Join me in the cold, dark, life-sustaining NE Pacific Ocean to discover the great beauty, mystery and fragility hidden there.

Posts by The Marine Detective

Super Mom! Up to 300 young under her care.

This is a Brooding Anemone (Epiactis lisbethae to 8 cm across).

She may not have a backbone but she’s a Super Mom!

As many as 300 young can be clustered around her in up to 5 rows, benefitting from the protective canopy of her tentacles which contain stinging cells (nematocysts). The offspring remain here until big enough to stand a good chance of surviving on their own. They then crawl toward independence, claiming their own piece of the ocean bottom.

Brooding anemone 1

I am awestruck by this species’ beauty and reproductive strategy. It is also a reminder of how little we know about marine species that the Brooding Anemone was not recognized as a distinct species until fairly recently (1986), and it still so often gets confused with the Proliferating Anemone (Epiactis prolifera).

I share my marine “detectiving” about this species with you to provide a further example of how extraordinary our marine neighbours are and maybe, thereby, help inspire greater conservation efforts.

But yes, the timing of the blog is no accident. It may be that reflection upon an anemone Super Mom stimulates thought about our human mothers – just in time for Mother’s Day.

So here goes . . . bear with me as I build to clarifying the reproduction of our featured species.

© 2013 Jackie Hildering one time use only-4240156

Anemones have many reproductive strategies.

For many species, reproduction can be asexual as well as sexual with strategies like budding off offspring; splitting into two; or pedal laceration where a torn piece of the bottom of the anemone can grow into another anemone!

Some species are hermaphrodites with highly diverse ways by which offspring develop into adults.

In species that have separate sexes, many are broadcast spawners where Mom and Dad release their eggs and sperm into the ocean around them. Fertilization and development thereby happens in the water column.

Then, for only some 20 species of the world’s more than 800 kinds of anemone, there are those in which the female captures the males’ sex cells as they drift by and draws them into her digestive cavity to fertilize her eggs. She “broods’ her young.

Some such anemone species are internal brooders.  The young develop inside Mom until they hatch and are expelled into the water column as planktonic larvae.

But then there’s Super Mom – the Brooding Anemone (Epiactis lisbethae). She’s an external brooder.

After she has fertilized the eggs inside her digestive cavity with the sperm she has captured, the young develop inside her until they hatch into planktonic larvae. THEN, they swim out of her mouth, settle on her body under the tentacles and grow into little anemones that feed themselves.

When the offspring are big enough to stand a good chance of survival without the protection of Mom’s tentacles, they shuffle away to independence, leaving space for next season’s young.

The brooding anemone’s young are all of the same generation and are therefore all about the same size.

However, there is a second externally brooding anemone species in the eastern North Pacific where you most often see young of different sizes huddled under Mom’s tentacles. This species – the Proliferating Anemone (Epiactis prolifera) is the one that very, very frequently gets confused with the Brooding Anemone.

A

Proliferating anemone.

Proliferating Anemone with young (Epiactis prolifera). Often confused with the Brooding Anemone (Epiactis lisbethae). 

I have strived to clarify the many differences between these two externally brooding anemone species in the table below but to summarize: the Proliferating Anemone is smaller and does not have striping all the way down the column; adults are hermaphrodites; breeding happens year round; there are far fewer young clustered under mom’s tentacles; and they start off there as fertilized eggs, not as free-swimming larva.

The main similarity between these two species is and yes, I am going to use a tongue twister here since I believe it is inevitable when discussing anemones: with anemone mothers like these, baby anemones are protected from their anemone enemies!

Now off you go, share some ocean love with a Super Mom!

There are so many human females out there worthy of awe. Where, were we to consider how many young they have shielded and helped to independence, the number might well be 300 or more!

brooding vs. proliferating table

Click to enlarge. Table summarizing the differences between Brooding and Proliferating Anemones.

Brooding anemone with young (Epiactis lisbethae) - all the same age. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Brooding Anemone with young (Epiactis lisbethae) – all the same age. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

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Next 3 photos show Proliferating Anemone babies under their mother’s tentacles, some shuffling off after 3 to 4 months there. Epiactis prolifera – often confused with the Brooding Anemone.  DSC00272

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DSC00260Sources:

Life is Hard? Wear a Tutu!

hanging tutu

Does this tutu make my bottom look big?! At God’s Pocket Dive Resort on my 50th birthday.

[Warning, this is not a scientific posting but one of those occasional personal musings aimed at self-expression and, hopefully, making you smile.]

