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Posts tagged ‘research’

Look Up! Way Up! – “Hexacopter” soars high above killer whales to study their fitness

[Update summer 2016 – research team is now applying this technology to Humpback Whales – both photogrammetry and collecting blow samples. See here for video of the research.]

Whale researchers generally have some pretty lofty goals but the methodology being used to study the health of at-risk Killer Whales might have the highest standard of all – literally.

With Johnstone Strait being one of the most predictable and sheltered places to see Killer Whales, many of us seafarers on Northern Vancouver Island had a front row seat in seeing what was “up” with this research. A marine “hexacopter” was used, a drone with a camera mounted to it that soars 30m or more above the whales to obtain high quality video and photos that provide very valuable information about the whales’ fitness.

Ready for take-off: Olympus EPL2 camera mounted to the APH-22 marine hexacopter. Photo Hildering.

Ready for take-off: Olympus E-PL2 camera mounted to the APH-22 marine hexacopter. Photo Hildering.

Researchers Dr. Lance Barrett-Leonard, Head of the Cetacean Research Program at the Vancouver Aquarium, and Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach of United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were very generous in sharing information about their high-flying research with our community. (Are you getting tired of my clever puns referencing height yet?!)

Dr. Holly Fearnback releasing the helicopter. Dr. John Durban centre and Dr.Lance Barrett Leonard on the right. Photo: Hildering.

Dr. Holly Fearnbach releasing the helicopter. Dr. John Durban centre and Dr.Lance Barrett Leonard on the right. Photo: Hildering.

Photo by Suzanne Burns showing how benign this method of study is - the research boat is more than 100m away and the hexacopter with camera is 30 m or move above the whales.

Photo by Suzanne Burns showing how benign this method of study is – the research boat is +/- 100m away and the hexacopter with camera is 30m or move above the whales.

All Killer Whales in BC are all at risk (Threatened or Endangered) and by getting the images from on-high, it is possible to better determine if the whales are thin and even if they are pregnant. This provides vital data such as being able to know if pregnancies did not go to term and how much the fitness of “Resident” Killer Whales depreciates in years of low Chinook salmon abundance. “Resident” Killer Whales are inshore fish-eating populations culturally programmed to be “Chinook-aholics” and their survival has been proven to be directly correlated to the abundance of Chinook salmon.

Here are some examples of the data obtained via hexacopter, revealing good news and bad news.

The bad news first  . . .

When Killer Whales are in dire condition and lose too much fat, this manifests as “peanut head”, sunken areas near the eye patches. I see this as the equivalent as sunken cheeks in the gaunt faces of underweight humans.

A Killer Whale with "peanut head" where the extreme loss of fat around the head causes sunken areas in the whale's head = the equivalent of gaunt cheeks in underweight humans. Photo taken during presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove's Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014. Photo: Jackie HIldering

A Killer Whale with “peanut head” where the extreme loss of fat around the head causes sunken areas in the whale’s head.  This is a photo of a slide from the presentation given by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014.

The images obtained with the hexacopter revealed that “Northern Resident” Killer Whales A37 and I63 were in extremely poor condition and, in fact, the whales disappeared from their matrilines (families) shortly after the images were taken. “Resident” Killer Whales stay with their families their entire lives so absence from the matriline most often means death.

The cause of death cannot be determined but know that when fat stores are get used up, manmade fat-soluble persistent organic pollutants (such as brominated fire retardants, PCBs, dioxins, etc) are released and affect the whale’s immune system. The mammal-eating Killer Whale of BC are known to be the most contaminated animals on earth.

In the presentation the research team provided in Telegraph Cove, I was gutted by the images of “Plumper” (A37 of the A36s) and I63 which showed concave eye patches and a tadpole-like body shape. The image of Plumper was contrasted to a healthy mature male Killer Whale (see below). As explained by Dr. Durban, Killer Whales when faced with fat loss, put water into the blubber layer so that they remain stream-lined. Plumper had lost so much fat, that it appeared he had to keep his pectoral fins extended to remain buoyant.  Ugh.

