Gustavo is a marine biologist who loves
working in the field with marine mammals. He
feels lucky for having worked for more that
5 years in the Gulf of California (GC), one
of the areas with the highest diversity of
marine mammals in the world. He graduated in
2004 from the Universidad Autónoma of Baja
California Sur (UABCS), México. His bachelor
studies were focused on the gray whale
mortality in the western coast of the
Peninsula of Baja California, collaborating
in surveys from 2001 to 2003 on the calving
lagoons of this friendly whale.
His
experience as a marine mammal observer (MMO)
includes aerial surveys and cruises in all
the GC to estimate the abundance and
population status of cetaceans (2003 to
2006) and aerial surveys to monitor the
potential impacts of anthropogenic sounds
caused by a seismological research vessel on
beaked whales in 2002. Besides, since 2001,
he has worked as MMO, boat operator and
collector of whale’s skin biopsies (toothed
whales and baleen whales) in different
projects of the Marine Mammal Research
Program of UABCS (coordinator Dr. Jorge
Urbán). As a MMO, he feels proud of having
collaborated during 3 years in the GC in the
international project SPLASH (Structure
Population, Levels of Abundance and Status
of Humpbacks) and in a cruise aboard the R/V
Oscar Dyson of NOAA in Alaska in 2005.
Since 2004 he has been working as research
associate for a beaked whale project in
collaboration with SCRIPPS, collecting data
for his Master thesis on beaked whales
habitat in the southwest GC. Thanks to this
project he has acquired much experience as
an MMO since he has conducted surveys
monthly in small and medium size boats and 3
surveys aboard the R/V Gordon Sproul of
SCRIPPS, as well as experience in the
elaboration of surveys reports of marine
mammals. The preliminary results on
distribution and relative abundance of
beaked whales was presented as a poster
session at the 16th Biennial
Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals
and the advances of this project will be
presented as a oral presentation in the 1st
International Meeting on the Study of
Aquatic Mammals, SOMEMMA-SOLAMAC. His
experience with beaked whales includes the
study on the third mass stranding world
level of Baird’s beaked whale on San José
Island, BCS. (July 2006) where he really
enjoyed to collect samples of skin, teeth,
stomach content and skulls. The publication
about the stranding is in preparation.
In
addition, he is a
teaching assistant for the marine mammal’s
class in the Marine Biology Major of the
UABCS.
