Centro de Estudios para la
Conservación de Ecosistemas Marinos
Team Yaqu Pacha Chile
NEW PROJECT
Sonja Heinrich, Marjorie Fuentes, and Cayetano Espinosa constitute the management team of Yaqu Pacha Chile, who coordinate a multidisciplinary team that seeks to promote the conservation of ecologically and economically important coastal ecosystems through research and education.
Dr. Sonja Heinrich
Research leader
Sonja is the principal investigator of the Chiloé Small Cetacean Project. The Project and her research interests focus on abundance, distribution, ecology and conservation of small cetaceans (and other aquatic mammals). For most of the year Sonja is based at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) in Scotland and is a faculty member in the School of Biology at the University of St Andres where she oversees the taught Master’s programmes including the unique MSc in Marine Mammal Science.
Dr. Cayetano Espinosa-Miranda
Scientific coordinator
Cayetano is a Veterinarian and is interested in multidisciplinary research in the field of health of natural populations, innovating in the use of molecular techniques to understand the effects of human activities on individuals and to generate new evidence to promote the conservation of coastal environments. Currently, Cayetano is a professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile and an active member of the Veterinary Medical College of Chile.
Marjorie Fuentes
Education coordinator
Marjorie graduated as marine biologist from the Universidad de Valparaiso. Currently, she is the coordinator of the Navega con el Delfín Chileno project and is dedicated to the field of school education and environmental education for multiple audiences. Marjorie was nominated as one of the "Young Leaders in Marine Conservation Education in Chile" by the Chile-California Consortium, which includes universities from Chile, the United States, and government agencies from both countries.
Current students
Katie Knotek
MSc student
Katie is from North Carolina, USA. She recently completed her MSc in Marine Mammal Science at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. For her MSc thesis, she conducted a population viability analysis (PVA) of Chilean dolphins under different impact scenarios. The results will help identify which conservation threats have the greatest impact on Chilean dolphin populations. This will provide insight into which conservation issues should be the focus of further research and management.
Poliana Strange
MSc student
Poliana is Chilean and has been participating in Yaqu Pacha Chile's field work for more than 10 years. She is currently student in the Master's program in Oceanography at the University of Concepción in Chile. She is examining the niche and trophic overlap of the Chilean and southern dolphins in Northern Patagonia, through stable isotope analysis of skin biopsies collected in recent years. This will allow us to recognize a relevant part of the feeding ecology of these small cetaceans.
Javiera Nuñez
Marine Biology student
Javiera is student of Marine Biology at the Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile. Her thesis focuses on the evaluation of the level of antimicrobial sensitivity in bacteria isolated from the skin of Chilean dolphins that inhabit highly urbanized areas due to aquaculture. The experiments include a wide variety of antibiotics, including those commonly used in salmon farming. This will allow a better understanding of the relationship between dolphin health and disturbances in their habitat.
Previous students
Mariana Fragoso
MSc student
Mariana finished her Master's degree in Animal Sciences from the Universidade de Lisboa in Portugal. In her thesis, she evaluated the short-term effect of a biopsy collection protocol on the welfare of two dolphin species through a behavioural assessment. Her results supported the use of this method as a safe tool in research on the small cetaceans studied, resulting in a low short-term impact on their welfare.
Julia Haywood
MSc student
Julia is from the UK and finished her MSc in Marine Mammal Science in Scotland. For her thesis she used long-term sighting data from the Chiloé Small Cetacean Project to investigate the relationship between Chilean dolphins and their habitat in the Chiloé Archipelago, Chile. This has been used to identify by predictions their suitable habitat in the wider Chiloe-Taitao Ecoregion. Conservation and further research efforts can then be focused in these predicted dolphin ‘hotspots’.
Annie Post
MSc student
Annie is from Australia and finished her MSc in Marine Mammal Science. She evaluated the likely hotspots of Peale's dolphins across the Chiloe-Taitao Ecoregion, using pre-existing information about the relationship between these dolphins and their physical environment. This will allow for future research efforts to be focused on these areas, and also highlight potential areas of overlap with intense anthropogenic activities.
Diego finished his marine biology degree at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia. For his thesis he used C-PODs and static passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) to characterise seasonal patterns in habitat use by Chilean dolphins and to understand how that relates to human activities, such as salmon farming. Static PAM methods have proven to be an affordable and powerful tool in obtaining continuous information on dolphin occurrence throughout the year.
Diego Filún
Marine Biology student
Lea participated in the Chiloé Small Cetacean Project for many years as a volunteer. She worked on her bachelor thesis about the social structures of Chilean dolphins in southern Chiloé, evaluating their associative patterns with data collected during boat-based surveys over the past decade. Lea studied in biology degree at the University of Konstanz in southern Germany.
Lea Prox
Biology student
For her thesis, she investigated the fine-scale movement patterns and behaviour of chilean dolphins in Bahía Yaldad during summer and autumn. Franchesca used non-invasive land-based observations (from a 100 m high hillside), theodolite tracking (i.e. using a surveyor's instrument) and GIS (Geographic Information System) to map the dolphins' movements in, out and around Bahía Yaldad and the extensive mussel farms located there. Franchesca finished her marine biology degree at the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia.
Franchesca Sanzana
Marine Biology student
Collaborators
Prof Philip Hammond (University of St Andrews, UK), Dr Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse (UAQ, México), Dr Ricardo Antunes (Wildlife Conservation Society - Ocean Giants Programme, USA), Alexander Coram (University of St Andrews, UK), Carla Christie (Universidad Austral de Chile- UACh), Ignacio Garrido (UACh, Chile).