SeaDoc Blog
Whale Tales: Cetacean Stranding Response and Medicine in the Pacific Northwest
In January 2012, Joe Gaydos gave a talk at the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, FL, entitled, "Whale Tales: Cetacean Stranding Response and Medicine in the Pacific Northwest."
The talk is fairly technical (after all, the audience was all veterinarians), but Joe livened it up with a few videos of exploding whales.
Seriously.
As the whales decompose, gasses build up inside the body cavity. If the pressure isn't released properly, the whale bursts. Sometimes this happens when someone cuts into the carcass (watch video). But it can also happen spontaneously, as with this whale being transported through a city in Taiwan (watch video).
See all the exploding whale videos we collected on our YouTube channel.
Here are a few highlights from the full talk:
"Stranded marine mammal carcasses once were used as food and some of the first laws enacted in New England Colonies were to establish the ownership of beached whale carcasses. Later stranded marine mammals provided animals for museums, live displays and scientific information about little-known species. Today they still provide us with important data on marine mammals and marine mammal populations. Strandings help us to document range expansions for marine mammal species and provide details on marine mammal growth rates, age at maturity, gestation, reproductive season and longevity. Stranded marine mammals also help expand our understanding of marine mammal mortality factors including infectious diseases, toxins and human-caused mortality."
"Strandings have increased from an annual stranding rate of approximately 1.5 cetaceans/year from the 1930’s through the 1970’s to nearly 36 per year from the 1980’s through the current decade. 2 This trend of increased reported strandings corresponds to the formation of a formal stranding network and a heightened interest and dedication by the public and government agencies in reporting and documenting strandings."
"Marine mammals are important sentinel species that tell us about potential negative impacts on animal and marine ecosystem health and ultimately allow us to better understand, manage or mitigate anthropogenic stressors.3 Cetaceans are charismatic species that stimulate great interest in people. They have long life spans, are long-term coastal residents, feed at a high trophic level, and have unique fat stores that can serve as depots for anthropogenic toxins. They also are exposed to environmental stressors such as chemical pollutants, harmful algal biotoxins, and emerging or resurging pathogens, most of which can impact people. Understanding the health of marine mammals ultimately allows us to better conserve their populations, design a healthy ocean and improve and protect human health. Over the past several decades, many important diseases and toxins have been diagnosed in marine mammals that are important to marine mammal conservation and human health or tell us something about the health of our marine ecosystem."
"Veterinarians often play an important role in responding to live and dead stranded cetaceans. For dead animals, they are able to conduct or lead necropsies. When live animals strand, veterinarians help to assess condition determine the level of interaction required and ultimately help treat animals taken into captivity. In 2009 the National Marine Fisheries Service developed a protocol for responding to live marine mammal strandings. These protocols balance the need for standardized procedures while allowing flexibility to address specific needs of different situations for diverse species and habitats, as well as unforeseen circumstances. Veterinarians work with the NMFS and stranding networks to help determine (1) What are the species and group composition involved in the event? (2) Is the situation caused by human activities or a natural event? And (3) Are resources available to ensure the safety and welfare of both the animals and the responders? Intervention can be dangerous for the animals and human responders and response operations are only approved if it will be safe for the animals, stranding responders and the public."
Photo Credit: ShaneAH via Flickr: Creative Commons license
Ribbon Seal spotted in Salish Sea
Updated Jan 25 with info from NOAA:
Sighting Information: On January 11, 2012 a ribbon seal was sighted in the Duwamish River in Seattle, WA. The sighting was reported to NOAA’s Northwest Marine Mammal Stranding Network on January 12, 2012. Photos indicate that the animal is an adult male and is in good condition.
Another sighting report came into the network on Friday, January 20, 2012. The animal had been sighted in central Snohomish County and was reported to be coming and going from the site for a couple of days.
Kristin Wilkinson, a marine mammal stranding specialist from NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service responded to reports and was able to observe and photograph the animal.
