COURSE UNIT TITLE

: CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE MAMMALS

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
CDK 5044 CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE MAMMALS ELECTIVE 2 0 0 6

Offered By

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

Offered to

MARINE LIVING RESOURCES

Course Objective

To get students acquainted and learn about the marine mammals in general, their status in regional and national level along with the threats and conservation actions on these taxa.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Marine mammals
2   Main threats on marine mammals
3   Marine mammals of Mediterranean and Black Seas
4   Marine mammals of Türkiye
5   International, regional and national conservation actions on marine mammals
6   Marine Protected Areas for marine mammals

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Introduction to marine mammals Systematics Biogeography Biology & Ecology IUCN Red List
2 Population structure and dynamics Abundance and its determination Population monitoring techniques Population structure and dynamics
3 Marine Mammals of Mediterranean and Black Sea Species Species distribution and populations Threats on the species Brief conservation instruments
4 Marine Mammals of Türkiye Current knowledge on Mediterranean monk seal Current knowledge on Cetaceans In this week, the recent history of the studies and researchers on the matters will be briefed. Moreover, current status of the species and threats upon them will be introduced.
5 Current threats on marine mammals 1 Interaction with fisheries Disturbance, injuries and mortality from shipping
6 Current threats on marine mammals 2 Habitat loss and degradation, including pollution Anthropogenic noise
7 Current threats on marine mammals 3 Direct killing and live captures Climate and eco-system change
8 Whaling History Current status International Whaling Commission: its Mandate and Activities
9 Regional Conventions and their activities ACCOBAMS Barcelona Convention Bern Convention Bucharest Convention Relevant EU Directives Conventional conservation measures, marine protected areas
10 National actions to protect marine mammals Legal Framework National Monk Seal Committee Local Monk Seal Committees National Action Plans
11 Strandings Single beaching vs mass strandings Hypothesis regarding mass strandings Stranding network and strandings as a source for study specimens
12 What to do Filling knowledge gaps Management effectiveness Awareness and values Eco-tourism Marine protected areas

Recomended or Required Reading

Notarbarrolo di Sciara and Birkun A. Jr. 2010. Conserving whales dolphins and propoises in
the Mediterranean and Black Seas. ACCOBAMS. Monaco.

Berta, A., Sumcih, J.L. and Kovacs K.M. 2006. Marine Mammals Evolutionary Biology.
Elsevier. UK.

Supplementary Book(s):

Nowak R.M. 2003. Walker s Marine Mammals of the World. The Johns Hopkins University
Press. Baltimore and London.

Rice. D.W. 1998. Marine Mammals of the World. Systematics and Distribution. Special Publication Number 4. The Society for Marine Mammalogy. USA.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

The course is based on series of interactive lectures partitioned into chapters comprising theoretical discussions. Students will be responsible for weekly reading assignments, one term project and a final exam. Students will participate to class discussions, and present their term project to the rest of the class. The final grade is based on term project, active participation to lectures, and final exam. Instructor act as a facilitator to overview the weekly subject with students, and deliver a presentation when necessary.

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 PRS PRESENTATION
2 PAR PARTICIPATION
3 FIN FINAL EXAM
4 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE PRS * 0.50 +PAR * 0.10 +FIN * 0.40
5 RST RESIT
6 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) PRS * 0.50 +PAR * 0.10 +RST * 0.40


Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

Presentation: Students are expected to deliver a 10-15 minute seminar on a selected topic of marine mammal conservation, and provide a report comprising abstract, introduction, material, methods, results and discussions. Latest references were expected to be searched. Seminar presentation will be graded as 20 points, and seminar report as 30 point.

Final exam: The final exam will cover the all chapters. Students will be asked one or more questions for each topic. The rating evaluation of exam questions will be carried out according to the point system determined by instructor.

Language of Instruction

English

Course Policies and Rules

To be announced.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Harun GÜÇLÜSOY
Dokuz Eylül University
Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology
Haydar Aliyev Blv. No:100, Inciraltı,
Izmir

Office Hours

Weekly two-hour office hour will be spared for each course term. The exact office hours will be determined in each course term when the course opens.

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 2 26
Tutorials 14 2 28
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 12 3 36
Preparation for final exam 1 12 12
Preparing assignments 1 36 36
Preparing presentations 1 4 4
Final 1 4 4
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 146

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8
LO.111114445
LO.221314445
LO.341314445
LO.441314445
LO.511314445
LO.611314445