Research Areas and Sub-Specialties
Physiological Ecology of Marine Mammals and Turtles
Faculty,
research associates and students at UNCW are engaged in studies
that investigate how the mammalian body is functionally adapted
to the marine environment. Focus areas of study include developmental
biology, thermal biology, locomotor energetics, functional morphology
and lipid biochemistry. We utilize stranded marine mammals in our
research, and employ quantitative morphology techniques, image analysis,
and new tools emerging from the field of biomechanics and lipid
biochemistry, to pose hypotheses about animal function. We then
test these hypotheses, using non-invasive research methods, with
wild and captive marine mammals at many sites around the world.
The marriage of anatomical and physiological studies has permitted
us to gain insight into the evolution of marine mammals by helping
to elucidate those morphological features required to survive in
the aquatic environment. We, along with colleagues at Duke University
Marine Lab, National Marine Fisheries Service, North Carolina Maritime
Museum, and Virginia Marine Science Museum, are also working cooperatively
to develop long-term, interdisciplinary studies of our local marine
mammal species. Techniques we use include shore-based and aerial
survey methods, as well as investigation of stranded animals. The
goal of these efforts is to better understand the biology of these
species so as to ensure their conservation. Nowhere is there a more
compelling need for such a program than in the mid-Atlantic, because
our coastal waters are a critical habitat for a number of threatened
or endangered cetacean species.
Researchers at UNCW are studying the bioenergetics, thermal biology, diving physiology, and behavior of sea turtles in coastal Carolina waters and at other field sites along the Eastern Seaboard. Remote instrumentation and tracking techniques are used to investigate the physiology and behavior of sea turtles in nearshore and offshore environments, and tissue samples (blood and muscle) collected from wild turtles are used to assess health status and seasonal alterations in physiological condition. UNCW biologists are also involved in efforts to assess the effects of entanglement in fishing gear on the physiology and behavior of sea turtles. Bycatch of sea turtles in commercial fishing gear has been 
identified as a significant source of mortality contributing to population declines of endangered and threatened sea turtles. In addition to the deaths that occur while sea turtles are entrapped in fishing gear, there may be delayed mortality of sea turtles released alive from fishing gear. Researchers at UNCW, along with local and with international collaborators, hope to refine post-release mortality estimates for sea turtles captured in commercial fisheries by conducting detailed studies to assess the physiological status of turtles at the time of capture as well as the post-release behavior of turtles.
Faculty researching this area include:
 D. Ann Pabst |
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