The Time Has Come: The Marine Mammal Forum
- Ana Noel
- Apr 24, 2022
- 17 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2022
Date: 4/18/2022
Hours: 5
Event: Tabled at the Discovery Lab at Islands and Oceans for the Marine Mammal Forum
Today was the first event of the Marine Mammal Forum. The Discovery Lab started it off with a tabling event for both kids and adults. When Diondre and I got there, we helped set up a beanbag throwing station outside. We used a tape measure to measure 100 ft. There were 14 marine mammal lengths, and we placed a star at each one. For example, the walrus was 12 ft, so we put a star at the 12-foot line. Kids would then throw a beanbag and whatever number they landed on they would go inside to see what marine mammal it was.
After that we went inside and saw the 4 tables in the lab: toothed whales, baleen whales, pinnipeds, and a blubber station.
The blubber station was really cool because it was a stimulation of how blubber is used to keep all marine mammals (with the exception of sea otters) warm. They used Crisco to imitate the blubber. One hand would go into cold water, while the other hand went into the bag with "blubber" and then in the cold water and it was crazy how much the "blubber' kept my hand warm. I never truly understood how blubber actually helped in keeping marine mammals warm, so this activity was really eye-opening for me.
Mine and Diondre's stations were outside the lab; he had the sea otter table, and I had the humpback fluke ID table.
Diondre's table had some fun activities; there were otter pelts that kids could touch, a weight to see how much mass a sea otter eats per day, jars with fragments of different invertebrates that sea otters eat, and the OTTER protocol flyers. My table had binders of humpback whale fluke catalogs and a matching exercise to see if kids could match the fluke with the one in the catalog.
My table was near the entrance so I would greet people, direct people to other tables, and teach people about humpback flukes. There were a lot of kids who came in who really enjoyed the matching activity and had a lot of fun doing in. And there were adults who were really interested in learning about humpbacks in Kachemak Bay and wanted to learn more and become involved. A lot of people asked about if the catalog was online and I referred them to Happywhale. There was a man who showed me some humpbacks he saw while kayaking and another man who was very interested in learning more about whales as a whole because he said people ask him questions and he doesn't know the answer. It felt really good sharing my knowledge and seeing people really take in the information I was saying. One man didn't know the tails were called flukes and he said that he would use that terminology from now on and it felt good that I was able to educate him so that he can help other people learn about marine mammals. Another lady asked me about belugas because she has been trying to see them, so I was able to give her insight on that as well. Another lady asked about gray whale flukes and how they differ from humpbacks, and I was able to show her a picture and explain. Overall, a total of 41 people came, and I think it was really beneficial to both kids and adults. I think this was a really good start to the Marine Mammal Forum and a lot of people were excited for the presentations so I think this will be a very successful week. Diondre was also able to give out some flyers which makes me happy that people are interested in what we made since we worked hard throughout the semester to produce those.
Date: 4/19/2022
Hours: 2.5
Event: Tabled at the Marine Mammal Forum
Diondre and I started off by setting up our table which included a sea otter pelt, a sea otter skull, jars of sea otter prey such as mussel shells, crab shells, sea urchins, and clams, and our educational materials. Julia was also running a table focusing on Semester by the Bay, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, and the SeaLife Center.
Today was a great start to the presentations:
Marine mammals in native culture, Nancy Yeaton (Nanwalek Tribe)
Recent sightings and reports of humpback whales and killer whales in Kachemak Bay, Emma Luck (HappyWhale)
Culture and diet among killer whales, Dan Olsen (North Gulf Oceanic Society)
First Nancy Yeaton presented on how marine mammals are used in native culture and how things are different today. She discussed how they used to hunt seals to make waterproof jackets using the intestines. They would make needles out of bird bones to stitch the jacket together. She said that they used every part of the animal so that nothing gets wasted. It was really cool because she talked about how elders would go hunting and teach the new hunters how to hunt and the places to go and how to break down an animal. What was really interesting to me was that she said that women can't hunt. She said she would ask the elders to go hunting and they would never let her until, one day, one of the elders called her and asked if she still wanted to go and she said yes. She said she was able to find and hunt a seal and I thought that was a really cool story. Another interesting thing she said was that the young hunters today don't know all the tricks and locations to hunt that the elders used to go to, so they are staying more locally in the bay instead of venturing further out. I am interested in why this is and how this affects their life since they still use and rely on marine mammals. Overall, I learned a lot about native culture, and I think it helped me to understand their way of life. I personally don't like hunting, but her stories showed me that marine mammals were and still are essential to their way of life and them being able to share their culture with others is really special.
