News

New Images Show Killer Whale J17’s Dramatic Weight Loss

Featured Image: Seattle Orca Whale Watching

New drone photos show J17, one of the 75 endangered killer whales who frequently visits Puget Sound in Washington, experiencing a worrying amount of weight loss. The photos also show she’s experiencing “peanut head” – a serious condition that makes her head appear indented from above due to a low amount of facial fat deposits.

Just last year, J50, a young orca, also exhibited peanut head before passing. It’s a tell-tale sign of long-term starvation and Dr. Deborah Giles of Wild Orca said “In the past, once the peanut head gets to a particularly bad state, it seems to be inevitable that we’re going to lose that individual.”

Source: Crosscut / Images obtained by Holly Fearnbach (SR3) and John Durban (NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center) using a remotely piloted drone under NMFS Research Permit #19091.

There have been several whale strandings in the area recently and scientists are finding them emaciated. The recent occurance has sparked a scientific investigation and prompted scientists to delcare an Unusual Mortality Event.

However, not all scientists are ready to give up on J17 just yet and think recovery is possible.

Michael Mistien of NOAA says, “I don’t think we are willing to give up on J17 that fast. The point of photogrammetry is to understand whether the whales are prey-limited and how that affects them. Of course, losing weight like this is never a good sign but we want to learn as much as possible about what the contributing factors are and how to unravel and address them. Not all of the animals that have died were emaciated, so there must be other factors at play.”

Scientists are hopeful that they will be able to discover what is going on with J17 so that they can help save her.

Spike In Whale Strandings Prompt NOAA Fisheries To Request Homeowners To Volunteer Waterfront Property For Whale Decomposition

Image Source: NOAA/Mario Rivera

Since the beginning of 2019, 30 gray whales have stranded in Washington and more than 70 along the West Coast. The high number of strandings has caused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) and prompted a scientific investigation.

With Washington seeing the most stranded whales they have in almost 20 years, NOAA fisheries are asking residents for help. The UME has caused so many strandings that the whales have nowhere left to decompose so they are asking waterfront property owners to volunteer their property for whale decomposition.

A dead 40-foot gray whale drifted ashore north of Port Ludlow, Washington, on May 28. Image Source: NOAA/Mario Rivera

Mario Rivera and Stefanie Worwag recently decided to volunteer and allowed marine mammal stranding responders to tow a dead 40-foot gray whale to their property. The couple thought it would be an interesting opportunity to see the whale decompose before being recycled back into the marine ecosystem.

The couple who volunteers for the Port Townsend Marine Science Center moved to the Pacific Northwest about three years ago and is hoping other residents will join them in volunteering. Rivera recently told KING5-TV that the smell “isn’t that bad.”

Kristin Wilkinson, the Northwest Coordinator for the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network said the organization was grateful to the couple for their support and is testing ways to help speed up decomposition. The stranding network is experimenting with hydrated lime to help cover the smell and see if it speeds up decomposition.

“The lime appears to be working,” Rivera said.

Having a place for the whale to decompose is important for researchers to understand the cause of death of the whales. Many of the whales that have shown up along the West Coast have been skinny and malnourished. Worwag, a veterinarian, helped with a necropsy on the decomposing whale and found that it was severely emaciated.

Landowners Stefanie Worwag and Mario Rivera volunteered their waterfront property south of Port Townsend, Washington, as a site where the whale can decompose. Stefanie Worwag, a veterinarian, assisted with the necropsy of the gray whale. Image Source: NOAA/Mario Rivera

While Rivera, Worwag and the stranding network understand the hesitancy by homeowners to volunteer their property, they’re hoping others begin to volunteer. The last UME which started in 1999 lasted two years and strandings continued throughout that entire period.

Read more and learn how landowners can volunteer their property here.

Dolphins

Paleontologists Found The Fossil Of A Walking Whale In Peru

Featured Image: Geology

Almost 50 million years ago, whales and dolphins as we know them today did not exist. Instead, their ancestors were busy walking around on solid ground around the continent of Asia. Eventually, these mammals would make the transition from land to water, but newly found fossils help shed some light on that.

The fossil found was around .6 miles inland from Peru’s Pacific Coast. It had front and back legs with potentially webbed feet to carry it around on land. The anatomy of the fossil indicated that the creature could both walk and swim.

According to Oliver Lambert, the lead author at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, “Part of the tail’s vertebrae showed similarities with that of present-day semi-aquatic mammals like otters. This would, therefore, have been an animal that would have started to make growing use of its tail to swim, which differentiates it from older cetaceans in India and Pakistan. This is the most complete specimen ever found for a four-legged whale outside of India and Pakistan.”

The fossil does not give any definitive answers to paleontologists. Jokingly, they admitted to having enough work for the next 50 years. Hopefully, these fossil clues will be able to tell the story of how whales came to be.

Learn more here.

News

Jellyfish Are Wreaking Havoc In The Ocean Around The World

Jellyfish are wreaking havoc around the world in a variety of ways. In some parts of the world, jellyfish are jamming the piping of nuclear facilities. In others, they are killing fish and destroying fishing industries. Around the world, coastal areas are struggling about what to do with these jellyfish swarms.

Although one or two jellyfish may not seem like a problem, swarms of jellyfish are.

According to Lucas Brotz, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, the jellyfish swarms have slowly been increasing since 1950. It’s not just inconvenient; these swarms are costing industries around the world millions of dollars. The global economy could be shaken by the tiny jellyfish.

Jellyfish of all kinds are spreading, even the Box jelly and the Irukandji which are extremely venomous. The dangerous jellyfish were once only found in SE Asia and the Australian coast. Now, both are being found around the world.

