Orca Study - 8/27/2010

"Everybody loves a pooping whale!" (Jessica, our PI.)

Hours upon hours have been spent looking for whale poop this summer.  Whale poop comes in many different colors, textures and sizes.  Most of the time each sample that we collect on a daily basis is completely different from the previous one.  Samples range from light brown to dark brown, to flesh colored to a white snotty color.  Sometimes we are looking for fecal matter that is the size of a pea!  While we love the samples that are pancake size or silver dollar size, most of the time we find quarter

Pea size pieces of whale poop with cereal

or dime-sized splatters of whale poop. You see, the main thing we've come to realize is that whale poop is extremely delicate.  Rough waters, boats motoring by, strong currents, or a slap of a whale tail, all have the ability to disperse and sink the poop before we can reach it.

Aside from sinking poops, one of the obstacles that we deal with on a daily basis is that there is a lot of algae, sea grass, sea weed, etc in the waters up here. Not all places have the same amounts or the same varieties however it can make looking for whale poop quite challenging sometimes.  Tucker (our scat detection dog), is perfect for locating the poop and getting us to the initial sample. However, that's where his job ends and ours begins. We use poop float markers with float-able landscape flags to mark the sample's location upon initial detection.  As we turn the boat around and head back to the poop float, everyone on-board watches the water.  If anyone spots more whale poop, they throw

 Puffins; a cereal that is able to float along with the poop and mark individual pancake, silver dollar, lentil bean or pea size pieces (see above photo). Once we are able to start scooping poop, one really sees how many other things there are that look similar to whale poop. 


(Poop float marker created by Kelsey, our awesome intern. Photo taken by Jennifer Hartman.)

To really give you all an idea of what I'm talking about, I have a little quiz. Below are some photos of Rockweed and whale poop. Can you tell which is which?

This is whale poop! About the size of a quarter. The two pictures above it are Rockweed.

Whale poop pancake! The look-a-likes below are Rockweed.

Orca Study - Round 3

Hi Everyone!

A lot has happened in the past few weeks up here on the Island.  Giles, our boat driver took off for Oregon for a wedding so we enlisted the help of some AWESOME volunteer drivers.

Sam, the Endowed Chair for the Department for Conservation Biology drove for us in some crazy weather with huge waves. We did see porpoising whales though which was incredible!  Jeff, a Soundwatch driver took the wheel one afternoon when the weather was too good to pass up. He did a fantastic job and we found a great sample! And our final volunteer was Doug.  He was a superstar reading the wind and scooping poop! He was even scooping as he drove! Raise a paw to the volunteers! Thank you!!

This last week we had a couple cameras around us which made things exciting.  We had a perfect day on the water on Monday. 7 pancake size samples, whales everywhere (85 to be exact), calm water, great wind, and the whole team was back together. We couldn't have asked for a better day to start our week.  Of course though, the next few days were a little more trying as the water was never quite ideal and the weather provided us with pea soup fog.

The cameras hung around though and were able to capture Tucker celebrating after a training sample.  The video shows the Tucker dance and Tucker playing around with his Westpaw Design Huck (a floating ball that I attached a rope to).  If you all see us celebrating on the water, feel free to join in on the Tucker dance, Tucker loves the attention!

Tucker celebrating with his Huck

Orca Study 2010 - Round 2

Hello!

So I think our crew is finally out of the training season and into the big leagues!!  We have had an awesome week working out on the water.  Tucker is constantly showing us what an incredible nose he has and he is such a trooper! The weather and the whales have been perfect. We could not ask for better conditions especially since we are out on the water early now. The water has been smooth as glass. You can see jellyfish like 10-15feet below the surface. It's unbelievable.

We have been working with Orca whales from all three pods (J, K and L) this past week and it seems like our hard work is paying off. We have added 6 samples to our freezer!  One was so incredible! We were transecting behind the whales at a 90 degree angle close to a bunch of whale watching vessels.  Tucker had this fantastic change of behavior and before we knew it we were heading into the boats, right in front of the Clipper! (It is this huge boat, with 3 stories of windows and two balconies.)  Anyway, Tucker hit the sample and we realized as we were slowly driving past the Clipper that the poop was everywhere!! There was so much. So Tucker is on the bow of the boat, whipping his ball around and playing tug, I'm bouncing up and down and doing the Tucker dance and the ladies are runnning around like mad trying to scoop the sample before it gets run over. All within meters of this gigantic Clipper boat!! Everyone on board was cheering for Tucker. It was amazing. ( By the way, the Tucker dance is waving your hands in the air while saying "Yea!!!!" Followed by a quick shake of your backside while saying, " Tucker found it!!") As you can imagine, a little embarrassing but tons of fun.  Right before that we had found a sample and right after that we found a sample. It was a great day.

