Mahseer Trust were delighted to be able to facilitate a talk organised by Bombay Natural History Society on aquatic telemetry, by MT supporter Dr Catherine Gutmann Roberts (Bournemouth University) and Thomas Stamp (University of Plymouth).
Catie and Tom took time out during a recent visit to India in March to give presentations on the use of aquatic telemetry in rivers, estuarine and marine studies at the Bombay Natural History Society headquarters.
The packed audience comprised members of BNHS, along with students from a local school. The session ended with a question and answer session where there were many great questions from students and members. Interesting discussions continued after the talk, with researchers in India interested in potentially using these methods on a range of animals, including fish, amphibians and birds.
Before the talk, Catie and Tom were shown around the impressive research collections held by BNHS, including specimens of critically endangered animals from India, including Pink-headed duck, last seen in 1949. They were also privileged to see some of the freshwater fish specimens collected by Unmesh Katwate and hear about the immense diversity of freshwater fish in India, with many still undocumented.
Telemetry studies (tagging and tracking animals with acoustic or radio tags) will be one of the key components of Project Mahseer, where we will be investigating the ecology and distribution of the Critically Endangered hump-backed mahseer in the Cauvery catchment of south India.
Catie is a supporter of Mahseer Trust who works alongside Trustees Adrian Pinder and Andy Harrison at Bournemouth University, and will be involved in the aquatic telemetry elements of Project Mahseer, where her experience and expertise will help inform project design of the wide-ranging ecology studies.