Justin Cox
A Non-Invasive Tool For Collecting Killer Whale ...

Drones can be powerful tools in gathering important health data about wildlife, including marine species like the Salish Sea’s endangered killer whales. Scientists have already established the benefits of collecting breath samples to monitor orca health, but we wanted to scientifically understand if it is less invasive than previous sampling methods–namely the use of a long pole with a petri dish extended from a nearby boat toward the whale’s blowhole.

A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal, Marine Mammal Science, led by SeaDoc Society Research Assistant Catherine Lo, answered that question by analyzing more than 1,000 drone-collected killer whale breath samples. 

A Non-Invasive Tool For Collecting Killer Whale Breath Samples
Justin Cox
Meet SeaDoc's Newest Science Advisors, Caitlin ...

This summer, our brilliant Scientific Advisory Committee gathered in Seattle to assess and ultimately determine funding for five new critical research projects here in the Salish Sea. You can read about those here.

Our Science Advisors are a vital part of our mission, and we’re excited to introduce two exciting new additions. They are Caitlin Magel of Puget Sound Institute and Phil Bloch of Confluence Environmental Company. We asked them a few questions so you can get to know them a bit better. 

Welcome Caitlin and Phil! 

Justin Cox
SeaDoc Announces More than $200,000 in New ...

We're excited to announce that SeaDoc Society will fund five new scientific research projects aimed at improving the longterm health of the Salish Sea. Each project was carefully reviewed and selected by our Scientific Advisory Committee and funded through your donations from people like you.

We look forward to sharing more about each of these as fieldwork ramps up, but here is a brief look at the newly funded projects:

SeaDoc Announces More than $200,000 in New Funded Research
Justin Cox
Joe Gaydos Elected to Washington State Academy ...

The Washington State Academy of Sciences has elected 36 new members in recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement. Among the select group in this year’s slate is SeaDoc Society Science Director Joe Gaydos!

Joe Gaydos Elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
Justin Cox
The Ocean is Our Lab

The Molly B skims the water as divers prepare for a day of field work in the Salish Sea. SeaDoc Society’s research assistant Cat Lo gets ready to don her heavy dive gear and take a plunge. One by one, the divers back roll off the boat and splash into the water with their slates and survey equipment. They descend and begin their objective; to survey young-of-year rockfish. 

Cat’s job entails a lot of time spent on or under the water, whether she’s surveying baby rockfish, assisting with killer whale health assessments, or the many other projects SeaDoc has in motion. Time spent in the field comes with its highs, its challenges, and its unexpected outcomes. While all components of science are important, much of the work we do puts us out in the field, interacting with the ecosystem first hand. 

As marine scientists, the ocean is our laboratory. 

The Ocean is Our Lab

harbor seals

How do Harbor Seals Behave After Rehabilitation & Release?

How do Harbor Seals Behave After Rehabilitation & Release?

A recent tracking study published by Samantha Sangster and Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium, and Co-authored by SeaDoc Society Science Director Joe Gaydos, shed some new information on the post-release outcome of rehabilitated harbor seals.

The study, titled “Interannual differences in postrelease movements of rehabilitated harbor seal pups (Phoca vitulina richardii) in the Salish Sea” and published in the June 2020 issue of Marine Mammal Science, built upon a study published by the SeaDoc Society in 2012 that looked at one year of wild and rehabilitated harbor seal weaned pup movements. The new study compares rehabilitated harbor seal movement over multiple years, telling a more nuanced story.

Something to Spout About

By Bob Friel

Photo by Bob Friel

Photo by Bob Friel

All of the Salish Sea’s marine mammals—from sea otters to orcas, pinnipeds to porpoises and all the great whales—are federally protected. In collaboration with The Whale Museum, SeaDoc makes crucial contributions to conserving these animals by tracking and diagnosing their diseases, and by responding when they turn up stranded on the beach.

This year, the Whale Museum/SeaDoc partnership was among only three entities in Washington State awarded federal funding under the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program. These funds will allow us to continue to respond to marine mammal strandings and to do the research necessary to establish what causes them to end up stranded in the first place.

In the past, SeaDoc, the Whale Museum, and a whole cadre of volunteers have worked to unravel mysteries associated with the impact of Navy sonar on whales, to determine whether zoonotic diseases like brucellosis that effect seals also pose a risk to humans, and to gather other data critical to marine mammal conservation.

Teamwork in research and wildlife rescue activities increases our effectiveness, while success at raising public funds to supplement private support allows SeaDoc to expand our mission to restore the Salish Sea. And it’s all good news for marine mammals!