After her presentation, Emma Luck discussed trends of humpbacks and killer whales within Kachemak Bay throughout the years. She started out with humpbacks and said that the average number of humpbacks seen per year in the bay is around 12. But in 2015, there was a huge increase in the number of humpbacks sighted and she said you would see one every time you went out on a boat. She thinks this is due to a heat wave that occurred which caused the humpbacks food source to migrate North and that was why they saw such an increase. In 2016 there were also a large number of whales, but not as much as 2015 and by 2017, the numbers went back to normal. She also said that there were whales that came in 2015 and 2016 that were not sighted before and were not seen since those years. After that she talked about killer whales and how they form pods that come and go around the bay. She gave an overview of the residents, transients, and offshores and explained how they don't interact with one another. She said that pods can also form superpods which is when pods interact to mate since pods are composed of related individuals. It was cool to learn more about these whales and the trends that they are showing since I've seen both these species in the bay and love to know more about them.
After that we had a break where people came to our sea otter table. People came and took flyers and asked questions. The same man from the Discovery Lab told me that he was inspired to share his humpback fluke photos to Happywhale and I was really happy that I was able to inspire him to do so. There was a couple who said they reported otters and we encouraged them to keep doing that. It was so good to see that people care about what's happening in Homer and want to help research and science progress. And it was awesome to see people take our flyers.
After the break, Dan Olsen gave his presentation on orcas and how culture is very important to their way of life. He said that when orcas are born, the mother and grandmother teach them everything they know and that if the grandmother dies, the calf is less likely to learn as much as if she was alive. He played an audio call where the mom called, and the calf mimicked the same call to learn the call unique to their pod (recording above).
That's how they know who is in their pod and who is in a different pod. It was also cool because he said that orcas can use both their nostrils to perform a call. He played a biphonic call that went from a high-pitched sound to a low-pitched sound (recording below).
1st recording from Craig Matkin
2nd recording from Dan Olsen
He also said that feeding behavior is based on culture. He said that a transient in captivity was emaciated because they tried to feed it fish and it wouldn't eat it even though its neighbor did because it was taught to eat mammals. Speaking of diet, he did studies to see what fish residents are eating and he found some salmon species and halibut (left). He did this by collecting fish scales after an orca eating event and poop and ran DNA tests to figure out the fish species. The data also showed that moms share with their calf and that their diets were very similar (below).
They are working on getting more data for the winter since this data was done during the summer. But I think it is astonishing how orcas live and communicate within their pod and that each pod has unique vocalizations and hunting methods even if eating the same prey. He said that when a male hears a call from another pod, he will swim toward them to mate with them. Going back to Nancy's presentation about culture, it's mind-blowing to me how culture within orca pods is so important for their survival as well as the knowledge of the elders being passed on. He gave an example of pilot whales and how, if the leader strands, the whole rest of the pod strands causing a mass stranding. It is amazing to me how unique each pod is due to their learned culture despite being the same species.
