Saving a Sea Duck Known as Ol' Skunkhead
SALISH SEA WILD
Team SeaDoc braves the darkness and the icy rain to help save one of the Salish Sea’s most charismatic critters, the surf scoter—affectionately called Ol’ Skunkhead by those who know and love them.
Scoter populations have plummeted in the Salish Sea and if we want to ensure their future, it’s important that we know where they spend their time year round. That’s where Team SeaDuck comes in. Enjoy our latest episode of Salish Sea Wild.
Q: The episode shows birds flying into nets and getting tangled. Does that hurt the birds?
A: Mist netting is a method that scientists have long used to capture flying critters like birds and bats. They’re called “mist nets” because they’re designed to be hard to see. And while it can be tough to see a beautiful bird tangled in a net, it’s actually proven to be the safest way to capture them.
A large peer-reviewed study in Methods in Ecology and Evolution looked at years of data from 22 research organizations that catch and band birds and found that out of every 1,000 birds captured in mist nets, less than 6 receive injuries (defined as anything from stress—where the birds are observed panting—to cuts, strains or broken bones).
Q: Okay, mist nests are very safe, but why did you have to capture the birds in the first place if there’s any risk at all?
A: Surf scoter populations are declining at an alarming rate and scientists don’t know why. The only way to figure out the causes of the decline is to understand things such as exactly which habitats the birds use, what they eat and how healthy they are over time. And the only way to do that is to track them and collect poop and blood samples. Fortunately, we now have miniaturized technology that allows us to attach transmitters to birds so they can tell us precisely where they go.
We strongly believe that the tiny risk to an individual bird is worth it to help save the entire population. Most sea ducks including surf scoters are game birds. That means every licensed hunter in Washington State is allowed to shoot two surf scoters per day, and they’re also taken in subsistence hunts. Meanwhile, our group of scientists took every precaution to make sure the birds we captured were safe and healthy. Our entire mission is to save wildlife!
Q: Did any of the birds SeaDoc and Team Sea Duck caught for this study get injured?
A: The only thing we spotted on any of the birds we caught was a small, superficial scratch on one duck’s bill, which might have come from the net or the pet carrier if it didn’t happen out in nature before we captured him. This wasn’t an injury that could effect the bird’s feeding and survival. A duck’s bill is made of a strong material called keratin, the same stuff that makes up a tortoise’s shell or your fingernails. These ducks use their bills to dig into sharp mussel beds, so they’re designed to withstand lots of bumps and scratches. Still, just to make extra sure, we put a bit of topical ointment on the scratch before we released him.
We wouldn’t list this as a real injury, but further reassurance comes from that mist net research paper where the study’s authors “found no evidence for increased mortality over time of injured birds compared with uninjured birds.”
Q: Why didn’t we see Dr. Joe out there in the middle of the night in the freezing rain catching the sea ducks?
A: SeaDoc chief scientist Dr. Joe Gaydos was smart enough to stay in school and get his veterinarian degree. For this mission he was in charge of attaching the trackers and making sure the birds were kept safe and healthy. To do this, Dr. Joe needed to be fully alert and at the top of his game. So, while the rest of the scientists and the video guy were up all night braving the elements, Dr. Joe was tucked warm and dry in bed getting sleep so he could do his critical job the next day.
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Written and produced by Bob Friel and SeaDoc Society. Click the subscribe button for future Salish Sea Wild episodes or sign up for our newsletter: seadocsociety.org/newsletter
Click the subscribe button for future Salish Sea Wild episodes or sign up for our newsletter: seadocsociety.org/newsletter