Marine Mammals Field Course

(BIO 4353/5353)

Summer 2006

Dr. Aldemaro Romero

Arkansas State University

Link to the 2006 Course Flier

1. Course Objectives 

1.1. Introduction: Marine Mammals is one of the most fascinating subjects you can imagine. 

Part of that is because humans seem to have a special (and sometimes fatal) attraction toward

these animals; part because few organisms present so many questions yet to be resolved in

the realm of scientific inquiry.

The objective of the course is to give students a hands-on experience in describing and

analyzing marine mammal behavior through the development of ethograms.  To that end

students will photograph, videotape, and record sounds from dolphins and other marine

mammals in the area.  They will be taught to correlate behavior with ecological conditions and

to develop explanations regarding those behaviors.

1.2. Methodology:  You will be trained in how to recognize the most important behaviors of

marine mammals and to further develop the knowledge and skills required of the research

scientist, skills which are also required in many other professions.  Whether you enter graduate

school, pursue a teaching career, or follow some other career path, you will be compelled to

understand and integrate a large body of knowledge, to think analytically, identify and critically

evaluate pertinent information, to communicate effectively, and to work with others.

1.3. Expected Outcome:  By the end of this field experience you should be able to develop

strong skills on collecting and analyzing behavioral data of marine mammals.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS COURSE PLEASE GO TO:

Article on the course published in Voices Fall 2005.

2. Activities (2005 Course)

We will be flying out of Memphis, Tennessee, and arrive into Key West on March 14th, 2005. 

We will come back on March 20th, 2005.

We will go from the airport directly to the Research Vessel Tiburon and ending on March

20th, 2005 to accommodate your project.

3. Instructor

Dr. Aldemaro Romero, (B.S.- Master: University of Barcelona, Spain, 1977; Ph.D.:

University of Miami, 1984).  Chair and Professor, Department of Biological Sciences,

Arkansas State University.  I have published numerous papers and books related to

marine mammals. Here are some of the most recent:

Romero, A., A. I. Agudo & S. J. Blondell. 1997. The scientific discovery of the

Amazon river dolphin Inia geoffrensis. Marine Mammal Science 13:419-426.

Romero, A., I. Agudo & S. Green. 1997. Exploitation of cetaceans in Venezuela.

Reports of the Whaling Commission 47:735-746.

Romero, A. 1999. The whales have not been saved. Meadowlark (Spring):15-16.

Romero, A. 2000.  Should Venezuelan botos be imported into the U.S.?

Whalewatcher 32:13-15.

Romero, A. & K. Hayford. 2000.  Past and present utilisation of marine mammals

in Grenada, West Indies.  Journal of Cetacean Research and Management

2(3):223-226.

Romero, A., A. I. Agudo, S. M. Green, & G. Notarbartolo di Sciara. 2001. 

Cetaceans of Venezuela: Their distribution and conservation status. NOAA Technical

Reports NMF 151:1-60.

Romero, A., R. Baker, J. E. Creswell, A. Singh, A. McKie & M. Manna. 2002.

Environmental history of marine mammal exploitation in Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

and its ecological impact.  Environment and History 8:255-274. 

Romero, A., K. T. Hayford, Andrea Romero & J. Romero. 2002. The marine

mammals of Grenada, W.I., and their conservation status. Mammalia

66:479-494.

Romero, A. & J. Creswell.  2005. In the land of the mermaid:  how culture, not ecology,

influenced marine mammal exploitation in the southeastern Caribbean.  In: Romero, A.

& S. West (eds.). Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dordrecht: Springer.

Romero, A. & S.D. Kannada. 2006. Comment on “Genetic analysis of 16th-century

whale bones prompts a revision of the impact of Basque whaling on right and bowhead

whales in the western North Atlantic”. Canadian Journal of Zoology 84(7):1059-1065.

Romero, A. 2006 (published in 2007).  ‘More private gain that public good’: whale and

ambergris exploitation in 17^th-century Bermuda. Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and

Maritime History 17:5-27.

