Justin Cox
Velcro Star Eating a Spotted Ratfish in the ...

Check out this velcro star with a spotted ratfish locked in a full nelson! SeaDoc Society scientists Joe Gaydos and Cat Lo came across this scene during a research dive in Howe Sound in British Columbia.

Justin Cox
Training The Trainers at Camp Orkila

Thousands of fifth-graders will cycle through Camp Orkila on Orcas Island this summer to engage with our marine ecosystem. As we round the corner into Spring, the counselors who will guide those kids (5,800 total!) are deep in preparation and training. 

Last week, our team was honored to lead a low-tide beach walk at Camp Orkila to train this year’s Orkila staff. All of the counselors received a signed copy of our best-selling (and award-winning!) book for fifth graders, Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids. 

Training The Trainers at Camp Orkila
Justin Cox
Rochelle Severson and Kevin Campion Cycle off ...

After a decade of service on the SeaDoc Society’s Board of Directors, Rochelle Severson and Kevin Campion will cycle off, with Board Member Ardi Kveven taking over as Board Chair.

Justin Cox
Farewell Southern Resident IPA & Thank You ...

As I write this, sitting in The Woods taproom where Southern Resident is brewed, Two Beers has donated more than $15,000 in support of the SeaDoc Society’s collaborative work to save Southern Residents. 

Not to mention the story they’ve helped tell on thousands of boxes and cans sold throughout the Pacific Northwest over the last five years. In that initial creative design phase, their team was insistent that the whales’ story and SeaDoc’s mission be clear and prominent on the packaging. 

Farewell Southern Resident IPA & Thank You Two Beers Brewing
Justin Cox
Why are Killer Whales Harassing and Killing ...

For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them—a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

A study published today in Marine Mammal Science, co-led by Deborah Giles of Wild Orca and Sarah Teman of the SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, looked at more than 60 years of recorded interactions between Southern Resident killer whales and porpoises in the Salish Sea to better understand why they exhibit this behavior.

Why are Killer Whales Harassing and Killing Porpoises Without Eating Them?

policy

Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest (Book Excerpt)

Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest (Book Excerpt)

Nora Nickum is Senior Ocean Policy Manager with the Seattle Aquarium and author of the new book, Superpod: Saving the Endangered Orcas of the Pacific Northwest. She’s an extremely valuable person to have in the larger effort to save this species, both in her policy work and in writing this book, which will no-doubt help shape the next generation of PNW conservationists. 

“Full of scientist and activist heroes, including Nickum herself, Superpod will captivate readers and inspire them to become change makers,” said SeaDoc Society Science Director Joe Gaydos, whose field work is featured in an excerpt of the book below this short Q&A. 

Advising on Whale Watch Guidelines & Bridging the Gap Between Science & Policy

Advising on Whale Watch Guidelines & Bridging the Gap Between Science & Policy

Last week, our Science Director, Joe Gaydos, presented to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission about an upcoming decision they face concerning new whale watching guidelines.

Like most of SeaDoc's science-based work, our efforts are integrated and layered to be more effective at driving conservation. Here’s how how something like this presentation (which you can read in full here) comes about and how it can help drive change: