Harbor seals have declined in parts of Alaska since the mid 1970s, while seal populations in other areas of the state remained stable or increased.  Genetic data indicate that movements of individuals between areas cannot explain the declines.  Fluctuations in population abundance can be evaluated by estimating survival and reproduction, and quantifying effects of proximate factors (e.g., diet, health, and condition) on those vital rates.  In 2003 we initiated long-term research in two areas of Alaska where seal numbers have declined by >65%. We are in the early phase of these long-term studies therefore this talk will share some of the techniques that we use for this study and our companion studies, conducted in collaboration with other agencies, which assess genetics, movements of seals, and dive behavior relative to prey availability, diet, and condition.

Gail Blundell is the principal investigator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Harbor Seal Research Program. She made her transition gradually from terrestrial to marine mammals, beginning in the late 80’s studying pumas, geoffroys cats, and foxes.  In the early 90’s she worked as a technician for ADF&G studying marten, and Alexander Archipelago wolves, and then returned to graduate school to study a “closet marine mammal” – river otters inhabiting marine environments.  While in graduate school she worked as project leader on the river otter component of a large ecosystem research project (the Nearshore Vertebrate Predator [NVP] project), assessing lingering effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on four top predators in the nearshore system.  Concurrent with that work she collected data for her doctoral study, assessing form and function of social groups and patterns of gene flow among populations of river otters in Prince William Sound.  Gail received her Ph.D. from UAF in 2001. In 2002 Dr. Blundell assumed the lead for ADF&G’s Harbor Seal Research Program.  The main focus of this program is to design and implement research to identify factors contributing to the dramatic declines in harbor seal numbers that have occurred in some areas of Alaska, as well as documenting population trends for harbor seals throughout the state.

Jennifer Burns, Ph.D. "Diving for Dinner: how marine mammals make a living underwater"

In this talk Dr. Burns will present the adaptations that marine mammals have that allow them to dive deeply and stay submerged for long periods of time, and will then share findings from her research on the foraging behavior of Steller sea lions.

Jenn has been affiliated with the University of Alaska Anchorage since 2000 where she runs a lab with 3 current grad students, and has graduated 4 (all now working in AK in marine mammals!)  Her research focuses on understanding how the age and physiological status of juvenile marine mammals influences their diving and foraging capacities, and on how differences in rates of physiological development impact life history traits.  Jenn received her BS in Marine Biology and Zoology from University of California Berkeley, MS from School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (timing of pupping and molt in harbor seals in WA), University of Washington, her PhD from University of Alaska Fairbanks (development of diving behavior and physiology in weddell seals in antarctica) and post-doc at UC Santa Cruz (physiological development of harbor, harp & hooded seals).  She now lives now in Eagle River with husband and 2 dogs and is also interested in hiking, skiing, skijoring, snowshoeing, cooking...

John Calambokidis, "The SPLASH project: An ambitious collaborative study of the status of humpback whales in the entire North Pacific"

John Calambokidis is a Research Biologist and one of the founders of Cascadia Research, a non-profit research organization based in Olympia, Washington formed in 1979. He periodically serves as an Adjunct Faculty at the Evergreen State College teaching a course on marine mammals. His primary interests are the biology of marine mammals and the impacts of humans. He has authored two books on marine mammals (on blue whales and a guide to marine mammals) as well as more than 50 technical reports and publications in scientific journals. He has conducted studies on a variety of marine mammals in the North Pacific and long-term research on blue, humpback, and gray whales.

Mike Castellini, Ph.D. “Take two seals and call me in the morning…marine mammals, medicine and you”

This talk will focus not so much on marine mammal medicine (veterinary or disease), but rather on the remarkable physiological and medical differences between marine mammals and humans. For example, did you know that seals hold their breath while sleeping, for up to 14 min? Is this important for the study of SIDS? Or, that they can consciously drop their heart rate by 90%? Could you do that even with years of yoga training? How about the fact that their blood red cell count can be so high that it almost turns to glue? How do they circulate blood that thick?  We will explore a suite of interesting medical and physiological “tricks” that have been discovered in these remarkable animals.

