Sea Notes

Another Day at the Office: An Aquarium Employee Goes on a Mission to Tag White Sharks

By Chuck Saltsman, Senior Producer, Interpretive Media at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Photos ©Monterey Bay Aquarium, photographed by Tyson Rininger

 Ten yards in front of me, a 14-foot great white shark churns the water into a pink foam as it chews basketball-size chunks of elephant seal from a fresh kill. The sheer violence of the attack is breathtaking. The tail thrashes the ocean for purchase, levering the head back and forth in a whipsaw motion. The serrated teeth carve out another 20 pounds of seal meat. It's two in the afternoon and I'm having a great day at the office, better than most. Better than that seal to be sure.

I'm here filming the research the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University are doing with white sharks. The day started at 6 a.m. and after a three-hour boat ride I was holding a 25-pound camera on a raised platform in a small skiff that rolls and bobs in a heavy swell. We're about a hundred yards offshore of the Farallon Islands, 25 miles west of San Francisco, California. In the rear of the boat are Sal Jorgensen and Scot Anderson, two scientists who spend a month here each year luring great white sharks close enough to touch, and hopefully attach a scientific tag to. The sharks are longer than the skiff and weigh a ton or more. 

Shark tagging in Northern California typically takes place in October and November, a collaboration between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, next door to the Aquarium. Tagging focuses on three areas: the Farrallon Islands, Point Reyes and Ano Nuevo.

The objective is to learn more about the size of the white shark population in Northern California and its condition. A recent estimate put the number of white sharks in the area at less than 250. “The goal is to really understand how many there are, and whether that population is rising or falling,” says Randy Kochevar, Science Communications Officer at Hopkins Marine Station.”We have spectacular apex predators right here off our shores. But with such a small number, it doesn’t take a large perturbation in the environment to have a significant impact.” 

Life Aboard the “Dinner Plate”

Yesterday was a complete bust, and today has been slow. Sal and Scot dictate a research paper to each other and I watch the ocean, trying to stay balanced on the rocking skiff. My attention is focused about 30 feet out on the water where a grey piece of carpet resembling a seal silhouette floats. Today's faux seal is named "Scampi", maybe in hopes that a tasty name will prove inspirational. The idea is that a great white will see it floating on the surface, mistake it for a real seal and strike. If that happens the shark is lured back to the boat and  into tagging range without ever letting it bite the decoy. If it bites the decoy, the game is over since the shark will know it's been duped.

Every few minutes what I've come to think of as "the shark detector" beeps a number at us. It's detecting the electronic tags that we've attached to them. Every tagged shark transmits a different number. And there are plenty of sharks without tags as well. We are literally afloat in shark-infested waters. Great white sharks migrate around and at this time of year, our scientists estimate there might be up to a hundred sharks within a few miles of us. Which ought to be worrisome while drifting around in a tiny boat referred to as "The Dinner Plate" but that's not what worries me. What worries me is screwing up at the critical moment. 

With no warning, a huge dorsal fin and tail fin roll over on the decoy and it's a scramble on the skiff since we are surprised by the sudden activity. Scot starts furiously reeling in the decoy, Sal makes ready with the tag and I try and keep track of it all while framing up shots. The shark dives under the boat. It is huge, with a head the size of a beer keg. We lose sight of it for moment, then it surfaces at the rear. Sal lunges with the tag, the shark thrashes the water with a three-foot tail and it's gone. High fives all around.  It would be the only shark we tag on this mission, but still a success.

Natural Predation

Scot yells something about a predation. I ask what's going on. He says, "Put the camera away, I just saw a natural predation and we're heading over there." Natural predation? Ah, a shark attacked a seal. I stuff the camera back in the bag and Scot jams the throttle forward toward whitewater and circling gulls. As we approach, I grab the camera and Scott directs me to line it up with the largest piece of floating seal. I hit the record button and listen to Scot count down 3-2-1. He's been at this long enough to know that the shark is circling under the elephant seal, rising toward it. Action! The camera is steady and rolling as the shark lunges out of the water with the seal in its mouth. 

I'm lucky to be here to see it and to share it with others. 

Julie Packard: The Wonder of the Oceans

Executive Director Julie Packard's latest ocean commentary is now available on HuffingtonPost.com. In it she writes about the inspiration she draws from marine life, and the amazing things we're learning every day about ocean plants, animals and ecosystems.

"Years ago," she writes, "Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich observed that, 'There's a lifetime of entertainment in your own backyard, if you just take the time to look.'

"The ocean is the biggest backyard we have, and a close look at the life it contains will leave you wide-eyed in amazement.

