by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England,
Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

Teaching for quality learning at university

Increasing numbers and speeds of vessels in areas with populations of cetaceans may have the cumulative effect of reducing habitat quality by increasing the underwater noise level. Here, we first use digital acoustic tags to demonstrate that free-ranging delphinids in a coastal deep- water habitat are subjected to varying and occasionally intense levels of vessel noise. Vessel noise and sound propagation measurements from a shallow-water habitat are then used to model the potential impact of high sound levels from small vessels on delphinid communication in both shallow and deep habitats, with bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp. and short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus as model organisms. We find that small vessels travelling at 5 knots in shallow water can reduce the communication range of bottlenose dolphins within 50 m by 26%. Pilot whales in a quieter deep-water habitat could suffer a reduction in their communication range of 58% caused by a vessel at similar range and speed. Increased cavitation noise at higher speeds drastically increases the impact on the communication range. Gear shifts generate high-level transient sounds (peak- peak source levels of up to 200 dB re 1 µPa) that may be audible over many kilometres and may dis- turb close-range animals. We conclude that noise from small vessels can significantly mask acousti- cally mediated communication in delphinids and contribute to the documented negative impacts on animal fitness.

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Vessel noise effects on delphinid communication

This paper could not have been written without the financial and organizational support from Dieter Paulmann and Jo Hastie respectively Thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers, whose comments on an earlier version of the manuscript greatly improved the paper The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone and do not represent those of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the US National Marine Sanctuary Program, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, the US National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA and/or any other institution or agency Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andrew Wright, Leviathan Sciences, USA (marinebrit@gmailcom) Sound travels much further than light in the marine environment As a result, marine mammals, especially cetaceans, rely heavily on sound for many important life functions, including breeding and foraging This reliance on sound means it is quite likely that exposure to noise will have some detrimental effects on these life functions However, there has been little application to marine mammals of the knowledge available in other species of stress responses to noise and other stressors In this paper we begin to integrate what is known about marine mammals with the current knowledge gained in terrestrial mammals about stress physiology, specifically considering physiological and psychological context and thus also cumulative and synergistic impacts We determined that it is reasonable to extrapolate information regarding stress responses in other species to marine mammals, because these responses are highly conserved among all species in which they have been examined to date As a result, we determined that noise acts as a stressor to marine mammals Furthermore, given that marine mammals will likely respond in a manner consistent with other species studied, repeated and prolonged exposures to stressors (including or induced by noise) will be problematic for marine mammals of all ages A range of issues may arise from the extended stress response including, but not limited to, suppression of reproduction (physiologically and behaviorally), accelerated aging and sickness-like symptoms We also determined that interpretation of a reduction in behavioral responses to noise as acclimation will be a mistake in many situations, as alternative reasons for the observed results are much more likely We recommend that research be conducted on both stress responses and life-history consequences of noise exposure in marine mammals, while emphasizing that very careful study designs will be required We also recommend that managers incorporate the findings presented here in decisions regarding activities that expose marine mammals to noise In particular, the effects of cumulative and synergistic responses to stressors can be very important and should not be dismissed lightly

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Do Marine Mammals Experience Stress Related to Anthropogenic Noise

Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to science—whether using knowledge or creating it—necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy.Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societies—and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

Science Literacy: Concepts, Contexts, and Consequences

Summary 1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been advocated for the protection of threatened marine mammals, but there is no empirical evidence that they are effective. In 1988, the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary was established to reduce gillnet mortalities of Hector’s dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori, an endangered dolphin species endemic to New Zealand. This study assesses the effectiveness of the MPA in improving the survival rate of Hector’s dolphin at Banks Peninsula. 2. Over 21 years, we undertook photo-identification surveys of Hector’s dolphins along standardized transects from small outboard-powered boats. From 1986 to 2006, we photographically captured 462 reliably marked individuals. We estimated mean annual survival during the pre-sanctuary and post-sanctuary periods by applying a Bayesian random effects capture-recapture model to the data. Population growth was estimated from population simulations using a stage-structured matrix model. 3. We estimate a 90% probability that survival has improved between the pre-sanctuary and postsanctuary periods, with estimates of mean survival probability increasing by 5AE4% (from 0AE863 to 0AE917). This improvement in survival corresponds to a 6% increase in mean annual population growth (from 0AE939 to 0AE995). 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates improvement in a demographic parameter of an endangered marine mammal species following conservation action. Our results provide evidence that area-based protection measures can be effective for marine mammals. We note that estimating demographic parameters in marine mammals requires many years of data to achieve sufficient precision to detect biologically meaningful change. MPAs should be established with a commitment to long-term monitoring.

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First evidence that marine protected areas can work for marine mammals

Bottlenose dolphins are a key resource of the tourism industry in Fiordland and are used on a daily basis by the tour operators offering cruises on the fiords. Recent studies have shown that the current levels of dolphin-boat interactions in this region cannot be sustained by bottlenose dolphins. Interactions have both shortand longterm effects on both individuals and their populations. Population models indicate that these effects may be affecting the viability of the three bottlenose dolphin populations living in Fiordland. We are currently observing drastic changes in the bottlenose dolphin population living in Doubtful Sound which can be linked to the level of boat interactions to which they are currently exposed. The creation of a multi-level marine mammal sanctuary would help minimise dolphin-boat interactions and still allow for some further growth in the tourism sector in Fiordland.

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Unsustainable dolphin-watching tourism in Fiordland, New Zealand

This article shares and extends research-based developments at the University of Otago, New Zealand, that seek to explore how students’ worldviews change as they experience higher education with us. We emphasise that sustainability attributes may be described in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies but that these are underpinned by affective attributes such as values, attitudes and dispositions; so that ‘education for sustainable development’ is substantially a quest for affective change. We describe approaches to categorise affective outcomes and conclude that ‘education for sustainable development’ objectives comprise higher order affective outcomes (leading to behavioural change) that are challenging for higher education to address. Our own work emphasises the need for student anonymity as these higher order outcomes are assessed, evaluated, monitored, researched or otherwise measured using research instruments that focus on worldview. A longitudinal mixed-effects repeat-measures statistical mod...

Seeking Learning Outcomes Appropriate for "Education for Sustainable Development" and for Higher Education.

This article addresses the important questions that higher education institutions ask concerning their impact on their students’ sustainability-related attributes ‘How do our students’ worldviews change as they experience higher education with us?’ The process of monitoring such a dynamic entity is fraught with statistical complexity but may not be impossible for an institution willing to ask whether or not its educational efforts in ‘education for sustainability’, ‘education for sustainable development’ or ‘environmental education’, and campus sustainability developments, are paralleled by changes in the attitudes of its students. We describe here a longitudinal survey process based on the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale, with two cohorts of students, in three programmes of study, operating over four years, with multiple survey inputs by each student. We implemented the longitudinal analysis using a linear mixed-effects model and describe here the development and testing of this model. We conclude ...

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Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Attitudes of University Students.

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large research-led university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of EL in line with this institution’s adoption of EL as a graduate attribute (or in a US context, a general-education learning outcome, and something to be fostered throughout a student’s education). The instrument and associated processes were designed to fit within conventional institutional mechanisms that manage student feedback on the quality of teaching. The instrument was tested with more than 600 students from more than eight programmes over the course of a year and its use stressed that students were anonymous within the survey. We conclude that evaluating (or in a US context, assessing) the extent to which students acquire EL is an achievable objective and is a reasonable expectation for any higher education institu...

Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable

Passive acoustic surveys have potential for detecting trends in abundance and habitat use by rare cetaceans. We deployed commercially available acoustic data loggers (T-PODs) in 4 har- bours on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island between 2005 and 2008 to investigate the dis- tribution of Maui's dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori maui and assess whether current protection measures are sufficient. A set of decision rules was developed to minimise the potential for false pos- itive detections. Over 3211 'T-POD days' of acoustic monitoring, 39 click trains which satisfied all of our decision rules were detected, indicating the presence of Maui's dolphins in Manukau and Kaipara Harbours. Data from the site with the most detections were fitted to 3 models, showing that the number of detections varied temporally (p < 0.001). The models were also used to show to what degree dolphins could have been present at monitored locations yet remain undetected. The study highlighted the challenges of passive acoustic monitoring of rare species, particularly of small del- phinids in an environment which is both physically and acoustically challenging. Nonetheless, we demonstrated that T-PODs are effective in studies of Maui's dolphin distribution, that Maui's dolphins are found in North Island harbours and remain at risk from gillnet bycatch. We make a number of rec- ommendations concerning acoustic monitoring studies of rare cetaceans, principally that a thorough understanding of the target signals and the acoustic environment being monitored is essential for maximising acoustic detection rates.

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Liz Slooten

Papers

Unsustainable dolphin-watching tourism in Fiordland, New Zealand

Seeking Learning Outcomes Appropriate for "Education for Sustainable Development" and for Higher Education.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Attitudes of University Students.

Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable

Listening for a needle in a haystack: passive acoustic detection of dolphins at very low densities