DECEMBER 2020
Kyra's Blog
Kyra Bankhead, undergraduate student
1 December 2020
What a stressful month! Despite all the trials going on, I was able to meet with Grace Freeman who was helpful in assisting me with my data. Before talking with Grace, I really had no idea what test statistic I was going to use on my null hypothesis, but looking at my data so far, it clearly fits a negative binomial distribution. I have been taking biostatistics this quarter which has helped me analyze my data but taking it online has had its downfalls. When I met with Grace, she found out that I was doing a lot of things wrong in R and helped me figure out how to appropriately save my program and work R in general. There is nothing better than working with someone in person.
During one of my observations, I found something extremely interesting to watch. I saw a sea lion in the harbor seal haul-out area that had caught a huge bass. As soon as others around him had caught a glimpse of the fish, they swarmed around him. This event resulted in the highest count of seals in the water I’ve ever had with 22 seals swimming. This was so fun to watch and I wonder what this extra competition means for the seals.
Sea lion at the observation site in downtown Bellingham. Photo by K. Bankhead.
Happy Holidays,
Kyra Bankhead
Kathleen's Blog
Kathleen McKeegan, graduate student
1 December 2020
Last month, I expressed my excitement and anticipation at the idea of hopefully seeing my first harbor seal catch and consume a salmon. Well, I can happily report that, after a month of field observations, I have now seen dozens of seals catch and eat salmonids at Whatcom Creek (much to the fishermen’s chagrin). November is the height of the adult Chum run at Whatcom Creek and we have been seeing a lot of harbor seal activity. Not only that, but we’ve had several visits from a few sea lions!! It has been eventful, to say the least.
While conducting the observations, I have grown more comfortable and more familiar with the system, with our data, and with the behaviors exhibited by the harbor seals in the creek. After talks with Dr. Acevedo-Gutiérrez, he and I decided that the data, as they are being collected now, will not be able to answer questions regarding cooperative hunting (which was my original research question). So I had to take a step back and think of some new research questions for my master’s thesis. It’s scary to be starting from scratch as we near the end of the quarter, but I am fortunate enough to have a supportive lab, cohort, and advisor to help me nail down my new research question.
At the moment, I am planning to work closely with our incredible assistant lab manager, Kate Clayton, to look into the effects of a novel hazing device on harbor seal foraging success in Whatcom Creek. The hazing device, called the TAST, is an acoustic deterrent device developed by researchers at the University of St. Andrews. Scientists at Ocean’s Initiative and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife deployed the device throughout November to try and deter harbor seal predation on hatchery salmon. Kate and I will be looking into the long-term effects of this device on seal presence and predation success. I’m excited to examine a question that is not only interesting but also relevant to current conservation efforts.
As my first quarter comes to an end, I can’t help but feel grateful to be a graduate student in the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab. This quarter has been tough, I’m not going to lie; COVID cases are on the rise as we approach the holiday season, and what is normally a time of family and togetherness has become a time of isolation. But I feel very fortunate to be in a field that I love and to be working with individuals who push me and inspire me to become a better marine mammal ecologist. Thank you MMEL!
Bobbie's Blog
Bobbie Buzzell, graduate student
1 December 2020
Did November just happen? Winter break is almost upon us? Time has really flown this month, but I am very pleased to have a couple of great updates. Originally, I thought the first portion of fish prey results would not be ready until the end of December, but I was excited to see an email from the contractor with all 2019 fish results just last week! Not only were the deliverables early, but it was also more than I was expecting since only spring data was supposed to be ready in time for my thesis.
A few observations stick out the most among the fish results. From scats collected on the Wa’atch, gunnels (most likely saddleback), staghorn sculpins, starry flounder, prickly sculpins, shiner perch, threespine sticklebacks, and bay pipefish were the most frequently consumed species. These are fairly abundant species in the Wa’atch River, so it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. However, further down the list there were less obvious species like the giant wrymouth, chinook and coho salmon, and rainbow trout also occurred in river otter diet but less frequently. This first look also suggests some seasonal variation. Most fish prey increased in frequency in the summer compared to spring, with the exception of the bay pipefish which decreased in frequency.
