Birds of Prey
- Ana Noel
- Feb 13, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 18, 2022
Date: 2/8/2022
Hours: 2
Event: Level A data
Yesterday Diondre and I got a message about a dead otter at Mariners Park. Today we went to check it out. When we got to the beach, we found a dead animal that could have been an otter, but it was too decomposed to tell.; there were bones sticking out of it. We also saw a live sea otter chilling on the beach. It was going between the water and the beach. It seemed to be displaying normal behavior, so we didn't report it.
After that, we walked about a half mile and found the dead sea otter. It seemed to be a subadult and it was a female. There were no obvious wounds or cause of death. We took level A data and took it to the dump. We didn't collect samples because it was 24°F and super windy. At the dump, we saw a bunch of eagles.
Date: 2/8/2022
Hours: 1
Event: Meeting with Lauren Flynn: truck orientation
Today we also had a meeting with Lauren Flynn, Lydia Kleine, and Mike Coffing. We went over to Islands and Oceans which was super cool because I haven't been inside before.
Everyone introduced themselves and then we talked about the use of the vehicles. Lauren showed us where the keys were and showed us where the vehicles were parked. She said we should use the truck with the winter tires. The only problem was getting access to the trucks when they are closed. Lydia said she would let us in if she was around, but she might be going to Anchorage and can't always be there. Lauren said she would see if she could get us access to the building. She is also going to see if we can get access to the warehouse in the case that there is a carcass that needs freezing, or so we can put the samples in there. Then Lauren showed us the necropsy room and freezer which she said we can use if we need to, but she prefers we put everything in the warehouse. After that, Lauren had to go to another meeting, so Lydia took us over to the warehouse. She showed us the freezer and the paperwork to do if we need to put an otter in the freezer.
Date: 2/10/22
Hours: 1
Event: Sea otter literature
Today I looked more into the literature in order to help create more brochures. Specifically, I looked more into strep syndrome and boat strikes because I didn't know that they were a threat to sea otters. But I learned that sea otters are deep sleepers and will not wake up when a boat is present. And they can sleep at the surface, making them susceptible to boat strikes. I think this information is important to put in a brochure because people use boats all the time, especially with the harbor being here, and so making sure they are aware that this can happen is important. In addition, people see sea otters stranded on the beach, so it is beneficial for us to help them understand why this is happening.
Date: 2/13/2022
Hours: 1
Event: Level A data
Today Diondre and I responded to a dead sea otter on Bishop's beach. Debbie actually found it and put a stick to mark the location. It was buried under the snow. After we unburied it, we tried to flip it over, but it was frozen to the ground so we couldn't take samples or all of the level A measurements.
Date: 2/13/2022
Hours: 1
Event: Sea otter response
Debbie's friend also found a dead sea otter on Bishop's beach, so I went to check it out. There were a bunch of juvenile eagles eating something and I went to investigate. What I found were bones and skin, which appeared to be an otter. About 10 minutes later, I found another one that was in the same condition. After informing the SeaLife Center, they weren't sure if it was an otter due to the odd bone structure. In the end, the presence of fur and the singling out of anything else it could be resulted in it being counted as a sea otter.
It was really cool to see the juvenile eagles feeding on the carcasses because I haven't witnessed this behavior before. In addition, usually when we find dead otters, there isn't any signs of the carcass being eaten, so I'm wondering why these 2 carcasses were basically gone and others are fully intact.
Date: 2/13/2022
Hours: 2
Event: Brochure work
Today I worked a lot on the brochure, and I think it's ready to be reviewed by Caroline. I added some pictures, talked about sea otter threats and what the public can do, and added references. Overall, I think it looks good, and also educates the public about why otters are washing up, as well as ways that they can help.
Next Week
Next week I hope to show Caroline our brochure and hopefully get it printed as well as continue to make more. I also hope we can respond to more strandings and get trained on how to collect teeth samples.
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