"I'm a marine biologist, and surrounded by ocean life every day on Monterey Bay. Even so, I take time each day to appreciate the incredible creatures with which we share this planet."

You can read the rest of her thoughts here. Enjoy!

 

Top 5 Intriguing Ocean News Items

Lots of lively news about the oceans and ocean life this week. Here's our Top 5 -- distressing, amusing and amazing:

1. The Perils of Prozac: British researchers at the University of Portsmouth believe shrimp are becoming more vulnerable to predators because their brain chemistry is being altered by rising levels of the anti-depressant Prozac that's flowing to the ocean through sewage treatment plants. Their findings were published in the journal Aquatic Toxicology.
2. Eat Thine Enemy: There's a big problem with invasive lionfish in the Caribbean, which threaten the survival of coral reefs. Now there's a solution, according to the Washington Post. Serve them up for supper! The invaders are being rounded up in "lionfish rodeos" and landing on menus. Bon appétit!
3. Offshore Oil Drilling, The Game: In the age of the internet, nothing ever disappears for good. That includes a 1970's-era board game, Offshore Oil Strike -- complete with British Petroleum logo, that turned up in a British toy museum. Highlights: A "hazard card" that cautions, "Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1 million." Yeah, right. (Thanks to ProPublica for this.)
4. Talk to the Fishes: A New Zealand researcher has found evidence that fish can talk with one another, using grunts, chirps and pops among their communication tools. They may do so to attract mates, scare off predators or orient themselves in the ocean, according to newspaper reports shared by Discovery News.
5. The Mating of the Squid: New insights into the mating habits of giant deep-sea squid, Onykia ingens, courtesy of a BBC report of the discovery of what it terms "a super squid sex organ." The heroically tumescent squid was collected off Patagonia and helps unravel the mystery of how deep -water cephalopods impregnate their mates. Details are published in the Journal of Molluscan Studies.

Amazing, Amazing Oceans

"There's a lifetime of entertainment in your own back yard, if you just take the time to look." -- Paul Ehrlich

Our ocean planet is alive with marvels, hidden below the surface, waiting for us to discover, experience and enjoy. It's something well worth remembering, and celebrating, this Earth Day.

Sea Notes was created to help inspire conservation of the oceans, in the same way that the living exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium connect people with marine life in ways we hope will inspire them to preserve healthy oceans for future generations.

We've shared some great stories in the blog over the past three-plus years, many describing people's interactions with sea life: An underwater photographer's life-changing encounter with an Antarctic leopard seal; a gentoo penguin's miracle escape from a pod of pursuing orcas (captured on video, no less!); the diver who decided the 11-pound lobster he caught for dinner deserved a better fate; or the aquarium staff members who were, quite literally, "star struck" one day.

In honor of the 40th Earth Day, add these to the list:

-- A 68-year-old surfer in Hawaii, who took a 10-second ride on the back of a tiger shark after it bit his board and flipped him into the water...and then calmly swam back over to his board and kept surfing after the shark swam off.

-- A fearless octopus in New Zealand, so enamored of a diver's video camera, that it snatched it and swam off, with the camera still filming. You won't believe how the diver retrieved the camera. (The soundtrack's great, too.)

Do you have your own favorite stories, videos and photos of our amazing ocean planet? We'd love to hear about them. And Happy Earth Day to all!

Fish with Six-Pack Abs, Black Penguin & Other Oddities

Who says there's nothing new under the sun? It's certainly not true under the surface of the water. Case in point these items, from the sublime to the absurd to the just-plain silly:

-- University of Rhode Island researchers have created a genetically engineered farmed trout with a body that looks more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than Uma Thurman. With six-pack abs and a muscular hump, it's supposed to help aquaculture producers, since these meatier fish convert food into muscle more efficiently. Sort of like the super-salmon that other researchers are engineering. On looks alone, my reaction: Eeewwww!

-- On South Georgia Island near Antarctica, Andrew Evans reported for National Geographic Traveler that he encountered an all-black king penguin. And he has the pictures to prove it! It's a rare, but not unique, case of an animal producing excess melanin that colors its skin -- or in this case, feathers -- dark black.

-- Finally, if you've always thought that pet goldfish were bubbleheads without a dime's worth of intelligence -- think again! They're quite adept at learning complex behaviors, up to and including synchronized swimming.

Deep Blue Singers, Demon Macaws & More

Sometimes there are just too many interesting things going on in the ocean at the same time. Here's a roundup of a few of the best items that caught my eye in the last few days. If you want quicker updates, in 140-character bites, you'll find me on Twitter(@aquaken). The aquarium tweets @MontereyAq, and if you're a fan of sustainable seafood, try following @SeafoodWatch.