While many fish prey found in Wa’atch scats also occurred in scats collected from the Tsoo-Yess, there was less diversity of fish species on the Tsoo-Yess River. Starry flounder, staghorn sculpin, bay pipefish, prickly sculpin, shiner perch, and threespine stickleback occurred most frequently overall. The same seasonal pattern can also be observed, with most fish prey increasing in frequency from spring to summer, but again the exception being bay pipefish which nearly remained the same frequency.
With all 2019 fish results, (2018 results are close in tow), I will be able to include a very comprehensive look at river otter diet on the lower Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess rivers. Having a wider breadth of results will allow for better comparisons among prey species and hopefully better understand the role that green crab play in river otter diet.
Grace's Blog
Grace Freeman, graduate student
1 December 2020
As November winds down, so too, does the chum run at Whatcom Creek. Partly because of the hazing device and partly because the fishing season was closed, this year’s run did not disappoint! My team and I were able to get out to the creek about 5 times per week, and we took thousands of photos of dozens of predation events. Even now as the run starts to dwindle, we will still be observing a few times a week until winter break takes my students away.
When the students return in January (after taking all the necessary safety precautions), we will continue to observe but at a much slower rate. Instead, we will monitor the creek maybe once or twice a week and focus the rest of our energy on sorting through the photos taken this fall. If you’ve been following along, you know that I spent all summer getting the lab caught up on photo ID, but we now have more photos to work with. I anticipate that the project will be much easier on this batch. Not only are there far fewer photos to ID, I was able to make some ID’s in the field and I recognized many of the seals even if I couldn’t ID them. That gives me hope that the database will already include all of this year’s individuals and the whole ordeal can be relatively painless.
Between collecting data at the creek and managing a team of 20, I have had very little time to work on my thesis this quarter! I’ve been making progress on the weekends and wresting with my R code for analysis since August, and I’m hoping that having more devoted time and focus will allow me to wrap that up. If you need me during the much quieter winter quarter, just look for the nearest R console and spreadsheet. You’ll find me there!
Until next month,
Grace
Kate's Blog
Kate Clayton, undergraduate student
1 November 2020
Another month flew by! I have been furiously working to try and keep up with everything going on this month and still find myself far behind. The salmon run is always a chaotic time at the creek, and we have been scheduling observations for almost every day of the week. It is a lot of hard work but so rewarding to know that our data are being used in research that aids the Whatcom creek community. We have been seeing anywhere from 3-8 seals a day during our two-hour observation and have multiple fish catches each day too. We have also noticed a lot of curious onlookers walking by us in the park asking what we are doing. It is very rewarding that we have the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the research taking place and educate the public.
It has also been wonderful working with the Ocean’s Initiative folks who are running the acoustic deterrent device also known as TAST. We have been sharing our observations and data with each other which helps advance all of our projects and is a lovely example of the scientific community working together to reach a common goal. I am excited to continue working with them in the future. I am also very excited to analyze our data and see how effective the device has been in pushing seals out of the creek and decreasing salmon predation events. I am hopeful that we see good results and don’t have to turn to alternative, lethal methods of pinniped predation control.
During one particularly exciting observation, a sea lion was observed and caught on camera! This is extremely exciting as the sea lions usually don’t come this far up the creek. There have been a few observations of sea lions in the creek in the last couple of weeks which is a rare occurrence, so I am curious to figure out both why he/she is making an appearance and what his/her brief presence means for the Whatcom creek ecosystem.
I also led a discussion for our weekly seal lab meetings this last week which was a huge check for me. I have been dreading leading a discussion since the beginning of the quarter when I found I had to do one so getting that weight lifted off my shoulders is a huge relief! I am sure I will have to gear up for another one next quarter but for now I am going to enjoy my little accomplishment.