A team of biologists from NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NOAA Fisheries Northwest Regional Office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Mammal Investigations convened at the site. The team planned to conduct health assessments on the animal and attach a satellite tag using non-invasive methods. The satellite tag will allow the team to track its movements after release in an effort to monitor its condition and determine if any further intervention is warranted. Unfortunately, the animal was no longer at the site and has not been sighted since Friday.
Please report all sightings of this animal to: NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Specialist Kristin Wilkinson at 206-526-4747. This line is monitored 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Species Information: Ribbon seals (Phoca fasciata) are one of four species of ice-associated seals found in the North Pacific Ocean and Alaska waters. Ribbon seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In December 2011 NOAA Fisheries announced it is reviewing their status for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/newsreleases/2011/ribbonseals121212.htm
Adult ribbon seals measure, on average, five feet long and can weigh over 200 lbs. Ribbon seals normally inhabit the North Pacific Ocean, especially the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. Ribbon seals have also been observed in parts of the Arctic Ocean, including the Chukchi, eastern Siberian, and western Beaufort Seas.
They are strongly associated with sea ice for mating, whelping pups and molting from mid-March through June. The rest of the year is spent at sea; they are rarely seen on land. No reliable estimates of abundance or population trends are available at this time.
NOAA Fisheries National Marine Mammal Laboratory is planning to conduct a large-scale aerial survey of almost the entire known range in Spring 2012 and Spring 2013.
In addition, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory has previously conducted research cruises to the Bering Sea to increase our knowledge of the species' distribution, behavior, population structure, health and diet. For additional species information: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipeds/ribbonseal.htm http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seals/ice.htm
Media Inquiries: Please contact NOAA Public Relations, Brian Gorman at 206-526-6613.
Original post:
January 2012: NOAA Fisheries reported that a ribbon seal (a seal normally associated with pack ice up north) was seen in the Duwamish off of Puget Sound.
According to the list of mammals in the Salish Sea recently published by SeaDoc, this a new species sighting for the region.
If you or anybody you know see this seal (hard to miss-identify it), please call NOAA Fisheries with the sighting as they would like to send out a biologist to assess the seal's condition: 206-526-4747.
Photo of ribbon seal in Alaska by the Wildlife Health Center's Dr. Tracey Goldstein, who works on ribbon seals in Alaska. Obviously the photo is not of the seal seen in Puget Sound.
River Otter diet project is underway
Our River Otter diet and predation project has started. Full details.
SeaDoc's Western Grebe tracking project covered in Argos Forum magazine
Kyra Mills-Parker of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at UC Davis covered the Western Grebe transmitter project in the Argos Forum magazine in an article entitled, "Oil and Seabirds Don't Mix: New Techniques for Tracking Western Grebes After Oil Spills."
Argos Forum covers scientific uses of the Argos satellite tracking equipment used in the grebe study. There's also an interesting article on tracking debris from the tsunami in Japan.
Read more about the study at our Grebe Tracking page.
Here's the link to the publication of the surgical technique: Short-term survival and effects of transmitter implantation into Western Grebes using a modified surgical procedure.
Joe Gaydos elected Chair of Puget Sound Partnership Science Panel
On December 13, Joe Gaydos was elected Chair of the Science Panel of the Puget Sound Partnership, the Washington State agency charged with restoring Puget Sound by 2020.
The Science Panel provides expertise and advice to the Puget Sound Partnership to help them develop a comprehensive plan to restore Puget Sound.
The Science Panel members are appointed by the PSP Leadership Council from among the top scientists in Washington State.
See more at http://www.psp.wa.gov.
Grebe migrates south
One of the Western Grebes that has been hanging out on San Francisco Bay for almost a year just jumped up and flew down to the coast of Southern California, down near San Diego.
Crazy!
Joe Gaydos, chief scientist for the SeaDoc Society, says, "We had no idea that these guys would move like this and used to think that once they settled in for the winter that was it."
See the rest of the grebe project at http://www.seadocsociety.org/grebe-tracking.
Update 12/15/11: The grebe flew back up to San Francisco! We don't really know what to think about this... Stay tuned.
Harbor Porpoise Stranding Research
In 2006–2007, an unusually high number of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) stranded along the Washington and Oregon coastlines.
