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?

steller sea lion

Dramatic Rescue: Sea Lion Suffers Deadly Entanglement (VIDEO)

Dramatic Rescue: Sea Lion Suffers Deadly Entanglement (VIDEO)

When a big male Steller sea lion was spotted near San Juan Island with a plastic packing strap slicing deep into his neck, the only chance to save him was to launch a risky rescue mission. Today, footage of that dramatic operation is being made public for the first time.

The latest episode of Salish Sea Wild – a wildlife documentary series about the Salish Sea produced by the SeaDoc Society – puts you out on the water with the team as they work to sedate and free the 500-pound animal while battling huge tides, dangerous currents and jagged rocks.

Plastic Packing Strap Removed From Sea Lion's Neck

Plastic Packing Strap Removed From Sea Lion's Neck

The SeaDoc Society joined forced with the Vancouver Aquarium marine mammal rescue staff and officers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) last week at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, a marine protected area near Sooke, on Vancouver Island. The teams were responding to reports of at least one Steller sea lion and one California sea lion seen entangled in plastic. 

On arrival by DFO boat to Race Rocks, and with the help of the Race Rocks Eco-Guardians, teams were able to spot a male Steller sea lion, weighing more than 1,000 pounds, with a plastic packing band wrapped tightly around its neck. The depth and severity of the wound indicated that the plastic had been there for some time.