Image taken from the hexacopter revealing A37's very poor condition. He disappeared about 10 days after this photo was taken. A37 aka "Plumper" was one of the last 2 remaining whales in the A36 matriline of Northern "Resident" killer whales. He was 37 years old. The hexacopter study reveals that his brother A46 aka "Kaikash" is in good condition and he has been seen travelling with members of closely related matrilines. (Photo taken during the presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove's Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014. Photo: Jackie Hildering)

Image taken from the hexacopter revealing A37’s very poor condition. He disappeared about 10 days after this photo was taken. A37 aka “Plumper” was one of the last 2 remaining whales in the A36 matriline of “Northern Resident” killer whales. He was 37 years old. The hexacopter study reveals that his brother A46 aka “Kaikash” is in good condition and he has been seen travelling with members of closely related matrilines. The above is a photo of a slide from the presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014.

 

Image taken from the hexacopter revealing I63's very poor condition. She disappeared from her matriline about a week after this photo was taken (I15 matriline of Northern "Resident" killer whales). She was 24 years old. Photo taken during the presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove's Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014. Photo: Jackie HIldering

Image revealing I63’s very poor condition. She disappeared from her matriline about a week after this photo was taken (I15 matriline of “Northern Resident” killer whales). She was 24 years old. The above is a photo of a slide from the  presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014.

The good news . .  .

Data collected also revealed fat calves, robust nursing mothers, and pregnant females. Below, Dr. John Durban shares an image of 34-year-old “I4” of the I15 matriline of “Northern Residents” revealing that she is pregnant again.

Happy news! Photo taken from the hexacopter revealing reveals that I4 is pregnant. Photo taken during presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove's Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014. Photo: Jackie HIldering

Happy news! Photo taken from the hexacopter revealing that I4 is pregnant again (she is the whale at the bottom of the image). With gestation being 17.5 months in killer whales and that, around the world killer whales give birth in the winter, I4 is likely about 1 year pregnant in this photo. Photo taken during presentation by Dr. Lance Barrett Leonard, Dr. John Durban and Dr. Holly Fearnbach at Telegraph Cove’s Whale Interpretive Centre on August 25th, 2014. Photo: Hildering.

I am in no way advocating for the unregulated use of drones for viewing whales. The researchers reported that the regulatory paperwork needed to get approval for this research weighed more than the hexacopter did and that they were glad that this was the case.

This research methodology, when applied correctly, is a wonderful example of how advances in technology can lead to advances in knowledge in a way that is benign to wildlife. The sky’s the limit in how we let this knowledge impact our day-to-day actions to improve the health of the marine environment for which Killer Whales serve as powerful sentinels.

How high will you go for the sake of Killer Whales and what they are revealing about the health of our life-sustaining oceans?

 

Video taken with the Olympus EPL2 camera mounted to the APH-22 marine hexacopter. Note that the whales would not hear what you are hearing in this video as the camera is 30m or more above the whales. If video does not load go to http://tinyurl.com/pjz3hpf

Video taken with the Olympus EPL2 camera mounted to the APH-22 marine hexacopter. Note that the whales would not hear what you are hearing in this video as the camera is 30m or more above the whales. If video does not load go to http://tinyurl.com/pjz3hpf

Research methodology allowed for an assessment of the fitness of 77 "Northern Resident" Killer Whales (inshore fish-eaters) and 7 "Bigg's" Killer Whales (mammal-eaters aka "Transients"). Here, mature male mammal-eating killer whale T060s is being photographed from on high.

The hexacopter research allowed for an assessment of the fitness of 77 “Northern Resident” Killer Whales (inshore fish-eaters) and 7 “Bigg’s” Killer Whales (mammal-eaters aka “Transients”) by the research team during 2 weeks in August. Here, mature male mammal-eating killer whale T060C is being photographed from on high. Photo: Hildering.

Photo by Laurie Sagle showing how high the hexacopter is above the whales.

Photo by Laurie Sagle showing how high the hexacopter is above the whales.

The research team: Dr. Holly Fearnback; Dr. Lance Barrett-Leonard; and Dr. John Durban. Photo: Hildering.

The research team: Dr. Holly Fearnbach; Dr. Lance Barrett-Leonard; and Dr. John Durban. Photo: Hildering.

For more information:

Beethoven the Humpback Whale! What’s in a Name?

Da-da-da-dum!  

We now have a Humpback that we’ll refer to as “Beethoven” thanks to the great creativity of Maureen and Dave Towers of Seasmoke Whale Watching.

Let me explain why we think this nickname is particularly clever.

The convention in assigning a British Columbian catalogue number to Humpback Whales is that it reflects the amount of black or white on the underside of the whale’s tail. 

