María José Amador Capitanachi

I am a Marine Biologist who graduated from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) in La Paz, Mexico. I have been involved in several projects based on pinnipeds that inhabit Mexican islands from the Mexican Pacific and Gulf of California (California sea lions, northern elephant seals, and harbor seals), especially analyzing the -Guadalupe fur seal- foraging ecology throughout its distribution. To get my B. Sc. degree I assessed trophic habits segregation between the only breeding rookery (Guadalupe Island) of the Guadalupe fur seal and the San Benito Archipelago, under recolonization. Now at days I am beginning my M. Sc. project at Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN) studying inter-annual isotopic niche variation of this fur seal during normal years and during years related to warm anomalies like El Niño and “The Blob” (2013-2016). In addition, I am working trying to establish a relationship between isotopic niches and foraging trips/habitat use, measured via telemetry (satelite-tagged individuals), in a strong collaboration with The Marine Mammal Center from El Sausalito, California.

May 2017