Spatiotemporal analyses were used to examine their ability to detect clusters of porpoise strandings during an unusual mortality event (UME) in the Pacific Northwest using stranding location data.
Strandings were evaluated as two separate populations, outer coast and inland waters. The presence of global clustering was evaluated using the Knox spatiotem- poral test, and the presence of local clusters was investigated using a spatiotemporal scan statistic (space–time permutation). There was evidence of global clustering, but no local clustering, supporting the hypothesis that strandings were due to more varied etiologies instead of localized causes.
Further analyses at subregional levels, and concurrently assessing environmental factors, might reveal additional geographic distribution patterns. This article describes the spatial analytical tools applied in this study and how they can help elucidate the spatiotemporal epidemi- ology of other UMEs and assist in determining their causes. More than one spatial analytical technique should be used if the study objective is to detect and describe clustering in time and space and to generate hypotheses regarding causation of marine mammal disease and stranding events.
SeaDoc's Joe Gaydos is a co-author on the paper. Find it at http://www.seadocsociety.org/node/606
2011 Accomplishments
This fall we were looking through our archive of monthly newsletters and were blown away by how much SeaDoc has accomplished in the past year or so.
It’s a steady record of doing great science, making sure it gets off the shelf and into the hands of decision-makers, and bringing together scientists and managers to catalyze rapid forward progress.
For a small organization we pack a lot of punch.
We thought it would be helpful to give you a rundown of some of the things we’ve done in the past year or so. And not just what we’ve done, but why it matters.
If you've donated to SeaDoc, you're a part of this success. If you haven't yet made a tax-deductible contribution, please consider making one.
Startling Sea Change: What Mussel Shells Tell Us About Ocean Acidification
What can you learn from digging into someone’s 1,000-year-old lunchbox?
By examining mussel shells from ancient middens of the Makah Nation, and then comparing them to shell samples taken in the 1970s and the 2000s, SeaDoc funded scientist Dr. Cathy Pfister and her colleagues found that there’s been an unprecedented change in the chemistry of shells from our local marine waters.
With ocean acidification a major concern, and our Northwest coast and Salish Sea among the most rapidly acidifying areas in the world, researchers have been closely monitoring the water’s pH.
What Dr. Pfister and colleagues determined by looking at isotope ratios in mussel shells is that the changes occurring are even greater than can be explained simply by the ocean’s absorption of increased atmospheric CO2, or by local upwelling, or by changes in nitrate and phosphate.
Everything from the oysters we eat to the plankton that feed the juvenile salmon that in turn feed orcas and us depend on surviving a changing ocean. So it’s critical we figure out precisely what’s going on. That’s why SeaDoc continues to fund important foundational work like this.
Download a copy of the manuscript, recently published in the acclaimed journal PLoS ONE, here.
Additional information
To do this important work, Dr. Pfister and her team sectioned mussels, shown above, which enabled them to analyze differences in mussel growth and chemistry by year. This enabled them to evaluate changes over a decade looking at the sections of a ten year old mussel. Pretty cool. Check out the annular rings on the mussel photo above.
Pfister works closely with the Makah Nation, and her research was carried out with their permission and assistance.
Cathy Pfister is an associate professor in the department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. Her work concentrates on rocky intertidal areas of Washington State. Her homepage has information on her research, and you can watch a short video featuring Cathy Pfister discussing her research interests (it's on the SeaDoc website, but the page may take a while to load if you're on a slow connection).
Abalone research published
SeaDoc-supported research about Northern Abalone was recently published in the journal, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
The study, conducted by L. Rogers-Bennett and collaborators, did dive surveys in 2005 to determine the best habitats for restoration of Northern Abalone. They found that the best habitat was kelp beds with abundant encrusting coralline algae.
Here's a tidbit taken out of the study results. In 1979 a similar study was undertaken in San Juan Channel. Researchers found a lot more abalone during those dives (224 of them versus 17) and they were diving for less time.
If you put it into minutes per abalone, in 1979 it took an average of 2 minutes and 8 seconds to find each abalone.
In 2005, it was 40 minutes and 49 seconds per abalone.
Get the full paper from here.
