Researchers' Blog
Well, in 2007 we had some more boat problems,
which limited our days on the water. There were a couple times we
got back to the harbor safely on a wing n’ a prayer. But the
main thing is we got some more water days out on beautiful Monterey
Bay. Nothing makes me happier. While working on the boat hoping to
get it running while floating dead in the water (luckily it was a
calm, beautiful day), I kept dreaming of the day that we can get
our dream "Green Research" boat that runs on renewable
fuels. See our "Wish List".
George Black can tell you stories about
his first season with us. George is a retired teacher and principal
with great boat handling
experience. He is actually my dive buddy of 10 years. He drove
all the way from Michigan so that I would have one dedicated person
every
day to help on the project. As you may know the Marine Life Studies
(MLS) staff, composed of highly skilled and professional individuals,
is entirely volunteer. It was great as George helped with loading
and unloading the equipment everyday, set up, and captained the
boat. He helped with hydrophone recordings and plankton tows. George
was a great asset .
George at work: George
and Mary:
The project could not run without
our local volunteers. Many thanks go out to Sarah Graham, Danny
Frank, Gina Thomas, Martijn Stiphout, and Mary Whitney for all
their help on the boat this
year.
Since MLS has limited funds to run the project
we decided that in 2007 we would concentrate on projects that could
make a
difference
but would not take much cash, just time. So of course a project
we
actually started working on in the fall 2006 was slated as the
number one project to put all our efforts into. The project is
to help facilitate
a "Whale Rescue Network" for Monterey Bay that has grown
to incorporate all of California and coordinate it with existing
trained personnel already in place.
Marine debris is increasing
which is detrimental to marine life, especially commercial fisheries
gear/nets. Whales and dolphins can become entangled in all sorts
of manmade
debris floating in our oceans. We want Monterey Bay to have a full
set of disentanglement tools and annual training for a crew with
the expertise to be able to go out when an entangled whale is reported
and use their skills to free them. We have been working with Joe
Cordaro, the Regional
Stranding Coordinator for California and Ed
Lyman, Marine Mammal Response Manager for the Hawaiian Islands
National Marine Sanctuary (HINMS) on providing more training for
large whale disentanglement.
Training will be held in the spring of 2008,
date and location to be announced. Contact
us to be
on the
mailing list. Humpbacks are endangered and are one of the whales
mostly likely to become entangled because of their curious nature.
If interested in becoming involved a prerequisite would be to take
the following Incident Command training which is free and available
on line. There are several levels. Here are the links for levels
one and two:
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is100.asp
http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is200.asp
Marine Life Studies
(MLS) received a $2000 grant from the Fluke Foundation and a $600
donation from private individual toward the
purchase of
disentanglement tools. MLS placed an order for as many disentanglement
tools that the donated money could buy. This is a great start but
to have everything needed for the full compliment another $8000
is needed. Donations are welcome and can be designated just for
the
purchase of disentanglement tools. Remember your donations are
tax deductible. Please contact
us if you have any question, would like more information
about this important project or to become involved.
In some parts
of the ocean
there are 6 lbs of plastic for every pound of fish. During our
own research in 2007 we actually documented more sightings of garbage
than we did of marine mammals while doing our boat transects. We
had 53 sightings of garbage and only 40 sightings of marine mammals.
" Impacts of larger debris have been well-documented over the years,
including marine mammal, fish and seabird mortalities caused by
ingestion causing starvation and suffocation, and entanglement. Research into
the impacts of smaller debris is emerging, but it is known already
that small plastic debris is ingested by marine life at all levels
of the marine food web, from zooplankton to the largest marine
mammals."
[The above excerpt is from: MUNICIPAL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR CONTROLLING
TRASH AND DEBRIS IN STOMRWATER AND URBAN RUNOFF
Prepared and Written By:
Miriam Gordon, California Coastal Commission
Ruth Zamist, Plastic Debris, Rivers to Sea Project]
See http://www.plasticdebris.org/
and click on BMPs for Trash & Debris
[Trash_BMPs_for_Munis.pdf]
4 Laist, D.W. 1997. Impacts of marine debris: entanglement of marine
life in marine debris including a comprehensive list of species
with entanglement and
ingestion records. pp. 99-140. In: J.M. Coe and D.B. Rogers (eds.), Marine
Debris: Sources, Impacts, and Solutions. Springer-Verlag. New York,
NY
Marine debris is on the rise:
We had more sightings of garbage than we did of marine mammals during
our research surveys in 2007 on Monterey Bay. We had 53 sightings
of garbage and only 40 sightings of marine mammals.
