Marine Mammals: Fisheries, Tourism and Management Issues brings together contributions from 68 leading scientists from 12 countries to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date review on the way we manage our interactions with whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs. The book examines how we have fared conserving the world’s marine mammal populations, with a focus on the key issues of fisheries and tourism. From a unique southern hemisphere perspective, the authors consider how science informs the culling debate, how wild fisheries and aquaculture interact with marine mammal populations and how we might manage the effects of whale, dolphin and seal watching industries. The authors also address other issues such as the way in which ethics, genetics, acoustics, ecosystem models and pollution influence the management and conservation of marine mammals. Marine Mammals is an invaluable and accessible resource for all those involved with marine mammals, including scientists, managers, policy makers, industry representatives and students. Winner of a 2004 Whitley Award.

Marine mammals attract human interest – sometimes this interest is benign or positive – whale watching, conservation programmes for whales, seals, otters, and efforts to clear beaches of marine debris are seen as proactive steps to support these animals. However, there are many forces operating to affect adversely the lives of whales, seals, manatees, otters and polar bears – and this book explores how the welfare of marine mammals has been affected and how they have adapted, moved, responded and sometimes suffered as a result of the changing marine and human world around them. Marine mammal welfare addresses the welfare effects of marine debris, of human traffic in the oceans, of noise, of hunting, of whale watching and tourism, and of some of the less obvious impacts on marine mammals – on their social structures, on their behaviours and migration, and also of the effects on captivity for animals kept in zoos and aquaria. There is much to think and talk about – how marine mammals respond in a world dramatically influenced by man, how are their social structures affected and how is their welfare impacted?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Inspired by a profound experience swimming with wild dolphins off the coast of Maui, the bestselling author of The Wave set out on a quest to learn everything she could about dolphins—the other intelligent life on the planet. “Part science, part memoir, part impassioned plea for change.” —People Susan Casey’s journey takes her from a community in Hawaii known as “Dolphinville,” where the animals are seen as the key to spiritual enlightenment, to the dark side of the human-cetacean relationship at marine parks and dolphin-hunting grounds in Japan and the Solomon Islands, to the island of Crete, where the Minoan civilization lived in harmony with dolphins, providing a millennia-old example of a more enlightened coexistence with the natural world. Along the way, Casey recounts the history of dolphin research and introduces us to the leading marine scientists and activists who have made it their life’s work to increase humans’ understanding and appreciation of the wonder of dolphins.

Much of our knowledge about marine mammals is derived from a long-term and dedicated research effort that is evolving rapidly due to the introduction and invention of new methods.This book reflects the inventiveness of marine researchers as they try to find ways around the problems presented to them by these unusual and challenging animals.

Passive acoustic monitoring is increasingly used by the scientific community to study, survey and census marine mammals, especially cetaceans, many of which are easier to hear than to see. PAM is also used to support efforts to mitigate potential negative effects of human activities such as ship traffic, military and civilian sonar and offshore exploration. Walter Zimmer provides an integrated approach to PAM, combining physical principles, discussion of technical tools and application-oriented concepts of operations. Additionally, relevant information and tools necessary to assess existing and future PAM systems are presented, with Matlab code used to generate figures and results so readers can reproduce data and modify code to analyse the impact of changes. This allows the principles to be studied whilst discovering potential difficulties and side effects. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, the book provides all information and tools necessary to gain a comprehensive understanding of this interdisciplinary subject.

This compilation brings together current information on the status of Asian freshwater cetacean populations, the factors that have caused their recent declines, and what can be done to improve their chances for survival. Includes papers on water development issues, the Yangtze River Dolphin (Baiji), the Ganges River Dolphin (Susu), and porpoises. In the final section, five papers address methods of studying freshwater cetaceans.