The Humpbacks are determined to be an:

  • “X” if there is lots of black on the underside of the tail (less than 20% white)
  • “Y”  if there is an intermediate amount of white on the underside of the tail (20 to 80% white); or
  • “Z” if there is lots of white on the underside of the tail (more than 80% white)

For example, BCZ0004 is the 4th Humpback with a lot of white on his/her tail to be photographed in BC and catalogued. 

(Note: Up to 2010, these catalogue numbers would be assigned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), to which we at the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) would contribute our ID photos. Since 2010, DFO has not catalogued Humpbacks whereby there are now also numbers such as BCZuk2012#3. Please see the end of this blog for an explanation of the “uk”).

BCZ0004?  It’s not such an easy name to remember is it?  So, years ago, we started assigning nicknames to the whales with the guideline that the name should somehow give a clue to the identification of the whale. The hope was that this would help people discern the whales as individuals. For example, I am responsible for giving BCZ004 the nickname “Stripe”.  See the ID page from our MERS Humpback catalogue below and determine if you think this name is fitting.

Click to enlarge. BCZ0004 aka “Stripe”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Hildering.

Okay , so it’s not a creative name but – it worked!  People associated the stripe-like marking with the whale and could identify “Stripe” as an individual. 

Here you have the female “Chunky”, aka BCX0081.

Click to enlarge. BCX0081 aka “Chunky”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Hildering.

Not to be confused with “Vader”, aka BCX0989, who also has a distinct v-shaped marking (may the force be with you for this one). 

Click to enlarge. BCX0989 aka “Vader”. ID photo contributed to MERS by Jacqueline McGill.

And then there are the more creative names, like “Niagara” for BCY0057 whose tail has a white spot shaped like a waterfall. 

Click to enlarge. BCY0057 aka “Niagara”. ID photos from DFO catalogue and Dr. Alexandra Morton.

“Pulteney”, aka BCZ0297, has been named with the Pulteney lighthouse in mind. See the lighthouse on BCZ0297’s tail?

Click to enlarge. BCZ0297 aka “Pultney”. ID photo contributed to MERS by Bruce Paterson.

Sometimes, the name may seem even more like taking a Rorschach Test (ink blotch test). For example, see the shape of a bear’s head on the left part of “Yogi’s” tail (aka BCY0409)? 

Click to enlarge. BCY0409 aka “Yogi”. ID photo by Jim Borrowman, Stubbs Island Whale Watching.

For the greater good, we often get local children involved in the naming and as a result have Humpbacks with highly creative nicknames like “Rocket”, “Sprinter”, “Hunter”, “Shark Tooth”, “Barracuda” and “Ashes”.

Otherwise, it is the person who first shares the sighting of the whale with MERS that has the joy of suggesting a fitting nickname. 

Such was the case with Dave and Maureen. They were the first to photograph the whale below on July 19th and relay the sighting to MERS. It is a Humpback that we had not previously sighted in the area. 

Click to enlarge. Photo by Dave Towers, Seasmoke Whale Watching.

See the dot-dot-dot-stripe on the tail?  

While “Dot-Dot-Dot-Stripe” is a very literal name, in musical notation for conductors “dot-dot-dot-stripe” signifies . . . da-da-da-dum. 

Da-da-da-dum!  Like in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony! 

Hence, there is now a Humpback whale nicknamed “Beethoven”.

Thank you Dave and Maureen – a gold star to you!

Note, regarding “uk” codes: Until 2010, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) ultimately assigned a catalogue number to Humpbacks in British Columbia. We at MERS contributed our data for this centralizing cataloguing and would assign a temporary “uk” (unknown) designation for whales not already in the DFO catalogue e.g. BCZuk2012#2 has a mostly black fluke, is not in the 2010 DFO catalogue, and was first documented by MERS in 2012. We are currently (2018) collaborating with colleagues to achieve an updated province-wide catalogue for Humpback Whales sighted off British Columbia’s coast.

The MERS Humpback catalogue can be downloaded via this link. 

The Humans Behind “Humpback Comeback”

Update: See this link for the results of the Humpback Comeback Project in the AVIVA competition.

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With just a few more days left to vote for the “Humpback Comeback” Project in the AVIVA Community Fund’s competition, I feel I need to crack.

I need to crack and respond to the many questions about who “we” are, the humans behind the Humpback Comeback Project.

We haven’t wanted to answer because of course, it isn’t a comfortable thing to put yourself “out there”; it’s been a broad community effort where we can’t mention everybody involved and; we didn’t want to detract from what the Project is about  – the whales and understanding the risk of entanglement.