Go ahead – mock me!

I now often wear a tutu when I go diving.

It’s a flamboyant, neon green tutu.

Hum, maybe “flamboyant” as an adjective for “tutu” is unnecessary – but I digress.

I first wore my neon green tutu over my dry suit while diving on my 50th birthday.

It delights me that my birthday happens to coincide with Earth Day but oops – again I digress.

Wearing the tutu was to celebrate all that life has brought me, especially how cold water diving in this beautiful, beautiful place has shaped my life.

It clearly also makes a statement about my believing you can never be too green – or too flamboyant!

Of course, I knew I would also be rewarded with looks of disbelief and hilarity from my fellow divers especially when I asked,  “Does this tutu make my bottom look big?”

Sincerely, it also has proven to have value for safety as it makes me much easier to see in a dark underwater world of black neoprene clad divers.

Underwater poser! Photo by Diane Reid.

Underwater poser! Photo by Diane Reid.

But more than that, I wear a tutu because, for all of us, life is sometimes hard.

What the wisdom gained from these 50 years has taught me is that through it all – the sinking to the depths, the surfacing for air, the need for buddies, the loss of buddies, the weight of it all, the being adrift – it is more important than anything else to listen to your inner 8-year-old.

I can hear her now. She’s loud – wanting to know when we are next going diving, loving the wonder and sense of discovery that submerging brings.

She reminds me always of how my actions impact life around me and she voraciously loves to learn.

She’s bossy and wants, as soon as possible, to share what she has learned about living things with others, hoping they’ll care as much as she does.

She knows the importance of frivolity and lightness and to being ever true to what you feel.

She loves wearing tutus and hopes to make people laugh by modelling the joy of being green.

Tutu 1

Life is hard? Wear a tutu! Great thanks to Diane Reid for the photo! Dive buddy Natasha Dickinson attempting to hide in the background.

 

What’s the Bigg’s Deal?!

Dr. Michael Bigg
Super hero – Dr. Michael Bigg. Achieved so much before passing at just age 51 (1939 to 1990). Photo ©Graeme Ellis.

Update March 2026: Population numbers, sources / research.

Update July 2025: Bigg’s Killer Whales now acknowledged as as distinct species (Orcinus orca rectipinnus) as per the Society for Marine Mammology’s List of Marine Mammal Species and Subspecies. 

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Original post:

What’s the Bigg’s Deal?  I’ve been asked this a lot lately: “Why are the mammal-hunting killer whales being referenced as “Bigg’s Killer Whales” rather than as “Transients” as they were previously known?”

This is because a 2010 study found that the mammal-hunting ecotype of Killer Whales / Orca diverged from the other ecotypes some 700,000 years ago and the researchers (Morin et al) put forward that they be recognized as a distinct species.

If they are to be recognized as such, many in whale-research-world believe it is only appropriate that the species be named in honour of the late and great Dr. Michael Bigg whose pioneering Killer Whale ID research in the eastern North Pacific in the 1970s – 1980s revealed that Killer Whales have distinct populations and that there are very limited numbers within these populations.

Ultimately, his research led to the understanding that Killer Whale populations have distinct cultures.

This knowledge of course had huge conservation implications. Before the research by Dr. Michael Bigg that allowed for counting Orca and studying them as individuals, it was believed that there were abundant Killer Whales in the eastern North Pacific and that they all eat salmon in addition to marine mammals; rather than the reality that there are four at-risk populations that are genetically, acoustically, and ecologically distinct:

Bigg’s Killer Whales are marine mammal-hunters (they also eat an occasional bird and, very rarely, a terrestrial mammal). When they are hunting marine mammals, they generally have to be stealthy and unpredictable since their prey can hear them. The population estimate for the “coastal subset” (members of this threatened population that more often feed near the coast of BC) is ~385 individuals (2024). Their behaviour has changed in recent years, as reported by colleague researchers at the Marine Education and Research Society. They are not so “transient” anymore. In some areas they are more commonly sighted than “Residents” and appear to be travelling, socializing and hunting in bigger groups. They also appear to be more vocal, especially after a kill.  This is believed to be due to changes in the location and density of their prey. More seals and sea lions means that they do not have to be as stealthy (65% of the diet of Bigg’s who feed along BC’s coast is seals and sea lions). Status report and further information at this link. Note that there are no documented incidents of Bigg’s Killer Whales in the wild ever injuring a human.