Date: 4/20/2021
Hours: .5
Event: Meeting with the SeaLife Center about sample collection
Today Jane from the SeaLife Center called Diondre and I to discuss sample collection for the study. She said that John Maniscalco, a researcher at the SeaLife Center who is running the study, keeps updating the protocol so she wanted to see what we were currently doing. She reminded us that Aimee swabs go in the freezer and should remain there until someone comes to collect them. She also hopes we can get a scat sample from live otters, if possible, and dead/sick ones if they are nearby to test for pathogens. She discussed the live otter protocol which consists of us watching the otter for ~15 minutes, placing a sign if people are likely to disturb it, and communicating with the SeaLife Center to see if they want to take further action. I asked about teeth collection, and she said that since we aren't properly trained, we can't collect them yet. She also reminded us that a data sheet needs to be filled out with every sample and should be placed in the bag with the sample. I think this call was very helpful to make sure that we are doing everything correct as the protocol continues to be updated.
Date: 4/20/2022
Hours: 4
Event: Tabled at the Marine Mammal Forum
Today the presentations were
NOAA Law Enforcement and boater operations around marine mammals in Kachemak Bay, (NOAA Law Enforcement Officers)
Kachemak Bay’s humpbacks and how you can help study them, Emma Luck (HappyWhale)
Marine mammals in Kachemak Bay, Deb Tobin and Olga von Ziegesar and Marc Webber (Kenai Peninsula College)
First a NOAA Officer gave a presentation on the law side of things to make sure that everyone understood the laws concerning marine mammals. He started off by talking about boating regulations. He said that you cannot get within 100 yards of humpbacks or else it is a $1000 fine. This law is only for humpbacks (recommended for all marine mammals), but if you harass a marine mammal, you can still get fined. He said that harassment is if you cause an animal to change its behavior and there is level a harassment and level b harassment. Level b harassment is when an animal's behavior is changed due to humans where level a harassment is causing potential injury to a marine mammal. Something interesting I didn't know was that you get fined for every marine mammal you disturb. So, if seals are hauling out and you cause them to enter the water, you will get fined for every seal you caused to enter the water. He explained that seals will first look at you if you are too close which already caused a disturbance. Once they put their head up, it is likely they will enter the water and you should back-off before they do. He also said that you should go at slow speeds especially around whales because it is still $700 for hitting a whale unknowingly. He said that harassment caused by a dog or drone is also a fine. Although there is no minimum distance that a drone should be from marine mammals, he said that anything less than 125 ft has been shown to disturb them and can result in a fine. He then went on to discuss marine mammal bones and if you can keep them. Bones from an endangered species can't be kept such as the North Pacific right whale and bowhead whale. Once a bone is found, NOAA should be called, and you should record where you found the bone and the time you found it. They will identify the species it came from and then, if it is legal, will etch a number into the bone and send it back to you. At that point you can't sell the bone. That being said, there are regulations for Native Alaskans selling you marine mammal products. He said that baleen, for example, cannot be sold in its raw form and needs to be dried and glossed first. In addition, bones need to be crafted into something else before being sold. He mentioned that it is important to obtain a receipt saying who made/hunted the animal and which tribe it came from. If something is cheap, you should ask questions since it may be illegal. Only native people are allowed to hunt marine mammals and that includes driving the boat to a hunting location. He also said that you cannot keep fossils found on public land but can if found on private land. All in all, I am really glad that he went over this information because there were a lot of things I learned in regards to marine mammals and how there can be serious consequences to not following them. Even something as simple as taking a bone you found on a beach could result in a huge fine if you are not aware of the rules.
After that, Emma Luck gave another presentation focusing on Happywhale and some common whales that return to Kachemak Bay. She talked about 3 common ones: Pirate, Opal, and Scorpio. She said that Pirate is also known as the 5-minute whale because his dives are always 5 minutes and she recorded him once and it was exactly 5 minutes. They actually modeled the logo for the Marine Mammal Forum after Pirate's fluke.
She then went on to discuss Happywhale and how it is an algorithm that can quickly find a match to your whale that you submit. She also said that it is expanding to include other species like orcas, but, as of right now, there is no algorithm, so humans have to match the whale.
We then had a break and people came to talk to us. One man from the Discovery Lab came and told us that he learned that porpoises are toothed whales and that he likes to inform people of that fact and it is amazing to see people get excited about what they're learning and want to share with other members of the community. A lot of the same people from yesterday were also there which was good to see that people were engaged and came back to learn more. I even found some fun materials to take home.