We'll keep you posted.  Have a great 4th of July!!

Liz, Tucker and Sadie May

Orca Study 2010

Field site: Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, Washington State
Research: Locate and collect fecal samples from the Southern Resident Community Killer Whales for the Center for Conservation Biology, University of Washington.
Length of study: June through the end of September

CK9's: 
First string = Tucker, Male, 6 years old, 3rd summer working in the San Juan Islands
Second string = Sadie May, Female, 8 years old, 1st summer in the San Juan Islands, back-up and possible    whale dog 

 Hello!!

Week One:
Training, training and more training. It's my first study on the water handling Tuck-man. Needless to say it is very very different from working a dog on land. Basically he has no way of moving to the sample to find it for you. We have to read his behaviors and move to boat to where he wants us to go. Means there has to be two lines of communication; Tuck and myself and then myself and the boat driver.  I read Tucker's body movements and then communicate via hand signals to the driver.  She then maneuvers the boat.  The end result is a small floating sample! We have to be quick however since rough seas, boats and sometimes the whales themselves can sink a fecal sample.

It's been a great week.  The team has done really well being patient with me while I learn how to work on a boat and Jessica (the new graduate student in charge of the study) is doing awesome learning the quirks of the study.  We have even found 4 samples! Yea, team!!

Tucker and Sadie are loving the house we're in. There is a small yard where they play all the time and plenty of roads around for jogs.  All in all, we're looking forward to a fantastic summer!

We'll keep you posted!!

Liz, Sadie and Tucker!!

NSO 6/18/10 - We're like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson out here

As a dog handler working with a scent detection dog I feel we are like detectives. Many people ask "So, what do you do with the dog? Do you just hike and play ball with them?" The simple answer is yes, but it's a bit more complicated than that. There are many other elements that go into dog handling, and a lot of it has to do with bringing the dog into an area where he/she is most likely to sniff out a scat of the target species.


To find these areas requires knowledge of the target species: in this case knowledge of the Northern Spotted owl and it's ecology, it's habits and habitat.  What does a Spotted owl eat? Where does it's prey live?  As a dog handler I feel I am Dr. Watson to my dog, Sherlock Holmes. I help him solve the mystery of where the pellets are, but really, as Sherlock, he's doing all the work!

Clear cuts are NOT Spotted owl habitat! 

Spotteds need old growth forest.

For example, as a handler I am most concerned with getting to play with my dog, Max. If he gets his ball then he is motivated and happy to go that extra kilometer in the heat and up steep slopes. And if Max is happy, I am too. To get him his reward though, he needs to find a pellet. When I am out in the field I am scoping the layout of the terrain and looking at the trees and finding the drainage where an owl may sleep in the cool shade of an oak tree, avoiding the clear cuts, all the while paying attention to wind patterns and Max's energy level. It's all a very subtle dance.

And although my eyes are always on Max I also have to watch where I step so I don't fall (I am Watson, remember)! In these stolen moments I am scanning the forest floor for tell-tale signs that an owl may be there. Is that tiny splash of white paint on the ground white wash? Is that a feather from a molt? Does this oak seem like a roosting tree? What is under that yonder big doug fir? Maybe it's a nest tree!

This is a clue to a Spotted owl's roost tree: white wash!

Max's paw next to Spotted Owl white wash... we're getting closer.

Meanwhile Max's nose (actually, Sherlock's nose) is at work and he is sniffing the air currents for a whiff of something fairly tiny, grey, with hair and little bones in it-- in the vastness that is the forest (our "office"). Seems crazy, I know. And it is. But when Max does a 180, turning to work upslope, wagging his tail every so lightly my heart skips a beat and I can't wait to see what our teamwork sleuthing has found. Voila, a pellet! Another mystery solved!