“Residents” are inshore fish-eating Killer Whales (ingesting an occasional squid too) and there are two distinct populations. The vast majority of their fish diet is salmon and of the salmon species, their absolute most important to them is Chinook. (Their diet is also known to include lingcod, halibut, herring, squid, rockfish, flounder, sable fish). Because salmon is so predictable (salmon return to the river of their birth to spawn and die) and because fish have very bad hearing, these populations of Killer Whales can afford to be highly vocal and use echolocation a lot. 

The Northern “Residents” are a threatened population of some 340 to 348 whales (2024) more often found in northern British Columbia but also in southeastern Alaska and Washington State. Status report and further information here. For the story of one N. Resident Killer Whale family (the A23s) and what their story reveals about us, click here.

The Southern “Residents” are most often swimming around southern British Columbia and Washington State but are sometimes also in the waters of northern British Columbia, Oregon and California. At only ~74 individuals (2025), this population is recognized as being endangered. Status report and further information here.

Offshore Killer Whales are fish-eaters often found along the continental shelf from the Aleutian Islands to California. Their diet is known to include sharks. Research from Wright et al., 2025 has the following information about their diet: based on 84 predation events (genetic, drone, photo, and observational): Pacific sleeper shark (45.2%), blue shark (17.9%), Pacific spiny dogfish (16.7%), salmon shark (6.0%), Pacific electric ray (2.4%). Also, Pacific halibut, Chinook salmon, albacore tuna, opah, and broadnose sevengill sharkThe population estimate is 300 individuals (2013) and this too is a threatened population. Status report and further information here.

Through the research of Dr. Bigg, the Killer Whales of British Columbia have been studied as individuals longer than any other marine mammal species on the planet – and not only marine species have benefited from this. We all have.

Due to his work, whereby the age, gender, diet and range is known for almost every Killer Whale in British Columbia, these whales “tell the story” of global chemical pollution. The work of Dr. Peter Ross examines the toxins in the blubber and indeed the Killer Whales of BC are the “canaries in the coal mine” informing the science that should shape international policies and regulations regarding toxins.

The ultimate Bigg’s Deal is that one person can make a profound positive difference – replacing knowledge where fear and misunderstanding once dwelled.

However, to work against government forces that imperil our environment and suppress science in favour of short-term economic gain, it is going to take a very great many of us to make our voices and actions . . . Bigg-er.

What's the Bigg's Deal.001.001
From my original 2013 post.

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Sources:

Gold Dirona and Alabaster Nudibranch Egg Masses

Updated with photos: 2025-12-18
An egg hunt mystery FINALLY came to an end for me, coincidentally, just before Easter when many of you were involved in egg hunts too.

I dare say however that my hunt involved vastly more beautiful eggs; that the hunt was much more challenging and –  ultimately, much more rewarding!

One of my very, very favourite things to do, satisfying my “The Marine Detective” nature, is to solve the ultimate “whodunit” and match sea slug species with their egg masses / ribbons.

Every sea slug species’ egg mass is distinct, comprising a fascinating diversity of intoxicatingly beautiful shapes and patterns.

It delights me (for reasons I can’t fully explain) that for many sea slugs in the northeast Pacific Ocean, I am able to see an egg mass and immediately know which species laid it.

There are big clues because sea slugs most often lay eggs on their food. So if I know their prey preference I can narrow down which  species laid the eggs.

Easiest of course is to have have the good fortune to find a sea slug in the act of laying their eggs.

But for YEARS, I have been unable to differentiate the egg masses of two of the most beautiful sea slug species in these waters – the Gold Dirona (Dirona pellucida to 12 cm) and the Alabaster Nudibranch (Dirona albolineata to 18 cm and also referenced as the “White-Lined Dirona” or “Frosted Nudibranch”).

You’ll note that they are very closely related (same genus) and it is thereby not surprising that their egg masses would look very similar. Both also often lay their eggs on the same species of Agarum kelp. In all these years, while I have often found both species mating, I have never found either species laying their eggs.

But then, this week . . . just when I was noting the abundance of both species, how many egg masses there were and wishing, WISHING, I could find just one of them laying eggs – my dear dive buddy Jacqui Engel waved me over and pointed out a Gold Dirona laying eggs.

Gold dirona laying eggs.

I was so jubilant, I screamed underwater. Yes, I am The Marine Detective for a reason, such things really do delight me to this degree.

Finally!  Mystery solved, I would be able to differentiate the egg masses of the two species.

But then, Nature was even kinder to me.

On the very same day on the very same dive, after so many years, I also stumbled across an Alabaster Nudibranch laying eggs!

Alabaster nudibranch laying eggs.