Romero, A. & S. Kannada. 2008. Comment on the second reply by Higdon to the

comment by Romero and Kannada on “Genetic analysis of 16^th-century whale bones

prompts a revision of the impact of Basque whaling on right and bowhead whales in the

western North Atlantic”. Canadian Journal of Zoology 86(1):80-82.

Romero, A. 2008. Between war and poverty: whaling in eighteenth century Bermuda.

Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History 18:7-32 (in press).

Parsons, E.C.M., A. Romero and S.D. Kannada, N.A. Rose. 2007. Whales and whaling,

pp, 1947-1950, In: Encyclopedia of Environment and Society. P. Robbins, (Ed). San

Antonio, TX: Sage Publications.

Romero, A. & S.D. Kannada. 2008. Manatee. P. 290-291, In: Encyclopedia of Tourism

and Recreation in Marine Environments (M. Lück, Ed). Oxfordshire, UK: CAB

International.

Parsons, E.C.M., A. Romero, S.D. Kannada and N.A. Rose. 2008. Whaling. Pp.

542-543, In: Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments

(M. Lück, Ed). Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International.

Romero, A. 2008. Nobody’s dolphins, pp. 11-19, In: Trauth, J. & A. Romero (Eds.).

Adventures of the wild: experiences from biologists from the Natural State.

Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press.

Manuscripts in Preparation

The marine mammals of Trinidad: their distribution and conservation Status (with J.

Creswell, R. Baker, J.E. Creswell, A. Singh, A. McKie & M. Manna).

Romero, A. & S.M. Green. Environmental History of Marine Mammal Exploitation

in the Caribbean. Florida University Press (Book).

Romero, A. & J.E. Creswell. Until the whales were gone: the environmental history of

whaling in Barbados.

Romero, A. The history of whaling in Bermuda.

5. The Boat

We will on board of the R/V Tiburon. The boat specs are below:

6. Academic Approach

I give the best of myself in each one of my classes in order to offer you the opportunity to

maximize your chances of learning lasting lessons in science.  I consider myself motivational,

challenging, and enthusiastic.  I encourage questions and will not stop answering them until

you are satisfied that your questions have been answered.  I greatly appreciate students who

come to me for further discussion and inquiring.  At the same time, I have high expectations

for your personal growth and success as a student in this semester.  If you cannot figure

something, I expect you to see me so we can seek a solution to the problem. 

Note that this is a three-credit course

7. Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation will be based on course participation.

8. Safety

I have been doing field courses for as long as I have been in academia. To me safety is a top

concern that overrides anything else. You will be extensively briefed before we leave for the

Florida Keys on safety issues. You will also be briefed once on board. I do not allow alcohol

consumption on my field trips and I will be available 24/7 in case that any of you have any

medical problem.

Pictures of the 2005 Field Trip

Group picture on board of Tiburón

College professor gone wild

Courtney and Kathy making faces

More faces by Kathy

Everybody is on the phone

Waylon holding steady

At the airport on route to Key West

Captain Tim

ASU flag below the American and the diving flags

... and Kristy

Dolphins, dolphins, everywhere

Some fun trivia about this trip

During our trip we observed one of the longest bowriding events ever registered for bottlenose

dolphins. It lasted 16 minutes and 55 seconds.  During that time the dolphins involved in the

event traveled 7.2 km, i.e., 3.4 nautical miles in front of the boat!!!

2005 Course Song

Dolphins at Key West

by XWZ (the artist formerly known as Al Romero)

To study the dolphins in the ocean

You need to leave Jonesboro behind

And drive and fly with great emotion

down a long and narrow road

Key West! (chorus)

Once arriving to southern Florida

We boarded the nice vessel Tiburón

We got inside its belly in a freckle

and then shouted all "let's move on"

Key West! (chorus)

Then we went to a coral reef

after seeing so many dolphins

bowriding, jumping, playing

and the rest

After finishing all our studies

we could only be very much amazed

of the things these creatures can accomplish

with their brains, their flippers and their flesh

Key West! (chorus)

Now we are heading back tonight

to the port in which began

our travels, our visions

our dreams of..

Key West! (chorus)