Beam Reach

Erroneous Forecasts

Fortunately we have been able to spend a large proportion of our time this week outside basking in the Washington sunshine.  Although thunderstorms were predicted at the beginning of the week, the forecasts seem like a distant memory.  Many hours have been spent this week staring out across Haro Strait in search of the ever elusive whales. We know that they are out there because we can hear them on the hydrophones. A few fortunate folk have even caught glimpses of them as they have passed by nearby inlets (not us).  Throughout the San Juans, there is a network of researchers, whale watching boats, and whale heads who keep tabs on the whales and there whereabouts. It is only going to be a matter of time before we see them for ourselves (I can feel it).  Today, there were sporadic reports of transients throughout the Strait, and so a few of us decided to try and hitch a ride across the island to Lime Kiln. Hitch hiking is apparently a popular and efficient way to get around the island. In fact, there are designated pick up areas specifically for hitch hikers. It did not take long before the first vehicle stopped for us. On arrival to Lime Kiln we were greeted by an influx of tourists who were making the most of their Easter Weekend.  Sadly no whales.  We did however spot one river otter foraging in the shallows. We were later joined by other students from FHL (mostly the Zoobot crowd).  As we imparted our whale knowledge with the Zoobots, they in turn shared facts about various intertidal invertebrates. Such an interesting crowd!

Hitchhikers Guide to San Juan

Taking in the view

We also explored numerous locations on the south side of the island including Cattle Pass, and South Beach. Cattle Pass is a really unique site where the shallow sea floor forces great quantities of water through a small channel. Thus, the area experiences strong currents which attract an array of sea birds and marine mammals. We were able to test out our birding skills from land-based observations (we still need a bit of work on identifying certain species). Another great reason for visiting Cattle Pass was that it was referenced in one of the papers we were required to read for this week. In addition, to get better views (180 degrees) of the surrounding area, we hiked up Mount Finlayson. This got me thinking about how great of a vantage point the hill would be for viewing whales as they swam by.  On the evening, we returned to the south side of the island to have a bonfire with some friends. The full moon cast its beautiful hues over the beach and out across the water. Splendid evening!

On the academic front, we were given the opportunity to present on a paper that identified bottom-up effects.  At a basic level, ‘bottom-up effects’ refers to how the population density of a resource affects the population density of that resources’ consumer.  Although most people chose to present on marine-related issues, I wanted to focus on a terrestrial case study. My paper was titled ‘Bottom-Up Effects on Persistence of a Specialist Predator: Ant Invasions & Horned Lizards’. This paper discussed in detail the effects of invasive species on native populations. In my selected case study, a population of coastal horned lizards was being impacted by the introduction of the Argentinean ants to the area. These ants were destroying and out competing the ‘normal’ food source of the lizard. The lizards are ‘sit and wait predators’, and have highly specialized diets. Because of this, they cannot, or are unwilling, to switch to an alternative food source. On reading this, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the horned lizards and the SRKW who depend on one species of salmon, the Chinook, despite the abundance of other species in the area. A second paper I discussed this week was titled ‘Management Effectiveness of the World’s Marine Fisheries’. This paper sought to evaluate how management affects fishery sustainability. I was particularly interested to read how sustainability was defined, and also how it was measured. The blend of science and policy made for a good paper. On the topic of good papers, Andrea Buckman and Cara Lachmuth (DFO Scientists) came in to present on their past research.  Cara’s presentation on ‘Killer Whale Exposure to Engine Exhausts’ raised some interesting questions, highlighted gaps in existing data, and drew attention to potential areas of future study.  The two guest lecturers also sat in on our weekly mentor meetings, offering advice and giving examples of how we can expand on our final research projects. This was greatly appreciated!

If I was a harbor seal I would hope to not be blind cause necropsies are not so kind

So this week we were able to observe a harbor seal necropsy which is essentially a dissection but since we’re biologists we gave it a fun name. Once I got past the smell and the obvious fact that they were cutting open a baby seal it was fascinating. If you have a particular fascination with all things grotesque you can check out Rachel’s blog for a picture. Its pretty cool I’d check it out. While nothing could really compete with getting an inside look at a harbor seal it’s been a pretty good week. We’re preparing for our data collection at the Lime Kiln lighthouse and starting to narrow down our ideas for research projects, which is much harder than I initially though it would be, there’s just so much to ask. We also travelled to Mount Finlayson which was a bit of a hike, but totally worth it as it gave us a great view of cattle pass and the surrounding waters at the southern tip of San Juan Island.

In the meantime we’ve been continuing our work in the classroom and combining our interests and the class theme of sustainability. We were responsible for finding another case study but this time about sustainable fishery practices which was right up my alley, being a fisheries major and all. So I looked at a paper titled Estimating mortality of Atlantic bluefin tuna in an experimental catch-and-release fishery. I think its a requirement that all research papers have an excessively long title. The paper looked at the potential to create a catch-and-release fishery to limit fish mortality. Studies have been done on why people fish and the most often reason is the social bonding experience. Often times its a family tradition passed down from generation to generation, so this way people can still have that experience while conserving the tuna population. The study sought to simulate the proposed regulations of the fishery to get results that would resemble what might happen on the boat. The researchers caught 60 fish and managed to tag 59 of them with PATs which are pop-up archival tags. These tags include microchips with a sensor, transmitter and float. They can measure temperature and depth and are preprogrammed to release from the fish and float to the surface after a certain amount of time or death of the fish. The results show that only 2 fish died, and 4 tags didn’t successfully transmit. The rest of the fish survived except for one. If you noticed earlier I said they caught 60 and tagged 59. So that one was killed during the fight after the fish was hooked. There was an overall mortality rate of  5.1% which is much better than 100% if I do say so myself. I think this is a terrific idea, but much needs to be done before it will be successful. I would love to see them do another study with a greater sampling range of at least over 100 animals to get more accurate results. This type of fishing would also take strong leadership on the boat and experienced anglers. However I love that people are trying to find ways to combine human and environmental interests so that we can enjoy the things we do now for a long time to come.