Disbelief! Joy! Manic photo-taking!

I think you may marvel at how very similar the masses are but the difference, at least to me is clear.

The “pieces” of the Gold Dirona’s egg mass are more compact and more like rice kernels.

Gold dirona laying eggs.

The segments of the Alabaster Nudibranch’s egg masses are more scallop-edged and diffuse.

Please know that these differences would not be as clear if the eggs were older.

It’s estimated that there are ~350,000 eggs in one Alabaster Nudibranch egg mass. Source: WallaWallaEd. I do not know if this is the number of egg capsules (the dots you see), or if it includes the number of eggs in each egg capsule.

Sea slugs are reciprocal hermaphrodites which means that both become inseminated and lay eggs. One individual lays more than one egg mass as well. So many eggs are needed to ensure species survival when your young hatch out to become part of the planktonic soup of the Ocean.

Alabaster nudibranch laying eggs.

If you have read to this point – thank you!

Likely we are kindred in our love of marine biodiversity and the beauty that is sea slugs.

For as much as I love chocolate Easter eggs, I would forego them for the rest of my existence if it would allow my appetite for marine mysteries to be further satisfied!

Gold Dironas mating. ©Jackie Hildering.
Alabaster Nudibranchs mating ©Jackie Hildering.
Gold Dirona with Alabaster Nudibranch below on a frayed rope. ©Jackie Hildering.
Alabaster Nudibranch left and Gold Dirona right. But see photos below. Alabaster Nudibranchs are not always fully white and this can lead to ID confusion. ©Jackie Hildering.

Colour variation in Alabaster Nudibranchs

Alabaster Nudibranch – colour varies to include orange, yellow, and pink hues. ©Jackie Hildering.
Also an Alabaster Nudibranch. ©Jackie Hildering.
This photo and the next. Alabaster Nudibranchs moving into mating position right-side to right-side. ©Jackie Hildering.

Mistaken identity?
Gold Dirona above and Alabaster Nudibranch below. Discussion about this interaction on the Sea Slug Forum at this link.

Oh Deer! A rare meal for mammal-hunting killer whales?

This is not a tall tale. If anything it is a short tail as in – deer tail.

First an orientation on Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) diet and how prey specialization has shaped distinct cultures over great expanses of time.

There are different “ecotypes” of Killer Whales that do not mate with one another because what works, for example, to chase salmon does not work to stalk seals. They have distinct cultures and distinct languages. [Click here for detail on the different ecotypes of Killer Whales off British Columbia, Canada.]

The fish-eating Killer Whale ecotypes in the NE Pacific Ocean (Northern and Southern “Residents” and “Offshores”) can afford to be extremely vocal because fish species often have poor hearing.

However, the mammal-hunting ecotype (“Bigg’s Killer Whales“, previously know as “Transients”) must generally live a life of stealth and unpredictability in order to successfully hunt their prey. To be vocal or be really surface active, when they are hungry, would have a high cost. It would be like ringing a dinner bell announcing “Hello, we’re here to eat you!”

In fact, recent research supports that the NE Pacific mammal-hunters diverged from the other ecotypes of Killer Whales some 700,000 years ago and puts forward that they should be recognized as a distinct species (Morin et al 2010).

Research of Dr. John Ford and Graeme Ellis on the diet of mammal-hunting killer whales in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Source: Presentation "The Complicated Predator" by Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard; October 2005.

Research of Dr. John Ford & Graeme Ellis on the diet of mammal-hunting Killer Whales in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Source: Presentation “The Complicated Predator” ; Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard; October 2005.

Pacific Harbour Seals are predictable in where they haul out and they do not have defences like speed and sharp teeth. Therefore, it is not surprising that off the coast of British Columbia, Pacific Harbour Seals are documented to be the prey item of choice for the mammal-hunting Killer Whales (see graph above).

Far less commonly, these Killer Whales have also been documented to feed on River Otters, Northern Elephant Seals, Sea Otters and – VERY, VERY occasionally – a terrestrial mammal like deer.

Please see below for images of a deer carcass found underwater by fellow divers Gary Marcuse, Rob Roy and Mike Juren in May of 2012. There is no way of  knowing with certainty if that this deer was attacked by Killer Whales but it is plausible. Deer swim from island to island and are even more defenceless than a seal if they have the bad luck that stealthy mammal-eating Killer Whales find them.

