2014 Annual Amy Jacot-Guillarmod Memorial Lecture

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Nico de Bruyn will be presenting the 2014 Amy Jacot-Guillarmod Memorial Lecture of the Royal Society of South Africa (Eastern Cape Branch).

His talk is entitled “At world’s end: science on the most remote piece of land on
the planet” and deals with his experiences researching seals and penguins on Bouvet Island - considered to be the most remote place on earth.

Date
Tuesday, 3rd June, 2014
Venue
Zoo Major Lecture Theatre, Biological Sciences Building, Prince Alfred
street, Rhodes University Campus, Grahamstown.
Time
6:30 pm

Refreshments will be served.  Everyone is welcome.

Sabbatical at the Australian Antarctic Division

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Nico de Bruyn is on a short research visit to the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania. Exposure to the Australian way of conducting research in Antarctica, promoting South African Subantarctic marine mammal work, strengthening and forging collaborations, and expanding our research reach is the name of the game for this 2.5 month visit. Great strides have been made on all fronts. Colleagues and friends at the AAD have made this visit a pleasure and a success. Several plans for future research are already underway or in an advanced stage of planning. Various research outputs are imminent. The benefit to the Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme is already tangible on several fronts and we are excited about the envisaged research outcomes.  

Vacancies: Seal Biologists/Field Assistants, Marion Island 2014-2015 - CLOSED

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CLOSED

We have vacancies for aspirant mammalogists to work on seals during the 2014-2015 expediton to sub-Antarctic Marion Island.


Applicant expedition requirements:

  • Undertake fieldwork under very rigorous conditions (cold, wet and windy 95% of the time).
  • Fieldwork will encompass 75% of your time on the island, and you will walk between 4000 and 6000 km in gumboots during your time there. The other 25% will be dedicated to office and laboratory work.
  • Must be physically fit and strong, mentally strong, able to swim, not colour blind (partially or fully) or hearing impaired.
  • Meticulous observation, note-taking and record-keeping abilities.
  • Be comfortable around large animals. Preferably having experience with large mammal work.
  • Experience with animal capture and care, biopsy sampling and tagging will be beneficial.
  • Appointment to these positions is subject to a rigorous medical examination, which will be arranged for at no cost to the applicants.
  • The ability to work and live with small groups of people is essential.
  • Be able to manage electronics, e.g. satellite relay data loggers, camping equipment and a storage facility.
  • Successful applicants will spend a full year (April 2014 to May 2015) at Marion Island. Note that there is no option to return before the end of the expedition, once you land at the island. The well-equipped new base station has full e-mail, fax and satellite telephone facilities.

The position is open ONLY TO SOUTH AFRICAN APPLICANTS and the application deadline is 30 AUGUST 2013.

For more information: 
Marion Island Sealer Advert: 2014-2015
Application

For enquiries e-mail Dr. Nico de Bruyn pjndebruyn (at) zoology.up.ac.za

Junior Captain Scott Medal

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I'm very pleased to announce that I've been awarded the 2012 Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns Junior Kaptein Scottgedenkmedalje (South African Academy of Science and Art Junior Captain Scott Memorial Medal).  The medal is awarded to the best zoology or botany MSc thesis at a South African university.

My MSc focused on some of the basic ecology of the Marion Island killer whale population: diet and seasonal occurrence, abundance and the potential impact of the killer whale population on seals and penguins.  It resulted in the following papers:

Predatory impact of killer whales on pinniped and penguin populations at the Subantarctic Prince Edward Islands: fact and fiction
REISINGER RR, de Bruyn PJN, Bester MN
Journal of Zoology, London 285(1): 1-10
doi 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00815.x

Prey and seasonal abundance of killer whales at Subantarctic Marion Island
REISINGER RR, de Bruyn PJN, Tosh CA, Oosthuizen WC, Mufanadzo NT, Bester MN
African Journal of Marine Science 33(1): 99-105
doi 10.2989/1814232X.2011.572356

Abundance estimates of killer whales at subantarctic Marion Island
REISINGER RR, de Bruyn PJN, Bester MN
Aquatic Biology 12(2): 177-185
doi 10.3354/ab00340