Justin Cox
SeaDoc Society Adds a New Scientist!

The SeaDoc Society has hired a new full-time veterinary translational scientist, who will join the team on Orcas Island starting this summer. 

Dr. Michelle Barbieri Lino, who interned with SeaDoc as a veterinary student back in 2009, monitoring the marine mammal stranding network among other roles, will be moving to Orcas Island with her husband and 7-year-old daughter this summer. 

Justin Cox
Nature is Not a Luxury

SeaDoc is a science-based marine conservation program. We understand that science informs policy, including priority setting and budgeting.

Washington State faces difficult budget choices. With multi-billion-dollar shortfalls, lawmakers are scrutinizing every line item. In moments like this, funding that supports biodiversity — everything from living soil to forests, from bugs to whales, and from mountain streams to the sea—can look like a luxury. It is not.

Nature is Not a Luxury
Justin Cox
Welcome Two New Science Advisors; Farewell Meg ...

Science is at the foundation of everything we do at SeaDoc—from Salish Sea Wild and Pod of Orcas to our efforts to inform policy. For decades our Scientific Advisory Committee has played a vital role on that front. 

The Committee is made up of respected individual scientists doing important work throughout the Salish Sea. This month we say a heartfelt goodbye to one longtime advisor, Meg Chadsey, and we welcome two new exciting additions, Jennifer Russell and Lisa Watkins.

Justin Cox
Science With an Impact: Giles Talks Southern ...

The SeaDoc Society's Dr. Deborah Giles traveled to Washington DC in early February to meet with legislators, including Washington State Senator Patty Murray, and other senior legislative staff members from both the House and Senate.

Justin Cox
Thanks, Michelle!

After years as part of our small but mighty Admin Team, our friend and coworker Michelle Homewood completed her time at SeaDoc last month. She’ll now embark on the exciting next chapter of her career.

As an Administrative Assistant with SeaDoc, Michelle’s hands were on everything from arranging field-work logistics to processing the donations that make that work possible.

Thanks, Michelle!

ghost gear

Lost Fishing Gear Project Featured on NBC News (VIDEO)

Marine life is battling an unexpected enemy, lost fishing gear, also known as ghost gear. 705,000 tons of fishing gear are lost in the ocean every year. Mike Neill and his crew are trying to change that. " Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC " Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News is a leading source of global news and information.

A crew with NBC News recently tagged along with a group of fishermen as they ventured into the Pacific Ocean to remove ghost fishing gear -- 640,000 tons of which is lost, abandoned or discarded in the world’s oceans every year.

The California Lost Fishing Gear Project was started by the SeaDoc Society’s founding Director, Kirsten Gilardi, who continues to run the project from SeaDoc’s administrative base at the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis. The work is funded by state and federal grants in California.