A New Baby!

A southern resident killer whale calve was spotted with new mom L91 (AKA Muncher). This is the 5th baby born to the southern residents since December 2014. This is exciting because this births follow a two year period where no orca babies survived. The new baby is L122.

The southern residents still face many hardships, however. One of which is their access to chinook salmon. Chinook salmon are endangered, but this is the staple of the orca's diet. You might be wondering why they do not choose to eat the other species of salmon in the area. While the answer is not fully understood, many scientists believe it has a social component for the killer whales. Killer whales have very tight knit social groups, and the practice of hunting for chinook salmon has been passed down for generations of whales, which could be playing a role in their unwillingness to switch salmon species. Other reasons could include the fat content or nutritional value of the chinook salmon. In other words, if eating one chinook salmon will give them the same nutritional value as eating 5 coho salmon, then its "more bang for your buck" to spend the energy hunting chinook rather than another species.

Another obstacle the southern resident killer whales face is the bioaccumulation of toxic chemicals in their fatty tissues. These toxins are passed on to offspring from the mothers through lactation. This is often why a mothers first offspring will not survive- they are getting a large amount of toxins that has built up over the mothers lifetime.

Finally, something I was able to witness firsthand while at Friday Harbor, they are often surrounded by whale watch boats. The specific effects of this are also largely unknown, but I can't imagine the whales enjoy being pursued by boats all day long. While boats are supposed to keep a 200 yard distance from the whales at all times, this law is poorly enforced and therefore rarely followed.

If you are from the Pacific Northwest, you know the killer whales are extremely important to the area. While it may seem there is not much to do to help protect the whales on an individual level, you can think about how your actions may be polluting the Puget Sound or the ocean in general. This can include the oil that may be leaking from your car and even cleaning chemicals you may be washing down the drain.

If you are really interested in learning more about the southern residents, I suggest checking out the Whale Museum's website: http://whalemuseum.org/collections/meet-the-whales. They are dedicated to protecting the whales and you can also look at pictures of every whale in J, K, and L pod! Not to mention, they name new babies, so when it comes time to name L122 you can vote on the name!

As always, thanks for reading!

My Time at Friday Harbor!

I've been super behind on posting because I was lucky enough to spend the last five weeks on beautiful San Juan Island at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories. I took a class on ecology and conservation of marine birds and mammals, and I hope to incorporate what I learned into future blog posts!

While on the island, I was able to see many awesome birds and mammals, a few of my favorites being black oyster catchers, pigeon guillemots, harbor seals, and killer whales. I was even able to see the killer whales from the shore, which was a pretty special experience. Here are some of my pictures from my time on the island:

The last few pictures of harbor seals were actually from my research project on their aggression. I watched harbor seals at their haul out sites and recorded their general behavior as well as the types of aggressive behavior they displayed towards each other. Harbor seal are actually reaching their carrying capacity in the San Juans as well as in Puget Sound. This makes them not only easy to study, but could have provided interesting aggressive interactions for me to record as well.

My pictures do not do the island justice, and I did not get any pictures of the killer whales I saw myself. My time at Friday Harbor was so incredible, and I highly recommend making a trip out there for the beautiful scenery and awesome wildlife!

Ocean Acidification Explained

I think terms like "climate change" or "ocean acidification" get thrown around a lot, but rarely are they explained. I have already used these terms in my blog, so I wanted to take a moment to describe these terms in more detail.

Climate change occurs due to the emission of greenhouse gases. Common greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. While these are found naturally in the atmosphere, their concentrations are increasing due the use of fossil fuels. While the overall trend is for the world to get warmer, the term climate change is also referring to extreme weather patterns and the few places that have the potential to get colder.

Ocean acidification is linked to climate change. The ocean acts as a sink for carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide reacts with water and carbonate to form carbonic acid, which readily dissociates into bicarbonate ions and protons, as depicted in the following image:





An increase in hydrogen ions decreases the pH of the ocean, meaning it is more acidic. So why is this a problem? One major issue is that this process uses carbonate ions that would usually be bound with calcium. This is how shell building organisms and coral build their shells or hard parts. Therefore a more acidic ocean is going to be a poor environment for the organisms that depend on their shells for survival.

Scientists predict the acidity of the ocean will increase into the future. What exactly this means for ocean ecosystems is not really known. We know the effects it has on shells, but what about other organisms? Only time will tell. The best way that you can prevent ocean acidification is by lowering your carbon footprint. Ride your bike to work or take public transportation when possible. Use energy efficient products. Try to eliminate unnecessary plastic from your life. But also educate others! As I wrote in my first blog post, ocean acidification is not covered by the media very often. Knowledge is power! Many people do not understand the importance of this topic simply because they have never had the opportunity to learn about it.

Seattle Aquarium Letter of Support

I would love it if you could take the time to sign this letter of support for the Seattle Aquarium expansion. I have been volunteering there for over a year now, and I have seen the dedication of the staff to support their mission statement "Inspiring conservation of the marine environment". The goal is 800+ signatures, so share with family and friends as well!

http://www.supportseattleaquarium.org/support_letter

#SharkWeek

In my humble opinion, sharks have a bad reputation for no reason, or at least little reason. Here is a wonderful quote from my google search, "odds of being attacked by a shark":

1. The odds of getting attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067. In a lifetime, you are more likely to die from fireworks (1 in 340,733), light- ning (1 in 79,746), drowning (1 in 1,134), a car accident (1 in 84), stroke (1 in 24), or heart disease (1 in 5).

