Gray Whales and misinformation spreading like wildfire on facebook

Hi all!  I'm back and want to talk about the recent gray whale strandings here on our Washington beaches.  Today an article was published in the Seattle Times stating that some plastic debris along with other garbage was found in the stomach contents of the gray whale that washed ashore in West Seattle recently.   This is horrible to be sure, but I've noticed that several environmental groups that I follow on Facebook are now making a blanket statement that it was this that caused the death of this gray whale.  Well let's not jump to conclusions here.  It's clearly stated in the article:

"Scientists with the Cascadia Research Collective said the examination did not immediately determine why the 37-foot near-adult male died, but it was found to be in better nutritional condition than other gray whales that died recently. Starvation was not considered a major contributor to its death." -quoted from Seattle Times

I checked out the Cascadia Research own web release on this stranding this morning and found this:

"The debris while numerous, made up only 1-2% of the stomach contents and there was no clear indication it had caused the death of the animal. It did clearly indicate that the whale had been attempting to feed in industrial waters and therefore exposed to debris and contaminants present on the bottom in these areas. " -quoted from Cascadia Research website

Now if you've followed me on the web you already know where I stand on plastic pollution.  I'm completely opposed to plastics working their way into our marine environment and this is why I started my own plastic bag recycling project FatBottomBags.com  I have posted often about the harm of plastics pollution in our marine ecosystem and the garbage patch, however I am not going to jump to conclusions on the death of this whale, nor should you.

Yes, we do need to clean up our act and stop polluting our environment! Yes we need to keep our trash out of the ocean home of these majestic creatures, but let's wait on the conclusion of the scientists and researchers who work with the information, samples and data collected through necropsies of these deceased animals.

There are many ways we can help, but spreading false information and jumping to conclusions is not helping with these marine mammal strandings.  This is one reason why I'm a volunteer with the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network, to help assist those much more qualified than myself to gather information.  In addition I have a concern for these animals and a concern for the environment.

Ok, off my soap box now and on with my day.

More about the WMMSN

With so much grey whale activity happening around the Puget Sound the last week or so, it's no surprise that the members of the WMMSN were quickly geared up and ready to go when called in to assist with a grey whale stranded at Samish Island.

The Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network is made up of individual volunteers who share a love and concern for marine mammals. Each volunteer completes training in species identification, recognizing and documenting injuries and illnesses, data collection, establishing safe perimeter and much more.

Whether the animal is dead or alive, each and every stranding is documented and added to a national data base that is accessible by scientists and researches.  The information gathered by stranding networks in coastal areas is important for many research projects. 

I am just thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic and dedicated group of volunteers.  Our group includes naturalists, marine biologists, wildlife lovers, retirees, homemakers, and students.  Each individual adds different strengths and perspectives to make for a well rounded group.

If you share an interest in marine mammals and live in Whatcom County, WA, why not join up as a volunteer?  I'm so happy that I did! 

Maybe you live outside of the area, but would still like to support the efforts of the WMMSN?  Stop over at the website and get your WMMSN T-shirt!  The money we're raising supports our efforts for strandings like this grey whale.

Isn't the front of the T-shirt adorable? It's walking whales!

The back of the T-shirt is a print of the WMMSN Logo

And if you want more information on the grey whale from Samish Island, jump over to the WMMSN website.  There are photos from yesterdays stranding response up for your viewing.  You may be surprised to see how many boats and people it takes to move an adult grey whale off the beach!

Whale happenings in the area

As you may remember from my post  Gray Whale Stranding last year, large whale strandings require a lot help.  

Over the weekend, in nearby Skagit county, 2 dead gray whales have washed ashore in separate locations.  This area is covered by the CPSMMSN,  and it looks as though some of our group from the WMMSN will head down to assist with the necropsies of these 2 marine mammals.  Necropsies are done to try and determine cause of death and gather samples for scientific research.  Unfortunately I can't be there today to help, but maybe for tomorrow.

