Sea Notes

Whale Tails and Other Stories

Monterey Bay is not just home to the world's finest aquarium, it's also home and summer residence to a whole host of amazing wildlife.

On Saturday, I was treated to one of those "once in a lifetime days" when our whale watch boat took us through the fog and out onto the other side, to edge of the submarine canyon and a land that time forgot.

Dall's porpoise, Risso's dolphins, black-footed albatross, an estimated 50-60 humpback whales, 10-15 blue whales, and perhaps most amazing of all the world's largest sea turtle, the Pacific leatherback.

Blue whales are still listed as endangered species, having never fully recovered from industrial whaling. The population off California is considered to be one of the healthiest and largest in the world; estimated around 2,000 animals. Though seeing one is still a special treat; to see several in one day is just plain greedy!

The Bay is teeming with krill right now - the only food item on the menu of this ocean-going behemoth and the largest animal to ever roam our planet. Humpbacks, who can also eat fish, seemed to also be enjoying snacking on a ton or two of krill, and watching the giant mammals lunge feed is just a spectacular sight!

The Bay is also blooming with jellies - especially sea nettles. These visitor favorites at the aquarium also attract a different kind of visitor. Pacific leatherbacks travel from the shores of Indonesia just to snack on jellies in Monterey Bay; a round trip of over 10,000 miles.

Pacific leatherbacks are truly an endangered species. To see one is perhaps, sadly, a once in a lifetime experience. Longline fishing, in addition to pressures on nesting beaches have pushed this ancient reptile to the brink of extinction. Only time will tell if we have done enough to save them.

Two Tales: Leatherback Savior, Shark-Killing Outrage

You know something's changed for the good when two great stories of people standing up for marine life make the news on the same day.

First, CNN featured Trinidad's "crazy turtle woman" as one of its Heroes during American Morning today. I caught the story on the treadmill at the gym, then found more online:

Seems that Suzan Lakhan Baptiste has single-handedly led a crusade to protect nesting leatherbacks from slaughter on a six-mile stretch of beach near her home. In the process she's rallied community support, turned a graveyard for Caribbean leatherbacks into a maternity ward, and through her Nature Seekers organization is helping build a thriving ecotourism economy around the endangered turtles. (Remember her work next time you plan a vacation!) Now she's taking the campaign to other Caribbean islands. CNN has a full story and videos online.

Second, the St. Petersburg Times in Florida reports incredible outrage over coverage of the killing of a 9-foot bull shark by two teenage fishermen, and an earlier killing of a pregnant hammerhead shark by a fishing captain bent on notching a world record.

"If shark killing is out," write reporters Stephanie Hayes and Brant James, "shark sympathy is in."

The article focuses on the demonization of sharks, and their rapid decline in the wild, with populations in the Gulf of Mexico down by about 90 percent from historic levels.

They quote George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida:

"Sympathy toward sharks has grown, and the recognition process has come upon the general public that these are magnificent animals. They hold a very special place in the sea as apex predators at the top of the food chain, and they're deserving of our concern."

With World Ocean Day just around the corner, this is very good news indeed.

(Photo of Bucky Dennis' record hammerhead catch via St. Petersburg Times, courtesy Judy Deibler.)

Surfing Sea Turtles

With grateful thanks to Wallace J. Nichols of LIVBLUE, enjoy this wonderful video of sea turtles "surfing" over the reefs. I wish I were one of the folks snorkeling with them!

Turtle Power

Two bits of good news for some of our favorite ocean creatures today.

 

We cheered with turtle supporters in the Gulf of Mexico at the news that longline fishing would be restricted there for at least six months. Longline fishing often results in bycatch – miles of baited hooks drifting in the open ocean catch more than just the fish they are targeting. Many loggerhead turtles which are protected under the Endangered Species Act have been caught in gulf waters in these longlines. Close to 1,000 turtles were hooked in 18 months, 799 were identified as loggerheads and more than 300 of the turtles were dead.

