Each year many stranded harbor seal pups are collected by marine mammal stranding networks and rehabilitated before being released to the wild.

But we don't know if these rehabilitation efforts really work.

A new SeaDoc study will try to find out if rehabilitated seals survive at the same rate as wild-weaned seals, if they have similar movement patters, and if they even remain in the Salish Sea.

It costs about $3,000 to rehabilitate a harbor seal pup. Rehabilitation rates have improved over time, to the point where the Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in San Juan County has a rehabilitation rate of 77%.

Our study -- funded by the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, the U.S. Federal Government, and private donations from SeaDoc supporters -- will monitor the movement and survival of 10 rehabilitated pups and 10 wild-weaned pups. By comparing the results from these two different populations, we'll be able to assess whether rehabilitation efforts are working they way we expect.  

Pups are tagged with satellite transmitters as well as VHF tags on their flippers. This allows them to be tracked automatically by satellite with a backup tracking mechanism of local VHF tracking.

The satellite data network produces maps showing the seals' locations over time.

(An article by Jonathan White and Joe Gaydos, from the San Juan Journal)

While driving home from a recent stormwater workshop, a friend asked, “Is runoff from my small property really making its way to the ocean and causing damage? My family has lived here 20 years, and we care about the environment as much as anyone. Why is this suddenly becoming a problem?”

It’s a good question, and one that resonates with many of us. When we look to science for the answer, we find that it isn’t always exact enough to show specific effects from specific human behaviors.

While science may not be able to tell us the specific effect of each and every household, it does tell us something unequivocally: that polluted runoff is making its way into our environment in quantities that are measurable and damaging.

To continue reading: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/jsj/opinion/90358349.html

In the March 17, 2010 Federal Register, NOAA lists the Eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) as Threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. This fish, also called the candle fish because it is packed with so many calories you can light a dried one like a candle, is an important food source for many marine fish, birds and mammals. Historically it has been an important food source for many Native American tribes.

Interestingly, we don't have good data on Eulachon numbers in the Salish Sea. Unlike with herring, Washington State does not conduct quantitative stock assessments for eulachon, but it is believed that eulachon stocks have declined in the Columbia (WOEMP, 2001) and Elwha Rivers (Shaffer et al., 2007). In British Columbia, the Frasier River eulachon spawning stock biomass has collapsed and is at a precariously low level (DFO, 2007).

The listing of this species will hopefully ensure that more work is done to understand the natural history of this species in the Salish Sea so that we can ultimately restore the population.

Find out more about the listing of the eulachon at:

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Other-Marine-Species/Eulachon.cfm

SeaDoc is the only organization that tracks threatened or endangered species in the Salish Sea on an ecosystem-wide scale. Since 2002, we have been tracking "species of concern" as listed by Washington, British Columbia, the US Federal Government and the Canadian Federal Government.

Eulachon are listed as threatened (BLUE list) by BC, are candidates for listing in WA state, are Candidates under the Canadian COSEWIC with a status report expected this year, and were Candidates for listing under the US Federal ESA until now.

Download our PDF listing the species of concern and describing the listing processes (we publish this report every 2 years):

Gaydos and Brown, 2009
http://www.seadocsociety.org/files/pdfs/GB-PS_Species_of_Concern_2008%20...

Tim Carpenter's talk on octopuses and cephalopods was the final Marine Science Lecture for the 2009/2010 year. This year also marks the seventh year of the lecture series.

Tim shared several videos featuring the interesting adaptive behaviors of octopuses.

Here are a few videos that may or may not be the exact same ones he showed:

An octopus using a coconut shell to hide in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW_AeF-54f8

Shark vs Octopus (this video is a little hyped: Tim shared the real story behind the film)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9A-oxUMAy8

Octopus "walking" on two arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1iWzYMYyGE

Harbor seal populations have exploded nearly tenfold in the Salish Sea since the 1970s, while at the same time many rockfish species have plummeted. Some fishermen blame that on the increase in hungry seals. But coincidence is not science. So who ya gonna call?
 
