Yotam Eldar Zuriel

Project:

Space and resource partitioning of the two coastal dolphins present in the southern Israeli Mediterranean coast

Academic Education:

BSc – Marine Biology, Ruppin Academic Center (Michmoret), Israel  (2007-2010)

M.A – Department of Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa, Israel (2018-2020)

Background:

Yotam has started his Ph.D. with  Prof. Dan Tchernov, Dr. Aviad Scheinin and Dr. Dan Kerem as part of the top predators laboratory at the station. During his Masters, he examined the effects of human fishing activities on the ecology and habitat utilization of western and eastern Mediterranean common bottlenose dolphin communities.

Current Research:

In his Ph.D. work, he aims to assess the space and resource partitioning of the two coastal dolphins present in the Israeli Mediterranean coast, the common bottlenose dolphins and the common dolphin. This will allow a deeper understanding of dolphin requirements, in order to restore and preserve a sustainable ecosystem. In addition, his work involves creating a database that will allow the examination of negative effects caused by anthropogenic activities, direct or indirect. On top of that, he is working on developing an acoustic classification of the two species.

Publications:

• Y.E. Zuriel, N. Levi Avshalom, I. van Rijn, L. Livne, O. Galili, D. Tchernov, A.P. Scheinin and D. Kerem (2023). Multi-year passive acoustic monitoring of coastal dolphins along the Israeli Mediterranean shallow shelf reveals the impact of marine fish farms and trawling patterns on their habitat utilization. Marine Environmental Research, Volume 188, 106014.