Forum Ready
- Ana Noel
- Apr 17, 2022
- 4 min read
Date: 4/11/2022
Hours: 2.5
Event: level A data on dead sea otter and live otter observation at Anchor Point, brochure edits
Today Diondre and I got a call of a dead otter at Anchor Point. When we got there, there was evidence of eagle predation because we could see the intestines and lower vertebrae and pelvic bones. We took level A data and tagged it. There was a woman who told us that there was also a live otter close by. We went to look at it since it was lying on the beach. When we reached the live otter, an eagle was eating the dead otter.
The live otter appeared to be sleeping on its back and occasionally moved its flippers and head. We got a rough measurement of 85 cm; it appeared to be a juvenile. We got in contact with Jane, and she instructed us to take pictures and walk around it to see if it was responsive. When I walked around it, it lifted its head and looked at me the entire time I was walking but it stayed in the same position. Jane asked us if we felt comfortable putting it in a kennel and we said yes. But they decided that the best thing to do was to leave it on the beach since transportation is very stressful and the otter may not make it until the morning. She instructed us to check tomorrow to see if it was still there.
Later on when we got back, Caroline sent us some more edits to the brochures. I fixed those and sent them back so that they can get printed as soon as possible. We are also waiting for approval from the SeaLife Center to use their logo.
Date: 4/12/2022
Hours: 1.5
Event: Anchor Point beach walk to see if live otter was still there
Today we went back to Anchor Point to check for the live otter. We found the dead otter and the eagles seemed to rip off the tag. But we couldn't find the live otter. We did find some cool invertebrates.
Date: 4/13/2022
Hours: 1.5
Event: level A data on dead sea otter pup at Anchor Point
Today our classmate reported a dead sea otter pup at Anchor Point. It was buried under the sand so I told Julia to put sticks around it so I could see it. We found it pretty easily despite it being in the sand. it was really small and decomposed. The face seemed to be predated on since we couldn't make out the eyes/nose. It also didn't have teeth. We took level A data and took it to the dump.
Date: 4/14/2022
Hours: .5
Event: Dead otter floating in harbor
Today there was a report of a dead otter in the harbor. We believed that this was the same otter we responded to twice since we left it at the harbor, and it was in the same spot. We were going to try to take it out of the water, but when we got there, it was too far out to reach even with a net. The SeaLife Center said they'd report back when it's in reach so that we can remove it.
Date: 4/15/2022
Hours: .5
Event: Meeting with Islands and Ocean about the Discovery Lab
Today I talked with Diondre and Katey regarding the Discovery Lab as well as the Marine Mammal Forum tabling. She said that my table will have a shortened version of a humpback catalog and there will be whale fluke pictures that kids can try and match with the catalog to help identify them. My job is to inform people on how humpback flukes are used to help with photo ID of humpbacks. I will also talk about how Happywhale helps identify whales from all over the world so you can get an idea of whale migration patterns if your whale was sighted someplace else.
We also talked about tabling the rest of the week. There we will stay at the table to hand out flyers and answer any questions related to sea otters. We will also be able to listen to the presenters while we table which I am excited about because I am very interested in learning more about marine mammals from people who have been studying them their whole lives. She also said that some fishermen hate sea otters since they believe that they steal all their fish and the best response to that is that you hear them and understand that that can be frustrated especially if it is their job.
We also talked about printing the educational materials and we decided we would print them on campus on our own.
Date: 4/16/2022
Hours: .5
Event: Took skin sample of dead seal at the Kenai River
Yesterday Teresea Becker, who helps monitor belugas for the Alaska Beluga Monitoring Partnership, found a dead baby seal on the Kenai River. The SeaLife Center believed that it was just born since it had no teeth but she couldn't see the umbilical cord. She took level A measurements and noticed an odd growth near the abdomen. She wasn't able to cut it open because she didn't have the supplies. Today we had a class field trip to Kenai to monitor belugas and I went to help Teresea take skin samples. When we got there, the seal had been predated on by something which we guessed to be either a bear or eagle. A man was also there, and he said he saw another seal, possibly the mom, that was patrolling the area. Despite the condition of the carcass, we were still able to get a skin sample.
Date: 4/17/2022
Hours: 1
Event: Printed, cut, and folded educational materials for the Marine Mammal Forum
The other day, Caroline's supervisor sent us some more edits for the brochure and the SeaLife Center got the logo approved. After editing those, we are finally ready to print them! We printed 50 trifolds and boating brochures and 60 OTTER protocols so that we could give those out at the Discovery Lab. We then cut the trifold to make it fold properly and then folded those and the boating brochure.
The finished products:
Next Week
Next week is the Marine Mammal Forum and I am so glad we got all the educational materials ready. I am so excited to table every day, as well as go to trivia which is marine mammal related.
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