Feeding Flipper: a case study of a humandolphin interaction

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh Finn ◽  
Rebecca Donaldson ◽  
Michael Calver
Keyword(s):  
Food Reinforcement ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Recreational Fishing ◽  
Encounter Rates ◽  
Dolphin Population ◽  
Feeding Sources ◽  
Feeding Interactions

We document a human-dolphin interaction involving the illegal feeding of wild Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia from 1993-2003. In 1993 only one dolphin was considered conditioned to human interaction through food reinforcement. By 2001, 16% (n = 12) of the resident community of 74 adult dolphins were conditioned, and at least 14 dolphins were conditioned by 2003. Of the 13 conditioned dolphins of known sex, 11 (85%) were males. We observed conditioned dolphins initiating interactions by approaching recreational fishing boats and by residing for several hours at boat ramps and shore-based fishing sites. We only observed recreational fishers feeding dolphins, although anecdotal reports indicated additional feeding sources. We used belt transects to determine the densities of recreational boats and encounter rates for conditioned dolphins across habitats within Cockburn Sound. Encounter rates and boat densities were positively correlated, suggesting an association between recreational boat density and the ranging patterns of conditioned dolphins. This study demonstrates how illegal feeding interactions can intensify over time to affect a potentially biologically significant proportion of a local dolphin population. This emphasizes the need for early and pro-active intervention and demonstrates the value of longitudinal, individual-specific wildlife studies.

Illegal feeding increases risk of boat-strike and entanglement in Bottlenose Dolphins in Perth, Western Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Donaldson ◽  
H. Finn ◽  
M. Calver
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Food Reinforcement ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Risk Of Injury ◽  
Data Support ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

One reason for the legislative restrictions on feeding dolphins in many parts of the world is the putative increased risk of injury to dolphins conditioned to human interaction through food reinforcement. However, there are few empirical data to support this. Here, we present data for a population of Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops sp. in Cockburn Sound, in the city of Perth, Western Australia, indicating higher incidence of boat strike injury and fishing line entanglement for dolphins conditioned to taking food from humans, compared to others in the population that were not conditioned. The data support prohibitions on feeding dolphins and rigorous enforcement of existing regulations.

The Role of Constraints and Human Interaction in Evolving MEMS Designs: Microresonator Case Study

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffi Kamalian ◽  
Alice M. Agogino ◽  
Hideyuki Takagi
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithms ◽  
Geometric Constraints ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Design System ◽  
Current State ◽  
Mems Resonator ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
Generative Methods

In this paper we review the current state of automated MEMS synthesis with a focus on generative methods. We use the design of a MEMS resonator as a case study and explore the role that geometric constraints and human interaction play in a computer-aided MEMS design system based on genetic algorithms.

scholarly journals Automated Feedback Is Nice and Human Presence Makes It Better: Teachers’ Perceptions of Feedback by Means of an E-Portfolio Enhanced with Learning Analytics

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
Pihel Hunt ◽  
Äli Leijen ◽  
Marieke van der Schaaf
Keyword(s):  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Electronic Portfolio ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Automated Feedback ◽  
Development Course

While there is now extensive research on feedback in the context of higher education, including pre-service teacher education, little has been reported regarding the use of feedback from teachers to other teachers. Moreover, literature on the potential advantages that the use of technology, for example electronic portfolios and learning analytics, has in improving feedback in the in-service workplace practices, is also sparse. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory case study was to explore how in-service teachers perceived the peer feedback they received and provided through a web-based electronic portfolio during a professional development course carried out in their workplace. Questionnaire and interview data were collected from 38 teachers who received feedback through a learning analytics enhanced electronic portfolio and from 23 teachers who received feedback only by the electronic portfolio. Additionally, one individual and four focus group interviews were conducted with 15 teachers who were the feedback providers. Several common topics were identified in the interviews with the feedback receivers and providers, involving the benefits and challenges of human interaction and the flexibility of the feedback process that the electronic portfolio offered. The results also revealed better feedback experience within the group of teachers who received extra feedback by means of learning analytics. It is concluded that although an electronic portfolio provides a useful tool in terms of flexibility in the provision and receipt of feedback, the need for human interaction was acknowledged.

