PORT TOWNSEND — Researcher and citizen scientist Dave Bonnett will present recent findings about Amazonian pink river dolphins at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The free lecture at Fort Worden Chapel, 200 Battery Way, will mark the start of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s 2017-18 lecture series.
Bonnett has undertaken numerous trips into the Peruvian Amazon with his wife, Dottie, a marine biologist, to record and study the particular sounds of pink river dolphins and learn how ecosystem changes are impacting the species.
“Our main objective in the beginning was to investigate the efficacy of using underwater sound recordings, along with behavioral observations, to identify and count individuals,” Bonnett said.
“We have discovered a very complex world associated with Inia [pink dolphins] and are continuing to evolve and expand our research.”
Bonnett’s lecture also will focus on how his research relates to local species of Cetacea —whales, dolphins and porpoises — in the Salish Sea.
“There is a growing urgency to better understand this threatened species because of increasing anthropogenic pressures on both Inia and their habitat,” Bonnett said.
“This is a story that will be familiar to citizens of the Salish Sea.”
The center’s “Future of Oceans” lecture series, started in 2014, explores the frontiers of ocean research and emerging technologies while confronting the human capacity to understand and sustain healthy oceans.
To view the 2017-18 schedule of lectures, visit ptmsc.org/programs/learn/lecture-series.