Sherlock-Max waiting for his ball after he located an owl pellet.

There's a pellet in this picture- can you find it? Max did!

PPM 6/15/10- A Mighty Mouse

A Mighty Mouse: The Pacific Pocket Mouse

(Perognathus longimembris pacificus)

While surveying on Camp Pendleton, we sometimes run into people who want to know what we are researching. When we tell people that our dogs are trained to find the Pacific pocket mouse, we often get the same response: 

“A mouse?!? I’ve got a few of those in my garage that I would like to get rid of.”

In truth, these mice are not just any old rodent. The Pacific pocket mouse is special because of its rarity and its unique role in the environment.

The Pacific pocket mouse (PPM) is one of 18 subspecies of the little pocket mouse of the Heteromyidae rodent family. Not only one of the smallest mammals, the Pacific pocket mouse is also one of the most endangered species in the United States. Thought to be extinct for over twenty years, a small population of less than fifty mice was discovered in California coast in 1994. Today, there are only four known populations to exist in southern California; three of them reside on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. Tiny in size, an adult PPM only weighs that of a silver quarter and is only a couple of inches in length. This mouse is named not for its size, but for external cheek pouches that allows temporary storage of seed while foraging.

Small but mighty, pocket mice are considered a keystone species because they influence environmental characteristics in the desert, shrub, and grassland ecosystems in which they live. Specifically, pocket mice disperse native grass seeds, create healthy soil disturbance and serve as a food source for native predators.

As shown in the photos below, these avid burrowers can change the landscape of southern California’s coastal sage scrub environment. Sandy patches mark the habitat of the PPM. This soil disturbance acts as a natural soil tiller, ensuring that the sandy terrain is a fertile, healthy environment for the next generation of native plants and animals.

Expert burrowers and seed gatherers, PPM are an important member of the coastal community.  So next time you see a mouse, don’t assume it’s just any old mouse…it just may be a mighty mouse.

  

Hootin' and Makin' History

Hola CK9 followers,

So today, I made history.  That's right, history.  We all know about George Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jane Goodall.  Now, I feel like one of them.

Let me start from the beginning.  So we were out one night hooting, honestly, not really expecting a response- we'd never had a response in this area before, and this wasn't our first visit.  Then, out of nowhere, a contact call!  The high pitched NEEEEP was both exciting and a little odd.  Exciting in the fact that there was an owl here, odd in the sense that it sounded like it was coming from about 50 feet in front of me on the road.  I took a bearing, drove around the corner of the ridge a little, and took another bearing.  We were set for our follow up the next day.  Score!  Plus, we got to delete most of the other call points in the cell for the evening.  Double score!

Well, we go the next afternoon for our follow up.  We show up, barely get off a single hoot from the hootinator (I dubbed it 'Silverback' due to the mad gorilla noise it makes for an agitated NSO call) and then, NEEEP!  Once again, she was at the same bearing, and she sounded like she was right on the road- odd.  We hike up about 100 feet, maybe... and boom! another contact call, AND an owl.  I'd have to say, this was the best followup ever.

Well, when we find an owl, we have to offer it mice in the hope that it will take the food to its mate or its nest, and we can see if if has babies or not.  For this owl, I got to feed it.  That's how I made history.  I put a mouse on a branch, and the owl swooped down, grabbed the mouse, and I didn't even feel the branch move.  Score x3!!  Three mice in all met their fate, me at the helm... The owl was in a rather italian mood for the first mouse, turned it into spaghetti, and slurped it up.  The second was eaten in more of a mongolian style- chunks of meat with the occasional pause.  The last mouse was cached, saved for later to be made into whatever type of cuisine the owl desired.

This was a particularly dainty owl.  She preened and cleaned like there was no tomorrow- and yes, she remembered to get behind her ears (even though owls don't really have ears, she found hers!)  Her nails were all nice, and her feathers done just right.  If you didn't know that she'd just grabbed and devoured mice, you would have no idea.

So, that's how I made history.  I fed an owl.  Okay, maybe not al that historical when compared to other people, but historical for me, and that's all that matters.

Adios from the Owl Crewhouse, don't worry, there're more stories where that came from, and if you're lucky, I might just share!