In addition to those 2 stranding events, a group of transient orcas attacking a different gray whale was caught on tape by whale watchers.  Here's some coverage from King 5 News (Seattle) on the event:

Wow!  Pretty spectacular to see that kind of attack going on right here in the Puget Sound.  

If you can, please "chip in" and help support the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Whale found washed up in Washington still a mystery

If you are a local you may have heard about this on the news already, if not, watch this video from King 5 news..... ( there is some footage from the WMMSN response to a dead Gray Whale from last year)

I'm keeping up with this story on Orca Network and very curious to find out what species this animal is

WMMSN.org

Are you guys tired of hearing about my favorite volunteer organization, Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network?  I hope not!  If you're an avid reader of my blog, facebook or twitter page, you already know that I am a volunteer responder for WMMSN.  What you may not already know is that I also volunteer as the webmaster for the site.  It gives me one more way that I can help to spread the word about helping distressed and stranded marine mammals in my local area.


The springtime is historically a busy time for stranding calls.  This is the time of year when our local harbor seals bring their young pups ashore while momma seal goes fishing durring the day.  Typically the mother seal will come back in the night and feed her pup, but sometimes mother is unable to return and little seal pups quickly become dehydrated without intervention.  That's where our group comes into the picture.  We receive calls from all over the county about stranded pups and we respond and assess the situation.   We also respond for other marine mammal calls such as porpoises that may have injuries, or even deceased mammals like the dead Gray Whale we responded to last year.


You may already know, but the little seal pup in my banner atop this page is a response we were called to last summer.  This little pup was stranded for several days on a beach here on Lummi Island.  After we realized that the mother was not returning to feed him at night, we were able to take him to Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation one of the rehab centers that we work with and he was nursed back to health and then released back into the wild to live out his life


Winter time is a slower time for calls, although dead animals can wash ashore at any time of year, and our responders will go out on calls occasionally throughout the winter.   But being a slower season, we are using this time to put our focus on fundraising.  As a non-profit and all volunteer organization, we are in need of financial support to help us help the marine mammals.  Money we raise now will provide the neccessary supplies when we are called out to respond throughout the year.


I've just updated our home page with an option to donate and help our cause.  It's a secure donation through paypal.  You might notice I've added it on the sidebar of this blog as well.  If you are a supporter of this great effort, please consider making a donation large or small.  Every bit helps us to do our job and respond to marine mammals throughout our county.


You may also like to support us by becoming a facebook fan.  We send out periodic updates to your wall and the show of support is encouraging to all of our volunteer members.


Thank you all for your support!
~Christi

Seal Tagging Training

Oh boy!  Looking out at Hales passage at the Whatcom Cheif, I could see it was going to be a bumpy ride.  On a day like this I might normally reconsider a trip to town.  Not this time.  This time I was on a mission.  I was heading to town to learn how to tag seals and that would be worth a wild ride on the ferry.

As a volunteer responder for Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network I have great opportunities to learn new and interesting things having to do with marine mammals. 

In this last year I've learned about Grey whales, wildlife rehab at Wolf Hollow, harbor porpoise,  and now I was going to learn how to tag a seal pup with a special wildlife tag.  How cool!

These numbered tags are used to help identify a marine mammal

 that has been responded to by the stranding network

We learned what items we would need to add to our response kits for

tagging  including betedine to clean the seal flipper and the equipment.

We had a great trainer, Joe Gaydos, DVM PhD. Joe showed us how to properly handle a live seal pup for tagging and gave us some hands on experience using the tagger. I won't get into the "how to" detail here. If you are interested in these sort of trainings and helping marine mammals you may want to become a volunteer responder too. 

Upon completion of our training, Joe gave each of us a lovely map from the SeaDoc Society of the recently recognised Salish Sea 

I love volunteering!  In giving a small bit of myself and my time to WMMSN to help marine mammals and their cause I've gained so much more.

Full circle: Chitenango returns home to the wild

What a great day.  A group of about 10 of us from Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network (WMMSN) traveled to Friday Harbor to see the culmination of care and release of Chitenango and 2 other seal pups that had been cared for by Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation on San Juan Island.  

After 2 ferry trips, we arrived at Friday Harbor with some time to spare before the release so I had a chance to wander this cute little town.  I found a neat little shop full of saucy soveniers, the San Juan Hot Shop Flavor Emporium .  I had a great experience speaking with Eddie, one of the shop owners, about some of their delicious and spicy selections and life on the island.  What a nice guy!

I love the sinage here all painted placards as you walk down this street.

 

 

Fantastic selection!  And every sauce is chosen for it's flavor.  

The motto here is "spice is nice, but it's gotta have flavor!"

Eddie has tasted every one of these saucy treats!

After a little bit of shopping and sight seeing, we convened at the Churchhill Coffee House and grabbed a light lunch while waiting for the members of Wolf Hollow to show us to the release site.

Once we arrived at the location, Shona gave us a quick briefing on the process of releasing Chitenango, Lotus and Dragonfly, the 3 seals that were scheduled for today.  The site was a small inlet that was close to an outcropping where seals often haul out of the water.  The idea is to release them in a place where they can easily  reconnect with other wild seals.

We were directed to a nice location for the viewing. There was quite a crowd of observers including a reporter from the San Juan Journal who was covering the release for the local paper.  Chitenango, as you have heard, was found on Village Point on Lummi Island.  The other 2 pups, Lotus and Dragonfly were both found on San Juan Island.  Dragonfly was a bit of a local celebrity having been found on the beach near Downriggers Restaurant.  Here's a link to the article about when she was found.

 

Some of our group from WMMSN and other observers

The release was very quick and smooth.  The staff from Wolf Hollow brought the pups to the beach in covered carriers.  Simultaneously all 3 were uncovered and the doors opened at the waters edge.  One of the pups came out of it's carrier into the water like a flash and quickly swam out into the bay.  The other 2 pups took a minute to contemplate the situation before splashing into the water.  Then once in the water, all three stayed close to the shore for sometime and seemed to take comfort in the presence of eachother, but after about 10 minutes of acclimating to their new environment they too headed out into the bay.

It was fantastic to see this story come full circle!  Thanks to the folks at Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehab, these little creatures got a second chance at a healthy life!

The staff opens the carriers and the pups get their first view of the inlet

Chitenango was the last of the 3 to hit the water 

 Lotis, Dragonfly and Chitenago enjoying their new found freedom!

With a last goodbye, these pups went out into the Puget Soundto live out their natural lives

After the release, we were invited up to the facility to learn a bit more about how Wolf Hollow is helping marine mammals and other wildlife in need of rehabilitation.  This was quite a special treat because their facility is not open to the public. 

Our main interest was  the marine mammal area where we learned the process for caring for the seal pups Each pup is first placed in an isolation tub and they are evaluated for injuries.  Blood work is done to check the general health of the pups.  Each rescue is different according to the needs of the animal, and can include formula feedings, medication, wound cleaning and care.  Human contact is limited to an as needed basis in order to maintain the wildness of these creatures.

 

Here's one of the rehab pools.  These 2 pups are waiting for their

clean bill of health and then will be released too

As the pups begin to recover from their distress they move from eating formula to fish.  They are hand fed to begin with, but the ultimate goal is for these pups to be able to fend for themselves in the wild.  They are soon "fishing" their own food from the bottom of their tubs. Once the pups are healthy enough, they are exposed to a larger tank where they can be together with other seals and swim and dive.  Each pup is individually evaluated by the care staff, and when they have gained sufficient weight, are able to feed themselves and have a clean bill of health, they are ready for release!

We then toured the rest of the facility.  Wolf Hollow is a 40 acre facility and they care for all kinds of wildlife including eagles, hawks, squirrels, deer, otters, racoons, and foxes.  What a fantastic place and a phenominal staff of dedicated people!

 

Some of the pens used for small species

 

Our wonderful hosts: Shona, Vanessa & Penny

After our lovely tour, we returned to Friday Harbor.  We had a couple more hours to tour about the town.   I really wanted to get a feel for this island community so I stopped in at Herbs Tavern to rub elbows with the locals.  The highlight of my time in the city of Friday Harbor was being mistaken for a local at the bar where a couple of visitors asked me for directions.  I guess I must radiate "islander" or it could be my lucky camo cap.  Either way I felt it was a true compliment!

 

Local humor on the ceiling at Herb's Tavern

 

With happy hearts we reboarded the Elwa, and started our

long journey home.  What a fantastic day!

Wolf Hollow field trip

If you've been a fan or follower of me on FatBottomBags for a while,  you'll remember the little seal pup that we found out here on Lummi Island back on July 27th. He's the cute pup in the picture above.

Here's Chitenango napping on the beach at Lummi Island

A few of us in the Whatcom Marine Stranding Network live out here and so we all took turns observing him on the beach.  Unless an animal is in distress that's what we do, observe and keep the public back far enough from the marine mammal so that it can be undisturbed.

Fortunately, he was on a private beach area, so there was no pressing need to have an observer there at all times.  We checked in on him every few hours over the daylight hours of the next 2 days.

The first evening we were hopeful because he had moved down the beach on his own.  We thought that this might indicate his mother was coming in during the dark hours to nurse him.

The first night at sunset he'd moved down the beach about 200 yards

Unfortunately by the second day it was obvious that he had been abandoned on this stretch of beach and he was too young to fend for himself.  So one of our volunteers took him in a carrier by boat to Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to be cared for.

By the next morning he'd moved back and looked very thin.

Now he was crying out in distress and was becoming a little 

too friendly toward the volunteer observers.

 

He was a sickly 14.6 pounds upon his arrival.  The great folks at Wolf Hollow named him Chitenango and  nurtured him with formula feedings, medicine and eventually whole fish.  Now that our little Chitenango is eating fish on his own he's up to a healthy weight of 49.8 pounds as of  10/9/09.

So now Chitenango is healthy and ready to be released and live the life of a harbor seal.  Today I'm off on a field trip to tour the rehab facility and to witness  his return to the wild along with 2 other rehabilitated pups, Lotis and Dragonfly.

I will be posting to Twitter and Facebook throughout the day with interesting facts and I will blog about the full story tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Being a volunteer with WMMSN has been extremely rewarding and I get to learn so much!  Hope you will consider supporting our efforts by donating or volunteering.

Grey Whale Stranding Response

Orignal posting:
April 30, 2009

Well I made it out there yesterday around 2 pm. What a sight. It was a juvinielle male gray whale estimated at 2 years old and somewhere around 10,000 pounds!

Carley was out working as the coordinator on this stranding and she was able to contact the Andrew Foss of Foss ships and recruited them to pull the carcass off of the beach for us and coordinated with the county to bring out a crew and a small boat to run line to and from the Andrew Foss.

Thanks Rhonnie! She loaned me her cell phone to take out to the site as mine was dead and my charger is in the car in Goldbar! Good thing too, as this phone became our only contact phone at the site.

The crew from the Andrew Foss came ashore and evaluated the situation and said they would be happy to help, provided we had a strong enough line for towing. We did not and so one of the crew suggested we contact Samson Rope in Ferndale for a donation to the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

I got on the phone with Charolette at Sampson and she worked so hard to find us some suitable line in the 2000 feet that we were looking for. She and the warehouse manager worked in tandem on this for over an hour and many phone calls from me but unfortunately couldn't find anything in that length and strength.

I made a new request for any 2 lines that we could splice and they went through the whole process again and came up with a wonderful donation. Then they even let us come after hours for pick up!!! Thanks to Joe in shipping and the warehouse manager (sorry, but don't remember his name)!

One of our volunteers , Bill, went into to pick up the line and when he returned we tied up the gray. I even got to make cut through the body to form a notch for the tow line to be attached.

If you would have told me yesterday morning that by evening I'd be cutting through the blubber of a whale I'd have thought you were crazy! But sure enough that was what I did. It was interesting and very cool!. The whale blubber is very greasy and thick!

Once the line was secure, we cleared the beach of onlookers for their safety. We had them move back where they could still see, but wouldn't be in harms way if something went wrong.

The county crew ran a line out to the Andrew Foss and then the tug pulled the carcass off the beach. Thank goodness it stayed in one peace and floated! They transported it down the beach to our tie off location and 5 of us volunteers walked down the beach and met them. Then the county brought in the line and we secured the carcass to the beach keeping the body below the low tide line. Where it will wait for a crew from the Friday Harbor Whale Museum to pick it up and bring it to their location. What they are doing with it I am not sure.

Once we had it secure we walked back the 1/2 mile of beach to our cars and made it after sunset, but before total darkness.

Now you can see what a coordinated effort this can be and that was just day 3! So many volunteers were needed for each phase of this.

The Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network is such a fantastic organization. Anything we can do to support them makes such a difference! If you want to get involved as a volunteer or want to help support them financially, the website is http://www.wmmsn.org/

Remember if you see a stranded marine mammal whether dead or alive, you must by law stay back 100 feet. Then please contact the local marine mammal stranding network. They will come and evaluate the animal, dead or alive and they gather data that is used by scientists and researchers world wide.

I'm so happy to be a small part of this organization and consider myself really blessed to be able to help make a difference in the world.

Having a porpoise in life

Original posting
Friday, September 4, 2009


I live on an island in the Puget Sound and enjoy a close connection with wildlife and nature even here in my own back yard.One of my passions in life is marine conservation. The oceans and the life within them are so important to our lives here on land.

Early this year I began to volunteer with a local group the Whatcom Marine Mammal Standing Network (http://www.wmmsn.org/ ) Through my association with this group I've been able to take part in several very interesting interactions with marine mammals, some alive, others found dead at the beach.

About a month ago we had a stranded seal pup here on the island. I got to go and observe this cute little creature. After 2 days of observation the pup was taken to a local rehab facility where he will be cared for until he is able to fend for himself. Hopefully he will be released back into the wild this fall. This stranding call had a happy ending, but that's not always the case.

Most recently we had a call for a small harbor porpoise that had died and washed ashore at the NW side of Lummi Island. It was collected by a volunteer and brought in to be examined to determine the cause of it's death. A lot of information can be gathered from a deceased marine mammal that has washed ashore.

Members of our group who were interested were invited to observe and participate in the necropsy which took place yesterday. I was able to attend. WOW! I learned so much.

Back in my younger days I was quite squeemish about death and so even back in high school I opted out of biology to avoid having to do any kind of disections. These days, I find I'm not squeemish and more curious to learn about this sort of thing.

It was very interesting to see how this process works. The carcass was methodically examined, measured and recorded. Samples were taken for various researchers who are gathering data related to marine mammals and our environment.

As the porpoise was examined I was able to see, touch and learn about the anatomy of harbor porpoises. I have a very hands on learning style so this was ideal for me. I won't go into graphic detail because I know others may not care to hear about a scientific necropsy.

Through this examination it was determined that this young female most likely died due to an acute trauma, likely a boat strike. She had hematoma on her right side and showed some damage to the lung on that side as well as 2 broken ribs.

It's amazing what scientists are able to see and learn based on these type of exams. Because of a thick blubber layer on marine mammals, there is often no outward sign of an injury. The only effective way to find out about an injury like this is to thouroughly examine the animal through a necropsy. Often though even after a necropsy, no difinite cause of death can be determined.

I'm really glad that I'm able to participate with this group and expand my own knowledge base as well as help with recording information that is used by scientists around the world who are studying marine mammals and our environment.

Groups like ours are small non profits who together gather information related to marine mammals all over the world. If you are interested in helping with this cause, check your local Stranding Network for volunteer opportunities. Or support them through donations. For more information on the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding network, head over to the website http://www.wmmsn.org/