News

Two Sea Lions Join Find a New Home at the Audubon Zoo

Featured Image Credit: WBRZ, Audubon Zoo

Two sea lions have made their home in New Orleans at the Audubon Zoo. These two lucky sea lions will join the four other sea lions already at the aquarium.

Both of the sea lion have vision problems. The problems were already prevalent when they were rescued from the coast of California in the summer of 2017. As pups, Ayah and Jolee were found malnourished. After careful consideration, it was decided that these two sea lions could not be released back into the wild.

Jolee has an eye injury in her left eye and also suffers from cataracts. Ayah is missing her left eye to a bullet injury. Ayah is able to get around easily with only one eye. Jolee just follows Ayah around because her vision is mostly cloudy. Even though they cannot be released back into the wild, these sea lions will hopefully have a long and healthy life in New Orleans.

The staff was very excited for the arrival of these two young sea lions. So far, all of the sea lions are getting along well. The staff hopes that the two new additions will fit in well to the crowd.

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Conservation

Oregon Coast Aquarium Proposes Expansion

Featured Image Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is planning to build a $4.75 million rehabilitation facility. This is great news for the wild animals along the coast that occasionally need help from their two-legged friends.

The aquarium already helps injured sea animals in the area. However, the staff is working out of older buildings that have been taken over by the project. The new plan would build state of the art facilities in order to help these animals better. The new project would also be able to help more animals recover with a larger capacity to help.

The first step of the process is to secure the funds. The aquarium already launched the campaign to raise the money. Once the funds are ready, the aquarium will expand in stages. The first addition to the facilities would be an additional sea otter holding pool. The program is currently unable to house all of the injured sea otter pups that need assistance before returning to the wild.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is the only facility in Oregon that has a federal permit to rehabilitate marine animals. The limited number of resources makes the proposed expansion of the facilities extremely important for the area’s marine life. Hopefully the project will move forward soon.

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News

190 Sea Turtles Were Found Frozen to Death Off the Coast of Massachusetts

Featured Image: Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

On Black Friday, a large winter storm was happening off the coast of Massachusetts. The storm had unusually cold temperatures and high force winds. The combination of factors lead the deaths of almost 190 sea turtles.

The turtles were found on the shores of Cape Cod in the early hours of Friday. Unfortunately, the turtles were already frozen. It was too late to save any of the turtles by the time officials found them.

The turtles were in the Cape Cod area on their annual migration. Researchers have watched the timing of the turtles’ migration continual move further into the winter. In the 1990s, only 20 years ago, the turtles would arrive in October. Now, the turtles are arriving in November, which has lead to more frozen turtles. In fact, Mass Audubon has already found 400 dead turtles this season!

It is unclear why the turtles are shifting their migration patterns. A research associate at the California Academy of Sciences, Wallace Nichols, had this to say about the turtles, “Sea turtles are moving further north along our coast, or south to the southern hemisphere, as waters are warming and they are expanding their ranges. So when we get these quick swings from warm to cooler, the turtles that haven’t made it south definitely get into trouble.”

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News

A New Hope for Twin Manatees Released Back in Florida Keys

Featured Image Credit: Rachael Kimbrough.

Video Source: Uploaded by AP & produced by Florida Keys News Bureau

November is Manatee Awareness Month, so it is only fitting that on November 15th, two manatees were released back into the Florida Keys waters.

Happy homecoming to Millennium and Falcon! The manatees are actually the twin offspring of a beloved manatee named Bonnie. The Dolphin Research Center and Florida Fish and Wildlife rescued them two years ago when they were five months old.

Their story began in October of 2016, after their mother was accidentally killed by a boat strike. The manatee rescue team saved her babies, one male and one female. They each weighed about 100 pounds.

After initial rehab at Miami Seaquarium, they were transferred to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to grow up a little. They returned to Miami Seaquarium in September 2018 to begin re-acclamation to prepare them for release. Preparation came in the form of reintroduction to Florida saltwater again and their natural diets of turtle grass, manatee grass, micro and macro algae and mangroves.

This timeline reflects the way manatee calves would regularly grow up to make the transition as seamless as possible. According to experts, they usually stay with their mothers one to two years. Twin manatees make up less than four percent of all births.

Two years later, the brother and sister found themselves in the bay side mangroves behind Calusa Campground in Key Largo. Now weighing in at about 600 pounds, they were able to safely return to their natural habitat.

Taking over the role as guardian of these beloved creatures means that manatee experts

will continue to watch over them. They are wearing satellite tracking transmitters to keep up with their condition and ensure safety.

Biologists with the Sea to Shore Alliance conservation group will not only monitor Millennium and Falcon, but frequent the area to see firsthand how they’re adjusting. After keeping an eye on these two over the next four months, the tags will be removed.

