Wild animals

Pinnipeds

Species:
Grey seals (Halicherous grypus) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)

Description:
Seals caught using seine netting methods (including the use of pop-up, bottom-set tangle nets) as per Jeffries et al., 1993, and "rush and grab" techniques (cf. Sharples et al., 2012). Experienced in transferring seals from large seine and tangle nets to individual hoop nets. Experienced in transferring seals from water to land or from water into boats, and subsequently working with seals both on land and on board research vessels. Experienced in seal restraint using hoop and pole nets, weighing seals using tripod scales and pole scales. Experienced working with both sedated and non-sedated animals. Assisted in biological sampling procedures including fur, fecal, blubber, blood, dental sampling amongst others.

Experience:
​Fieldwork with The Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife (ITAW)
  1. Seal capture and handling in Lorenzensplate, Germany, 11th – 14th October 2018. Harbour seals captured on the beach following Jeffries et al. (1993). 15 individuals captured and restrained using seine nets and hoop nets. Deployment of telemetry devices: fastloc-GPS, Daily Diary and SPOT tags (ARGOS).
  2. Seal capture and handling in Lorenzensplate, Germany, 23rd – 27th April 2018. Harbour seals captured on the beach following Jeffries et al. (1993). 12 individuals captured and restrained using seine nets and hoop nets. Deployment of telemetry devices: fastloc-GPS, Daily Diary and VHF tags.
  3. Seal capture and handling in Lorenzensplate, Germany, 19th – 23rd March 2018. Harbour seals captured on the beach following Jeffries et al. (1993). 5 individuals captured and restrained using seine nets and hoop nets. Deployment of telemetry devices: fastloc-GPS, Daily Diary and VHF tags.
  4. Seal capture and handling in Lorenzensplate, Germany, 9th -11th October 2017. Harbour seals captured on the beach following Jeffries et al. (1993). 24 individuals captured and restrained using seine nets and hoop nets. Deployment of telemetry devices: fastloc-GPS, Daily Diary and VHF tags.
 
Fieldwork with The Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU)
  1. Seal capture and handling on Ramsey Island, Wales, 17th – 19th April 2019. Grey seals captured using hoop nets on land. Seals transferred into boats and transported to land. 10 individuals captured and restrained. Use of sedative on animals. Deployment of telemetry devices: GPS-GSM Tags, fastloc-GPS, Daily Diary and SPOT tags (ARGOS).
  2. Seal capture and handling on Bardsey Island, Wales, 14th – 16th May 2018. Grey seals captured using tangle nets deployed from boats. Seals recovered into boats and transported to land. 5 individuals captured and restrained. Use of sedative on animals. Deployment of telemetry devices: GPS-GSM Tags.
  3. Seal capture and handling in Loch Fleet, Scotland, 14th – 17th February 2017. Harbour and grey seals captured using a combination of tangle nets, pop-up nets and seine nets (Jeffries et al. 1993). Seals recovered into boats and transported to land. 11 individuals captured and restrained. Use of sedative on animals. Deployment of telemetry devices: GPS-GSM Tags.
  4. Seal capture and handling in The Wash, Norfolk, 10th – 12th October 2016. Harbour seals captured using seine nets and hoop nets following Jeffries et al. (1993). Seals recovered into boats and transported to land. 20 individuals captured and restrained. Use of sedative on animals. Deployment of telemetry devices: GPS-GSM Tags. 

References:
  • Jeffries, S. J., Brown, R. F., & Harvey, J. T. (1993). Techniques for capturing, handling and marking harbor seals. Aquatic Mammals, 19, 21-21.
  • Sharples, R. J., Moss, S. E., Patterson, T. A., & Hammond, P. S. (2012). Spatial variation in foraging behaviour of a marine top predator (Phoca vitulina) determined by a large-scale satellite tagging program. PLoS one, 7(5), e37216.​

Seabirds

Species:
Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) (adults and chicks), imperial shags (Leucocarbo atriceps) (adults and chicks), great skua (Stercorarius skua) (chicks).

Description:
Magellanic penguins caught and restrained following Wilson (1997). Imperials shags caught using specially designed crooks (adults) and pole cans (chicks) and restrained by hand. Great skua chicks caught by hand in nests and weighed using scales. Experienced in capturing and returning birds to and from their nests. Experienced in seabird restraint.

Experience:
​Fieldwork with Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT), CONICET​
  1. Wild seabird handling, Peninsula Valdes, Argentina, 1st – 20th November 2012. Handling of wild Magellanic penguins and imperial shags. Magellanic penguins (n = 20) caught and restrained following Wilson (1997). Imperials shags (n = 20; 10 adult, 10 chicks) caught using specially designed crooks (adults) and pole cans (chicks) and restrained by hand (cf. Gómez‑Laich et al, 2015). 

Associated Publications:
  1. JNCC (2014) Seabird Population Trends and Causes of Change: 1986-2013 Report. Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). Updated August 2014. Accessed 6th September 2014.
  2. Dunn, R. (2013) Mingulay Seabird & Cetacean Monitoring Report 2013 No. 001. The National Trust for Scotland. Updated September 2013. Accessed 1st December 2013.
  3. Sala, J. E., Pisoni, J. P., Quintana, F. (2017)  Three-dimensional temperature fields of the North Patagonian Sea recorded by Magellanic penguins as biological sampling platforms, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 189, 203-215. 
  4. Gómez‑Laich, A., Yoda, K., Zavalaga, C., Quintana, F. (2015) Selfies of Imperial Cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps): What Is Happening Underwater? PloS one, 10(9), e0136980.
  5. Gómez‑Laich, A., Wilson, R. P., Sala, J. E., Luzenti, A., Quintana, F. (2015) Moving northward: comparison of the foraging effort of Magellanic penguins from three colonies of northern Patagonia, Marine Biology, 162:1451–1461. 
  6. Wilson, R. P., Sala, J.E., Gómez‑Laich, A., Ciancio, J., Quintana, F. (2015) Pushed to the limit: food abundance determines tag-induced harm in penguins. Animal Welfare, 24: 37-44. ​

References:
  • Wilson, R. P. (1997). A method for restraining penguins. Marine Ornithology, 25, 72-73.
  • Gómez Laich, A., Wilson, R. P., Sala, J. E., Luzenti, A., Quintana, F. (2015) Moving northward: comparison of the foraging effort of Magellanic penguins from three colonies of northern Patagonia, Marine Biology, 162, 1451–1461.