Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 7 December 2007, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Jay Willis
QMS PhD Student
University of Tasmania

Musings on the psyche of big fish

My PhD is about improving how big fast predators are represented in marine ecosystem models. They are a challenge because they move long distances quickly and, as apex predators, can have a high impact relative to their biomass. But the real challenge lies in their capacity to exhibit complex behaviour. So I have attacked the problem with a selection of individual based models, evolutionary theory, and experiments. I have tried to answer diverse questions such as: When do they come and when do they go? Where has all the krill gone? (we were expecting a massive surplus after whaling). How do tuna navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field? How do tuna organize themselves into teams? How do you measure the composition of a 20 kg of muscular fish in less than 10 seconds without harming it? Why should we? And I finish off with a simple model of 50,000 tuna flicking around the Great Australian Bight as an example of how small truths may cause large impacts. So it’s a wide ranging miscellanea which looks at these marvelous animals in a different light, and is unafraid of rabid speculation in the search for truth and entertainment.

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Bernadette Sloyan, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5152
Thomas Kunz, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5076
Natalie Dowling, (Fisheries Modelling) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5148
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5456
Sandra Zicus, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 7888
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/12/07