OSC report on Hector’s and Māui dolphins available online

Ocean Science Consulting NZ (Asia-Pacific) Limited (OSC-NZ) recently collaborated with colleagues at JASCO Applied Sciences (JASCO) and Cawthron Institute (New Zealand) to write a detailed literature review (Lucke et al., 2019) of potential non-fishing threats faced by Hector’s (Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori) and Māui dolphin (C. h. maui). The review was commissioned by Department of Conservation […]

OSC report on Hector’s and Māui dolphins available online

Ocean Science Consulting NZ (Asia-Pacific) Limited (OSC-NZ) recently collaborated with colleagues at JASCO Applied Sciences (JASCO) and Cawthron Institute (New Zealand) to write a detailed literature review (Lucke et al., 2019) of potential non-fishing threats faced by Hector’s (Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori) and Māui dolphin (C. h. maui). The review was commissioned by Department of Conservation […]

Duncan Mercer prize awarded

The Duncan Mercer prize is awarded by OSC to individuals of exceptional ability, achievement, and most importantly, those who have gone to greatest effort to help OSC (and its employees) with alacrity, in ways above and beyond what is expected. There is no periodicity to this prize, which can be awarded annually or when the […]

Life’s a drag: large whale entanglement

In early March 2019, a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was sighted in the Firth of Forth close to Edinburgh, Scotland (UK), entangled in static fishing gear (ropes and buoys associated with shellfish pots or creels). Despite the efforts of a large whale disentanglement team, releasing the whale from the gear was unsuccessful and the location […]

Publication of our article on changes in fish school characteristics

OSC are pleased to announce publication of the article Predictable changes in fish school characteristics due to a tidal turbine support structure in the peer-reviewed journal Renewable Energy. This manuscript was co-authored by our Research Analyst, Dr. Laura Williamson. Due to uncertainty on ecological effects of tidal stream turbines, and their increasing prevalence, concerns have […]

Publication of OSC’s newest Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) paper

We are pleased to announce publication of our third peer-reviewed paper of 2019 entitled: Characterizing the first wave of fish and invertebrate colonization on a new offshore petroleum platform, in the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) Journal of Marine Science. This paper used Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) data collected during routine […]

Are P values and hypothesis testing obsolete?

A normal day in the OSC office, pondering about science, and two things came up: Is hypothesis testing using p values still way forward in science? Do red unicorns exist? Yes, we did say that. Allow us to elaborate… In March 2019 the American Statistician published a special issue on ‘Statistical Inference in the 21st […]

Publication of our newest bat paper

We are pleased to announce the publication of our newest bat paper in Ecology and Evolution! Todd & Williamson (2019): Habitat usage of Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii), common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), and soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) in a North Wales upland river catchment. The detections of three species of bat were investigated along an altitudinal […]