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| How are these funds used? |
| Our goals for 2005-2010 |
The dolphin research at Monkey Mia project has already revolutionized our understanding of dolphin society to the point where we are now called the "Dolphin Gombe" in reference to the world-famous site in Tanzania where Jane Goodall and other researchers gave us a window into the social lives of chimpanzees. We invite you to join us in this important endeavor. You can participate in our dolphin research with your donations.
We have established twin Australian and U.S. non-profit (tax exempt status) foundations to support the research. Please consider making a substantial donation today in U.S. or Australian dollars. You can do so with the assurance that your funds are supporting top-notch research that will produce important scientific breakthroughs.
If you would like to make a donation please contact Shaelynn Sleater-Squires at dolphindonations@gmail.com
Dolphins of Monkey Mia Research Foundation
c/o Shaelynn Sleater-Squires
Department of Biology, Reiss 406
Georgetown University
37th and O Streets, NW
Washinton, DC 20057
United States
Dolphins of Monkey Mia Research Foundation
PO Box 140
Claremont
Western Australia, 6010
Australia
If you plan to visit Monkey Mia, please let us know so one of the researchers can thank you personally.
The proof is in publications!
There are many foundations claiming to support research on dolphins, whales or other wildlife, and these claims are often enough to attract considerable financial support from a well-meaning public. However, many of these organizations actually do very little or no research. With so many organizations to choose from, how can members of the public know which ones are legitimate?
The proof is in scientific publications. To advance knowledge, scientists must publish their results in scientific journals or edited volumes that summarize a body of knowledge. If an organization soliciting funds for scientific research does not provide a list of scientific publications, you may be throwing your money away. One the other hand, if the organization is actively publishing, your donation may help scientists make real breakthroughs with impacts on scientific knowledge and conservation!
In addition, it is vitally important for species conservation to study relatively undisturbed populations of animals, such as those found in Shark Bay. The basic demographic information learned from such long-term studies can be used to implement effective recovery and management plans. For example, the weaning age for calves (averaging 4 years) published for Shark Bay bottlenose dolphins is more than twice that reported from captive studies or from studies of fisheries by-catch (dead dolphins). Most management plans for dolphins use a weaning date of 1.5 years, which would vastly overestimate the rate of recovery for a population since calves would be assumed to be independent years before they truly are! Or, as another example, we can ask how long does it take a calf to learn to forage? Foraging techniques of bottlenose dolphins are not simple because prey and methods for catching prey depend on habitat, season, and social factors. Echolocation and diving are highly specialized skills. Whether or not a calf has effectively learned to forage is a very important factor when predicting whether young animals can be released back into the wild after a period of captivity. Answers to important questions such as these are invaluable and can only be answered from long-term, detailed study of populations.
What is a "scientific" publication?
Good question! A scientific publication is published in a journal that is peer-reviewed by other scientists.
There are a plethora of scientific journals, most of which are unknown to the public. We publish in the most
prestigious journals, some you may have heard of, such as Nature, Science, The Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. Articles from these journals often make
headlines around the world. In addition to these, our research team also publishes in top journals specific to our
field: Behavioral Ecology, Behaviour, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Trends in
Ecology and Evolution, Journal of Molecular Biology, and Ethology. We also publish in some specialty
peer-reviewed journals like Marine Mammal Science.
Additionally, Monkey Mia Dolphin researchers have contributed chapters to top academic volumes published by such
academic press icons as The University of Chicago Press, Princeton University Press and Oxford University Press.
Further, two members of the Monkey Mia research team were among the four editors of the landmark volume
'Cetacean Societies', published in 2000 by the University of Chicago Press. This book was awarded "Outstanding
Scientific Title for 2000" by Choice Magazine. The top university presses also rely on peer-review.
There are many magazines that publish 'popular' articles on science. These provide the invaluable service of
educating the public about scientific breakthroughs, and are sometimes written by the scientists themselves. An
editorial staff at the magazine, not other scientists, reviews these. Examples include National Geographic
Magazine, Discovery, Natural History, American Scientist, Scientific American, and Whalewatcher.
We also design this website to be an informative medium for communicating the research that is published in the journals and other forums mentioned above. We strive to ensure that the information portrayed here is based on solid scientific research, while still providing fun anecdotal accounts of researchers observations in the field.