Those seem like great odds to me. I will say that being attacked by a shark is scary to thing about. Sharks are big, strong, and really good at using their teeth (If they have them). But aggressive sharks that are likely to attack a human are limited to very few species, common ones being great whites and tiger sharks. One of my favorite sharks, however, is the basking shark.

These filter feeding sharks can open their mouths up to 1.2 meters to filter plankton and small invertebrates out of the water as they swim, often near the surface. They are about 7-9 meters in length, making them the second largest fish. Whale sharks are the only fish that surpasses them. They have no teeth, so no need to fear if you see one in the ocean!

Here is a neat image of relative shark sizes, with a human thrown into the mix:

Sharks are incredible animals. The more we learn about them, the less I think people will continue to fear them. Shark conservation is extremely important. Sharks can be caught as bycatch in fishing nets. They are also caught on purpose for their fins to make shark fin soup. Many estimates say over 100 million sharks are killed every year, but the real number could be as high as 273 million. Many sharks are a top predator in the food chain, and thus it is vital to the whole ecosystem to protect them. Many organizations fight to protect sharks, and often among those groups are survivors of shark attacks. You personally can protect sharks by sharing your knowledge with others! Tell them how important sharks are to ecosystems and how unlikely death by shark is. Selling shark products is legal in most places around the world, so be an informed consumer, know what you're buying, and support the companies that support sharks.

Happy shark week!

All About Harbor Seals!

Harbor seals are likely my favorite animal. Just look at them:

Adorable, right? Harbor seals are a true seal. They swim using their rear flippers and caudal spine. This is different from a fur seal or sea lion. These animals primarily use their front flippers to propel themselves in water. Fur seals and sea lions also can rotate their rear limbs to walk on land. Harbor seals do not have this ability, and watching them crawl around on land is pretty hilarious. 

Harbor seals can be found on both the west and east coasts of the United States. Populations are on the rise, and in the Puget Sound they are even reaching their carrying capacity, meaning the maximum number of animals their environment can sustain. Unlike other true seals, harbor seals go on foraging trips during pup weaning, leaving their pups behind on the beach. 'Tis the season for pups, so don't be alarmed if you see a pup alone on the beach! However, if you are concerned about a potential marine mammal stranding, the best thing to do would be to call the Marine Mammal Stranding Network (if you live in Washington) or a similar organization in your region. The following link is from NOAA and has stranding networks to contact by state: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/report.htm. 

Here are some fun facts about harbor seals:

• A typical dive is about 3 minutes, but they can dive for as long as 30 minutes and as deep as 600 feet!
• While you or I might take in a big breath of air before going underwater, harbor seals (and many other diving marine mammals) breathe out before going underwater. This way they are not as buoyant, and a lot of oxygen is stored in their blood and tissues that they can use during the dive.
• Their whiskers (also known as vibrissae) are extremely sensitive, and are used to sense pressure differences and find their prey. 

What a Changing Arctic Means for Polar Bears

www.telegraph.co.uk

Polar bears seem to be the poster child for climate change. Likely because they are so lovable and iconic of the Arctic. But what exactly will happen to polar bears if the Arctic continues to change so drastically?

First of all, the Arctic is warming at 2X the rate of the rest of the planet. This will only accelerate the melting of summer sea ice, which is seeing the lowest amounts of ice ever recorded. Polar bears rely on sea ice in order to capture their prey, which is mainly ringed seals. They use the ice to hunt their prey, while the seals haul out on the ice.

This changing environment will cause polar bears to rely on land much more heavily, which will significantly alter their prey. An article I read claims polar bears were recently seen eating dolphins for the first time (http://www.livescience.com/51195-polar-bears-eat-dolphins.html). What is surprising is not the fact that a polar bear can take down a dolphin. Polar bears are opportunistic predators and have been known to prey on many organisms, including belugas, narwhals, and even their own cubs if food is scarce enough. What is most surprising is that dolphins were that far in the Arctic during this time of year. The white beaked dolphin spotted being devoured by the polar bear generally only ventures into the Arctic during the end of summer when sea ice is at its minimum, and they generally stay in sub-arctic waters where the water is warmer and free of ice.

nsidc.org

Sea ice is on a steady decline. While there is less sea ice in the winter months as well, what is most troubling is the amount of summer sea ice. An ice free summer in the Arctic is likely to be seen by the year 2040. This opens up opportunities for drilling oil, which the consumption of will not only accelerate climate change, but the chance of oil spills in the Arctic will increase, their effects, devastating the ecosystem. This is a problem that has to be taken seriously, we don't have much time to act. 

I didn't mean for this to be such a depressing post! But I do want to raise awareness to what the Arctic will be facing in the next couple of decades. The problem will not simply go away. Not only polar bears, but the whole Arctic ecosystem will be effected by a changing Arctic.