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gue 1w1 ph UNIVERSITY N EWS BULLET! N Volume 21 Number 10 March 10, 1977 Annual hunt begins March 16 University scientists to take seal census A team of reseach scientists from the University Professor C.K. Capstick, formerly chairman of be on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence of Guelph and the Ministry of the Environment the University's Department of Computing and conducting a behavioral study of the seals and is stationed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, hoping Information Science. He'll photograph the collecting tissue samples for lab work, includ- for a sunny day to begin its seal-hunting expe- same seals in specially marked areas from a ing studies on reproduction and the effects of dition. It will take two days of good weather Gazelle helicopter, flying at 244 metres and pesticides. to complete the photographic survey of the 160 km/hr. When the French-made helicopter The "model" will be used to assess the Gulf. The crew will then move north to has finished its passes, men will walk through status of the seal herds, population dynamics, repeat the procedure off the Labrador coast. the marked area and count the seals, some of the effect of manipulation of stock size, and Meanwhile, sealing ships are lying in wait which may be hidden under ice ledges. Wayne man's utilization of the animal. for the start of the annual hunt which has King from Zoology and two government Scientists generally agree, says Prof. Capstick, been pushed back to March 16 to allow comple- scientists will complete the ground crew. that the seal herd has diminished in size by tion of the census. The season would normally The entire procedure will be repeated in at half since the first aerial survey in 1951. start on March 12, just after pupping is finished. least 10 areas of the ice in the Gulf of St. Estimates on this year's pup production range The photographic census is being conducted Lawrence and 10 more areas off the Labrador from University figures at 250,000 to those by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing as coast. The census must be exact, says Prof. used by government at 320,000. A successful part of a three-year project to construct a Capstick, and it must be completed in both census expedition will show who's computer mathematical model of the harp seal population. seal herds in the same year to guarantee an model is correct. Professor Keith Ronald, dean of the College of accurate picture of the total seal population. The quota for harp seals in this year's hunt Biological Science, heads the project which is Foul weather got in the way last year, he adds. is 160,000. Another 15,000 hood seals will funded by a $165,000 grant from the Donner The Gulf herd broke up as the ice moved also be taken. The latter pose a completely Canadian Foundation. rapidly into the Atlantic and a storm grounded different problem when it comes to census- The census utilizes ultra violet photography the DC3 in St. Johns so the aerial photography taking, says Prof. Capstick. Hood seals do not developed by project member Professor David off Labrador had to be abandoned. If the congregate in large herds as do the harp seals, Lavigne, Department of Zoology. The seal 1977 census is successful, it will provide de- but tend to be more dispersed on the ice in pups show up on the film as black dots in a tailed figures which will need updating only small family groups. Later this month, Prof. sea of white because their fur absorbs the ultra every five years or so. Capstick hopes to locate and photograph a violet light while the snow reflects it. The census information, combined with herd of hood seals which was reported last Prof. Lavigne is in charge of photographic information from University laboratory work year in the Davis Straits, north of Frobisher operations from a DC3. With assistance from and on-ice research, will be used to develop a Bay. ❑ graduate student Wayne Barchard, they will "model" of the harp seal population contain- photograph the entire seal herd at 1220 metres ing facts on population size, pup production, Open House then sub-sample at 305 metres. mortality and reproductive rates. The accuracy of the DC3 survey will be While the aerial photography is being tested by ground-truth operations directed by completed, research associate Rob Stewart will this weekend The University of Guelph expresses its inter- dependence with the City of Guelph in the theme for this year's College Royal and Open House — "Working Together, Growing To- gether." During Open House this weekend, March 12 and 13, the University will present a display depicting the evolution of Guelph during its 150 years. Almost every building on campus will be open Saturday and Sunday, inviting Guelphites and all University friends to tour the facilities. Students from each University department have organized displays, exhibits and special activities to interest and entertain their visitors. The University Centre building will be one of the busiest spots on campus during Grand Show Day on Saturday, March 12. The court- A helicopter swoops over a field behind the Biological Science building in a test run held recently Continued on page 7. of the first accurate aerial census of the harp seal population. Information board placed in Library Inter-university seminar Why is it that the Library closes everything up just on statistical methods about the time the students are ready to start work? There's never anyone around to answer questions A large number of statistical techniques have after 9 o'clock, and week-ends are a dead loss if you been developed in the last 20 years in order want something special. to help the investigator in the complex task . Isn't there better equipment on the market for of extracting the available information from photo-copying? The stuff you've got never seems to a set of cross-classified categorical data. More be working or else it's always running out of paper. recently, some easily conceptualized statistical . Why must I go over to Vet. Sci. for books that models have been developed. These new have nothing to do with Vets? methods unify the previous approaches and Are these the kind of questions that are provide the research worker with a systematic, bothering you? If so, you're not alone. But yet flexible method of analyzing discrete data. it's not so much the question as where to ask An expository talk on the use of these it that generates frustration. methods in the analysis of multivariate dis- Over the years the Library has learned that crete data will be presented by Dr. Stephen enquiries about books or journals, or questions E. Fienberg, University of Minnesota, Thurs- concerning materials to cover course content day, March 10 at 3:10 p.m. in Room 113, Question and reply sheets were reported to have are not the only kinds of interest that users Physical Science. Dr. Fienberg will illustrate covered the Library's "Question/Answer have in the system. At the beginning the many his talk with examples from both the biologi- Board" last week. reader service stations and information desks cal and social sciences. All users of statistical were set up at convenient locations as a means housed. These changes in themselves seldom methods for the analysis of discrete data of answering what might be considered as create problems in the minds of the users, but should find this talk of interest. "normal" library type questions, but it soon the policies which dictated them, or the This talk is the first of three lectures on became apparent some user concerns were changes in policy which resulted from them the analysis of discrete data and is part of based more on policy than on location. It are often the subject of much concern. the Inter-University Statistical Seminar Series was also clear that many of these questions For the Library, two problems have resulted: which is sponsored by the Universities of ❑ could not be answered readily, nor in sufficient How do we find out what the questions are? Guelph, McMaster, Waterloo and Western. detail,at the established enquiry points. How do we answer them? In preparing for McLaughlin Library, the In an effort to resolve both of these prob- lems at one stroke, the Library has established planners stressed the need for maximum flexi- Development courses a "Question/Answer Board" in the McLaughlin bility. There is no question but that the Library Library. It is located at the top of the stairs in computing has taken advantage of the foresight of that leading from the coffee lounge, at the left group, and has altered not only the location For the fifth successive year, the Institute of of the entrance/exit turnstiles. The present of several collections in order to better meet Computer Science will offer a series of pro- plan is to ask users with questions about the the needs of the user, but the very shape of fessional development seminars geared specifi- system in general, or any part in particular, to the space in which those collections are cally to the needs of programmers, analysts, drop their enquiries into the box on the cork- supervisory personnel, and managers. Five Library gains access to board. Those questions will then be directed intensive seminars have been designed and will to the appropriate and responsible individual be presented by faculty under the technical CAB data base within the Library for response.

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