Deer-Underwater

Killer Whales are big dolphins – smart and social and even though they tend to be very conservative, doing what has worked for their kind for 100,000s of years, they also play – learning from interacting with their environment. I have reflected on this previously in my blog where I observed them mouthing and hitting diving birds. (Read “Fins vs. Feathers” by clicking here).

Deer could never make up a significant part of the diet of Bigg’s Killer Whales but they would learn from such an attack. If this deer did indeed meet its end in the mouth of a mammal-hunting Killer Whale, I would not be surprised if it was a juvenile mammal-hunting Killer Whale who undertook the “interaction”.

To share the expertise of Killer Whale researchers supreme, Dr. John Ford ad Graeme Ellis, from their 1999 publication “Transients -Mammal-Hunting Killer Whales” (and note that an attack on a moose has only ever been documented ONCE):  

“Although the primary prey of transient [now Bigg’s] killer whales are marine mammals, the whales’ interest extends to other warm-blooded animals, including marine birds .  . . and even terrestrial mammals. Our first record of land mammal predation dates from June 1961, when Canadian fishery officers observed killer whales feeding on a deer carcass in Jackson Pass on the central coast of British Columbia. Deer frequently swim from island to island along the inside passages, and it is probable that this one fell victim to a foraging group of transients. More recently, off the east coast of Vancouver Island, several killer whales were observed circling a small rock on which two deer had taken refuge. On another occasion, a lighthouse keeper assisted an exhausted deer out of the water as it was being pursued by killer whales. In these case, there has been no photographic confirmation that transients were involved, but it seems almost certainly the case.

Other land mammals are also of interest . .  on occasion . . . a killer whale was observed to surge part way onto shore in an apparent attempt to attack a dog that was barking loudly at the passing group.  . . .

One of the most surprising attacks on a terrestrial mammal took place in 1993 in Icy Strait, south-eastern Alaska. Two fishermen observed a group of three or four killer whales attack and kill one of a pair of moose that were swimming across the channel. The other moose managed to escape the attack but later became entangled in a kelp bed and drowned.”

So am I worried, as a very avid and very mammalian scuba diver, that I have the same chances of being attacked as a deer swimming between islands? Absolutely not. There has never been a case of Killer Whales in the wild killing a human.

To again relate John Ford and Graeme Ellis’ expertise:

“Divers in this region typically wear thick suits made of neoprene rubber, which contains acoustically reflective nitrogen bubbles. Thus, if a transient [Bigg’s killer whale] tries to inspect a diver with echolocation, its unlikely to get a typical mammalian echo. Although scuba divers may not appear appetizing to [them], this may not be the case for swimmers, so it is advisable to leave the water should transients [Bigg’s] appear in the vicinity.” 

I also love the perspective of a fellow diver and friend, Peter Mieras, who states that Killer Whales “are too smart to go after junk food in wrappers.”

Oh deer!

 

Sources:

Wolf-Eel – No Ugly Fish!

Don’t say it, please don’t say it. This is not an ugly fish. It hurts when people say this about Wolf-Eels. Such is the way when there is misunderstanding and disrespect for something you love. There is no ugly in Nature – only perfection. If the features of an animal appear foreign to you, it is because it fulfils a role in Nature that is truly awe-inspiring; possibly even beyond your imaginings.

Mr. and Mrs. Wolf Eel on February 16, 2013 near Port Hardy. © 2013 Jackie Hildering

Mr. and Mrs. Wolf-Eel near Port Hardy ©Jackie Hildering.

I hope to make this point by sharing with you why the Wolf-Eel  is “designed” as it is and how very wrong many of us are in our perceptions about this species. The Wolf-Eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus), which can be as long as 2.4 m, is not an eel. Wolf-Eels belong in the Wolf Fish family (Anarhichadidae). They are desperately misunderstood. Wolf-Eels are not dangerous nor “mean”. The opposite is true. They are reclusive, anything but ferocious, quite sedentary and slow moving.

Mature male wolf-eel - about 2.2 m long. © 2008 Jackie Hildering

Mature male Wolf-Eel, about 2 m long. Can be 2.4 m ©Jackie Hildering.

Yes, they have large, fleshy, ossified heads and the species has sharp teeth but this is so they can do what so few marine species can – they can feed on spiny sea urchins, snapping them effortlessly into pieces without suffering a single puncture. They also feed on other hard-shelled animals like shellfish and crabs. Even the roofs of Wolf-Eels’ mouths are impenetrable with ossified, tooth-like projections (see photo below).

Each wolf-eel has distinct spots around their eyes which helps recognize them as individuals. © 2012 Jackie Hildering

Mature males are bigger and have fleshier heads. Each Wolf-Eel has distinct spots around their eyes which helps recognize them as individuals ©Jackie Hildering.