Below is a breakdown of the type of garbage for each sighting in
2007:
53 Total Sightings of Garbage:
Breakdown by type:
Total of 15 sightings of balloons
Total of 1 sightings of cardboard
Total of 15 sightings of paper
Total of 20 sightings of plastic
Total of 2 sightings of Styrofoam. As you know balloons are a pet peeve of
mine but also plastic shopping bags. Plastic bags kill an estimated 100,000
marine animals annually. so please
choose to use reusable and cloth shopping
bags instead.
You probably
have heard about the North Pacific
Gyre that is a huge area of floating marine debris twice the size
of Texas. It is
essentially plastic stew
floating just below the surface in the Pacific Ocean between California
and Hawaii. For more information check out these web pages:
http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml
http://www.algalita.org/breaking_news/research_voyage_2005.html
http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Moore-Trashed-PacificNov03.htm
2006
A major
threat to whales, dolphins and other marine animals throughout
the world is the contamination of their
habitat. An important part of our mission is to reduce contamination
and to help foster a respect for the environment. During our
efforts on the water in 2006 I was astonished at how much garbage
we saw.
We had a total of 46 sightings of garbage. Twenty-two of the
46 sightings were of balloons. Balloons are a pet peeve of mine.
Please dispose of balloons properly. Do not let balloons loose into the atmosphere.
Balloons travel incredibly far. Even when released inland they can end up in
the ocean. Please spread the word that balloons can mean death for marine animals.
See www.savethewhales.org for an alternative to using balloons
for birthdays, grand openings, and other festivities.
 Leatherback
turtles are endangered so each and every one of them is critical
for the survival of the species. Leatherback turtles
eat jellyfish. A balloon in the water can be mistaken for it's favorite
food. Balloons, plastic bags, styrofoam, and trash floating in the
water all can be mistaken as food and the turtles die when this trash
blocks their intestines.
Link
for more
info on leatherback turtles,
and a link for a children's activity called “Protecting
Leatherback Turtles
from Balloons” that shows them how a balloon can look like a jellyfish
to a turtle.
You can make a difference. Please properly dispose of your garbage.
Celebrate events without the use of balloon releases.
Below is a breakdown
of the type of garbage for each sighting in 2006:
46 Total Sightings of Garbage:
Breakdown by type:
Total of 22 sightings of balloons
Total of 1 sightings of cardboard
Total of 3 sightings of paper
Total of 11 sightings of plastic
Total of 1 sightings of plastic bottle
Total of 3 sightings of plastic water bottle
Total of 1 sightings of plastic/paper
Total of 2 sightings of Styrofoam
Total of 1 sightings of unknown material
Total of 1 sightings of wood
What I find really alarming and sad is that we had 46 sightings
of garbage compared to only 69 total sightings of dolphins, whales,
and other marine animals. This is a wake up call that more outreach
needs to be done to educate the public in disposing of balloons
and
other garbage properly. An individual can really make a difference
and help ocean life by spreading the word.
Up
to September 28, 2006
 I
met the Earthrace team in
Monterey as I went down to talk to them about my dream of eventually
having a research vessel that runs on biodiesel fuel. "Earthrace
is a bid to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe
in
a powerboat, and using only renewable fuels. The program includes
an 18-month tour calling at 60 of the worlds' great cities, promoting
fuels like biodiesel, and raising awareness about sustainable use
of resources."
Photo by Mich Nelson.
After hosting the Earthrace team at my house the weekend of August
26th, they left Monterey (check out their website at www.earthrace.net
to continue their North American tour. They will be trying to beat
the world record of circumnavigating the globe all on biodiesel in
March 2007. Pete Bethune, the skipper and the one who had the
vision for the boat, came back to Monterey while the crew was in
San Francisco for servicing. Pete stayed the whole week at my house
working on paperwork and phone calls.
