SeaDoc Blog
Does Bycatch Threaten Dolphins and Porpoises?
A recent SeaDoc Society-funded project found that salmon gill net fisheries could pose a threat to populations of harbor and Dall’s porpoise but not Pacific white-sided dolphin in British Columbia. Regional salmon gillnet fisheries accidentally catch and kill dolphins and porpoises and it is critical to know when such bycatch threatens these cetacean populations so that protective actions can be taken.
Measuring the impact of bycatch is common on the Washington side of the ecosystem; however, this is the first study to estimate the population-level impact of bycatch in British Columbia. The SeaDoc Society is committed to improving the health of marine wildlife throughout the Salish Sea without regard to national borders. Projects like this study, conducted by Dr. Rob Williams, Anna Hall and Arliss Winship, are helping the US and Canada cooperatively manage and protect species like dolphins and porpoises, species that don’t recognize international borders.
This study would not have been possible without private donations from citizens like you. Thank you! For more information or to download a copy of this paper, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, see www.seadocsociety.org/node/182
Elephant Seal visits Crescent Beach, Orcas
A story in the Islands' Sounder follows a young male elephant seal that has been seen several times near Eastsound.
Dr. Joe Gaydos will give a talk on elephant seals for SeaDoc's Marine Lecture Series Family Night at Camp Orkila on December 5.
2008 Request for Proposals
The SeaDoc Society announces its 2008 Request for Proposals in the area of marine fish and wildlife and ecosystem health. The scope encompasses the health of all marine vertebrates and a suite of invertebrates and the biotic and abiotic environments upon which they depend for survival with a current emphasis on issues facing the inland marine waters of Washington State and British Columbia (Puget Sound/Northwest Straits/Georgia Basin; an area commonly referred to as the Salish Sea).
All SeaDoc Society-funded projects, regardless of where they are conducted, must have implications for understanding or enhancing the health of this region and its wildlife. The goal of this research is to provide objective science on issues concerning wildlife and ecosystem health in an effort to inform and guide effective policy and management. The SeaDoc Society does not take policy positions nor does it serve in an advocacy role. Proposals must scientifically address one of the priority issues or questions identified in the RFP (pdf format).
SUMMARY OF DEADLINES FOR 2008 SEADOC SOCIETY GRANTS
OCTOBER 14, 2008 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS DISTRIBUTED
NOVEMBER 5, 2008 FULL PROPOSALS DUE
JANUARY 15, 2009 FUNDS AWARDED
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 PROGRESS REPORT DUE
DECEMBER 15, 2009 AWARD PERIOD ENDS
MARCH 1, 2010 FINAL REPORT DUE
Orca Stranding Hints at Pollution Problems
On August 2, 2008, the carcass of a prematurely born orca calf was recovered on a beach on Henry Island, just north of San Juan Island. Joe Gaydos, regional director of The Seadoc Society, examined the calf with Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Although the carcass was badly decomposed, Gaydos and Hanson hope to establish whether it was a transient or a member of the rare southern orca population. High levels of PCBs have been implicated in premature births and the researchers will try and establish whether this might have been the case here. This story was covered in the local news outlets, here: KUOW NPR Pod Cast Seattle Post Intelligencer Seattle PI blog Kitsap Sun San Juan Islander
SeaDoc Work Featured on YouTube
Executive Director Kirsten Gilardi is featured on this UC Davis clip about the Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project. She was also interviewed when a mother and calf gray whale found themselves at the port of Sacramento and had to be coaxed back to open waters.
Recovering gray whales could help recovery of declining marine birds
SeaDoc-funded research suggests that the recovering gray whale population might be important for providing food for marine birds that are in decline.
Gray whales, listed as sensitive species by Washington State and threatened by British Columbia, make an annual 10,000 mile migration between calving grounds in Baja California and summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. Every year some of them break-off their northern migration to come into shallow waters of Puget Sound to feed for extended periods.
One derelict fishing net: 3500 animals killed
A recent study by the Northwest Straits Initiative has shown that kill rates for derelict fishing gear are much higher than was understood. Animals caught in the nets decompose in as little as ten days. One of the monitored nets is now estimated to have killed some 2,300 fish and 1,200 marine birds in the 15 years it's been in the water.
SeaDoc Society Regional Director Joe Gaydos is quoted in the article. Gaydos is also a member of the Northwest Straits Commission.
Read the full story in the San Juan Journal online, or download the full report of the study, "Rates of Marine Species Mortality Caused by Derelict Fishing Nets in Puget Sound, Washington"
Sea Lion's Prognosis Not Good
The San Juan Journal quotes SeaDoc's Joe Gaydos on the prognosis for the female California sea lion that has been behaving erratically, perhaps due to domoic acid poisoning. Full story here: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/jsj/news/19357704.html
Northern Abalone Restoration: Size Matters
New research, funded by the SeaDoc Society, has evaluated the use of hatchery-raised pinto abalone to restore abalone populations. The results are encouraging...
Sick sea lion chases people on Jackson's beach
5.19.2008
SICK SEA LION CHASES PEOPLE ON JACKSON'S BEACH
San Juan Islander (online)
The female sea lion may be suffering from domoic acid toxins, which
affects the brain, according to marine veterinarian Dr. Joe Gaydos of
the SeaDoc Society.
http://www.sanjuanislander.com/groups/whale-museum/sea-lion.shtml