Striving Toward Responsible Viewing: An Evaluation of Dolphin-Watch Ecotour Operations in Clearwater, Florida

In the past decade, marine mammal tourism has increased dramatically in the United States. To promote sustainability of this industry while minimizing harassment, NOAA Fisheries has developed guidelines to encourage appropriate viewing practices among boaters. In Clearwater, Florida, NOAA Fisheries is developing a workshop to train commercial tour operators in responsible marine mammal viewing and effective interpretation. To assist in the development process, I evaluated the dolphin-watch tour operations to determine the operators’ compliance with the viewing guidelines, the structure of the interpretation programs of the tours, and dolphin behavior during interactions with tour vessels. During June 2003, I accompanied the tour vessels and recorded a total of 45 interactions between bottlenose dolphins and operators. During these interactions, operators adhered to all the guidelines approximately 60% of the time. The operators maintained complete compliance with the viewing time limit but failed to end encounters when dolphins exhibited possible disturbance behaviors. Operators frequently approached dolphins within 50 yards and used inappropriate techniques to maneuver around dolphins. Many of the operators presented information about basic dolphin biology, but very few included the MMPA regulations, the NOAA viewing guidelines, or other critical components of an effective interpretation program. These results indicate a strong need for the ecotour training workshop in Clearwater. In addition to attendance at the workshop, the development of a code of conduct specific to Clearwater operators would address possible cumulative impacts of the industry and promote self-enforcement. A monitoring program is also needed to manage tour operations and examine the long-term effects of ecotourism on the local bottlenose dolphin population

Predicting response times in processor-sharing queues

Abstract. We investigate the possibility of reliably predicting response times in real time (e.g., at the time a job arrives) in the M/G/1 processor-sharing queue. The proposed prediction is the conditional mean given current state information. We consider several forms of state information, always including the remaining service requirement of the job of interest and the number of other jobs in the system. We consider three cases for the other jobs ’ service requirements: First, we assume that all the remaining service requirements are known; second, we assume that the amount of completed work of each customer in service is known; and third, we assume that nothing more is known. We thus are able to study the value of different kinds of information. We calculate the conditional mean and variance of the response time, given the state information, by numerically inverting Laplace transforms. We evaluate the reliability by looking at the ratio of the standar

A review of marine mammal records of Cuba

There has been very little research on marine mammals in Cuban waters. Much of the information on marine mammals in this region is buried in historical and gray literature. In order to provide a comprehensive account of marine mammal occurrence in Cuba’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), we reviewed and verified 659 published and unpublished sighting, stranding, capture, and tagging records. Eighteen extant species and four genera have confirmed records for Cuban EEZ waters. This includes 17 species of cetaceans (three baleen whales and 14 toothed whales) and one sirenian species. An additional 11 cetacean species and one extant pinniped species have been reported, but not confirmed, or may have the potential to occur in Cuban waters. Historical records of the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) are documented in Cuba; however, this species is now considered extinct. The only two species that are seen regularly and considered common in Cuban nearshore waters are the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus)

A review of marine mammal records of Cuba

There has been very little research on marine mammals in Cuban waters. Much of the information on marine mammals in this region is buried in historical and gray literature. In order to provide a comprehensive account of marine mammal occurrence in Cuba’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), we reviewed and verified 659 published and unpublished sighting, stranding, capture, and tagging records. Eighteen extant species and four genera have confirmed records for Cuban EEZ waters. This includes 17 species of cetaceans (three baleen whales and 14 toothed whales) and one sirenian species. An additional 11 cetacean species and one extant pinniped species have been reported, but not confirmed, or may have the potential to occur in Cuban waters. Historical records of the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) are documented in Cuba; however, this species is now considered extinct. The only two species that are seen regularly and considered common in Cuban nearshore waters are the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus)

Cover Crops on Livestock Operations: Potential for Expansion in the United States

Cover crops can provide environmental benefits, and their use is increasing across the United States. Cover crops can also be costly to implement. The literature suggests that for livestock operations, grazing or harvesting cover crops for forage can be profitable due to the forage benefit. However, a new analysis of Federal data shows that around 14 percent of cattle operations with cropland grew cover crops in 2017. Certain types of cattle operations are more likely to report cover crop use. Dairy and feedlot operations are more than twice as likely to use cover crops as cattle operations overall (33 percent of dairy and 27 percent of feedlot operations), and many operations with cover crops report grazing them or harvesting them for forage. In 2021, 72 percent of dairy operations and 89 percent of cow-calf operations with cover crops reported harvesting or grazing at least some cover crop acreage, which suggests the forage value of cover crops may be a driver of adoption on those operations. Finally, this report discusses the potential for integrating cover crops and livestock systems in the United States (as well as barriers) and presents several research opportunities that could address knowledge gaps

Cover Crops on Livestock Operations: Potential for Expansion in the United States

Cover crops can provide environmental benefits, and their use is increasing across the United States. Cover crops can also be costly to implement. The literature suggests that for livestock operations, grazing or harvesting cover crops for forage can be profitable due to the forage benefit. However, a new analysis of Federal data shows that around 14 percent of cattle operations with cropland grew cover crops in 2017. Certain types of cattle operations are more likely to report cover crop use. Dairy and feedlot operations are more than twice as likely to use cover crops as cattle operations overall (33 percent of dairy and 27 percent of feedlot operations), and many operations with cover crops report grazing them or harvesting them for forage. In 2021, 72 percent of dairy operations and 89 percent of cow-calf operations with cover crops reported harvesting or grazing at least some cover crop acreage, which suggests the forage value of cover crops may be a driver of adoption on those operations. Finally, this report discusses the potential for integrating cover crops and livestock systems in the United States (as well as barriers) and presents several research opportunities that could address knowledge gaps