Justin Cox
Meet Our 3 New Board Members: Scott White, Barb ...

The SeaDoc Board is instrumental to our mission here in the Salish Sea. Scott, Barb, and Jeff bring unique expertise, passion, and dedication to our team and we’re so excited to have them! View the whole board here and learn more about Scott, Barb and Jeff below.

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

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SeaDoc Requests Scientific Proposals for Needed Research

Not only does SeaDoc conduct important conservation-focused research, but we also fund other prominent scientists to conduct needed studies. This year we request proposals in two topic areas:

  • Deep sea research that needs a submersible platform for data collection
  • Research that will provide objective science on pressing wildlife and ecosystem health issues to inform and guide policy and management

Download the full Request for Proposals (PDF)

Deep Sea Research:

In partnership with OceanGate Foundation, SeaDoc will bring a submersible to the San Juan Island sub-basin of the Salish Sea in fall 2018 for 5 days of data collection. This platform will be available for scientists to collect data that cannot be gathered by other research methodologies such as scuba or remotely operated vehicle.

Science needed to address pressing wildlife and ecosystem health issues:

This year the SeaDoc Society requests proposals only for projects that scientifically address one of the four priority topics below. We anticipate funding one meritorious project in each topic area.

1. Disease

Infectious diseases (like viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi) and non-infectious diseases (such as those caused by contaminants, trauma, allergens, and biotoxins) have the capacity to affect population health and hinder species and ecosystem recovery. Despite the important role that disease can play in hindering Salish Sea recovery, it is understudied.

2. Ocean Noise

Human-caused underwater noise can create a wide range of negative effects on a variety of taxa and is a problem in the Salish Sea and worldwide. We seek projects that work to better understand (i) the individual and population-level effects of non-injurious noise on species of concern or (ii) scientifically evaluate solutions to increased underwater noise. Of special concern are diving marine birds, teleost fish and marine invertebrates due to scarcity of data about the effect of noise on these taxa.

3. One Health

One health is the concept that human health, wildlife health, and ecosystem health are intimately connected. We are looking for research that addresses health using an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond pathogens and parasites and includes other contributing factors such as habitat loss, globalization of trade, land-use pressure, ocean acidification, contaminants, and climate change.

4. Social Science

Salish Sea recovery requires the integration of social and biophysical science to better understand drivers of change and tradeoffs among strategic recovery opportunities. We seek social science projects that help identify and prioritize ecosystem recovery strategies and actions.

Download the full Request for Proposals (PDF)

Proposal Due Date

Email your proposal as a single document (PDF) to Dr. Joseph K. Gaydos at jkgaydos@ucdavis.edu no later than 5:00 pm (PST) January 12, 2018

 
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Banner photo: Cyclops on submerged MSLARS preparing for lift off. Courtesy of OceanGate.