The Marine Detective

Mr. Prime Minister . . . . (after the Bella Bella spill)

Thank you dear reader, thank you for caring enough to come to this page.

You are among those who are gutted by what is being learned from the sinking of the tug, the Nathan E. Stewart, near Bella Bella on BC’s North Coast. You have not somehow rationalized it away, but see the spill fully for what it is – a disaster – a cultural, environmental, and economic disaster. This was “only” the diesel from a tug – a dire indicator of what insane risks are being flirted with regarding tanker traffic on our coast.

You want the lessons to be fully learned and acted on. You want the voices of those most directly impacted to be heard. You don’t want it to happen again.

You want to know what to do.

You are my motivation for this page. For you, I want to bundle what I believe are the most useful actions we can undertake with the resources that support them.

Mammal-hunting Orca T057A traveling through the area of the spill. Photo: ©April Bencze.

Please see the four “What You Can Do” points below and, as if you needed further motivation, read the words below. They are from April Bencze. She and Tavish Campbell are on site striving to be of use to the Heiltsuk First Nation in witnessing and documenting the extent of the the impact of the spill with their considerable skills as video/photographers and divers. They are dear friends of mine. I will update this blog with their insights and images and those of the Heiltsuk. April’s powerful words from this morning . . . .

“Every tide pool has a layer of diesel coating it. The sea breeze, my favourite smell in the world, now reeks of diesel, burns my eyes and gives me a headache as I walk the beach looking into each devastated tide pool and seeing the intertidal life being irreversibly poisoned. Spill response can’t fix this. No one can fix this, no matter how much money or how many resources are thrown at it. Canada should not pretend it has the ability to undo this damage. Justin Trudeau should be mourning the loss of a large expanse of wilderness that has been poisoned, and then do everything in his power to ensure this never happens again. That means no tankers on this coast. But it’s hard. It is hard because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cannot see the marine life dying. He cannot feel the sting of diesel in his eyes. He cannot taste oil on the breeze where there should only be salty fresh air. He cannot see the deer and wolves feeding on the diesel-soaked intertidal life. He cannot see the orcas inhaling diesel and diving with it permeating their lungs. He cannot see the grief of the people who live here. He cannot see the thick diesel covering the ocean, and the tides that carry it to all stretches of the land. He cannot see the spill response team being dismissive about reports of diesel sheen near sensitive salmon creeks. He cannot see that the people here mourn the loss of their food source from the very beaches now made toxic. This is a disaster. Please start a conversation about what you are willing to risk to transport oil/fuel on this coast. I did not accept this risk. The Heiltsuk Nation did not accept this risk. Did you?”

What You Can Do:

Write Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referencing the election promise made to “Formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s North Coast.” This can easily be done by using the David Suzuki Foundation’s resource at this link and adapting the text as you see fit to reference the Bella Bella spill. Let him know that you too do not accept the risk.

Click to enlarge. Content from PM Trudeau’s November 2015 mandate letter to the Minister of Transport confirming the priority of the moratorium. The mandate letter can be found here.
Reduce the use of fossil fuels and support initiatives to transition to non-carbon energy sources. Enjoy the savings as well as the knowledge that you are not fuelling the demand that threatens our coast with tanker traffic.
Support the Heiltsuk First Nation. If you can, provide financial support so that the impacts can be independently investigated, documented and made public. See this link to make donations.
Help amplify the knowledge of this spill. This happened on a pristine, remote part of BC’s coast. Imagine the attention and action there would be had it happened near an urban centre. Imagine the number of outraged voters wanting risks reduced. Imagine the resulting political will to follow through on campaign promises. There are those in powerful positions who hope that the remoteness of the disaster means that the concern will go away – unlike the impacts of the spill. Please let’s not let that happen.

Coming: Slide show of April and Tavish’s photos.

Resources:

Staying updated:
- Heiltsuk Facebook page with updates
- April Bencze Facebook page with updates
Media items:
- Heiltsuk Tribal Council press release; October 27, 2016; Heiltsuk infuriated by Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s statement on diesel spill
- Vancouver Sun; October 27, 2016; Ottawa considers compensating Heiltsuk Nation over tug boat spill near Bella Bella
Background
- Kyle Artelle, Raincoast Research; “After the spill“

Bring in the Clowns

Update September 24, 2020 – Species has been reclassified into two.

Triopha modesta has been determined to be a trans-Pacific species (Korea, Japan, Siberia, and Alaska to California) and is far more likely to be off the coast of British Columbia and has both flat and branching tubercles and globular bits on their side.

Triopha catalinae has been determined to be a species only found in the eastern Pacific Ocean (SE Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico) and they have large, conical or rounded dorsal tubercles.

More detail:
Jung, D., Gosliner, T.M., Choi, T. et al. The return of the clown: pseudocryptic speciation in the North Pacific clown nudibranch, Triopha catalinae (Cooper, 1863) sensu lato identified by integrative taxonomic approaches. Mar. Biodivers. 50, 84 (2020).

Original post from 2016:

In having noted the recent “Creepy Clown” Halloween-related absurdity in the far off periphery of my life, I thought I would share the beauty of the clowns abundant below the surface at this time of year – Clown Dorids.-

Clown Dorids are a species of nudibranch (Triopha modesta to 7 cm).

Nudibranchs are sea slugs with naked gills and those in the dorid suborder most often have their plume of gills on their posterior (around the anus in fact). See the orange frills in the Clown Dorids in these images? Those are their gills.

Clown Dorid; gills on right @Jackie Hildering. — *Clown Dorid with gills are on the right. It’s “rhinophores”, by which it smells its way around, are on the left, atop its head.*

Many dorid species fully retract their gills when disturbed. Clown Dorids can only partial retract their gills.

_jh13796 — *That’s all! Clown Dorids cannot fully retract their gills like most other dorid species.*

Note too the beautiful “oral veil” with papillae that aid Clown Dorids in finding food.

_jh13183 — *Image allowing a good look at the Clown Dorid’s oral veil.*

Also unlike many dorids, Clown Dorids do not feed on sponges. They feed exclusively on bryozoan species; those crusty colonies of organisms often found on kelp.

_jh16262 — *Clown Dorid likely feeding on Kelp-Encrusting Bryozoan.*

There were a particularly large number of Clown Dorids on my dive this past October weekend with many egg masses.

Sea slugs are reciprocal hermaphrodites. This of course makes good sense as a reproductive strategy when you are a slow slug and your offspring hatch out to be plankton. Reciprocal hermaphrodites have both male and female sex organs whereby both individuals are inseminated and lay eggs = way more eggs!

_jh15227 — *Clown Dorids that have found one another (relying on smell and touch) and maneuvering into the mating position.*

Nudibranchs mate right side to right side. If you look very carefully in the photo below, you can see a bump on the individuals’ right side. This structure is the “gonopore” and is usually retracted. They lock onto one another with their gonopores and both become inseminated.

_jh15263 — *Clown Dorids extending their mating organs and about to lock on right side to right side. (Ochre Star beside them.)*.

The gonopore is easier to see in the following image.

Clown Dorid - note the "gonopore" on the right near the nudibranch's head. ©2017 Jackie Hildering. — *Clown Dorid – note the “gonopore” on the right near the nudibranch’s head. [Update since the reclassification, I believe this one is a* ***Triopha catalinae***].

The egg masses of each species of sea slug look different. However, it is very difficult to discern the eggs masses of some closely related dorids. The ideal is to find an individual laying the eggs.

However, in all these years, I have never managed to get a photo of a Clown Dorid laying eggs. Dive buddy Paul Sim has though. See his great image below.

paul-sim-clown_dorid_triophina_catalinae — *Clown Dorid laying an egg mass. Note each little dot? That’s an egg! ©Paul Sim.*

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Summary from my social media post on December 13, 2016: Oh the fabulous way sea slugs ensure their kind survives! Imagine the challenges as a sea slug – you’re slow, you can only sense light and dark . . . . so when you finally find a mate it sure makes sense to be a simultaneous hermaphrodite so you both end up laying eggs. And the beauty of the egg masses! They are species specific i.e. the egg mass of each species of sea slug looks different. AND, wondrously, for almost all nudibranch species (at least in the northern hemisphere), these masses are almost always laid in a counterclockwise direction (sinistral) starting at the centre, with equal space between the whorls (i.e. an Archimedes spiral).

More information:

Reproductive structures of Clown Dorids from the Sea Slug Forum – click here.
Colour and diet in Clown Dorids from A Snail’s Odyssey – click here.
Jung, D., Gosliner, T.M., Choi, T. et al. The return of the clown: pseudocryptic speciation in the North Pacific clown nudibranch, Triopha catalinae (Cooper, 1863) sensu lato identified by integrative taxonomic approaches. Mar. Biodivers. 50, 84 (2020).

Come Away With Me . . .

For you: photos and a two-minute slide show from my recent days aboard Maple Leaf Adventures‘ MV Swell in my own backyard – the Broughton Archipelago on NE Vancouver Island.

The work while aboard? Striving to be a conduit of understanding for the life around us: Freckles the Humpback who was acrobatic for over an hour; the Black Bear cub in a rain-soaked, moss-covered Cedar with lichen draped over his/her ear; the Pacific White-Sided Dolphins leaping over a Humpback and then surfing in a ship’s wake; the giant Steller Sea Lions growling at a frequency the resounds far and deep; the Bald Eagles tearing apart the salmon that feeds this coast; and . . . so much more.

With the recent diesel spill further to the north on BC’s Central Coast, it all felt even more fragile. I feel even greater urgency and importance to try to capture the excruciating beauty and balance here so that it might enter more human lives and increase true awareness and true action.

Know and celebrate your connection no matter how many kilometres you are from the life in these images.

See the common life-enhancing solutions: reducing demand for fossil fuels; reducing use of dangerous chemicals; increasing values based on the longterm health of the environment our lives depend on . . . that’s where happiness, health and empowerment lie.

Don’t be despondent because tipping into the pit of despair will truly bring darkness.

Do it . . . . come away with me.

MV Swell built in 1912 with major overhauls by Maple Leaf Adventures to be both very comfortable and have a reduced carbon footprint / be energy efficient.

Pacific White-Sided Dolphin in the rain. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Freckles the Humpback Whale (BCY0727) breaching. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Freckles the Humpback Whale (BCY0727) breaching. She was acrobatic for over an hour.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Freckles the Humpback (BCY0727) tail-lobbing. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Freckles the Humpback Whale (BCY0727) breaching.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Lacey Falls, Broughton Archipelago. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Juvenile Bald Eagle water dripping off beak. Imagine the sounds and smells I cannot relay in this image - the rain falling on the Ocean; the calls of eagles, ravens, various ducks and gulls; and the air thick with the smell of Chum Salmon that fought their way back to the river where they were born to ensure their offspring have the best chance of a healthy environment by fertilizing it with their own bodies. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Juvenile Bald Eagle water dripping off beak. Imagine the sounds and smells I cannot relay in these images – the rain falling on the Ocean; the calls of eagles, ravens, various ducks and gulls; and the air thick with the smell of Chum Salmon that fought their way back to the river where they were born to ensure their offspring have the best chance of a healthy environment by fertilizing it with their own bodies.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Wet juvenile Bald Eagle takes flight. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Black Bear cub with lichen draped over his/her right ear – peering down from a moss-covered Cedar, salmon musk thick in the air; moisture dripping off his/her fur and everything else including us . . so clearly this was the rainforest, fed by salmon.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Close-up. Little Black Bear Cub peering down from moss-covered Cedar. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Merganser running to before flight. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Humpback Whale being mobbed by Pacific White-Sided Dolphins. S/he was repeatedly trumpeting, presumably in exasperation. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Argonaut the Humpback in the morning light (BCY0729). ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Happiness . . and purpose. I’m on the right on MV Swell. Photo by Captain Alex Ruurs.

Two-minute slide show with more images.

And -the faces and voices of the people most directly impacted by the fuel spill on BC’s Central Coast. The impacts of this, of “only” a tug sinking, it makes so very clear that there has to be a ban on tanker traffic and that we all have to reduce the demand for fossil fuels for so many reasons including that it literally fuels the demand for tankers on our coast.

Eight-Legged Dive Buddy

Yesterday . . . Browning Wall off NE Vancouver Island . . . . . a few minutes in my life.

A few minutes that fuels me in a way that I can never fully express. It’s why I have to take pictures.

And by sharing, I hope the NE Pacific Ocean opens up to more people; that there is more awareness of our marine neighbours and our connection to them.

They’re living their lives just below the surface, most often hidden in the dark planktonic soup that sustains them. We humans are most often on the other side; living our lives too often in the dark about our connection to them and how we are also dependent on Mother Ocean as the life sustaining force on the planet.

It’s a world of colour, mystery, marvel and surprise.

Okay, that’s enough words. Here are the photos of a few minutes in my life where I was graced by the presence of marine royalty.

We were ascending slowly to our safety stop (scuba divers spend at least 3 minutes at 5m/15′ to offload nitrogen). On the way, at around 10m depth I stopped, striving to “capture” the beauty of the fish with the surface of the Ocean visible above them.

The view at about 8 metres . ©Jackie Hildering.

The view at about 10 metres . ©Jackie Hildering.

I was smiling at the China Rockfish and Puget Sound Rockfish using the sponge as a couch. Here’s a close-up.

A sponge couch for these fish. ©Jackie Hildering.

See the Puget Sound Rockfish’s head poking out between the sponges? ©Jackie Hildering.

I looked to the right and saw that I was being watched. There, fully out in the open was a Giant Pacific Octopus.

Giant Pacific Octopus watching me. ©Jackie Hildering.

I stared in awe for a little bit and then had to proceed to my safety stop. I was accompanied by the octopus.

Eight-Legged Dive Buddy! ©Jackie Hildering.

Eight-Legged Dive Buddy walking to 5m depth beside me! ©Jackie Hildering.

Together, we advanced to 5m. S/he tolerating the flashing of my camera and me trying to find some balance between documenting this experience and living it.

When we reached safety stop depth, off the giant jetted into the depths. With the octopus having descended deeper into the Ocean in which its kind have lived for some 500 million years, this human needed to return to the environment of air where our ancestors strived to start walking upright only about 6 million years ago (with Homo sapiens only dating back ~200,000 years ago).

I was left at 5m depth with 3 minutes to think about the marvel of what had just happened and how I might make the experience count in some way.

This was the view.

View to the surface. ©Jackie Hildering.

View towards the surface. ©Jackie Hildering.

How to Kill a Living Dinosaur. The Epitome of Disconnect?

I saw a Leatherback Sea Turtle. I did! And I don’t know if I can ever be the same again.

It happened on July 25th 2016, while I was a member of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Marine Mammal Research Section aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel J.P. Tully. We surveyed up to 138 nautical miles (256 km) west of Vancouver Island. The purpose of the DFO survey was to increase knowledge about at-risk marine mammal and turtle species’ distribution and abundance.

Can you imagine the wonder, the euphoria, the astonishment, the sense of privilege at seeing this endangered giant that is a living dinosaur?

Here’s how it unfolded. It was at the end of the survey day around 8:02 PM on July 25th. I had finished my shift but was still having a discussion on the port side of the bridge. Suddenly, the Third Officer Brent Seamone said, from the other side of the bridge, “Hey, it’s a turtle!”

Leatherback sketch by J. Domm for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

With all I had, I rushed to the other side of ship (apologies to any fellow crew members who may have been bruised as a result). And there it was . . . a shadow just under the surface, gliding away from the ship. I stared down its ridged back. Time seemed frozen, suspended for a turtle heartbeat or two. My synapses firing, my adrenaline surging, my brain questioned – could it really be true? And it was. In the vastness of the NE Pacific Ocean we had chanced upon a male Leatherback Turtle. This was the first known sighting of this endangered species in BC waters in two years* (and also reported to I-866-I-SAW-ONE).

Leatherbacks belong in the rich waters off BC’s coast, coming all the way from Indonesia to feed on jellyfish. I knew this well having only just launched the resource “Leatherbacks in BC” to raise awareness about these giants and the risks they face.

I marvelled at the incredible good luck of it – finding a proverbial needle in such a very large and deep haystack – but of course also that I happened to be on the bridge when I was. My dear friend who works so hard for Leatherback conservation and with whom I wrote the resource, had left the bridge mere minutes before the sighting. How wonderful it would have been for the Chief Scientist to see the turtle too.

I don’t have a photo. I wish I did to make the next part of what I have to share more impactful. Yes, now comes the “How to kill a living dinosaur” part.

Only a few days earlier, we retrieved these from the ocean – Canada Day balloons drifting out at sea in Leatherback habitat 20 days after Canada Day.

Canada Day balloons drifting in Leatherback habitat on July 21st. Photo: Hildering.

It was already our intent to have these images go widely into the world in the hope that it might make more realize that plastics (especially plastic bags) and balloons can kill endangered Leatherback Turtles (and other marine species). Sea turtles cannot discern these from their jellyfish prey. In fact, in a global study of 408 dead Leatherback Turtles, more than 30% had plastics in their intestines (Mrosovsky et al, 2009).

You can certainly see how the balloons could be mistaken for jellies.<br> Lisa Spaven of DFO in photo.

You can certainly see how the deflated balloons could be mistaken for jellies. Lisa Spaven of DFO in photo.

You can imagine my increased motivation for awareness now.

Of course we don’t know the backstory on these balloons – where they came from or if there was any attempt to retrieve them.

Tully crew removing the balloons from the ocean for the sake of Leatherbacks and other species.
Photo: Hildering.

We do know that it is a far too common a practice to “celebrate” by releasing balloons into the air e.g. as symbolization when someone dies and even to mark an environmental event (yikes!!!)

But of course, unless items are biodegradable, there is no “away”. There is no throwing “away”, flushing “away” or . . . drifting “away”. There is a cost to other species, and ultimately, to ourselves.

What I hope these images and words do, is increase this knowledge. Please could you help?

The solutions are simple, please help increase awareness that #balloonsblow and #plasticspollute.

For more on the wonder that is Leatherback Turtles in BC, please see www.LeatherbacksInBC.org.

* Last reported sighting of a Leatherback Turtle in BC waters prior to this was August 20, 2014 off SW Vancouver Island.

At a loss for words . . .

If a photo is worth a 1,000 words, will these 14 photos be worth 14,000?

Will they do more than “capture” a moment in the life of our marine neighbours?

Will they communicate the emotion felt when I pushed the shutter button: the overwhelming awe; the relief of humility, feeling smaller and more insignificant when witnessing the wild; and the gratitude and motivation at having second chances with these ambassadors of our life-sustaining seas?

I add them to the 100s of other photos shared in the hopes that, somehow, they relay what I cannot find the words to adequately express.

Into the world they go – to you.

These 14 photos were taken in less than 24 hours in one small area of the cold current-fed waters around NE Vancouver Island while I was aboard with Maple Leaf Adventures.

First three photos: Humpback Whale “Inukshuk” (BCZ0339) exploding out of the misty water. He was acrobatic for over 15 minutes. Threatened population.

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10453

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10456

Female mature Bald Eagle near nest in lichen-draped Cedars.

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10496

“Sonora” (A42) chasing salmon with her 4 offspring. “Northern Resident” Killer Whales are a Threatened population.

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10537

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10567

Pacific White-Sided Dolphins in mirror-calm seas this morning, socializing in a group of around 300 individuals.

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10637

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10675

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10688

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10692

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10698

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10725

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10648

@2016 Jackie Hildering-10759

Sea Angels and Sea Butterflies?!

My dry suit has been hosed down and is drying in the sun; my regulator is soaking in fresh water; the washing machine is chug chug chugging with the clothes used over the last days of diving; and my head and heart are full of so much I want to share.

I’m back from another trip organized to God’s Pocket Dive Resort just beyond Port Hardy . . . more than 11 hours spent underwater over the last days. Such an escape. Such an immersion in wonder and that sense of humility that comes with submerging in the force that sustains this planet. Such an opportunity to learn.

I saw my first Sea Angel.

My buddy and I had been drifting along for about an hour. We had schooled with rockfish; hung next to Orange Sea Pens as they bowed in the current; and marvelled at the abundance of anemones and their babies, studding the forests of kelp. We had done our safety stop with a seeming snowfall of pulsing Aggregating Jellies streaming down around us in the sun’s beams.

Thousands of Aggregating Jellies aka Umbrella Jellies. Eutonina indicans to 3.5 cm across. Collective noun for jellies is "smack". ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Thousands of Aggregating Jellies also known as “Umbrella Jellies”. Eutonina indicans to 3.5 cm across.
Collective noun for jellies is “smack”. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Close-up on Aggregating Jelly aka Umbrella Jelly. Eutonina indicans to 3.5 cm across. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Close-up on Aggregating Jelly – Eutonina indicans to 3.5 cm across.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

We had already been further awed by Sea Butterflies “flying” by our masks. Sea Butterflies are planktonic sea slugs! They are “pteropods” – swimming shell-less molluscs whose “wings”(ptero) are their feet (pods). This genus does have an internal gelatinous “pseudoconch” (false shell) and the brown dot you see in my image is the gut. Sea Butterflies feed by forming a mucus web up to 2 m in diameter in which they trap smaller plankton and bits of organic matter. Oh to see that. It was apparently first documented in the 1970s by researchers while SCUBA diving.

Sea Butterfly - Corolla spectabilis. Dark spot is the gut. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Sea Butterfly – Corolla spectabilis. Dark spot is the gut. See this link for more species information and a video (with excited diver vocals) of a swimming Sea Butterfly.

All those jellies and Sea Butterflies pulsing around us and then, just when I was about to break the surface back into the world where gravity has such a stronger hold on me, I saw it! So small, tiny wings pulsing . . . a Sea Angel!

Image #1 of the Sea Angel – Cliopsis krohni to 4 cm long. Also known as a “Sea Cherub”.
©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Image #2 of the Sea Angel. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Image #3 of the Sea Angel. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

This is another species of planktonic, “winged” sea slug (but the adults of this species are completely shell-less; they do not even have pseudoconch). Sea Angels are a rarity so far to the north and are only occasionally seen at the surface (found to depths of 1.5 km). Their presence is likely due to warmer waters (El Nino and possible climate change) and a big northwest wind that had raged a couple of nights prior. The wonder of it, to see something so otherworldly, to know of its rarity in this area, and to get a sense of its planktonic fragility – surviving from a larval stage, escaping predation by fish, and to be carried by the currents in the vastness of the sea.

It may be hard to imagine but this species is a voracious predator! Cliopsis feeds on other planktonic snails by grabbing them with a long proboscis (which can be up to two times its body length), a sharp radula and hooks made of chiton!

Screen grab from the "Plankton Chronicles" showing a Sea Angel feeding! See amazing 1.5 min clip here http://planktonchronicles.org/en/episode/pteropods-swimming-mollusks/.

Screen grab from the “Plankton Chronicles” showing a Sea Angel feeding!
See amazing 1.5 min clip at this link.

And yes, their diet includes Sea Butterflies. Sea Angels can eat organisms up to three times their size!

When a Sea Angel comes into contact with a Sea Butterfly’s feeding web, it reels it in, dragging the Sea Butterfly with it. When close enough, the Sea Angel then uses its probosis to “cut” the Sea Butterfly from its psuedoconch and eats it.

The marvel of it all, the delicate balance of this planktonic world about which so few of us have knowledge but which can be so impacted by our activities. There is concern about the impact of ocean acidification (caused by our carbon use) on the development of these organisms.

As always, don’t be despondent. See the beauty, know your connection, and recognize the common solutions and great gains of caring more . . .. and consuming less.

Dry Land . . .

Just to put some beauty and love into the world . . . for you, here are my above-the-surface photos coupled with the hauntingly beautiful and poignant song “Dry Land” by Joan Armatrading (1975).

All photos are from around NE Vancouver, the area so close to my heart and home to my efforts as The Marine Detective.

Lyrics include:
“Been a long time at sea – and the season of loving – has long awaited me. Tides and waves have kept me – kept me going. I’m longing for the calm . . . .”

If video does not show above, please see www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHUiN8dEnpI.

Ra Ra Ratfish!

LOOK at this fish!

Those who are as in awe of the species as I am, describe it as “adorably bizarre” (Dr. Milton Love) and as “true survivors from before the dinosaurs . . . no wonder they look like they’re from another world.” (Ray Troll, source 5).

Maybe not as flattering a description, but certainly accurate is: “They look like you put three or four things in a blender” (unnamed scientist, source 5).

Indeed, this family of fishes is aptly named the “Chimeras” for the creature from Greek mythology that is a composite of other species.

Spotted Ratfish (and a Blackeye Goby). ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

The common name of this fish is the “Spotted Ratfish” favouring the perceived likeness to that rodent. The scientific name “Hydrolagus collieli” favours the rabbit-like resemblance with “Hydrolagus” translating into “water rabbit”.

For me, it is an exquisitely beautiful species and a source of marvel. Notice the wing-like pectoral fins; huge eyes that seem to be able to pivot back and forth in their sockets; scaleless, white-spotted skin with a silvery sheen; and the beautiful gold “stitching” that make it look all the more like it has been assembled from other parts. Oh and then there are the remarkable structures in the males! Read on for an explanation of what they’re all about.

Likely Spotted Ratfish are well known to many fisher-folk in their range from the western gulf of Alaska to southern Baja California but, as a fish out of water, I think it is so difficult to see the species’ beauty. We divers are so lucky to see them below the surface and I’m hoping the photos and information below enhance an appreciation for this fish that should never, ever be referenced as “ugly”! 🙂

Source: Didier, D.A. Chimeras. http://www.fao.org/tempref/docrep/fao/009/y4160e/y4160e41.pdf

Are they sharks? The Chimeras are closely related to rays, skates and sharks. They are all cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) but sharks and rays belong to the subclass “Elasmobranchii” and the Chimaeras are in a separate subclass, the “Holocephali”. They diverged from their shark ancestors some 400 million years ago.

Senses: Like rays, skates and sharks, they have pores in their heads with which they can detect the electrical fields of their prey – even tiny heartbeats under the sand (source 5). Their huge eyes suggest that Spotted Ratfish are more active at night. Even though Spotted Ratfishes are often in the shallows, my personal observations support that their eyes are designed to function in low light. I will never forget my excitement at seeing one for the first time and, without thinking, turning my dive light on the poor guy. The result appeared to be that I temporarily blinded him. He swam forward – directly into a rock. Eek!

Close up on the head of a Spotted Ratfish. ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Diet: Ratfish have plate-like grinding teeth and they are reported “to have the highest jaw leverage of any cartilaginous species studied” (source 3). This makes them well-suited to be able to crush the hard bits of fish, crabs including hermit crabs, shrimp, snails, sea urchins, worms, bivalves like clams, and isopods (source 9).

Defences: In addition to their biting strength, Spotted Ratfish have a retractable spine with a venom gland. See it there in front of the dorsal fin? This causes some discomfort in humans but, one study revealed that it can be fatal to Pacific Harbour Seals by perforating the esophagus or stomach and migrating into vital tissues. The spines have also been found in the heads and necks of a few California and Steller Sea Lions but have not been proven to be the cause of death (source 1). In addition to seals and sea lions; Spotted Ratfishes’ predators include Sablefish; shark species like the Bluntnose Sixgill and Spiny Dogfish; birds like Buffleheads, Common Murres and Pigeon Gullemots; Humboldt Squid and, apparently, Northern Elephant Seals eat their eggs (source 9). We humans only went after Spotted Ratfish for their livers in the 1800s. We don’t like the taste of their flesh – lucky Ratfish.

Spotted Ratfish. See the spine in front of the first dorsal fin? ©2016 Jackie Hildering.

Mobility: In having such a thin, whip-like tail that can’t provide much force, propulsion in Ratfish comes from their wing-like pectoral fins. It is such a thing of beauty to see them swim, or is it fly? Like rays, skates and sharks, they have large livers that aid buoyancy whereby they can hover in the water column and then glide off.

Female bits: Like many rays, sharks and skates, chimeras are “oviparous”. Fertilization is internal and then egg cases are laid. The leathery egg cases look like “little violin cases” (source 2) and each contain one egg. As seen in Wendy Carey’s remarkable photo below, they female “extrudes’ two egg cases at a time – one from each oviduct. Reportedly, they often hang from her in the water column for four to six days before falling to the ocean bottom. Then, she lays another pair (this suggests female Ratfish may be able to store sperm). The baby Ratfish develop within the egg case for 5 to 10 months and then wiggle out when they are around 14 cm. It appears to me that they spawn throughout the year but there may be a peak from May into October (source 9). Little is known about the longevity of Ratfish but preliminary research suggests that they are likely late maturing with females becoming sexually mature at age ~14 and males at age ~12 (source 7). See this link for my blog with photos of other NE Pacific Ocean fish egg cases known as “mermaid’s purses”.

Female Spotted Ratfish egg-laying. ©Wendy Carey.

Male bits: So those “dangly bits”, what are they?

The claspers in the pelvic area you may know from shark species. They are the males’ sex organs containing sperm and they are used only one at a time to inseminate the female.

Male reproductive organs. ©2016 Jackie Hildering

Male Spotted Ratfish found dead on beach. ©Jacqui Engel.

The remarkable stalked club structure with little hooks on the male’s head is the “frontal tenaculum” and it is unique to adult males in the Chimera family. It is usually withdrawn into the groove in their foreheads but, during copulation, is used to clamp onto the female’s pectoral fin. There is also another grasping structure, the pre-pelvic tenaculum, just before the pelvic fins that also allow the male to anchor into position.

In sharks, males bite onto the female’s pelvic fin to get into position but I suggest, with Chimera’s very different teeth, this would not work well and thereby, that there was a selection pressure for such unique structures. It is noteworthy too that male Chimeras have to be much smaller than females because otherwise, with their heads attached onto the pectoral fin, they wouldn’t be able to position a clasper into the female (source 8).

Ray Troll (colourful always) describes the frontal tenaculum as a “girl grabber” but don’t let that suggest that there isn’t courtship between Ratfish. Apparently, there are colour changes and distinct swimming patterns and, once the male’s clasper is inserted in the female, they swim together like this for between 37 and 120 minutes (source 9).

I assure you, if I manage to witness Spotted Ratfish courtship or mating, there WILL be an update to this blog!

Male Spotted Ratfish near the surface. ©Jackie Hildering.