After the break, Debbie, Marc, and Olga did a combined presentation on marine mammals in Kachemak Bay and around Alaska. Debbie started out by talking about harbor porpoises and their presence in Kachemak Bay. She gave an overview of the species such as their mating, distribution in the bay, personality, etc. She also talked about future studies for these animals such as collecting eDNA to see what species they are consuming like they do for the Cook Inlet belugas.
Marc then took over and discussed how, in California, harbor porpoises and Dall's porpoises interbreed to create a hybrid. A male harbor porpoise always mates with a female Dall's porpoise. He encouraged us to report any animal that could possibly be a harbor porpoise/Dall's porpoise hybrid since it hasn't been documented in Alaksa. He then switched gears to discuss some rare/uncommon species seen in Kachemak Bay such and gave them a symbol of uncommon (U), rare (R), or historic (H) or offshore (O)or extralimital (E) based on his observations:
Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) (U)
Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) (H)
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) (U)
Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) (H)
Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) (U)
Northern right whales (Eubalaena japonica) (R)
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) (U)
California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) (R)
Any beaked whale (O)
Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) (O)
Oceanic dolphins (O)
Northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) (O)
Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi) (E)
Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) (E)
Ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata) (E)
Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) (O)
He of course included some other species as well like the minke whale (Balaena rostrata). He said that some animals have gotten lost like an individual walrus. He even talked about how there have been sightings of leatherback sea turtles. I thought his presentation was very informative and shows that you can see a variety of species even if they are rare and photo ID is important to document those sightings. There was a sighting of Dall's porpoises in Kachemak Bay, and nobody believed it until some washed up dead. Debbie also rescued a Guadalupe fur seal which hasn't been seen in the bay before. Overall, I think his presentation was helpful to boaters that may encounter an uncommon marine mammal in the bay.
Olga finished up by talking about her research on humpbacks in Kachemak Bay. Humpbacks are known to compete for mates and are often solitary. But she found 2 groups of humpbacks in Kachemak Bay that were constantly associated with one another and that some males only stayed close to one female; she called them the Old Ladies Clan and Magellan's Clan. In addition, there was a sighting in in Hawaii of a male escorting a female with her calf. It was very interesting data because it could suggest that humpbacks have group relations and possibly a long-term mate.
Overall, I think the talks were very informative again and I can't wait for the talks tomorrow.
Date: 4/21/2022
Hours: 2.5
Event: Tabled at the Marine Mammal Forum
To wrap up the Marine Mammal Forum:
Responsible marine mammal viewing and behavior, including information on becoming Whale SENSE certified, (NOAA)
Vessel operation guidance to avoid disturbing sea otters in Kachemak Bay, Caroline Cummings (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Program: Animal recovery and oil spill response (Alaska SeaLife Center)
First a man came up to our table and said that once, when he was kayaking, a sea otter came and bit the front of his boat. I thought it was an interesting story but, before we could discuss further, the presentations started.
First was a presentation focusing on Whale SENSE and the things that they do. Whale SENSE is a program that is sponsored by NOAA and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and they make sure that whale watching boats are following responsible practices:
Reduce speed on arrival and departure
Limit viewing time to 30 minutes
Communicate with other operators
Use a wide berth where other vessels are gathering
Give moms more space
They will even have incognito checks where one of their members will purchase a ticket as a passenger to see if the whale watching boats are following the rules.
They then talked about sea lion feeding and that you should not be feeding them. This causes them to be aggressive and, a few years ago, there were sealions being aggressive in the harbor due to people feeding them. They also talked about entanglement and how we can do things such as cutting plastic rings to help avoid entanglement. It is also important to call their hotline if an animal is entangled because they can send out a team to help remove the debris.
NOAA Fisheries Alaska Statewide 24-Hour Stranding Hotline: (877) 925-7773
They also talked about the Cook Inlet Beluga Count which is a day where people go out and count belugas to see how many they can count. Due to covid, this event didn't happen last year, but is already scheduled for this year:
September 17th 2022
After that they talked about their Guardian School which is a program that works with schools to promote conservation. Students engage in projects focusing on the conservation of water sheds, the ocean, and protected areas like marine sanctuaries.