Communicating emotions in L2 Chinese: Talk in the dorm during study abroad

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-359
Author(s):  
Qian Wu
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Genetic Method ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oral Interaction

AbstractCommunication of emotion is at the heart of human interaction. For second language (L2) learners, the ability to communicate one’s emotion is crucial, especially in the context of study abroad when they are in frequent contact with native speakers. The aim of the case study is to investigate how an American sojourner Puppies and her Chinese roommate Kiki (both pseudonyms) participated in conversational narratives in the dormitory to construct emotions, and how the contextualized interaction facilitated Puppies’ development of a linguistic repertoire for the expression of emotion in Chinese. Informed by Vygotskian sociocultural theory, the study followed the genetic method in tracing the history of Puppies’ Chinese emotional repertoire across the semester, thereby elucidating the language developmental processes in the situated oral interaction. Audio-recorded everyday interaction in the dorm is triangulated by Puppies’ responses to the pre- and post-Mandarin Awareness Interview and interviews with Puppies and Kiki. Analysis revealed that the contextualized dorm talk provided abundant L2 resources for Puppies to develop a L2 emotional repertoire, especially fear-related emotion expressions. A discrepancy in the product of development as gleaned from the Mandarin Awareness Interview, and the process of development as seen in the naturally occurring dorm talk, suggests that Puppies’ use or non-use of local emotional expressions could be mediated by her partial understanding of the forms and the speech style and identity she wished to assume.

scholarly journals On the behaviour of an under-studied population of bottlenose dolphins in the Southern Adriatic Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavio Affinito ◽  
Cristobal Olaya Meza ◽  
Aylin Akkaya Bas ◽  
Deborah Brill ◽  
Guy Whittaker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphin ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Social Predictors ◽  
Dolphin Population ◽  
Autumn And Winter ◽  
Effective Conservation ◽  
Study Monitoring

AbstractPerhaps the world's best-known cetacean, the bottlenose dolphin shows considerable variation in behaviour between and within populations in relation to differences in natural and anthropogenic conditions. Drivers of behavioural variation need to be identified to understand the dynamics of wild dolphin populations. Little research has been published on the bottlenose dolphin population found in the Southern Adriatic Sea. Using a set of spatial, temporal and social predictors, we aimed to investigate what variables are related to the behaviour of an under-studied population of bottlenose dolphins along the coastline of Montenegro. We present the results of a year-long study monitoring the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins along coastal Montenegro. We considered the effect of topography, seasonality and group size. A large proportion of travelling (55%) small groups (mean 4, range 1–9) in shallow waters (<50 m) was observed. We showed that seasonality alone explained behaviour best, with surface-feeding and socializing-resting increasing in autumn and winter. Group size was found to be a result of behavioural choice. We suggest seasonal changes in environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressure may explain the recorded behavioural pattern. This research points to the necessity of increased collaboration in the region to help understand complex patterns in behaviour and habitat use of local dolphin populations if effective conservation measures are to be developed.

scholarly journals The Application of Affective Computing Technology to E-Learning

2014 ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
Nik Thompson ◽  
Tanya Jane McGill
Keyword(s):  
Affective Computing ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Tutoring Systems ◽  
User Input ◽  
E Learning ◽  
New Generation

This chapter discusses the domain of affective computing and reviews the area of affective tutoring systems: e-learning applications that possess the ability to detect and appropriately respond to the affective state of the learner. A significant proportion of human communication is non-verbal or implicit, and the communication of affective state provides valuable context and insights. Computers are for all intents and purposes blind to this form of communication, creating what has been described as an “affective gap.” Affective computing aims to eliminate this gap and to foster the development of a new generation of computer interfaces that emulate a more natural human-human interaction paradigm. The domain of learning is considered to be of particular note due to the complex interplay between emotions and learning. This is discussed in this chapter along with the need for new theories of learning that incorporate affect. Next, the more commonly applicable means for inferring affective state are identified and discussed. These can be broadly categorized into methods that involve the user’s input and methods that acquire the information independent of any user input. This latter category is of interest as these approaches have the potential for more natural and unobtrusive implementation, and it includes techniques such as analysis of vocal patterns, facial expressions, and physiological state. The chapter concludes with a review of prominent affective tutoring systems in current research and promotes future directions for e-learning that capitalize on the strengths of affective computing.