The upper jaw of a wolf-eel. Impenetrable to even urchin spines! © 2005 Jackie Hildering

The upper jaw of a Wolf-Eel. Impenetrable to even urchin spines! ©Jackie Hildering.

To my knowledge there has never been an attack on a diver UNLESS, and here comes the predictable thing, we choose to habituate them. Wolf-Eels spend a great deal of time on the ocean bottom in dens where, as divers, we have the enormous privilege of  “visiting” the same spot and seeing the same individuals for years. It is not just their address that makes them recognizable as individuals. Each Wolf-Eel has a unique pattern of black spots near their eyes.

Grandpa Wolf-Eel on February 16, 2013 near Port Hardy. © 2013 Jackie Hildering

Grandpa Wolf Eel near Port Hardy ©Jackie Hildering.

Some divers choose to feed them, leading to the Wolf-Eels associating us with food and that’s where accidents can happen and where the wild behaviour that lets animals survive, becomes compromised. It also makes them tragically easy targets for any spear diver wanting to poach them. There is no legal fishery for this species but there is a demand for them in the Asian market which is why there are also attempts to farm Wolf-Eels i.e. aquaculture. Not surprisingly, Wolf-Eels might also be defensive when accidentally caught by anglers. I found one account from 1959 where a commercial fisherman was bitten and “The teeth penetrated the hip-waders and broke the skin on both sides of the ankle.”

Mature male bearing the scars of battle. © 2011 Gord Jenkins.

Mature male bearing the scars of battle ©2011 Gord Jenkins.

The mature males do carry battle wounds supporting that they don’t just hang out in dens waiting for a snack to come by, but rather that they will occasionally duke it out with other male Wolf-Eels.It was long thought that Wolf-Eels always mate for life but, this is not always the case. The males do compete for females who will sometimes opt to swap dens and go live with the competitor. Sound like any other species you know? Wonder if it happens at mid-life? 😉

Wolf-Eels have long-lasting pair bonds, coming together when they are around 4-years-old and having their first clutch when they are around 7. In aquariums, their life expectancy is known to be at least 28 years. Both male and female juveniles are brownish orange and look even more eel-like, lacking the big head of the adults. As adults, the females are smaller and a darker brownish grey (both remarkably camouflaged for when they are in their rocky dens).

They do also sometimes need to do battle for den space with a Giant Pacific Octopus.  This is likely another driver for the male’s having such fleshy heads – they are better able to survive the wounds inflicted by such battles.

Clearly, another unique feature about this species is their eel-like body. They are the only member of their family that have this body shape. The long tail serves in locomotion, powering them forward with big, slow, s-shaped waves while being stabilized with the long dorsal and pectoral fins (see video below). Having a long tail also allows them to den-up, curling up and around in narrow spaces between rocks and . . . wait for it . . . it lets them hold onto their eggs.

Mr and Mrs Wolf-Eel tending their egg mass © 2005 Jackie Hildering-

Mated pair tending their egg mass. Note how much darker and smaller the female is ©Jackie Hildering.

Female Wolf Eel guarding eggs. March 2016 @Jackie Hildering.

Female Wolf-Eel guarding eggs. ©Jackie Hildering.

Mating apparently most often occurs between October and December, with the female releasing eggs after the male prods against her swollen abdomen. He then wraps around her to fertilize the 7,000 to 10,000 white to yellow eggs that she will mould into a ball shape. This mass does not need to adhere to anything because the parents will take turns wrapping their tails around the mass, holding and turning it for good aeration until the +/- 3.5 cm young hatch some 13 to 16 weeks after fertilization.

Juvenile wolf eel. © 2010 Jackie Hildering-

Juvenile Wolf Eel ©Jackie Hildering.

The juveniles settle into the adult sedentary lifestyle between the ages of 6 months and 2 years (presumably dependent on food supply and den availability). One juvenile is even known to have travelled a minimum of 1,000 km; having been tagged in Port Hardy, BC and found back in Willapa Bay, Washington two years later. It was long thought that Wolf-Eels always mate for life but, this is not always the case. The males do compete for females who will sometimes opt to swap dens and go live with the competitor. Sound like any other species you know? Wonder if it happens at mid-life?

The Wolf-Eel is indeed akin to us in so many ways. It is a homebody that likes crunchy snacks and prefers that they come right by the front door; they are great parents and are docile unless fighting for home or partner. They invest in durable relationships and – they are only as strange looking as we terrestrial bipeds would appear to them.

