Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE LAS3002

 
TITLE ACCOBAMS Training Course in Cetacean Conservation

 
UM LEVEL H - Higher Level

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences

 
DESCRIPTION This Unit is designed for countries of the area covered by ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area).

The ACCOBAMS Unit on cetology represents 28 hours of training on the following items:
- Species of cetaceans (identification, anatomy, physiology, adaptation, parasitology, etc.)
- Threats to cetaceans (interaction, pollution, collisions, noise, etc.)
- Study skills (observation/ rating population, photo-identification, passive acoustics, etc.)
- Legal and legislative framework on the conservation of cetaceans.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the Unit the student will be able to:
- Distinguish between different species of cetaceans present in the Mediterranean;
- Identify and understand all potential threats to cetaceans;
- Understand how studies are carried out on the different populations and how to carry out observations;
- Learn about analyzing behaviour, how to carry out photo identification and passive acoustic techniques;
- Learn about the legislative framework on the conservation of cetaceans;
- Learn on the anatomy, pathology, skeletochronology and physiology of cetaceans.


2. Skills:

By the end of the Unit the student will know how to:
- Carry out observations at sea to study cetaceans;
- Carry out photo identification and hence how to identify each and every individual in a population and know how to carry out passive acoustic sampling whilst out at sea;
- Distinguish between the different species of cetaceans.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Handouts of the teaching Module (electronic format):
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Teaching module for the conservation of cetaceans, Cetaceans - Identification of species occurring in the ACCOBAMS area. 51 pages
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetaceans - Anatomy and physiology of cetaceans. M. Mace 73pp.
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Skeletochronology. Boutiba Z., 27pp.
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Cetaceans - Pathology of cetaceans, Cetacean study techniques. Attia El Hili H., Dhermain F., Garcia De Los Rios A., Mace M., Soulier L., 48pp.
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetacean study techniques – Threats to cetaceans and conservation measures. Rais C. 28pp.
- ACCOBAMS, 2012 Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetaceans Study Techniques - Observation at sea and population studies. David L., 48pp
- ACCOBAMS, 2012 Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetaceans study techniques – Study of the behaviour of cetaceans at sea. David L. 28pp
- ACCOBAMS, 2012 Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetacean study techniques – Photo-identification. David L., 16pp
- ACCOBAMS, 2012 Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans, Cetaceans Study Techniques – Passive acoustics. David L., 25pp
- ACCOBAMS, 2012, Teaching module on the conservation of cetaceans. Legal framework for the conservation of cetaceans. Scovazzi T., 36pp.

- The previous ACCOBAMS "Training Kit": ACCOBAMS Kit, 2013.
- Notarbartolo di Sciara G., Birkun A., Jr. 2010. Conserving whales, dolphins and porpoises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: an ACCOBAMS status report. ACCOBAMS, Monaco. 212 p.
- The IUCN Red List: http://www.iucnredlist.org/.
- David L., Course on whale counting techniques at sea (1995-2012).
- Boyd I.L., Bowen W.D. and Iverson S.J., 2010. Marine Mammal Ecology and Conservation – A handbook of techniques. Techniques in Ecology & Conservation Series. Oxford, 450pp.
- Hammond P.S., 2009. Mark-recapture. In W.F. Perrin; B. Würsig and J.G.M. Thewissen (eds), Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd edition, Elsevier, San Diego, CA.
- Würsig B. and Jefferson T.A., 1990. Methods of photo-identification for small cetaceans. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn (special issue 12), SC/A88/ID13: 43-52.
- Mellinger D., Stafford K.M., Moore S.E., Dziak R.P., and Matsumoto H., 2007. An Overview of Fixed Passive Acoustic Observation Methods for Cetaceans. Oceanography, Volume 20, Number 4, special issue on ocean exploration: 36-45.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Pre-requisite: Students should have a knowledge of Biology and Environmental Conservation.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Seminar

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Carmen Mifsud (Co-ord.)
Adriana Vella

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit