One of the biggest questions about harbor porpoises is if the stocks we currently manage are truly one large population, or if there are smaller distinct units within a geographic area. DNA can help answer this question, but getting samples from harbor porpoises using traditional routes (i.e. biopsy darting), is very difficult. That's where eDNA comes in! Scoop some seawater from where an animal just dove, and you can snag some skin cells and extract the DNA. Using eDNA along with previously published data and tissue samples from stranded animals, this paper reveals the community/population structure of harbor porpoises in Alaska, with some intriguing results! Listen to learn more!

Paper is open access and available here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.17563

Donate to help our work!

www.pacmam.org/donate

We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!

Donate today: https://donorbox.org/donatetopacmamwww.pacmam.org

This week: Irrawaddy dolphin

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver

Music by Josh Burns

Sources:

https://www.marinebio.org/species/irrawaddy-dolphins/orcaella-brevirostris/#:~:text=Irrawaddy%20dolphins%2C%20Orcaella%20brevirostris%2C%20are,sub%2Dtropical%20Indo%2DPacific.

https://www.riverdolphins.org/river-dolphins-worldwide/irrawaddy-dolphin/

New Research

• Habitat modeling in Thailand Jackson Ricketts et al 2020 - https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28594

• Long term population and distribution dynamic in Inodonesia and effects of coastal development, Kreb et al. 2020 - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.533197/full

• ID habitat characteristics and crucial areas Peter et al. 2016 - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-26161-4_15

• Surviving ware and crowded world – in largest brackish water lagoon, Acharyya et al 2023 - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11852-023-00982-8

• Demographic collapse and low genetic diversity in Mekong river, Krutzen et al 2018- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189200

Join us today as we celebrate Pacific Mammal Research's 10th anniversary! We have learned a lot about harbor porpoises and harbor seals, along with how to run a non-profit. We have grown so much, and are so excited for the next 10 years. Listen as we discuss how it all started, what we have learned, and where we are going! Thank you to everyone who has supported us through the years - whether volunteering, sharing about us, donating or listening, we would not be here without you!

We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!

Check out our 10 year anniversary fundraiser: https://www.pacmam.org/news-and-events/10th-anniversary-fundraiser

Join Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam) scientists to learn about different marine mammals each episode! We discuss a little about the biology, behavior and fun facts about each species. Have fun and learn about marine mammals with PacMam!

www.pacmam.org

This week: Pygmy killer whale

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver

Music by Josh Burns

Sources:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pygmy-killer-whale

https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2021-08/2020-Pacific-SARS-Pygmy.pdf

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=61

https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/species-guide/pygmy-killer-whale/

https://cascadiaresearch.org/hawaii-species/pygmy-killer-whales-hawaii/

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Feresa_attenuata/https://www.marinebio.org/species/pygmy-killer-whales/feresa-attenuata/

Underwater video!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufsEo6bXFoc&t=8s

New Research:

• Alvarez Aleman et al – First report of pygmy killer whales in Cuba - https://new.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/47.1-Alvarez-Aleman-1.pdf

• Berrow et al 2020 – First sighting off Cabo Verde – Atlantic African coast - https://www.scvz.org/zoolcv/Zoologia%20Caboverdiana%20Vol.%208%20No.%202%20complete%20issue.pdf#page=22

• Vanderzee et al – Underwater photos evaluate prevalence of injury - https://cascadiaresearch.org/files/Vanderzee_etal2019WMMC.pdf

• Currie et al 2021 – Rapid weight loss in free ranging pygmy killer whales - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87514-2

• Yahn (Shelby) et al. 2022 – sexually dimorphic characteristics of short-finned pilot, pygmy killer, melon headed, false killer using fin and body morphometrics - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mms.12963

• Pulis et al. 2018 – Movements and dive patterns of pygmy killer whales released in Gulf of Mexico after Rehab - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Pulis/publication/327669759_Movements_and_Dive_Patterns_of_Pygmy_Killer_Whales_Feresa_attenuata_Released_in_the_Gulf_of_Mexico_Following_Rehabilitation/links/5ceeaea8a6fdcc8475f62e3f/Movements-and-Dive-Patterns-of-Pygmy-Killer-Whales-Feresa-attenuata-Released-in-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-Following-Rehabilitation.pdf?origin=journalDetail&_tp=eyJwYWdlIjoiam91cm5hbERldGFpbCJ9

www.pacmam.org

This week: Ross seal

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver

Music by Josh Burns

Sources:

https://www.asoc.org/learn/ross-seals/

https://www.pinnipeds.org/seal-information/species-information-pages/the-phocid-seals/ross-seal

