OCEA 158 - Ecology & Conservation of Marine Birds and Mammals
Summer Session 2 (July 30 – August 11, 2007)
Time:
Place:
Instructor:
Website:
MWF 0830-1200 (some Friday field trips may be longer)
Long Marine Laboratory, Seymour Discovery Center
Breck Tyler (ospr@ucsc.edu)
http://ic.ucsc.edu/~ospr/ocea158
Course specifics: This upper division course is designed for ocean science and biology
majors and interested non-majors with an understanding of basic marine ecology.
Enrollment is limited to 24 students. Topics include the systematics, adaptations,
ecology, behavior, and conservation of seabirds and marine mammals. Monterey Bay
area faunas and issues are emphasized. The course meets in the Seymour Discovery
Center teaching lab at Long Marine Laboratory.
Prerequisites: OCEA 80A, or BIOL 20C, or consent of instructor
Format: Class meetings feature lectures complemented by labs, field sessions, and
discussions of conservation issues. Sessions with lab researchers are arranged when
possible. Field trips (see below) and independent fieldwork are required. Observation of
marine birds and mammals in natural habitats is an essential element of the course.
Probable Course Schedule
Day
Lectures, labs, & discussions
Mon 7/30
Seabird diversity & adaptation
Wed 8/1
Marine mammal diversity & adaptation
Fri 8/3
Field trip – Wilder Ranch SP
------------------------------Mon 8/6
Marine mammal origins & skeletal morphology
Wed 8/8
Sensory systems
Fri 8/10
Field Trip – Monterey Bay boat trip (~1030-1430)
-----------------------------Mon 8/13
Community ecology of Monterey Bay area species
Wed 8/15
Diving behavior & physiology
Fri 8/17
Field Trip – Elkhorn Slough kayak trip (~0900-1300)
----------------------------Mon 8/20
Seabird colony and nesting behavior
Wed 8/22
Mammal mating strategies & social systems
Fri 8/24
Exam
----------------------------Mon 8/27
Conservation seminars
Wed 8/29
Conservation seminars
Fri 8/31
Final paper and field notebook due
Evaluations:
Exam (essay & practical)
Field/lab assignments
Conservation presentation
Final paper (5-8 pages)
33.3%
33.3%
11.1%
22.2%
Field Trips are scheduled for the first three Fridays of the course, as follows:
Wilder Ranch State Park: open coast seabirds and pinnipeds
Monterey Bay cruise: pelagic seabirds and cetaceans
Elkhorn Slough kayak: estuarine birds, otters, and harbor seals
Required materials (bring with you every day of class):
Field notebook – minimum size 5”x 8”
Bird identification guide (recommended options listed here)
National Geographic Society. 1999. Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
Sibley, D.A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds.
Sibley, D.A. 2003. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.
Binoculars (contact instructor for advice, if you wish)
Articles
Zimmer, C. 1997. The dolphin strategy. Discover, March: 73-83.
Wong, K. 2002. The mammals that conquered the seas. Scientific American 286 (5): 70-79.
Schusterman, R.J. et al. 2000. Why pinnipeds don’t echolocate.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107:2256-2264.
Kooyman, G. and P. Ponganis. 1997. The challenges of diving to depth. Am. Scien. 85: 530-539.
Schneider, D. 1983. The food and feeding of migratory shorebirds. Oceanus 26: 37-43.
Tyack, P. 1986. Population biology, social behavior, and communication
in whales and dolphins. Tree 1:144-150.
Supplemental Texts and References
SeaLife. 1996. G. Waller (ed)
Marine Mammal Biology-An Evolutionary Approach. 2002. A.R. Hoelzel (ed)
Biology of Marine Mammals. 1999. J.E. Reynolds & S.A. Rommel (eds)
Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals. 1999. J.R. Twiss, J.R. and R.R Reeves (eds)
The Pinnipeds. Seals, sea lions, and walruses. 1990. M.L Riedman
Seabirds: A Natural History. 2004. A.J. Gaston
Instructor
Breck Tyler is a Principal Investigator (researcher) and Lecturer affiliated with the Institute
of Marine Sciences at UCSC. His professional interests include behavioral ecology, marine
conservation, and teaching undergraduate field courses. He has 30 years experience studying
birds and mammals in California, the Pacific Northwest, Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii. He is
Principal Investigator of programs to prevent and assess injury to marine birds and mammals
during oil spills.
Breck has been a lecturer at UCSC since 1991, teaching courses in field natural history,
ornithology, and the ecology of marine birds and mammals. Of his teaching philosophy, he
says, “I believe that the best way to learn about the natural world is to observe it first hand.
All of my courses feature significant time in the field. My goal is to teach students to observe
critically – to identify species, describe behaviors, and recognize ecological patterns. Once
mastered, these skills enable students to continue to learn throughout their lives whether their
interests are personal or professional.”