SSAMN Stream

We may not give much thought to the gulls we see commonly along our coastlines and inland areas here in the Salish Sea. But, what is being learned about them may surprise you. Did you know, for instance, gulls have been found to study human behavior when scavenging food? It’s true! Gulls can also be important ecological indicators of pollution and other stressors. Dr. Mark Hipfner, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), joins us on this episode to discuss research being undertaken in British Columbia to track gulls and examine their health. You can report sightings of banded gulls from this study here

Microplastics, tiny particles of plastics, unfortunately abound in our oceans and waterways, and seem to be everywhere. In the marine environment, these microplastics accumulate and work their way up the food chain to top consumers, including humans. Dr. Lyda Harris, a Sustainability and Conservation Scientist at Boeing, will discuss this issue here in the Salish Sea, how big of a problem it really is locally, health effects and impacts to marine life, innovative solutions to the problem, and how we can help!

Even though Southern Resident killer whales do not eat marine mammals, they have been observed harassing and killing porpoises for decades in the Pacific Northwest. If they aren’t doing this behavior to get food, this leads to the big question of Why? Dr. Deborah Giles, Science & Research Director at Wild Orca, and Sarah Teman,  Graduate Student at the University of Washington, joins us on this episode to share their insights and latest research findings into this perplexing behavior. 

In recent years, there has been record number of humpback whales being seen in the Salish Sea. What's going on? What might this mean for our local ecosystem? Tasli Shaw, Co-founder and Project Lead of Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea, starts the new year off with us on this episode as we talk humpback whales and learn about their ongoing humpback whale photo identification work.

The Whale Hotline public sighting network was initiated by TWM in the spring of 1976 as a means for members of the public to report Orca sightings in Washington State to the Orca Survey. Later, the focus was expanded to include reports of all species of cetaceans and marine mammal strandings in Washington State. On this episode, my co-worker, Alexis Morrigan, TWM’s Sightings Network Coordinator, shares with us some sighting highlights, and the more unusual encounters, that have been reported locally. Learn not only about how you can get involved by reporting sightings, the importance of these data, trends being seen (including those of Southern Resident Killer Whales), but also surprising marine mammals that have been seen! 

You may know that the endangered Southern Resident killer whales rely on Chinook salmon for food, especially from the Fraser River. Did you know, however, a recent study has found there is significant variation amongst Fraser River Chinook in how fat (high quality) these fish are? This, in turn,  affects the energetic value of these fish to SRKWs. Jacob Lerner, a PhD Candidate from the University of British Columbia, discusses these findings and how they might be impacting SRKW foraging patterns and even the ability of SRKWs to recover as a population.  

In the Salish Sea, Southern Resident killer whales and Northern Resident killer whales both eat salmon, primarily Chinook. Although similar populations, they surprisingly have strikingly different foraging strategies. In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Tennessen, a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels at the University of Washington, explains these different strategies and their implications. 

Water quality and properties can be impacted by a wide array of sources, including climate change. Having a practical and accurate modeling tool for assessing such impacts is vital to making good ecosystem management decisions and future planning. On this episode, Dr. Tarang Khangaonkar, a coastal ocean modeler with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, will tell us about the development of a high resolution 3-D finite volume hydrodynamic and transport model for the Pacific Northwest region of Puget Sound & Georgia Basin (the Salish Sea). This oceanographic model includes a comprehensive biogeochemical component and is now the “workhorse” for the analysis of water quality and circulation, nutrient pollution management, and response to sea level rise, climate change, and ocean acidification.  

If someone asked you where can you find corals, you would say tropics, right? However, you can find corals here in the Pacific Northwest too! It’s true – believe it or not! These native corals can take thousands of years to form, and as such, can serve as an important key to understanding changes in the physical and chemical properties of Salish Sea waters and the impact of these changes to local corals in the past, present, and future.  On this episode, we are thrilled to have Mary Margaret V Stoll, a graduate student at the University of Washington, share with us all about cold water corals; their importance, as well as fragility, in the ecosystem; and her research.