Ana Eguiguren (Ph.D. Student): The evolution of sperm whales' social structure is hypothesized to be driven by the need to cooperatively care for their young as they roam the oceans. Leveranging a unique dataset of aerial recordings of sperm whale surface behaviour off the Galápagos Islands, I investigate the potential underlying mechanisms and proximate functions of sperm whale society in the region. Namely, I am interested in analyizing affiliative behaviours among sperm whales and their defense responses towards other odontocetes.
Christine Konrad (Ph.D. Student): Much of what we don't know about sperm whales, especially for males, is tied to their global distribution and nomadic movements, which make tackling big picture questions challenging. For my research, I aim to bring together data and insights from field data collected by the Whitehead Lab and other collaborators across different ocean basins to address questions of broad patterns in movement and behaviour, with a focus on male sperm whales.
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