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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Using Deep Learning And Uav Imagery To Detect Elkhorn Coral In St. Croix’S East End Marine Park, Samuel Wyatt Apr 2022

Using Deep Learning And Uav Imagery To Detect Elkhorn Coral In St. Croix’S East End Marine Park, Samuel Wyatt

Master's Theses

Elkhorn coral, or Acropora palmata, is an important reef building species that promotes species abundance and other ecological services to the communities in the US Virgin Islands. We captured high resolution imagery of a reef in St. Croix’s East End Marine Park using a Wingtra One UAV. We then used deep learning techniques to detect individual coral colonies. We compared two deep learning models, FasterRCNN and MaskRCNN, and found that the models achieved accuracy shores up to 0.78. These scores improved when examining only larger corals in shallow waters. The model was able to both detect Elkhorn coral and …


Do Pinnipeds Have Personality? Coding Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) And California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Behavior Across Contexts, Amber J. De Vere May 2017

Do Pinnipeds Have Personality? Coding Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) And California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Behavior Across Contexts, Amber J. De Vere

Master's Theses

Personality has now been studied in species as diverse as chimpanzees (King & Figueredo, 1997) and cuttlefish (Carere et al., 2015), but marine mammals remain vastly underrepresented in this area. A broad range of traits have been assessed only in the bottlenose dolphin (Highfilll & Kuczaj, 2007), while consistent individual differences in a few specific behaviors have been identified in grey seals (Robinson et al., 2015; Twiss & Franklin, 2010; Twiss, Culloch & Pomeroy, 2011; Twiss, Cairns, Culloch, Richards & Pomeroy, 2012). Furthermore, the context component of definitions of personality is not often assessed, despite evidence that animals may show …


Sparking A Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences In Dolphins' Reactions To Surprising And Expectation-Violating Events, Malin Katarina Lilley May 2017

Sparking A Dolphin's Curiosity: Individual Differences In Dolphins' Reactions To Surprising And Expectation-Violating Events, Malin Katarina Lilley

Master's Theses

Non-scientific literature consistently describes dolphins as “curious animals,” but there has been little systematic research on curiosity in dolphins. Curiosity in humans and certain non-human animal species, including birds and non-human primates, has been studied by examining individual differences in exploration and reactions to novel stimuli. Additionally, research has explored how human infants and non-human animals react when an event violates their expectations. The present study explored dolphins’ reactions to spontaneously surprising and expectation-violating stimuli. The reactions of dolphins, 15 bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and 6 rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), at Gulf World Marine Park were analyzed in …


The Effect Of Boat Type On Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Trucatus) Behavior In The Mississippi Sound, Maria Zapetis May 2017

The Effect Of Boat Type On Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Trucatus) Behavior In The Mississippi Sound, Maria Zapetis

Master's Theses

Increases in oceanic shipping are a global phenomenon, and a leading cause of concern for marine animal welfare. While it may be difficult to assess the effect of boat traffic on all species in all contexts, it is vital to report anthropogenic impacts where longitudinal data is available, and doubly so where a dearth of information exists. The purpose of this study is to describe how dolphin behavior changed in the presence of boats in the Mississippi Sound between 2006 and 2012, and more specifically, to detail how different boat types impacted dolphins’ behavioral states. This study is unique in …


Does Personality Similarity In Bottlenose Dolphin Pairs Influence Dyadic Bond Characteristics?, Kelsey R. Moreno May 2017

Does Personality Similarity In Bottlenose Dolphin Pairs Influence Dyadic Bond Characteristics?, Kelsey R. Moreno

Master's Theses

Social structures are critical to the success of many species and have repercussions on health, well-being, and adaptation, yet little is known about the factors which shape these structures aside from ecology and life history strategies. Dyadic bonds are the basis of all social structures; however, mechanisms for formations of specific bonds or patterns in which individuals form which types of bonds have yet to be demonstrated. There is a variety of evidence indicating personality may be a factor in shaping bonds, but this relationship has not been explored with respect to bond components and is yet to be demonstrated …


Same-Sex Socio-Sexual Interactions Among A Group Of Captive Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Natalia Botero Acosta Dec 2015

Same-Sex Socio-Sexual Interactions Among A Group Of Captive Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Natalia Botero Acosta

Master's Theses

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) frequently engage in non-reproductive sexual behavior, including homosexual encounters. In order to better understand the nature and function of these interactions, a longitudinal study of the patterns of association and the dynamics of initiator/recipient role exchange was conducted. Underwater video footage of a colony of bottlenose dolphins housed at the Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), collected between March of 2010 and May of 2013, was analyzed. Associations occurring during homosexual interactions were transitory for most individuals. Nonetheless, subsequent analyses allowed the rejection of the null hypothesis of random association, suggesting the existence of …


High Resolution Melt Analysis Of Samples With Differential Dna Methylation To Identify Tissue Source Of Origin, Stephanie M. Ledgerwood Dec 2015

High Resolution Melt Analysis Of Samples With Differential Dna Methylation To Identify Tissue Source Of Origin, Stephanie M. Ledgerwood

Master's Theses

In Forensic Science casework, identifying the source of a tissue can assist in crime scene reconstruction. Currently, presumptive testing methods to identify tissue type are utilized in crime scene laboratories, but there is a need for a more reliable confirmatory test for tissue type identification. High Resolution Melt (HRM) analysis is an innovative technology that has the potential to determine tissue types through variations in DNA methylation patterns. Recently, DNA methylation patterns have been found to correspond with specific tissue types in particular regions of DNA. Two markers, B_SPTB_03 and DDX4 have been effective in differentiating sperm from other tissue …


Territorial Defense Strategies In The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis): Who Is The Bigger Threat?, Kaylee M. Gentry Dec 2015

Territorial Defense Strategies In The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis): Who Is The Bigger Threat?, Kaylee M. Gentry

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the use of defensive strategies in relation to territories year round in the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Responses to recorded neighbor song and stranger song playback from the middle of a focal male’s territory were measured. This allowed for an estimation of aggression in both the winter and spring seasons. Each focal male was subjected to both treatments (stranger song and neighbor song). Males were more responsive over-all to neighbor song playback, however in the winter months, persistence of response to neighbor song playback increased. It was also shown that southeastern United States cardinals show …


Are Large Dogs Smarter Than Small Dogs? Investigating Within Species Differences In Large And Small Dogs: Spatial Memory, Megan S. Broadway Dec 2015

Are Large Dogs Smarter Than Small Dogs? Investigating Within Species Differences In Large And Small Dogs: Spatial Memory, Megan S. Broadway

Master's Theses

The study of canine cognition can be useful in understanding the ontology and selective pressures that affect the development of cognitive abilities. Dogs have undergone intensive artificial selection yielding distinctive breeds which differ both phenotypically and behaviorally. Breed based cognitive differences have not been found but some studies suggest there may be differences in broader categories such as working disposition and sex. The influence of size on canine cognition has not been thoroughly addressed despite the fact that large dogs are often perceived to be ‘smarter’ than small dogs. This preconception has only recently been addressed and supported in one …


Management Strategy Evaluation For The Atlantic Surfclam, Spisula Solidissima, Using A Fisheries Economics Model, Kelsey M. Kuykendall Dec 2015

Management Strategy Evaluation For The Atlantic Surfclam, Spisula Solidissima, Using A Fisheries Economics Model, Kelsey M. Kuykendall

Master's Theses

The Atlantic surfclam, Spisula solidissima, is an economically valuable bivalve harvested along the northeastern United States. The surfclam’s range has contracted and the center of the stock’s distribution has shifted north driven by warmer bottom water temperatures. Declining landings per unit effort (LPUE) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) is one result. Declining stock abundance and LPUE suggest that overfishing may be occurring off New Jersey. The objective of this project is to perform a management strategy evaluation (MSE) for Spisula solidissima. The terminal goal is to identify a preferred management option that promotes enhanced surfclam productivity in the …


Dialect Use Within A Socially Fluid Group Of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus Orca, Courtney Elizabeth Smith Dec 2014

Dialect Use Within A Socially Fluid Group Of Southern Resident Killer Whales, Orcinus Orca, Courtney Elizabeth Smith

Master's Theses

Resident killer whales, Orcinus orca, of the Northeastern Pacific form stable kinship-based matrifocal associations and communicate with group-specific repertoires of discrete calls (dialects) that reflect these associations. The gradual fission of matrilines is usually consistent with dialect variations among groups that may manifest as differences in call usage at the repertoire level or subtle structural differences of the calls themselves. Therefore, matrilines that are more closely related tend to be more acoustically similar. Within the endangered community of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs), recent evidence shows that one particular group (L pod) exhibits the lowest rate of intrapod association …


The Ontogeny Of Whistle Production In Infant Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) During The First Thirty Days Of Life, Brittany Leigh Jones Aug 2014

The Ontogeny Of Whistle Production In Infant Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) During The First Thirty Days Of Life, Brittany Leigh Jones

Master's Theses

The manner in which dolphin calves acquire their whistle repertoire is largely unknown. This paper focuses on whistle development in four bottlenose dolphin calves during the first thirty days of life in order to increase our understanding of the early emergence of whistles and whistle-like vocalizations. The acoustic parameters of whistle-type vocalizations (i.e., whistles and whistlesquawks) that coincided with a bubblestream emission from the focal calf and/or its mother were analyzed, as were the behavioral states of the mother-calf pair during the emission of such vocals. Mother and calf whistle rates are inversely related, with the mother whistling more often …


A Description Of Vocalizations And Their Association With Mouthing Behaviors And Social Context In Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, Christina Elyse Perazio Aug 2014

A Description Of Vocalizations And Their Association With Mouthing Behaviors And Social Context In Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, Christina Elyse Perazio

Master's Theses

Dolphin communication is multimodal and incorporates physical behaviors and vocalizations. Dolphins often exchange information with conspecifics using different types of vocalizations, and these vocalizations are sometimes associated with specific behaviors. However, the relationship of vocalization type and mouthing behavior type has not been investigated. This thesis examines simultaneous acoustic and visual recordings of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to determine the relationship between type of mouthing behavior and type of vocalization (whistle, whistle-squawk, chirp, moan, burst-pulse type A, burst-pulse type B, and click trains). The role of the social context of a mouthing behavior is also evaluated. Data were obtained opportunistically …