Profile

Prof Sascha Hooker
Professor
My research concerns specifically the foraging and diving behaviour of marine predators and more generally how this can inform conservation planning in the ocean.
Current Projects
Marine predator foraging ecology
Work on predator foraging often relies on inference from dive profiles. Using a miniature video camera attached to the animal we can view the foraging space of a diving animal and test previously used proxies for foraging behaviour. The identification of foraging areas and assessment of the stability of these over time and space enable us to investigate variability in foraging success and the criteria driving this (whether anthropogenically or environmentally induced).
Diving physiology
The mechanisms allowing marine mammals to avoid problems associated with diving to depth are still only partially understood. Recent deaths of beaked whales associated with sonar exposure appear to be due to decompression sickness. I am interested in how problems such as shallow-water blackout and decompression sickness are avoided, and use modelling approaches to determine risk based on dive profiles.
Conservation planning and marine protected areas
An ecosystem-approach is widely advocated in conservation planning but ecosystem modelling approaches, despite their sophistication, often suffer from a lack of source data or inherent uncertainties. An alternative is to use spatially explicit management. I am interested in the application of such marine reserve areas to higher predators.
Research Overview:
I have broad interests in foraging and diving behaviour of marine mammals, and the physiological constraints underlying this. I am keen to apply my work wherever possible toward conservation biology, and have worked on introduced pest species, the effect of anthropogenic sounds, contaminants, and the development of marine protected areas.
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Contact Details:
Prof Sascha HookerScottish Oceans Institute
East Sands
University of St Andrews
St Andrews
KY16 8LB
Fife
UK
tel: 01334 467201
fax: 01334 463443
room: 1.10
email: sh43@st-andrews.ac.uk
Related:
research@st-andrewsPersonal web page
Sea Mammal Research Unit
Biology Management Group
School of Biology
Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences
IBANS Behavioural Ecology
Centre for Biological Diversity
Scottish Oceans Institute
BDG
Biology Equality and Diversity Committee
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