While this delightful chaos has been roaring at the creek, I have also been trying to write a proposal for a possible scholarship. I am still struggling quite a bit with both the writing process and time management during this crazy time. I am struggling with the overall process of pouring my heart out onto the page and doing countless hours of research and revisions to try and reach deadlines and then getting the draft back completely different. I know not to take this personally, and that this is just part of the process, but it is still a punch in the gut every time I get the edits back and have to change 90% of what I wrote. I hope sometime soon I will start to get the hang of how to write a scientific paper. I am sure if I just sit down with Alejandro and have a conversation, many of my questions/issues will be solved. Moral of the story: writing a research paper is vastly different from writing any other kind of paper I have written, and I need to practice, practice, practice! My goal is by the next month, I will have a finalized version of my proposal so I can put that behind me for a bit.
A final piece of good news: Kathleen is planning on changing her research focus towards the hazing device since her work with drones wasn’t panning out. I am very eager to get to work on this project with her and get to know her even better!
That’s all for updates for November. Until the new (and hopefully better) year,
Kate
Zoë's Blog
Zoë Lewis, graduate student
1 December 2020
November is always a crazy month with the holiday weekend and the rush towards the end of the quarter, but I felt lucky to have a fun, productive November. I ran my first DNA extraction on Steller sea lion scats, and I look forward to testing the sex determination protocol this week. So far, the laboratory work is going according to plan and I’m slowly putting all of the pieces together to be ready to hit the ground running when my scat samples arrive this winter. Thinking through scat processing, as well as the contracts for DNA metabarcoding has been great professional experience. There are always so many coordination pieces in projects, which makes me thankful to have a committee that is ready and willing to help me through all of these different aspects of my thesis project.
Speaking of sample processing, I am excited to have company in the lab to help me get started once I receive scats in January! With the help of Holland Conwell and Madison Gard, we plan on processing over 300 scats in the next few months. Lucky for us, I figured out that putting a dash of essential oil in my mask make this process a lot more tolerable! My proposal writing is coming along and I am getting excited to have a full draft forming. Graduate school is a juggling game; some days I feel like I’m dropping all of the balls and others I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of things. As the quarter wraps up on potentially the strangest start to a graduate school career, I am grateful for all of the support from my lab mates, grad students, professors and friends. 2020 has been a year of surprises… but I couldn’t be happier with how my project is coming along and the community I have built in this zoom filled, socially distant world.
I hope you are all staying positive, but testing negative!
Zoë
Jonathan's Blog
Jonathan Blubaugh, graduate student
2 December 2020
I passed my thesis defense! I am relieved to have finally finished my Master’s degree and will be graduating in December. November was probably the most stressful time of my time in graduate school. Lots of getting feedback and worrying about my pre-defense meeting and the final seminar/defense. It felt like the last 5% of the edits to my thesis took 60% of the time but I kind of expected that to be the case. Now I am just trying to enjoy some time off stressing about work and enjoy the holidays.
Nathan's Blog
Nathan Gilford, graduate student
4 December 2020
This month marks my last month as a WWU student! I successfully defended my thesis this month, and with that, my project is drawing to a close. While I will continue to work on creating the manuscript for publication submission, it feels great to complete this step. I have learned so much throughout this project, and I now have so many ideas of how one could move forward to build off of this research, which is an exciting thought process to explore. While I don’t have plans in the immediate future for additional research, I hope someone may soon utilize some of the findings from my work, because I believe it does have exciting promises for non-invasive tracking studies. I also hope that one day I will again be able to combine my passion for marine science with my interests in molecular biology, and I am thankful for the chance I got at WWU to explore this intersection.
I want to thank Dr. Acevedo-Gutiérrez and Dr. Schwarz for giving me the opportunity to work with them and attend WWU’s MESP program, along with the Biology Department and my committee/professors who have helped me make it to graduation. While I will miss Bellingham and the friends I made there, I am excited to see where my new knowledge and skills will lead me!