Thank you for showing an interest in this project.  Please read this information sheet carefully before deciding whether or not to participate.  If you decide to participate we thank you. If you decide not to take part, there will be no disadvantage to you and we thank you for considering our request.

This research aims to: identify the behaviour of leopard seals around people in New Zealand. To inform better management of leopard seals in NZ.

We want to hear from anyone who has had an encounter with a leopard seal in an urban area. Participation will involve filling out the below form, which should take approximately 5 minutes (depending on number of encounters) and, if further detail is required, a semi-structured interview over the phone with the main questions approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee. The interview should take approximately 30 minutes to complete depending on the amount of discussion required. You may at any time decline to answer a question or be removed from the study without any disadvantage to yourself of any kind.

All contact information you provide will be kept securely and only used for the purposes of this study. The information you provide will be assigned a unique code in an effort to keep your identity anonymous, you will be provided with this code so that you may update your information at a later date. This interview will be recorded so that a transcript can be made to ensure the information you provide is recorded accurately.

For the purposes of this study, every effort will be made to maintain your anonymity. All data collected will be confidential and securely stored to only be used for the purposes of this research.  Once the voice recording has been transcribed it will be destroyed. Personal details will be destroyed at the completion of the research. All other data will be retained for at least 5 years in secure storage. Please note the data derived from the research will, in most cases, be kept for much longer or possibly indefinitely.

You will have the choice to be contacted with the results of the study or to contact us at your discretion. To receive updates on the research please visit the LeopardSeals.org Facebook page: Leopard Seals NZ. The results of the project may be published and will be available in the University of Otago Library (Dunedin, New Zealand).

If you have any questions about our project, either now or in the future, please feel free to contact either: Giverny Forbes, Department of Zoology, Email Address: forgi603@student.otago.ac.nz or Professor Elizabeth Slooten, Department of Zoology, Phone: 64-3-479-7980, Email Address: liz.slooten@otago.ac.nz

If you have decided not to take part you may exit the survey.