The decision was announced Thursday by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and was intended to give the Council and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service time to formulate a long-term plan for the threatened loggerheads. It’s great news for the turtles and for the coalition of environmental group that spoke out on their behalf.

 

Leatherback turtles also gained allies this week in Australia, where officials changed the turtles’ classification from “threatened” to “endangered.” It’s unfortunate that these amazing ocean travelers are considered more at risk than ever, but Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett is prepared to complement the “uplisting” with a “revised plan [that] would include more stringent measures” against illegally trapping the turtles – intentionally for their meat and eggs, or mistakenly in fishing gear. Leatherbacks make epic migrations – travelling across oceans from nesting sites to feeding and breeding waters.

 

If you love turtles but love to eat seafood too, you can make turtle-friendly choices at restaurants or fish counters by using the newly updated Seafood Watch pocket guides.

Urban Turtles

Wrap your head around this news: There's a colony of green sea turtles living in an urbanized river in Los Angeles County, basking in the warm water from a power plant discharge line.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and that's certainly the case with the San Gabriel River sea turtles, documented by the Los Angeles Times and, in the case of one injured turtle, rescued and rehabilitated by our colleagues at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

Turns out that southern California waters are well within the range of green sea turtles. In fact, they occasionally make forays as far north as Monterey Bay, which is why you'll find sea turtles in the Outer Bay exhibit here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Not now though; they're off exhibit until we complete repairs to the exhibit.)

But upstream from Long Beach? As one blogger noted, "I would have sooner believed that there were alligators living in LA's sewers."

Check it out, and wish them well. And if you want to help out sea turtles and their kin, join our Ocean Action Team to take part in activities supporting marine protected areas that preserve sea turtle habitat in California, or to weigh in on legislation that will safeguard sea turtles from threats ranging from destructive fishing practices to plastic pollution.

Monday's Inspirational Photo - Leatherbacks are back!

Monterey Bay is a hotspot for all kinds of marine wildlife. But there is one special visitor that biologists are always thrilled to see, and that's the highly endangered Pacific leatherback. Over the last couple of years, sightings of this giant sea turtle have been rare, but this year, scientists are pleased to report that they are seeing them again in larger numbers in our waters, during the annual bloom of jellyfish, the only item generally found on the menu for the largest of our sea turtles.

The leatherbacks that visit Monterey make an epic migration from Indonesia to snack on jellies, especially sea nettles, which are high in protein, and apparently worth a 10 month round trip!

The animals like the one shown above, are often fitted with a backpack radio transmitter, which helps the scientists understand more about migrations, and the depths to which the turtles dive for food, and how often. They are also working on a critter cam to attach to leatherbacks, that could show us more about their feeding strategies, which have never been documented.

The Pacific leatherback turtle is seriously impacted by disturbance to nesting beaches, poaching of eggs, and fishing. Longline boats fishing for tuna and swordfish trail up to thirty miles of line with thousands hooks behind their boat. A passing turtle can be easily snagged.

You can help this endangered species by ensuring that your next seafood meal is turtle friendly. Look for tuna and swordfish caught in the U.S. and by non-longline methods. Download a pocket guide at www.seafoodwatch.org.

Monday's Inspirational Photo: Hawksbill

For the second year, Monterey Bay Aquarium invited folks to celebrate World Ocean Day by submitting their best, most beautiful and most inspirational ocean photos to our annual Ocean Action Team photo contest.

We received more than 200 incredible entries and had a hard time selecting just three to recognize. Our 2008 winner is Becky Kelly, for her photo, "Hawksbill in Cozumel, Mexico 2008".

Hawksbills, like most sea turtles, are critically endangered and are on the IUCN red list as a protected species. The beauty that Becky captured in her photograph documents just one reason why our world is richer for their continued existence.

Congratulations to Becky and all the other entrants. Please: keep enjoying the ocean, and taking great photos. We'll be seeking new submissions for the contest in 2009.