SeaDoc-funded scientists rolled up their sleeves and collected almost 1,000 samples of seal scat in the San Juan Islands. Detailed analysis of these samples revealed that herring make up nearly 60% of these harbor seals' diets, with their next favorite meals being salmon, pollock and cod-like fish. The seal's total menu, though, was surprisingly diverse, with seals chowing down on at least 35 species of fish! Still, through the entire first year of the study, less than 3% of samples contained rockfish bones. Case closed? Not so fast...
 
In the second year, 12% of the samples contained rockfish remains, particularly in the winter when there are fewer salmon locally. With all the seals in the Salish Sea, those numbers could impact rockfish recovery. That doesn't mean, however, that we should start controlling seal populations: this study showed seals also have a taste for dogfish, another major fish predator. So fewer seals could mean more dogfish. The real answer is to remember that all parts of our ecosystem are tightly intertwined. Rockfish recovery depends upon ecosystem recovery, including salmon recovery, herring recovery and so on around the Sea.

More information on this topic:

• The original report on this study (so you can see what we've learned since the first round)
• The Puget Sound Partnership's resource page on rockfish.
• SeaDoc's comments on the proposed (12/2009) rockfish conservation plan by the WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife.
• All the info on our site about rockfish (automatic search)
• All the info on the site about predator/prey relationships (automatic search)

(You can do these last two searches yourself by choosing "browse by species" or "browse by issue" from the Salish Sea menu at left.)

On December 10, 2009 Capt Jim Maya, a whale watch operator from San Juan Island, photographed this white/gray colored transient killer whale. While nobody knows for sure why this whale is colored this way, grey and albino killer whales have been reported before.

Scientists in Scotland, Canada and the US have proposed a new method to identify priority areas for whale conservation. The team's findings, published in Animal Conservation, suggest that even small protected areas, identified through feeding behaviour, can benefit highly mobile marine predators such as killer whales.

"Zoning the ocean is a new concept and is rife with human conflict," said Dr Joe Gaydos, science advisor to Puget Sound Partnership and Chief Scientist for the SeaDoc Society. "Science is our most objective tool for balancing species recovery and human needs and work like [lead author] Ashe's is critical if we're going to ask boaters and fishermen to leave important areas for the whales."

Read more:

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whale-protection.html#cr

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/w-zto121409.php

Many of us have four-legged best friends and there's nothing better than walking our tail-wagging pups along the shore. But what happens when that tail goes up and processed kibble plops down somewhere it can wash into the water? What we do on land impacts the oceans, often in disgusting ways, and now a new SeaDoc study published in the Journal of Parasitology (pdf) shows that our dogs have a pollution problem too. The intestinal bug Giardia comes in a number of nasty strains that infect humans and all sorts of animals. When SeaDoc scientists tested our region's harbor seals, we found that nearly half of the Salish Sea's seals carry a unique seal strain of Giardia.

Disturbing results came from a site in south Puget Sound where seals were not only infected with their own brand of Giardia, but also with a canine variety, which shows that diseases from our pet dogs are being transmitted to marine wildlife. Future studies will tell us what effect the dog Giardia is having on the seals, but for now it's an important wake-up call and reminder for everyone who cares about the oceans: The land and sea are intimately connected and even doing simple things like scooping your best friend's poop will help keep the ocean and its wildlife healthy.

  Vermillion Rockfish by J. Nichols

[Comments are now closed on this plan. We will update the site with information on the final plan when it's available.]

Rockfish populations are in trouble, and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is writing the first Puget Sound Rockfish Conservation Plan.

This is a major step in protecting rockfish. Like the killer whale and salmon recovery plans, it creates a coordinated plan for recovery.

The plan is currently a draft, and comments are being accepted until January 4, 2010.