Sources:

Akmajian, A. M., D. M. Lambourn, M. M. Lance, S. Raverty, and J. K. Gaydos. 2012. Mortality related to Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) in Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in Washington State. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:1057-1062. DOI: 10.7589/2011-12-348.
Biology of Rays and Sharks; Chimaeras – The Neglected Chondrichthyans.
Huber, D.R., Dean, M.N., Summers, A. P. 2008. . Hard prey, soft jaws and the ontogeny of feeding mechanics in the spotted ratfish Hydrolagus colliei
Journal of the Royal Society Interface 5 (25), 941-953.
Didier, D.A. Chimeras.
Doughton, Sandi. August 14, 2010. Rise of the Ratfish in Puget Sound. Seattle Times.
Florida Museum of Natural History. Spotted Ratfish.
King, J.R. & McPhie, R.P. 2015. Preliminary age, growth and maturity estimates of spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) in British Columbia. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 115: 55-63
Klimley, Peter A. 2013. The Biology of Sharks and Rays. The University of Chicago Press.
Love, M. 2012. Certainly More Than You Want to Know About The Fishes of The Pacific Coast—A Postmodern Experience. Copeia: …Milton S.Love Santa Barbara Really Big Press

Deep sea ROV video of what may be the species Pointy-Nose Blue Ratfish (Hydrolagus trolli) in the NE Pacific. Good general information on ratfishes in general and would mean a very significant range expansion for this species.

Lost Teddy! Fluffy piece?

Here’s an item that is shared for the purposes of lightness and connection. Because, let’s face it, there’s enough dark and heavy out there. Also, maybe, just maybe it will create an opportunity for awareness about marine debris?

See the image below. Could this be the world’s saddest Teddy?

Lost Teddy! Wouldn’t it be remarkable to find out how, where and when s/he ended up in the Ocean?

My dive buddy, Natasha Dickinson, found him/her at bottom of the Ocean in Port Hardy on January 1st. Unlike so much of the debris near the dock, it is unlikely this little guy was mindlessly tossed away (see photos below).

Wouldn’t it be something to find its home and know its story? Would it enhance a sense of connection? Would the story be a catalyst to discussion, engagement and action about the insult to our Oceans that is marine debris?

Via Facebook and Twitter this information is being shared with “#‎LostTeddy”‬.

S/he has also been posted on the international Lost Teddy site (yes, there is such a thing).

Teddy is now being cleaned up for potential reuniting with humans.

XXX

Update: January 3, 2016 – It’s not a Teddy. I got this clue from that Teddy locating site”That’s Ginger Bell, originally sold by Sears in 2004! Brenda.” Sure enough – looked up a photo and, it’s Ginger Bell.

Photos below show some of the beauty striving to survive among the debris under the Seagate Dock in Port Hardy (the dive where Teddy was found). This “scene” is representative of most docks on our Coast and I am striving to raise awareness about marine debris and how, to me, this is the most stark indicator of the disconnect about the importance of the Ocean to human health. We are all vastly empowered to create positive change, not only by ensuring there is less physical pollution (litter) but by reducing use of carbon and chemicals such as pesticides (thereby reducing temperature change, acidification, toxins); and increasing knowledge and engagement about the importance, beauty and fragility of our Ocean. Reality is, what we do to the Ocean we ultimately . . . do to ourselves.

Shopping carts and plastic . . and anemones. Photo by dive buddy Alexandra Spicer.

Northern Kelp Crabs and Rose Anemone atop a big chunk of plastic. ©Jackie Hildering; themarinedetective.ca.

Plumose Anemones just under the surface. ©Jackie Hildering; themarinedetective.ca.

Hooded Nudibranch on Eelgrass just under the surface near the Seagate Dock, Port Hardy. @Jackie Hildering.

Hooded Nudibranch on Eelgrass just under the surface near to mounds of debris. @Jackie Hildering.

An example of the beauty among the debris - species trying to survive amongst what most often purposely/ carelessly ends up in the Ocean. Here - egg mass laid by a Pacific Sea Lemon (nudibranch) where each dot can hatch into a larval nudibranch. Next photo, the nudibranch that likely laid the egg mass beside a beer can. ©Jackie Hildering.

A striking example of the beauty among the debris – species trying to survive amongst what most often purposely/ carelessly ends up in the Ocean – an egg mass laid by a Pacific Sea Lemon (nudibranch) where each dot can hatch into a larval nudibranch. Next photo, the nudibranch that likely laid the egg mass beside . . . a beer can. ©Jackie Hildering.

@2016 Jackie Hildering one time use -13324