According to the Miami Herald, the siblings joined the resident manatees, indicating positive results from their rehabilitation and preparation. They also reported that after a few minutes, the brother and sister, whose bond appeared unbreakable even in the presence of new friends, swam into the mangroves.

The crowd of residents, scientists and volunteers who gathered to witness Millennium and Falcon return home cheered them on as they did so.

News

145 Pilot Whales Stranded in New Zealand

Featured Image Credit: Reuters/File

The holiday weekend was not a great weekend for whales in New Zealand. Over 145 pilot whales were stranded on a remote beach in New Zealand. By chance, a hiker discovered the whales on the remote Mason Bay.

It was too late for most of the whales. Approximately half of the whales were already dead when the hiker discovered them. Unfortunately, the New Zealand Department of Conservation were forced to euthanize the remainder of the whales. It was a very difficult decision, but ultimately it was just too late to save the whales. It is unclear how long they were beached, but most were in critical condition.

The operations manager of the department, Ren Leppens, had this to say about the decision, “Sadly, the likelihood of being able to successfully re-float the remaining whales was extremely low. The remote location, lack of nearby personnel and the whales’ deteriorating condition meant the most humane thing to do was euthanize.”

More whales were stranded on the coast of New Zealand that weekend. In separate events, 10 pygmy killer whales died and two sperm whales died. It is unclear why the island nation has so many whales wash ashore, but it could be related to the proximity to the southern latitudes.

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Guest Columns

Humpback Whales Found in the Mediterranean Sea

Featured Image: Shutterstock

Large whales, including humpbacks, are known for their migrations surrounding their feeding habits in the colders areas of the globe. Typically, these large mammals travel into extreme northern and southern degrees in order to feed on krill. Although the size of their prey is small, these massive filter feeders have found the methods that work.

In the cooler latitudes of the oceans, the krill can be found in large numbers. However, a recent trend of humpback whales coming into the Mediterranean Sea to feed may indicate a problem with these traditional food sources.

Scientists at the University of Seville are baffled by the continuing rise of humpback whales in the Mediterranean Sea. The increase has been documented over the last 150 years.

The data shows that most of the whales that enter the sea to feed are younger. The majority of the whales are also alone. The director of the Marine Biology Laboratory, Jose Carlos Garcia-Gomez, had this to say about the observations, “In recent years, there have been changes both in climatic conditions and in the temperature of the sea, something which has been verified by many studies. If we add the exact coincidence of krill blooms in the Strait of Gibraltar with the presence of these whales, this could perhaps tell us that, in the near future, sightings of this species could increase in the Mediterranean. For this reason, it is considered imperative to implement preventive contingency and conservation plans for the species in this sea.”

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News

This New App Will Connect You to Orcas

Featured Image Credit:Wikipedia

A new app will be able to connect you directly to the inner conversations of orcas around the San Juan Islands. The app is called Orcasound. The app is connect to live underwater microphones that are placed on the seafloor in the area.

When you open the app, you can listen to everything that is happening beneath the waves. Although it is an amazing opportunity to connect to wildlife, the creators of the app are hoping that it turns into something more.

Scientists need help tracking these orcas. Through the app, users can alert the scientists when there is a whale nearby. The scientists can then send out a team to collect samples of fecal material or prey in order to find out more about these orcas. The more we know, the better we can help these struggling whales.

The app is extremely easy to use, but it is a real way to help scientists study orcas.

In addition to orcas, you will be able to hear other kinds of marine life. It is very interesting to just listen to what is happening on the seafloor. You never know what you might hear! The app has a guide that will help you learn what the calls mean and which type of animal is making them.

Definitely check this one out!

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Guest Columns

Fisherman Saves Humpback Whale Off the Coast of California

Featured Image Credit: justgiver.wordpress.com

One lucky whale was rescued by a fisherman last month. The incident occurring off the coast of Central California while a crew was fishing for eels. The fisherman, Sam Synstelien, jumped into the rescue the trapped humpback whale.

The whale had a thick rope wrapped around its tail and back. The rope was limiting the whale’s ability to swim correctly. That’s how the fishermen spotted the rope. The whale was swimming in an odd way which warranted a closer look.

Synstelien jumped from the boat into the water and swam towards the whale. Once he was close enough he started cutting the rope away from the whale. Eventually, he was able to completely free the whale from the entanglement.

Everyone involved, including the whale, survived the incident. However, according to officials jumping into the water was unnecessary and may be dangerous. According to a spokesman, “We’ve had people die trying to get in the water, and just last year, we lost one of our responders. Even though it seems like it’s a very stressful situation, we usually have days, weeks, sometimes even months to find these animals and get this gear off.”

If you see a whale in distress, then please call the local marine mammal hotline.

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