Our Science Director, Joe Gaydos, will be honored with the Local Hero Award at the Friday Harbor Film Festival on San Juan Island this fall! The award will be presented at 7pm on October 27th, the final night of the festival. If you’re interested in attending the event, which takes place at the Whittier Theatre at the San Juan Community Theatre, check out their website for ticket information.
Relocating a Stranded Harbor Seal Pup
Jump on board the Nancy Bee as we relocate a stranded harbor seal pup from San Juan to Yellow Island, where adult seals regularly haul out. Not all pups can be expected to survive pupping season, but this gives little Z8 a chance... This work is done in conjunction with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and The Whale Museum.
What the Loss of 3 Southern Resident Killer Whales Means
In early August, three Southern Resident killer whales were declared dead by the Center for Whale Research. That brings the population down to just 73. Each of the dead whales are from separate Southern Resident pods.
“There is nothing good about losing three animals in a population that was numbered at 76,” said SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos. “In no way can I find a silver lining to this news.”
Deep Green Wilderness Sets Sail to Find the Rarest Whale in the World
A local crew of sailors and marine scientists are leaving on an expedition this week to look for the rarest whale in the world, the North Pacific right whale.
The expedition will be led by Kevin Campion, founder of marine education nonprofit Deep Green Wilderness and member of SeaDoc Society’s Board of Directors. Campion and a crew of four are setting sail out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Wednesday, August 14, en route to the Bering Sea to continue their search for the rare whale.
Photos from the 2019 Wine & Sea Auction
Responding to a Seal Pup Stranding With SeaDoc Intern Lizzy Ashley (VIDEO)
Beneath Pacific Tides: Subtidal Invertebrates of the West Coast (Book Review)
Team SeaDoc Does the Salish Splash! (VIDEO)
The Salish Splash is an annual event that brings awareness to the Salish Sea and its many species. Our Science Director Joe Gaydos was challenged by Mindy Roberts of the Washington Environmental Council. After doing a backflip for this event last year, Joe wanted to take it up a notch, so he invited all of Team SeaDoc to join him for an even bigger splash! What better way to show your support and enthusiasm for orca recovery and Salish Sea health than by jumping for joy into the water?
Where On Earth Is the Salish Sea?
Less than half of the people in Washington and British Columbia have heard of the Salish Sea, even though they live alongside it.
That’s according to a recent study from The SeaDoc Society, a program of the University of California, Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine, and Oregon State University. The study reveals that only 5 percent of people in Washington and 14 percent of British Columbians can identify the Salish Sea—the marine ecosystem that spans the United States-Canada border and includes both Seattle and Vancouver.
Ocean Outbreak: Confronting the Rising Tide of Marine Disease (Book Review)
Ask any ocean lover to name the biggest threats to ocean conservation and you’ll get a list so long it will make you uncomfortable: derelict fishing gear, increasing underwater noise, invasive species, ocean acidification, overharvest, plastics, toxins, warming water, and so on.
What you probably won’t hear is the word disease—not because the agents of disease are microscopic and out of sight, but because we know so little about how they affect the marine environment. Most people have never thought of parasites and pathogens as agents of change or important ocean stressors.
Knowing, Connecting, and Protecting the Salish Sea (Joe Gaydos at Huxley College of the Environment)
Our Science Director Joe Gaydos spoke Western Washington early this year as part of their Huxley Speaker Series. He discussed the importance of having a sense of place when it comes to protecting an ecosystem like the Salish Sea. How can you work to protect something if you don’t first connect with it? Watch the presentation below to hear more. Thanks to Huxley College for hosting us!
Exciting New Faces at SeaDoc Society!
We’re excited to announce two exciting additions and (one transition) to the greater SeaDoc team!
Laura Donald is our newest member of the the Board of Directors and Marco Hatch and Marguerite Pappaioanou have joined our Science Advisory Committee. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have all three of them in these roles! Their insight and drive will be immensely valuable as we carve our way through 2019 and beyond with science as our foundation and new outreach and education opportunities on the horizon.
Capturing the Split-Second Beauty of a Transient Orca Breach
How boat noise affects Southern Resident Killer Whales - Joe Gaydos
SeaDoc Society Science Director Joe Gaydos speaks about SB 5577 (Orca whales/vessels) to the Washington Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee on Feb 12th, 2019. Watch Joe’s statement below:
Want to call your legislator and share your thoughts about Southern Resident Killer Whale recovery? Do it today!
The Economic Impact of Killer Whales in the Salish Sea
The Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) is a flagship species, a cultural icon, and an economic driver for Washington State. However, depleted Chinook salmon stocks, vessel-related noise and disturbance, and increasingly polluted waters put the orca population at risk of extinction. Efforts are underway to aid and support orca recovery, but these efforts are time consuming and expensive.
Falling Stars: Once-Abundant Sea Stars Imperiled by Disease Along West Coast
The combination of ocean warming and an infectious wasting disease has devastated populations of large sunflower sea stars once abundant along the West Coast of North America in just a few years, according to a study co-led by the University of California, Davis, and Cornell University published Jan. 30 in the journal Science Advances.
“In California, Washington and parts of British Columbia, sunflower sea stars keep urchins under control,” said Joseph Gaydos, senior author on the paper and director of UC Davis’ SeaDoc Society program. “Without sunflower stars, urchin populations expand and threaten kelp forests and biodiversity. This cascading effect has a really big impact.”
SeaDoc Requests Scientific Proposals for Needed Research (2019)
Every year, the SeaDoc Society funds prominent scientists to conduct important research in the Salish Sea. Proposals for this year’s projects’ are due February 22 by 5pm. SeaDoc works to ensure the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems through science and education and does not take policy positions nor serve in an advocacy role. This year the SeaDoc Society requests proposals only for projects that scientifically address one of the four priority topics below.
Ensuring the Future of Pacific Herring in the Salish Sea
Herring are a small fish that play a big role up the food chain, and at the moment scientists don’t know nearly enough about their health status in the Salish Sea. That’s why SeaDoc funded a study that helped bring many top herring experts together for the first time–a crucial first step in ensuring their future.
The team recently published a report, “Assessment and Management of Pacific Herring in the Salish Sea: Conserving and Recovering a Culturally Significant and Ecologically Critical Component of the Food Web,” which included the creation of a model that simulated how herring populations respond to key environmental stressors under various scenarios.
Your Feedback is Needed for Listing Pinto Abalone as Endangered
For thousands of years, abalone provided food and shells for local tribes, only to be fished out by poachers and over-harvested due to poor management. Now they are functionally extinct, meaning there are so few they can’t find a mate and reproduce.
Despite a ban on harvest and the creation of a captive breeding program, remnant populations of pinto abalone are not reproducing in the wild and may be facing local extinction. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comment on a proposal to list the pinto abalone as a State Endangered Species.
Meet Jess Newley, SeaDoc’s Newest Board Member
Born and raised in Eastern Washington, far from saltwater of the Salish Sea, Jess didn’t discover her pull to the ocean until her first SCUBA course in Thailand 10 years ago. After that she was “hooked” and was soon on a path to becoming a SCUBA instructor in Egypt, an underwater photographer ready to share the awe and wonder with others, and a life that would evolve around this deep developed passion for our ocean.