Cetacean Ecology

The goal of this course is to provide students with in-depth theoretical knowledge and practical, applicative skills in research and conservation management of marine megafauna. Marine megafauna, such as marine mammals, sea turtles, elasmobranchs and other large predatory fishes share a similar life history characterized by long life span, late maturation, and low reproduction. Such evolutionary traits make them particularly sensitive to perturbations in population’s vital rates due to increased human-induced mortality, which caused severe decline across different species and populations over the last century. As keystone species, these animals occupy high trophic levels in marine food webs and are crucial for shaping structure, diversity, and dynamics of marine ecosystems through top-down processes.