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ommatophoca_rossii/

https://seaworld.org/animals/facts/mammals/ross-seal/

https://oceaninfo.com/animals/ross-seal/

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/animals/seals/ross-seal/

https://animalia.bio/ross-sealhttps://marinemammalscience.org/facts/ommatophoca-rossii/

New Research:

• Brault et al 2019 – Trophic position and foraging ecology - https://www.int-res.com/articles/feature/m611p001.pdf

• Wege et al 2021 Distribution and habitat suitability of Ross seals in warming ocean - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.659430/full

• Bester et al. 2020: Ross seal distribution in the Weddell Sea: fact and fallacy - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-019-02610-4

• Wege et al 2023 – The nightlife of a Ross seal - https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C5A2A625A3D0733433C8D0D48BD49B98/S0954102022000438a.pdf/the-nightlife-of-a-ross-seal-diving-and-haul-out-behaviour-from-the-eastern-weddell-sea.pdf

• Loza et al 2017 – sensory anatomy of the most aquatic seal - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0489

Every animal has to balance the cost of foraging, with the benefit of what they get out of it. They have to make sure the effort is worth the reward! For predators, this means how much energy they expend in the hunt, vs. how much energy they are getting out of the prey the capture. Harbor porpoises generally feed on a lot of small fish, but have a very high metabolism. So they need to eat a lot, and that takes time. In this paper we discuss why this seemingly not effecient strategy is actually pretty effecient and why. For harbor porpoises this strategy is energetically pretty cheap, if not time consuming!

Paper is freely available here: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adj7132

This week: Pacific White Sided Dolphin

Presenters: Cindy Elliser, Katrina MacIver

Music by Josh Burns

Sources:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pacific-white-sided-dolphinhttps://thewhaletrail.org/wt-species/pacific-white-sided-dolphin/

https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/animal-care/learn-about-marine-mammals/cetaceans/pacific-white-sided-dolphin

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=pacificwhitesideddolphin.main

https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/species-guide/pacific-white-sided-dolphin/

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lagenorhynchus_obliquidens/

New Research:

• Rosser et al. 2022 – Calf directed aggression, infanticide? - https://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/48.3-Rosser.pdf

• Waite and Shelden 2018 – Distribution in Eastern N Pacific - https://bioone.org/journals/northwestern-naturalist/volume-99/issue-2/NWN17-15.1/The-Northern-Extent-of-Pacific-White-Sided-Dolphin-iLagenorhynchus-obliquidens/10.1898/NWN17-15.1.short

• Sekiya et al 2024 – Anatomy https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ar.25284

• Mishima et al. 2019 – Pulsed calls as contact calls- https://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article-abstract/146/1/409/994113/Pulsed-call-sequences-as-contact-calls-in-Pacific?redirectedFrom=fulltext

• Suzuki et al. 2023 – Genomics shows genetically isolated population in Sea of Japan https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.16797• Kanes et al 2024 – Seasonal and diel patterns in pusled calls near Barkley Canyon - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.13055• Ashe et al 2021 – Natural and Anthropogenic mortalitiy - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.606876/full?field&journalName=Frontiers_in_Marine_Science&id=606876

Social Struture in BC

The Pacmam team got to go on an amazing trip this June - for our 10 year anniversary we all went to Alaska! We all had marine mammals and behaviors we wanted to see. We didn't see everything, but we saw a lot - and all checked off boxes on seeing a particular marine mammal we hadn't seen in the wild before. Join us to hear about what species and behaviors we got to see, and what Alaska was like. We highly recommend visiting Alaska, so much to see, on land and on the water!

Note: we talk about Happywhale, a platform where you can upload photos of humpback whales and get them identified, check it out here: https://happywhale.com/home

Check out our Facebook and Instagram to see the whales we got pictures of on our trip!