On Friday, Sept 1st Earthrace was in Santa Cruz so Sarah Graham and
myself met them. We helped them sell t-shirts and DVD’s. We
also presented them with a net on behalf of Marine Life Studies to
help us in our efforts to pick up trash while on their tour. See
article by Ruth Carlson at: www.talkintravel.com/westernus/earthrace.html.
After the Earthrace team left Santa Cruz, John Allen, one of the
Earthrace volunteers came back and stayed with me for a week as he
had sponsors to meet with in the bay area while the rest of the
team
continued the tour in southern California. So for about 2 weeks
my dining room table was the temporary office of Earthrace. While
he
was here, John was so impressed by our Marine Life Studies project
that he donated $100 on behalf of Earthrace. Thank you Earthrace!
To help raise much needed money for the Marine Life Studies (MLS)
project we had a fundraising garage sale Sept 2nd & 3rd. We
had lots of shoppers. Thank you for your support. I especially
want to thank all the wonderful people who donated items for the
garage
sale. The outpouring from the community was heartwarming.
On September 9th and 10th Marine Life Studies (MLS) participated
in Whale Fest on Fisherman’s Wharf. This was a good
way for us to let the community know what Marine Life Studies is
all
about. We held a raffle to help raise funds. Bob Talbot and Patagonia
donated items for the raffle, which was great and very generous
of them. We also raffled off a couple items for Earthrace and that
money
went to their cause. List of winners:
1) Carrie Pitkin - Roseville, CA [Talbot poster]
2) Kim Woltman - Monterey, CA [Talbot poster]
3) Brent Williamson - Marina, CA [Talbot poster]
4) Tiffany Thomas - Lahaina, Maui [Earthrace poster]
5) Benji Shake (not sure what city he lives in) [green fleece Patagonia
jacket]
6) Dana Riley - Carmel, CA [Green Patagonia Vest]
7) Deborah Ferreira - Tracy, CA [Talbot poster]
8) Holly Widener - Seaside, CA [Green flowered Patagonia fleece pullover]
9) Peter Bruno – Monterey, CA [Talbot video]
10) Greg Wiese - Citrus Heights, CA [Earthrace video]
A big thanks to the community who attended Whale Fest and to the
MLS volunteers who worked the booth.
After Whale Fest, one of our MLS volunteers,
Tif Thomas, and myself met the Earthrace team in Newport Beach and
went with them to San
Diego. We assisted them with projects and cleaning the boat as
well as helping them sell DVD’s and t-shirts for their cause.
When Tif and I returned from San Diego the fuel line for the research
boat finally came in and we were able to install it. We launched
the boat on September 17th. We were very excited. Since the ocean
conditions were not real favorable we just did safety drills. The
next day we were able to get out but had to come in early as the
winds picked up. Due to the ocean conditions we did not get where
there was a killer whale report. But we did find 6 different sightings
of balloons, which we did pick up.
Balloons are a pet peeve of Marine Life Studies as they are very
detrimental to marine life. Balloons can mean death to turtles,
whales, dolphins, seals and other marine life. They may ingest
it innocently
believing it is food such as a jellyfish or squid. Please do not
release balloons outside. Please dispose of them properly by puncturing
them and throwing them in the trash. See www.savethewhales.org/balloon.html for alternatives to balloons for celebrations such as birthdays,
grand openings, birth of a child, etc.
 The
weather conditions on the ocean were finally good so the weekend
of September 23rd we got all the equipment ready to go out. Howard
from the Elkhorn Yacht Club called as he noticed the boat sitting
low in the water. The boat had been in the slip for 5 days and
there was a lot of water in the boat. Had to bilge out the boat
and checked
it over. Let it set overnight thinking we had the problem solved
but there was some water in the boat the next day. Decided not
to go out but instead to pull the boat out of the water. There
was a
slow leak where one of the ground wires ran through the stern.
So we will be doing some repairs. That is how it is sometimes in
the
life
of a research team.
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