Why are Local Authorities Reluctant to Externalise (and Do They Have Good Reason)?

10.1068/c0419 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Entwistle
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
Theoretical Support

In vogue with the international currents of public management, the United Kingdom's New Labour government sees the outsourcing, or externalisation, of public service delivery as a key instrument of performance improvement. Evidence suggests, however, that a significant proportion of local authorities are reluctant to externalise. On the basis of fifty interviews in six case-study authorities, the author identifies five reasons for a reluctance to externalise. He further considers the degree of theoretical support for this reluctance, concluding that gaps in our knowledge—critical to ‘make or buy’ decisions—make it impossible to determine whether a reluctance to externalise is well founded or not.

Distance does matter: close approaches by boats impede feeding and resting behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Steckenreuter ◽  
Robert Harcourt ◽  
Luciana Möller
Keyword(s):  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Empirical Measures ◽  
Resting Behaviour ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Dolphin Population ◽  
Direction Of Movement ◽  
Dolphin Watching

Context Potential impacts of human disturbance on animal populations can be measured as behavioural responses and may affect the survival and fecundity of animals. In areas where human–wildlife interactions occur, conservation management needs to be in place to secure both a viable tourism industry and the sustainability of the targeted species. Aims We sought to evaluate whether different approach distances by boat have effects on the behaviour and group cohesion of dolphins that are targeted by Australia’s largest dolphin-watching industry. Methods The effects of different approach distances of boats on the behavioural states of dolphins, group dispersal and direction of movement were investigated in this area by controlled boat experiments conducted between August 2008 and December 2009. Key results Results showed that there was significantly less feeding when boats approached dolphin groups to a distance of 50 m than when they did to a distance of 150 m, or with controlled approaches. Resting was also observed significantly less when boats approached to a distance of 50 m than when they approached to a distance of 150 m. The dispersal of dolphin groups was significantly tighter (less dispersed) when boats approached to 50 m than that with 150-m-distance or controlled approaches. Furthermore, the dolphins’ direction of movement was less neutral when the experimental boat approaches were carried out at a distance of 50 m than when they were carried out at a distance of 150 m, or with controlled approaches. Similar results were also obtained for dolphin groups including calves. Conclusions On the basis of the results from this study, we recommend that the existing New South Wales regulations, which stipulate that dolphin-watching boats keep a distance of 50 m to groups with adults only and 150 m to groups with calves, are maintained within the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park (PSGLMP). Implications Management plans whose stated goals include both sustainability of a dolphin-watching industry and longer-term viability of a dolphin population may reconcile conflicting objectives and improve their decision making by using these empirical measures rather than best guesses.

Case Study Findings from Human Interaction with Web E-Services

2012 ◽  
pp. 257-276
Author(s):  
Kamaljeet Sandhu
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
User Requirements ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Insight Into

Case study findings may provide a deeper insight into human interaction with web e-services. The qualitative data that was captured in this study suggests that human interaction with web e-services may make the user task difficult, and that the user expectation about the system not meeting user requirements may downgrade the system’s use. Introducing an e-services system without integrating the user-friendly characteristics may have the effect of introducing complexity. Initial staff impressions of the system were formed on the basis of their expectations. When task outcomes did not meet their expectations, staff tried and then avoided its use.

How Climate Change and Human Interaction Alter Chemical Regime in Salt Lakes, Case Study: Lake Urmia, Aral Sea, the Dead Sea, and Lake Issyk-Kul

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniy V. Yakushev ◽  
Natalia Yu. Andrulionis ◽  
Mahnaz Jafari ◽  
Hamid A. K. Lahijani ◽  
Peygham Ghaffari
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Salt Lakes ◽  
Lake Urmia ◽  
Study Lake ◽  
The Dead
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