I thought this presentation was very informative and I think their organization is important to make sure whale watching guidelines are followed while at the same time educating kids so that they can grow up knowing how important marine conservation is.
Next Caroline Cummings gave a presentation on boating guidelines with regards to sea otters. Her presentation was very similar to our boating brochure since she wanted the information on the brochure in case people missed her presentation:
Scan the surface
Alter your course if you see otters to avoid collision or disturbance
Slow down
Give a wide berth
Do not go between individuals- give a buffer to entire group
Never steer your vessel directly at otters, single out, or surround otters
Do not chase otters, it is illegal
Stay 100 meters away from individual otters, 200 meters away from mother-pup pairs, and 500 meters away from rafts of otters
After Caroline, the SeaLife Center gave the final presentation giving an overview of what they do as well as how they are prepared in the case of an oil spill. The Alaska SeaLife Center is the only rehabilitation center of marine mammals in the state of Alaska. They started off by talking about the dead animals they have responded to before:
Orca (Orcinus orca)
Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri)
Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeaniglie)
Grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus)
Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
They then discussed all the live animals they have admitted to their facility:
Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)
Ringed seal (Pusa hispida)
Spotted seal (Phoca largha)
Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus)
Ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata)
Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris)
Northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus)
Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi)
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus
California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)
Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Norther sea otter (Enhydra lutris)
Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)
They then discussed what to do if you see a pup by itself. It is important to remember that once they take a pup out of the wild, it cannot be returned because it doesn't have the skills needed to survive. Sometimes animals will leave their pups to forage like harbor seals, sea lions, and sea otters. If a pup is moved, it is unlikely its mom will find it. They then went on to discuss what you can do if you find a stranded marine mammal:
Take a phot of the animal and its surroundings
Give the animal plenty of room and keep others away
Call the SeaLife Center ((888) 774 - 732) and prepare to answer questions:
Does the animal appear skinny, weak, or injured?
Is the animal alone or are there other wild animals, people, or pets in the area?
How long have you observed this animal?
ASLC Wildlife Response Staff will guide you to respond appropriately
After that, they transitioned to talking about their Oiled Wildlife Response Team (OWRT). This was started in 2010 to in order to be able to respond quickly to an oil spill since no one was prepared for what to do during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. This consists of a team of veterinarians, veterinarian technicians, animal care specialists, life support technicians, researchers, and educators. Members have to go through trainings to ensure they know what to do and make sure all equipment is working. They also work with other organizations throughout Alaska like the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response, Inc. (CISPRI), Seldovia Oil Spill Response (SOS), Sea Otter Rehabilitation Center (SORC), and more. She mentioned how there is a lot that goes into responding to an oil spill and that you need to establish a plan before jumping right into it.
Jane was then explaining how they have to bring a lot of equipment and can bring a lot of mobile things such as a mobile treatment and rehabilitation enclosure (MTRE) that is a pool to place marine mammals:
They also have quarters for the caregivers to sleep in, as well as storage and power:
I never realized how much actually goes into responding to an oil spill and how much equipment and people are needed to make this work. I'm glad that the SeaLife Center takes time to make sure everyone is prepared because an oil spill can have detrimental effects to marine mammals. I also found out that they were part of a tv show titled Alaska Animal Rescue on Disney Plus which I think is really cool that people can see more of what they do.
To finish off the Marine Mammal Forum, trivia was held, and Debbie was one of the hosts. Half the trivia was on marine mammals and the other half was normal trivia. It was really fun, and our team ended up winning! We couldn't collect the prize because we had too many people on our team, but it was still a really fun way to end the forum.
Next week
Next week is the last week of the semester. I hope that there are more otters to respond to. But I will also be busy wrapping up the semester and will be giving a presentation about the internship and meeting with Caroline to discus how she thought we did as interns.
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