Mike received his PhD in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1981.  He has been a faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks since 1989, Science Director for the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska 1995-1999 and is currently the Director of the Institute of Marine Science at UAF.  Mikes research focus is on how marine mammals have adapted to life in the sea. Ever since his graduate work in San Diego, he has studied marine mammals around the world examining their biochemical, physiological and behavioral adaptations for deep and long duration diving, extended fasting, exercise physiology, hydrodynamics and even sleeping patterns. In Alaska, his work has extended into issues of population health (why are marine mammal populations declining in some areas?), contaminant chemistry, reproductive chemistry and digestive physiology. Mikes graduate students work from Alaska to Antarctica on these issues. He is also involved in local, state and National panels and committees dealing with policy issues related to marine mammals, ecosystem management and agency oversights.

Dan Costa, Ph.D.  "Utilization of the North Pacific By Marine Mammals and Others Top Predators: Tagging of Pacific Pelagics: Using Electronic tags to discover Hotspots in the Pelagic Realm"

Tagging of Pacific Pelagics is using electronic tags to track mako, salmon and white sharks, elephant seals, bluefin and yellowfin tuna, black-footed and Laysan albatross, California sea lions and leatherback sea turtles in the North Pacific. Results indicate that frontal features associated with the North Pacific Transition zone and the California Current are the major features these animals use.

Dan is currently a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. After completing his Ph.D. working with sea otters at UCSC in 1978 he went to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography were he completed postdoctoral research. He returned to UCSC in 1983. From 1991-94 he served as a scientific officer at the Office of Naval Research he initiated ONRs program on marine mammal biology. His research focuses on the integration of physiology, behavior and ecology. He research focuses on physiological and ecological adaptations that enable mammals and birds to survive in the ocean. His research as taken him to the far reaches for the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from Australia to the Galapagos. He has worked with almost every marine mammal group including dugongs, sea lions, fur seals, sea otters, seals, dolphins and whales. He is currently a lead principal investigator of the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics program, a multidisciplinary program to tag and track 22 different species of apex pelagic predators in the North Pacific Ocean.

Steller sea lions and northern fur seals breed and feed in Alaskan waters, yet have very different strategies for foraging and raising young, and fur seals migrate into the northern Pacific Ocean where they are pelagic all winter.  Both species have undergone large population declines over the past 30 years, and have been the focus of significant research efforts.  Comparing sea lion and fur seal biology might provide insights into unraveling complicated ecosystem processes in the Bering Sea.

Brian leads the Alaska Ecosystems Program Foraging and Physiology Studies Group at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Washington.  Their research integrates tracking fur seal and sea lion foraging behavior with assessments of health and condition, dietary habits, and population dynamics to understand factors contributing to population declines of both species in Alaska.  Brian received his Ph.D. from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1997, and except for a brief stint working on wildlife management and policy issues in Juneau, Alaska, has focused on studying the physiological ecology of seals, sea lions, and seabirds (hey, why not?) in both hemispheres.

Every year a handful of humpback whales are reported entangled in fishing gear in southeastern Alaska, but the real magnitude of the problem is unknown because not all entangled whales are seen or reported. Luckily, the scarring patterns created by gear are unique, which allows researchers to assess whether or not a whale has been entangled in the past. Janet will share what she has learned about humpback whales by studying their scars. 

Janet started out studying whales in New England in 1992. She has been lucky enough to study most of the world’s large whale species on projects ranging from Alaska to Antarctica. Since 1997 she has worked as a whale biologist at Glacier Bay National Park. She received her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1993 and is currently working on a Master’s degree in marine biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  Her main interests are population dynamics, behavioral ecology and human threats to marine mammals. She lives in Gustavus, Alaska.

Nels is a cultural anthropologist and creative nonfiction writer whose work focuses on human relationships to the natural world. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin, attended the University of Wisconsin, received a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Alaska Southeast in 2004.

He has spent many years studying relationships to the environment among Inupiaq
Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians in northern Alaska. His books include Make Prayers  to the Raven, Hunters of the Northern Ice, Shadow of the Hunter, and The Island Within, recipient of the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing.  Nelson's latest book, Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America, received the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award.  He was granted a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and received the 1995 Lannan Literary Award for creative nonfiction writing.  In 1999-2001 he served as the Alaska State Writer (this state's equivalent of Poet Laureate).  He holds an Affiliate Professorship at the University of Alaska Southeast.  He is an avid outdoorsman and a conservation activist, working for protection of old growth rainforest in the Tongass
National Forest.

