.

Len Thomas is Professor of Statistics at the University of St Andrews where he works on statistical methods for estimating wildlife population size, trends and responses to human-caused stressors.  He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1997.

Recordings: Recordings will be shared 24 hours after the event on the NOAA Central Library YouTube channel.


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