Scholarship takes Deakin sea lion researcher to Falkland Islands Warrnambool-based Deakin University marine scientist Dr Alastair Baylis has recently returned from conducting new research at the Falkland Islands after being awarded the Shackleton Centenary Scholarship - which marks the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans- Antarctic Endurance expedition. Together with co-investigators, Dr Iain Staniland (British Antarctic Survey), Dr Joseph Hoffman (Bielefeld University, Germany), and Associate Professor John Arnould (Deakin University), Dr Baylis is studying the ecology of southern sea lions at the Falkland Islands. In the 1930s the Falkland Islands were reputed to hold the largest population of southern sea lions, with a staggering 80,000 pups estimated to be born each year. However, by the mid-1960s the population had declined by over 90 per cent and continued to decline until the 1990s. With support from the Shackleton Scholarship Fund, Falkland Islands Government, Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund and the Rufford Small Grants Fund, Dr Baylis recently completed the fifth census of the Falkland Islands sea lion population. Over the course of three weeks, more than 4,500 sea lion pups were counted at 73 breeding sites around the Falklands (including seven new breeding sites). He said the latest findings were positive. “The number of pups born in 2014 represents a 60 per cent increase since the population was last counted in 2003, but it is still just a fraction of the 1930’s estimate”. To try and piece together why the population declined and impediments to population recovery, the researchers will combine historical and contemporary population data, with recent data on sea lion foraging ecology and fine-scale population genetics. “It is hard not be excited about this project.” Dr Baylis said. “By integrating new data and novel methods, we will chip away at this long standing question on what is one of the least studied sea lion species”. Ultimately, the project will feed into marine spatial planning in the Falkland Islands. Dr Baylis completed his PhD in 2008 at the University of Adelaide on New Zealand fur seals in South Australia and is a recent graduate of a Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Conservation Medicine at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Before coming to Deakin in 2012, his posts included the Pribilof Islands, Alaska where he worked with the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit on northern fur seals and the Falkland Islands, where his research focused on seabird and pinniped foraging ecology and population variability. The Shackleton Scholarship Fund was established in 1995 to commemorate the lives of the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his son the statesman Edward, Lord Shackleton. Dr Baylis is an Associate Research Fellow in Deakin’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Centre for Integrative Ecology and has been based at the Warrnambool Campus since October 2012.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 23:13:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015