Anne Salomon MSc, BSc(Hons), "Ecological Detectives; Uncovering the causes and consequences of shellfish declines on the tip of the Kenai Peninsula"

The Sugpiaq natives of the Kenai Peninsula have observed dramatic changes in their ocean home over the last century.  The story is a familiar one; benthic shellfish which were once plentiful have declined.  Sea urchin, crab, shrimp, clams and cockles are now fewer in number and smaller.  The most recent invertebrate decline is that of the black leather chiton, an intertidal mollusk and known keystone grazer.  What has caused these declines and what are their consequences?  As ecological detectives, tribal elders, an anthropologist and a marine biologist have collectively begun to provide the clues.  Fortunately, uncovering these clues and building these partnerships is the first step towards inspiring solutions for sustainable marine ecosystems in the future.

Anne is a Doctoral Student, University of Washington, Department of Biology.  Her current research interests lie in the human alteration of coastal food webs and the effects of harvest on the trophic dynamics of nearshore rocky reef ecosystems. In collaboration with two native villages on the outer Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, she is investigating the relative roles of shoreline harvest and natural factors leading to recent localized declines of Katharina tunicata, an important intertidal subsistence resource known locally as a 'Bidarki'.  In New Zealand, she is examining the ecosystem-level repercussions of harvest on subtidal reef communities using marine reserves as unfished  controls.  Specifically, they are investigating the indirect effects of fishing on kelp production and the role of kelp derived organic carbon in secondary production.

More information on Anne Salomon can be found at:

http://depts.washington.edu/jlrlab/anne.html
http://www.conservationinstitute.org/fellowsalomon.htm
http://protist.biology.washington.edu/bio2/people/bio.html?parecID=323

Aaron Thode, Ph.D.  "Acoustic observations of sperm whale longline depredation off Sitka, Alaska."

The talk will concern methods for tracking sperm whales under water using towed arrays and longline fishing gear.

Aaron Thode grew up in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and did not see the ocean on a regular basis until he started graduate school in San Diego in 1994.  After getting his PhD at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1999, with a thesis topic on advanced acoustic tracking of blue whales, he did a two-year post-doc at MIT before returning to Scripps in 2001.  He is currently an Associate Researcher at Scripps with an interest in using underwater sound to study marine mammals.  He spends a lot of time developing means for tracking whales underwater, and his methods have been used in the Gulf of Mexico, and recently off Sitka.  He loves to hike, run, kayak, and SCUBA, and tries to play the guitar on occasion.

The talk includes the whaling history and conservation efforts in the breeding lagoons. How the gray whales use the lagoons (biological and ecological factors), including the actual legislation and the main conservation concerns.

Jorge was born in Mexico City.  He received his Ph. D. from the National University of México (UNAM). He began his research on whales since 1982, when he initiated the first long term study on humpbacks in Mexico. Jorge has presented papers on this topic at more than 65 international meetings, and has written more than 45 scientific publications about the great whales and dolphins of the Gulf of California. He has special interest on the fin, humpback and gray whales, as well of beaked whales from the Mexican Pacific. From 1991 to 1993 he was president of the Mexican Marine Mammalogist Society (SOMEMMA).  He is member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, and of the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN.  Actually Jorge is the Coordinator of the Marine Mammal Research Program of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) at La Paz, México.

Cetaceans are classified into two suborders (baleen and toothed) primarily on the basis of feeding morphology and behavior. However, much of what we hold to be true about whale feeding is insufficient or incorrect. For example, many "toothed" whales have few functional teeth, and although baleen whales capture prey in a "whalebone" filter, we are still learning how the tongue and other oral structures function in capturing, processing, and swallowing food. This talk aims to correct misconceptions and reveal how much we have yet to learn about whale feeding.

Alex Werth is Elliott Professor of Biology at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, where he studies marine mammal anatomy, ecology, and evolution and teaches anatomy, physiology, evolution, and bioethics. A Massachusetts native, he earned his BS degree from Duke University, where he studied at the Duke Marine Laboratory, and his PhD from Harvard University, where he studied dolphin and porpoise morphology and worked in the stranding/autopsy program of the New England Aquarium, Boston. In 1992 he completed a brief postdoctoral fellowship with the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management in Barrow, studying the morphology of bowhead whales. This fall he is a Visiting Scholar at the Darling Marine Center of the University of Maine. His talk at the WhaleFest will outline his continuing research on foraging methods and feeding mechanisms in both toothed and baleen whales.

More information on Alex Werth can be found at: 

http://www.hsc.edu/directory/facpro