To maintain the scientific integrity of the project, we encourage researchers to submit grant applications to scientific agencies. To date, our research team has been successful. We have received grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Institute of Health and several foundations.
However, all of the research relies on the long-term database. This includes the catalogue of dorsal fins (over 600), and databases on sightings, which animals have been sexed, scars, pregnancies, births and deaths. Each year, this database needs to be updated. Researchers submit their survey records (sightings of animals). These are checked and re-checked. We then need to figure out whose fins have changed, who disappeared, (from last sighting) and who might be pregnant (so we can keep accurate mortality records for calves). We update dorsal fin records and duplicate good photographs of dorsal fins for the catalogue. These basic records are essential to the project and we need research assistance full-time to complete this task. The fact that this project has been on going for many years and the data are collected by several researchers means that considerable data organization is required. Therefore, we have decided to organize the data entry by utilizing computerized forms and establishing a relational database. This database will integrate all different types of data, from surveys, to focal follows, sex and age information, the photographic catalogue and more. This is a labor intensive and expensive endeavor however, the result will be impressive. All researchers will have access to all of the most up to date data and will be able to query any information they are interested in from several related Access databases.
Computerize and link entire database. We have been working on importing all database records into Access and linking the computerized dorsal fin images to the database. This will enable us to query "How many times was Smokey sighted from 1989-2003" or "Show me all fins that are chopped off at the tip." We are making great progress with this work and the database manager has set a goal to have this aspect complete, for the large worksheets, by the end of 2005. We received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to partially cover the salary of the Database Manager and we received a donation to cover the remainder until the end of 2007. The database manager manages the website and the database. For part of the year this person conducts field research so s/he can recognize fins easily. The NSF grant included funds to cover this field work and partial salary for five years, we require further funding to cover the rest of the salary after 2007. In addition, we are currently lucky enough to have programming help from a programmer at Georgetown University, however, without further funding, we will lose this invaluable help. Cost: $10k (USD) per year for 2005-2006 for programming assistance and $10-20k per year for 2007-2010 to cover both database management and programming assistance.
Renovate Nortek's insides and purchase new fittings and sails. In 2004 a donation covered the anti-fouling
of the hulls and the beginning of an interior overhaul, we still need funds for a new kitchen, sails, fittings and outboard
motor. This boat is invaluable to the research and it costs thousands of dollars per year to keep her afloat. See Nortrek's
Story (Click here.)Cost: Remainder of Overhaul: $20k (AUD); New sails and fittings: $10k (AUD);
New outboard motor: $8k (AUD). Annual management of Nortrek (insurance, maintenance, replacement of items): $5k per year.
Outfit an adequate office onsite. Conservation and Land Management has offered some space for us
to work in Shark Bay (other than our cramped caravans). However, there are no funds to renovate the space. Further, we have
no tables, shelves, desks, chairs, photocopier, fax machine, printer, scanner, powerpoint projector (for talks to
the public) and our computer is sorely outdated and won't run most current software. We would like to use one small
room for a wetlab where we can perform necropsies on unfortunate dolphins that wash up dead. This will include sinks,
a fridge and freezer, dissection tools, microscope, and chemicals for preserving tissue. Cost: $70k (AUD, cost of
renovations, equipment, and materials). Maintenance: $1,000 per year.
General gear and maintenance. Our three caravans are vulnerable to constant sun, strong winds and
the many animals (mice, snakes, spiders, ants) that take up residence when we aren't there. Appliances break and
floors or furniture need replacement. We also use funds to keep our boat moorings strong. For example, the
installation of a 'tropical roof' to protect one caravan from further deterioration cost $1600 (AUD). In addition to
this, our "Main Caravan" is extremely old and nearing the point of beyond repair. We will soon need to replace this
old caravan with a large caravan with an annexe to house a full crew of researchers plus their equipment.
Cost for a good used caravan and annexe: $20k (AUD), Cost of maintenance for all caravans: $2,000 (AUD) per year.
Emergency fund. Although researchers are successful in obtaining grants, there are unexpected
events that can ruin a field season. A motor can blow, a boat can get damaged, a sail can rip, or an important piece
of equipment can be flooded or lost. We need to build up an emergency fund that can support researchers who fall
short due to unexpected events. On occasion, we might supplement a scientist who received some grant support, but
not enough to complete his or her work. Cost: $5k per year (AUD).