PINNIPED LECTURE SERIES
Navy Asks: What Changes Seal Behavior in the Wild?
With Monica DeAngelis
Thursday, October 21, 2021
6:00 PM | Free | ONLINE
Advance Registration Required
The US Navy is continually working to understand protected marine resources in the areas where it operates.
As part of that effort, the Navy is conducting a multi-year research project in the Northeast to learn about the health status of harbor (Phoca vitulina) and gray (Halichoerus grypus) seal populations, and how they interact with their marine environment. This research is an important step in determining what factors might change the behavior of seals in the region. Join Monica DeAngelis, marine mammal biologist and Principal Investigator for the study, and Whaling Museum Associate Curator of Science and Research Robert Rocha for an informative discussion of monitoring efforts conducted in Rhode Island and New York, as well as preliminary results from aerial surveys and satellite tagging efforts conducted in 2021.
Monica DeAngelis is a marine mammal biologist with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) with over twenty-seven years of experience in this field. Prior to joining NUWC in 2016, she supported NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service in marine mammal research and policy (1994-2016).
Ms.DeAngelis has extensive knowledge of passive and active acoustics and underwater noise impacts to marine mammals. She has worked on environmental compliance issues for the military, including the Navy, and was awarded a Gold Medal from the Department of Commerce for Personal and Professional Excellence in 2014 for her work on vessel collisions with whales. Ms. DeAngelis is the Principal Investigator conducting a behavioral response study on seals along the U.S. East Coast, a Co-Principal Investigator on pinniped tagging efforts investigating movements of seals near Navy Ranges, and Co-Principal Investigator investigating underwater explosions on the marine mammal melon. During her career she has also co-authored several publications on marine mammals.