No one is quite sure why these jellyfish are spreading so quickly. However, from their evolutionary standpoint, these creatures are meant to swarm the oceans. Jellyfish have a few advantages over other sea creatures including few predators, an ability to eat both fish and their eggs to collapse endure populations, and their ability to reproduce quickly through polyps.

With humans altering the natural processes of the ocean, jellyfish seem to be able to explore their population levels and expand worldwide.

Learn more about the trouble jellyfish are creating around the world here.

News

Recent Study Reveals Nearly Nine Million Hawksbill Sea Turtles Were Hunted For Their Shell

Featured Image: Smithsonian.com/Kyle Van Houtan/NOAA

Poachers are known for taking the beauty of nature and attempting to use that for their own gain and one species that generations of poachers have sought is the hawksbill sea turtle. Some think this is the most beautiful reptile in the ocean. This endangered turtle is seeked most for its multi-hued shell.

The hawksbill sea turtle is critically endangered according to the IUCN. With only 25 breeding females alive, the species is struggling for survival. Unfortunately, this species has been fighting extinction for a long time.

A recent study by researchers at Monterey Bay Aquarium shows the historic levels of exploitation on sea turtles and how they are still impacting these species today.

The team compiled data on the tortoiseshell trade from archives around the country and with that data the team discovered that over 1,186,087 pounds of tortoiseshell made it to the market before 1950. And the trend continued in the following decades.

Millions of turtles were killed to make consumer products like combs, eyeglasses, and many other things. To many, it is shocking just how many turtles were taken as a part of this trade.

According to a member of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, David Godfrey, “It’s not overly shocking to hear that the numbers were so large because we know how seriously the populations declined.”

The hawksbill sea turtles were protected in 1977 under international law, but many are still caught illegally every year.

Explore Shipwrecks And Coral Reefs From The Comfort Of Your Home With This Virtual Experience

Featured Image: BOEM

Getting out into the ocean to explore a coral reef or a shipwreck can be one of the best experiences ever. However, it’s not always possible to grab your dive gear and find a shipwreck to explore but luckily, there is another option. You can virtually explore watery shipwrecks from the comfort of your home.

At the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, you can dive into a Virtual Archaeology Museum.

There are videos and mosaic maps of 19th and 20th-century shipwrecks. Currently, you can explore 5 separate shipwrecks, each of the wrecks are thousands of feet below the surface. Four of the wrecks are in the Gulf of Mexico and the fifth wreck is located off the coast of North Carolina.

According to Mike Celata, the regional director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the Gulf of Mexico, “with the ROVs, we can clearly examine the artifacts in these shipwrecks up close, in thousands of feet of water. Through the use of 3-D models, we can see each shipwreck site as a whole and monitor changes to it over time.”

If you don’t anticipate having the opportunity go on a deep sea dive in the near future, then consider checking out this museum to get a taste for deep ocean exploration.

Visit the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for more information!

Conservation

This Extraordinary Team Has Helped Over 35,000 Marine and Terrestrial Animals

SeaWorld first opened its gates in 1964 and since then rescue teams have been on the frontlines rescuing and treating ill, injured, abandoned, and orphaned animals around the world. And recently, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment announced that SeaWorld Rescue has helped over 35,000 marine and terrestrial animals.

However, as SeaWorld does their part to try and save these animals, trends in data show that the impact of human activity is taking a huge toll on oceans and the animals that reside in them. To raise awareness about these trends and the dangers of plastic pollution and other human impacts, SeaWorld launched a new SeaWorld Rescue channel on Instagram to share rescue, rehabilitation, and release stories with the public.

View this post on Instagram

(1/3) SeaWorld and our partners from Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership had the opportunity to release 7 manatees.

A post shared by SeaWorld Rescue (@seaworldrescue) on Jun 3, 2019 at 7:15am PDT

SeaWorld Orlando’s senior leader of zoological operations said they hope to get to a place where they conduct fewer rescue operations because that would mean fewer animals in danger.

In addition to their SeaWorld Rescue awareness efforts, SeaWorld’s team is working around the globe to help the one million species who are on the verge of extinction through research, developing new tools that help repopulate threatened species, and practicing conservation medicine.

One of their most recent research studies aided in the conservation of threatened southern resident killer whales to the Pacific Northwest.

The animals in SeaWorld’s care are not only being treated but are providing a trove of research and information to SeaWorld’s team to help the future of all animals.

News

New Florida Regulation Bans Fishermen From Using Chum To Attract Sharks To Shore

Featured Image: USA Today

For decades fishermen have been attracting sharks closer to Floridian shorelines by dumping leftover fish guts into the water. The practice is known as “chumming” and is fairly common along Florida beaches for sport fishermen looking to get a large shark on the line.

A shark conservation advocate and shark bite survivor, Debbie Salamone, says, “Personally, I would strongly prefer to not be in the water where folks are ringing the dinner bell for the ocean’s ultimate predator. It’s really good to be clear that sharks do not want to eat people.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission imposed the regulation placing a statewide ban on chumming along Florida beaches. The rule goes into effect on July 1st and defines chum as “fish, fish parts or other animal products intended to attract marine wildlife”. Many fishermen are against the new rule, specifically those who don’t own or can’t afford to own a boat to fish for sharks, but after several rounds of hearings, the regulation was voted to go into effect.

Many scientists strongly support the rule because catching sharks from the shoreline can severely damage a shark. So-called “angling stress” has been attributed as the cause of death in many sharks days after their release.

Read more from our source Santa Rosa’s Press Gazette.