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?

uc davis

Donor Spotlight: Kelly and Janet Nimtz 

Supporting a cause you care about can take many forms, and Kelly and Janet Nimtz are shining examples of that. Kelly worked for many years at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and played a sustained role in the growth of the School—which is the top institution in the world. All the while, he and Janet have supported our work in the Salish Sea all the way from their home in California, not only with their energy and enthusiasm, but as longtime donors. They even recently took steps to put SeaDoc Society into their estate plans, meaning their impact will be felt deep into the ecosystem’s future.

We’re Part of the Top Veterinary School in the World

We’re Part of the Top Veterinary School in the World

We’re thrilled to share that once again the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has been named the top veterinary school in the world!

While SeaDoc Society is a self-sustaining program on Orcas Island whose scientific and educational work is focused entirely on improving the health of the Salish Sea, we are proud to be a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, a center of excellence at UC Davis’ incredible veterinary school. This week’s #1 ranking comes from the highly reputable Quacquarelli Symonds, but Davis is also number one with U.S. News and World Reports and several other world rankings. It’s the best of the best, and we’re lucky to have such brilliant people on our side.

Harbor Seal Stranding Response in the Salish Sea (VIDEO)

Every year, the SeaDoc Society hosts interns for the summer in collaboration with The Whale Museum and the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network. In this video, two of our interns respond to a call about a harbor seal pup on Orcas Island. One of our 2016 interns, Megan Mangini, a student at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, explains how the response network works and what she gained from her experience as a summer intern. SeaDoc is part of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, which is part of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Big thanks to the Hoglund family for supporting the SeaDoc Society and generously donating lodging to the interns each summer. We deeply appreciate it! Stay tuned for some darting practice footage from our 2017 interns next month!

Note: The pup in the video above was re-sighted in the wild once after being tagged, but specifics beyond that are unknown. 

UC Davis is #1 in Veterinary Medicine and Sustainability

SeaDoc Society is a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis.

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Although SeaDoc is based on Orcas Island and our work is focused on ensuring the health of the Salish Sea, our story goes beyond the waters of Washington and British Columbia. Specifically, we are a program of the University of California, Davis, which recently received two great honors we’d like to share.

As a core program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, a center of excellence at the School of Veterinary Medicine, SeaDoc was started by UC Davis in 2000. The university has been instrumental in helping us accomplish all that we have been able to do in the Salish Sea.

This year, for the third year in a row, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has been recognized as the top veterinary school in the world, as determined by QS World University Rankings. The distinction comes largely in part because of the School’s reputation for applying a One Health approach to addressing critical health concerns on a local and global scale – an approach that stresses how the health of animals, people and the environment are intimately connected - a concept that is at the heart of SeaDoc’s work.

"The SeaDoc Society is a great example of how the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is partnering with local communities, regional government agencies, and other academic groups to enhance ecosystem, animal, and ultimately human health in the Salish Sea and surrounding regions," said Michael Lairmore, Dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

In addition to being the top university in the world for veterinary medicine, UC Davis was recently named the Greenest University in the annual Green Metric rankings from the University of Indonesia. The ranking measures operations and policies that promote environmental sustainability. UC Davis is a leader in energy efficient transportation (bikes and busses), energy efficiency, water conservation, and green building efforts.

We like to think the launch of SeaDoc’s Refuse-to-Use Coffee Cup and Bottle Challenge with the Orcas Exchange a few months back helped move the needle as well!

We’re proud to be a part of a University that is so world-renowned and doing such exciting things. SeaDoc will always be a donor-funded program with its roots in the Salish Sea, but being a program of a world-class university like UC Davis is critical for our success.