-- Singing Blues: California researchers have noted that blue whales are singing their songs at a lower octave than they did in the 1960s, and they speculate their voices may have dropped because they're feeling more comfortable now that they're not being hunted by whalers. The Los Angeles Times blogs about it nicely.

-- Demon Macaws in Klingon Cloaks: For sheer elegance in a turn of phrase, check out this item from the Deep Sea News blog about Humboldt squid proliferating along the California coast.

-- 'Magical' Marine Megabacteria?: Off the coast of Chile, scientists are studying marine megabacteria that may become a source of hydrogen for clean-energy vehicles, or even to kill cancer cells in the blood.

-- Oscar Nominee: Finally, The Cove -- the film that brought to light the horrors of a Japanese drive fishery that slaughters dolphins in secrecy -- was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature.

The DNA Brotherhood of Dolphins & Bats

Dolphins can't fly, and bat don't swim. But, scientists say, they both rely on the same genetic and molecular changes for their ability to use a natural sonar to find their prey. More remarkably, through evolution, these unrelated groups of animals independently acquired their similar talent at echolocation.

"That was shocking," said University of Michigan scientist Jianzhi (George) Zhang, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and co-author of the paper in Current Biology about the phenomenon.

The CBC reports that researchers in China, the United States and the United Kingdom focused on the DNA code for the protein prestin, which occurs in a number of species -- including 10 species of echolocating bats and the bottlenose dolphin.

The dolphin, at the DNA level, clustered more closely with the bats than with its rightful evolutionary cousins.

In the future, the scientists hope to sequence the DNA code for prestin and learn what changes at the amino acid level are critical for the development of echolocation.

Not So Pelican Brief

Great news to report today. The brown pelican has been officially declared recovered and removed from the Endangered Species list! If you live along the California Coast, you will know this to be true. Large squadrons of the amazing, yet somewhat prehistoric-looking pterodactyl can be seen skimming the waves today. Even just 10 years ago, this was not true.

Brown pelicans, along with other iconic birds such as the Peregrine falcon fell victim to the effects of DDT in the environment. The clarion call was sounded in Rachel Carson's famous 1962 book, "Silent Spring" warning of the impacts of pesticides on the nation's songbird populations. But it was over 10 years before DDT was finally banned in the U.S.

DDT's impact on pelicans (and others) was to alter the way they metabolized calcium, the essential ingredient for a healthy egg shell. As a result, pelicans laid eggs with fragile shells that easily broke during the incubation period. As a result, very few chicks were born and the populations started to plummet (pun not intended).

Despite the U.S. ban, DDT persisted in the environment for many years, and its impacts are still felt today in some wildlife populations. However, for birds like the pelican, whose future looked very uncertain, this particular bullet has been dodged.

Always good to have a reason to celebrate, and recognize that when our species steps up to the plate and does the right thing, our wildlife can recover.

Lonesome George to be Less Lonely?

So, strictly not a marine life story, but Lonesome George, the last remaining true giant Galapagos tortoise, is a legend in his own lifetime. Quite a long lifetime, as it happens - as he turned 90 this year.

Scientists are now excited to find that after 36 years as a single bachelor, George appears to have found his happy ending and a new lease on life when he mated with one of the two females they found for him.Five apparently healthy eggs have been found in his pen.  Fingers will be crossed for the next 120 days to see if they prove fertile.

Go George, go!

Monday's Inspirational Photo - A story of survival

This weekend, I took my first trip along the Big Sur coastline, since the devastating fires passed through that we reported on over a month ago. I was eager for a glimpse of one of the fire's surprising lessons; that the population of California condors living in our area had "gone native" and found their own food supply in troubled times.

Biologists from Ventana Wildlife Society, the local organization responsible for the introduction of condors back to their former home, were delighted when access to the region was once again open, and they were able to account for almost all the birds. In fact, one that had been "missing" until only this past Friday, hopped right onto the cliff in front of me, as I watched number 35 above, all within sight of the fire's lightening-triggered starting point.  

With most of the birds accounted for, staffs' attention must turn to the rebuilding of the condor Sanctuary in the Big Sur back country. This facility is critical to the work they do, both to maintain the health of the released birds, but also as a "training area" for young birds before release. The fire swept through the non-profit's facility, totally destroying the large aviary, along with other important structures and equipment. The condors are captured each year at the sanctuary and tested for lead poisoning. Feeding on carcasses of animals shot with lead bullets was one of the main causes for the almost complete extinction of the species. Sadly, this still continues to be an issue and the flock is closely monitored.

Find out more about Ventana Wildlife Society and the incredible work they are doing to bring back this amazing bird at their website and keep your fingers crossed that the condors that are yet to be heard from will show up on the radar soon!