And if all of that is not enough for you, see the photo below for the indisputable reasoning for by Wolf-Eels are NOT ugly fish!

Statler the Muppet is cute and loveable. Ergo - so are wolf-eels. Case closed!!

Statler the Muppet is cute and loveable. Ergo – so are Wolf-Eels. Case closed!!

 

Range: Sub-tidal to 226 m; Baja California (Mexico) to the Aleutian Islands (Alaska); west to Russia and south to the Sea of Japan.

Mr. and Mrs. Wolf Eel on February 16, 2013 near Port Hardy. © 2013 Jackie Hildering

Mated pair near Port Hardy ©Jackie Hildering.

Me and a mature male wolf eel.

Me and a mature male Wolf-Eel ©2012 Norris Colby.

Mature male wolf-eel. © 2007 Jackie Hildering

Mature male Wolf-Eel ©Jackie Hildering.

Mature male wolf-eel. © 2007 Jackie Hildering

Mature male Wolf-Eel ©Jackie Hildering

For these and more images of the Wolf-Eel, please see my gallery at this link. 

Remarkable video of a mature male Wolf-Eel eating a Giant Pacific Octopus by Andrew Eve.

Sources:

Every Breath You Take . . . .

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Er – sorry about that. Thanks to the blog title, you likely now have The Police’s stalker-ish lyrics playing annoyingly in your head.

Let me take the Sting out of that for you.

The only lines of the song that apply to this blog item are: “Every breath you take” and “Every move you make” because  . . . this blog is about marine algae.

giant kelp DSC06372

Fronds of kelp ©Jackie Hildering

Yes, that’s right – marine algae; the plant-like material of our oceans that ranges in size from the phytoplankton that give the NE Pacific Ocean its emerald colour and soupy richness, to the giant kelp species that provide habitat as ocean forests.

Breathe in.  A conservative 50% of the life-sustaining oxygen in that breath came from marine algae.

These organisms are also attempting to scrub away the devastating impacts of our fossil fuel addiction, photosynthesizing carbon dioxide into oxygen and serving as carbon sinks.

Bull Kelp Forest

One of the images that started it all. ©Jackie Hildering

Life on earth simply could not survive without marine algae and this conclusion is valid even without considering their role as the basis of ocean food webs (and recognize that an estimated 50% of all species on earth are marine).

Why then, while we seem to have some understanding of how dependent we are on the terrestrial plants living up here with us, do so many of us appear to be ignorant of the vital importance of the marine algae that inhabit 71% of the earth’s surface?

Bull kelp forest in current © Jackie Hildering

Bull kelp forest in current ©Jackie Hildering

Why are we seemingly not as driven to save marine algae from the impacts of pollution as we are to stop deforestation? Is it that damn illusion that land is separate from sea?

Or, somewhere deep within or briny beings, do we feel a connection?

I have experience that suggests this might be the case.

It’s an accidental discovery . . . I never really planned to become an underwater photographer. Having the great privilege of living in this beautiful place, initially I focused largely (quite literally) on photographing big marine mammals. I was using charismatic megafauna to try to inspire conservation.

© Jackie Hildering

But then  . . . I was gifted an underwater camera and quite early on, I started photographing kelp.

For me, kelp is the entry point into the marine world into which I love to disappear and its beauty has long intoxicated me. In fact, I have a kelp forest tattooed on my lower left leg!

But never, ever could I have anticipated the way the images would be received by non-divers. They have proven to be vital tools in “taking” people underwater with me and I believe no whale image I have taken has done as much to engage, create wonder, appreciation and, hopefully, respect and positive action for what lies below the surface.

© 2012 Jackie Hildering-5121314

Sun streaming through bull kelp forest ©Jackie Hildering

Why are these images received as they are?  Many answers are possible from a pure aesthetic appreciation of kelp’s form and colour to the fact that kelp forests are literally at the surface, recognizable but submerged in mystery.

But, maybe, just maybe there’s a deep connection born out of knowing that we are dependent on marine algae for every breath we take.

And that – gives me hope.

For more kelp images, please click here for my gallery.

Note: Seaweeds, kelp and phytoplankton photosynthesize but are (most often) not classified as plants. They are algae. For an explanation of the classification, distinction and scientific debate, see:  “The Seaweed Site – “What are algae?” 

What’s At Stake – Images Speaking Louder Than Words

Three minutes of images speaking louder than words . . .

