Category: Antarctica

Palmer Long-term Ecological Research Program: Rise of the Megafauna

[su_nt_image source=”http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2013/02/2013-01-16-LTERBLOGDWJ-2013-01-17-DWJ-IMG_0415.jpg” width=”one_third”] Zach Swaim and I have just returned from a 6-week excursion to the deep south, to further incorporate and expand marine mammals studies into the epic Palmer Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program during its annual cruise along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Through a combination of visual surveys, biopsy sampling and opportunistic acoustic…
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Two Johnston Lab projects featured in latest Duke Environment Magazine

[photo size=’small’ align=’right’]http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2011/02/NtN_story_spinners.jpg[/photo]Just a brief update to point people towards a couple of features in the Nicholas School Magazine – Duke Environment. These stories cover two recent papers stemming from long-term collaborative projects in the Johnston lab. The first is coverage of our recent paper in PLoS ONE that addresses habitat for resting spinner dolphins…
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New paper on humpback whale densities

We’ve just got a new paper published in Endangered Species Research that provides the first estimates of humpback whale density in the late fall/early winter in the waters of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). This work was conducted as part of the NSF-funded MISHAP project (PIs Nowacek and Friedlaender). The paper is available here:http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr_oa/n018p063.pdf [photo…
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Cachalot Presentation to Duke Trustees

Traveling often means that you miss out on things at home. I really miss my wife and kids while out on research trips, and besides missing my family while on this last set of travels I also missed out on an opportunity to meet with the Duke Board of Trustees to brief them on Cachalot.…
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Antarctic Alumni Trip 2012

I’ve just returned from an extended trip that included a 10 day trip to the Western Antarctic Peninsula region with a group of fantastic Duke Alumni. Ari Friedlaender and I hosted this group of adventurers, providing them some background on the location, it’s ecology and the research our group is conducting down there. The trip…
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Abstracts for Upcoming Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals

Our lab has several abstracts accepted for presentation at the upcoming 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. The conference is being held in Tampa, FL during November 28 to December 2, 2011. The theme of the conference is: “Cumulative effects of threats to marine mammals: Challenges to animals, scientists, and managers.” The…
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Gentoos get ‘caught on the inside’

On our latest trip to the Western Antarctic Peninsula we spent a sunny morning watching a glacier calve icebergs repeatedly into Neko Harbour, on the shore of Andvord Bay. The video below shows one set of waves from a calving event that washed the shores and caught some gentoos ‘on the inside.’ Penguins are so funny…
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Western Antarctic Peninsula, January 2011

I’ve just returned from an amazing trip to the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). I’m tired, a little sick, but extremely happy after leading a group of Duke Alumni on a cruise-ship expedition of the WAP with Ari Friedlaender. During the first half of this month we spent about 10 days aboard the Clelia II, poking…
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Duke Alumni Trip on this ship!

This is video of the Clelia II on her way back from the WAP. She was about 800 miles from Ushuaia. She took a large wave over bridge which blew in a window and doused some electronics. No major damage, but it slowed the ship down a bit. Two trips south between that one and…
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Southern Ocean GLOBEC predator synthesis

[dropcap4 color=”green”]W[/dropcap4]e got great news this week as our predator synthesis paper for the Southern Ocean GLOBEC project was fully accepted for publication in the journal Deep Sea Research. This paper compiles location data for 4 key krill predators (humpbacks, minkes, Adelie penguins and crabeater seals) in Marguerite Bay and develops ecological niche models (ENMs)…
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A Compelling Illusion of Integrity

[Excerpted from Duke Antarctic Project Blog] [dropcap4 color=”green”]E[/dropcap4]xperiencing the Antarctic during the late autumn is a privilege, and something I wish I could share with many. When it is clear, the short daylight hours are perfused by sunlight that has traveled through miles and miles of the earth’s atmosphere – giving it that ethereal quality…
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