Patricia is a research marine biologist with
extensive background in marine ecology and
fisheries resources with over five years
experience in marine mammal research and
scientific expeditions. She is a qualified
MMO and scientific scuba-diver whose
involvement in marine projects have taken
her to the Canary and Balearic Islands
(Spain), Alborán Sea (Mediterranean), Wales,
Scotland and Norway. After graduating in
Marine Biology, she initiated her PhD
research on 'age
determination in small odontocetes as a
relevant tool in the study of population
biology and life history." Her research
provided essential information to the
conservation project called “causes of death
in stranded cetaceans from the Canaries
Island” in terms of quantifying the
reproductive potential of a population,
survival rates, and individual growth rates.
During her PhD, she obtained a master of
research in marine and fisheries resources
science from the University of Vigo, Spain
in 2004. For this she investigated two common
histological techniques used for age
determination of small cetaceans using teeth
from stranded and bycatch animals
from the Canary and Scottish waters. The
result of this study was presented at the
2005 ECS conference held in La Rochelle
(France). She
also investigated the presence of
mineralization anomalies found in the tooth
ultra-structure linked to live history
events and environmental parameters.
Her interest in the conservation of marine
mammal populations began in the Cardigan Bay
(Wales), a candidate as a Special Area of
Conservation (SAC), where she assisted in
bottlenose dolphin and harbour
porpoise research on board a whale
watching boat. This work included
photography, boat operation, acoustic
monitoring as well as educational work with
volunteers who helped with the task of
gathering data during the surveys. Patricia
was also involved as a
marine mammal observer on a sperm whale
(Physeter macrocephalus) acoustic
survey around the Canary and Balearic’s
islands, investigating several aspects
regarding population biology, abundance,
spatial and temporal distribution as well as
the interpretation of their increased
mortality associated to human activities.
Throughout her years in
the field, she has gained wide practical
experience in marine mammal survey
techniques that include
photo-identification, video tracking,
acoustic monitoring, distance sampling,
biopsy, GIS, boat handling and wildlife
guide work. Most recently Patricia was
involved as a marine mammal observer on a
commercial pelagic trawler engaged in the
mackerel and herring fisheries in waters off
the North East of Scotland, between Shetland
and Norway. This work investigated the
spatial and temporal distribution of killer
whales encounters within the fishing area,
describing the whales and their feeding
behaviour during the whole fishing
operation. Also investigated was whether
there is any evidence that these encounters
have adverse consequences for the whales or
for the fishery (publication has recently
accepted by the Aquatic Living Resources
journal).
A keen advocate of marine conservation she
has been involved in the development of
marine awareness programmes in Spain, giving
educational public talks about marine
mammal biology, distribution and behaviour.