This short slide show of my images testifies to the astonishing marine biodiversity of Northern Vancouver Island and what is put at risk with projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project which would bring super-tanker traffic of toxic bitumen and condensate to B.C.’s fragile coast, and to the waters on which we depend for oxygen, food, buffering of climate change gases, aesthetics and so much more.

I have submitted this slide show for inclusion on “Hope, the Whale”, a 25′ whale sculpture being brought to the Vancouver Enbridge public hearings (January 14 to 18, 2013) “to symbolize the expansive and growing community of people with a vision of an oil-free coast in BC. The sculpture is designed to be a welcoming, collaborative, visual, interactive and peaceful approach to supporting a healthy environment. The whale will amplify our a collective messages of hope and a vision for a healthy ocean, water, land, communities, green economy, cultures and people.” See this link to contribute your message.

For more information, see my testimony to the Joint Review Panel included in my blog item “Super Natural or Super Tanker?” at this link.

WILD New Year

For you – that we may live lives of greater depth in 2013 and beyond.

Happy New Year! 

Siblings T028A (born 1994) and T028B (born 1997) - mammal-eating killer whales (known as "Bigg's killer whales / "transients").

Siblings T028A (born 1994) and T028B (born 1997) – mammal-eating killer whales (known as “Bigg’s killer whales / “transients”). Photo: Hildering

Mind-Blowing Crittercam Video – Humpback Calf Nursing Underwater and Watching Mother Group Bubble-Net

Update October 26, 2018. Additional Crittercam video of a calf nursing from CNRS/ Cétamada recorded on the breeding ground on the east coast of Madagascar at Ste Marie Island.

 

Update December 19, 2012: The National Geographic video I had posted below has been pulled from YouTube.
Explanation from D.Gold who posted it there: “Note to The Marine Detective and readers: Sorry to say, I removed this video from my youtube account today. I received a request. National Geographic has plans for broadcasting the footage. A scientist and producer asked that I take the youtube down for now. The quality will be much better when you see it on their channel anyway. I think they picked up on this getting a fair amount of attention thru this website and the social media in the past week. The reason I posted the video is expressed perfectly by the Marine Detective’s blog post, “Mind-Blowing Crittercam Video – Humpback Calf Nursing Underwater and Watching Mother Group Bubble-Net”.  . . I feel much the same as you do  . . .. I wanted to share the education of this presentation on my channel, but alas, this particular youtube will not be available. Keep searching and hopefully Nat Geo will show “The most goose-bump inducing, mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, consciousness-raising” footage.: “

Screen grab from

Crittercam video screen grab showing humpback calf nursing underwater.  Screen grab from Birgit Buhleier’s presentation.

My original post December 9, 2012:

The most goose-bump inducing, mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, consciousness-raising video I have ever seen I viewed in October 2009 in Quebec at the 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, and I have been waiting for it to appear on-line ever since.

Today, I found it and think it will have the same impact on you.

The quality of the video is not ideal as it is the result of someone filming the original footage but – it will do!

What you will see, starting at time-stamp 2:50 is the result of Dr.Fred Sharpe’s research team having, rather randomly, put a Crittercam (camera on a suction cup) on a humpback whale calf in Alaska.

Video screen grab of calf with Crittercam watching mother and 11 other adult humpbacks cooperative bubble-net feeding.

Crittercam video screen grab of calf watching his mother and 11 other adult humpbacks cooperative bubble-net feeding.

In 6 minutes of video, the 6 to 7 month-old calf “gifts” the world with the following:

  • Footage of him nursing underwater which reveals how synchronized this is, with mother tapping her calf with her tail seemingly to signal “and stop now”.  You will even see the calf burp and, with streams of milk streaming past the calf, you will gain an understanding of how rich and copious the milk must be to support the incredible growth rate of baleen babies.
  • Then, at timestamp 5:48, you’ll see what caused the large international crowd of marine mammal scientists to collectively gasp when Fred Sharp shared this with us in 2009. The calf settles down at the ocean bottom at around 150 ‘ (46 m) and watches specter-like shapes rise to the surface  . . . adult humpback whales, including mom, cooperative bubble-net feeding.

Only 6 minutes of video – such depth revealed.

The presentation that had been filmed was given by Birgit Buhleier, National Geographic’s naturalist and underwater video producer,  aboard the National Geographic vessel “Sea Lion” in SE Alaska in the summer of 2012.

Please if you find the footage somewhere else, let me know!  

Time stamp: 2:50 – Humpback calf nursing underwater; 5:48 calf watching mother group bubble net-feeding