But with all the remarkable support the Project has received, I feel we owe you.  Maybe too, in revealing the human element, the dedication behind the Project will be even more apparent and you’ll know all the more that your votes have been well invested.

So who are we, the volunteer effort behind the Humpback Comeback Project?  Below I include the biographies provided in our submission to the AVIVA Community Fund competition. Please realize that the information was written with the purpose of relaying our commitment to the Project and to our community. Self-promotion is difficult and awkward but the we did it to help the chance of success in the funding competition.

In complete self-mockery, we also include photos of ourselves so you can see the human faces behind Humpback Comeback. The photos were taken when we were out looking for humpbacks last week, on the cold Northeast Pacific. We recognize that the photos wouldn’t serve us well on Plenty of Fish but that’s not their purpose . .. for us, it’s about plenty of whales!

Please know too that there are so many more who have contributed time, resources and sightings – local whale watching companies (e.g. Stubbs Island Whale Watching began the data collection effort); Dr. Alexandra Morton (shared all the humpback data she had collected since the 1980s); our fellow members of the Marine Education and Research Society (Caitlin Birdsall, Leah Thorpe and Heidi Krajewsky) and many more from Northern Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada.

Thank you so much for caring and for your support.

Vote #5773!

Chrisite McMillan. Vote 5 . . .

 

Christie McMillan (Alert Bay, B.C.) has spent two years as a Humpback Whale Studies Research Assistant and member of the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Working with some of the world’s experts in entanglement research and humpback whale biology, she has gained skills and expertise in both of these fields.  She has also worked as a Cetacean Research Technician for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and an environmental educator and Naturalist for various non-profit and eco-tourism organizations.  She has played a key role in collecting, processing, and analyzing our humpback whale data since 2005.

Jared Towers. Vote 7, 7 . . .

 

Jared Towers (Alert Bay, B.C.) is a Cetacean Research Technician with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and has been operating boats and studying wild whales off the coast of British Columbia for the past 23 years.  He also is the Founder and Past President of the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association, an organization dedicated to finding the balance between sustainable eco-tourism and marine mammal conservation.  He is a skilled researcher, educator, and Captain, having worked in locations all over British Columbia, as well as in Mexico and Antarctica. He has been involved in our humpback whale research for the past 7 years.

Yours truly. Jackie Hildering. Vote 3 . . . Vote #5773!

 

Jackie Hildering (Port McNeill, B.C.) has been collecting and processing our humpback whale data for 7 years.  She is a highly respected marine educator with a very strong connection to the local community. She has worked as a marine naturalist for 12 years; was Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Education Coordinator for 7 years; runs a Young Naturalist Club; is President of the local dive club; and works for the SOS Marine Conservation Foundation.

Her role in the community is further evident in the local recognition she has received.  This includes:

  • 2010 winner of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Murray A. Newman Award for Excellence in Aquatic Conservation.
  • Recognition from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Director of Oceans, Habitat and Enhancement for “contribution to the preservation and enhancement of the salmonid resource  . . . helping ensure a better future for all Canadians” (June 2010)
  • Professional Merit Award – Port McNeill & District Chamber of Commerce (2009)
  • LiveSmart BC “Community Hero” (Oct 2008)
  • One of the top 3 nominees for the “Free the Children” Society’s “Me to We Awards” in the educator category (2007)


Humpback Comeback Project – Worth the Vote

Update: See this link for the results of the Humpback Comeback Project in the AVIVA competition.

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In recognition of how important the information was to our Humpback Comeback Project, Jim Borrowman provided us with his photos of a humpback whale entanglement dating back to September 23rd, 1994. This was a time when it was very rare to see humpbacks around N. Vancouver Island (B.C., CANADA) since they had been whaled intensely into the 1950s.

I include one of these images below but be warned that it is very upsetting.  I share it with you as it shows how devastating the threat of getting entangled in fishing gear can be. The photo provides insight into how necessary research into the threat of entanglement is and  . . . how valuable your voting is for the Humpback Comeback Project. (Please click here to place your daily vote so that $25K could be won for humpback entanglement research).

Christie McMillan (colleague in the Project who has expertise in judging the severity of entanglement injuries), concluded that the whale must have been entangled for a considerable time before these images were taken. The evidence of this is that the whale is very thin (emaciated) and its skin condition is very poor, being heavily covered in cyamids (whale lice).

Whale with severe entanglement injuries, 1994. Photo by Jim Borrowman; Stubbs Island Whale Watching; http://www.stubbs-island.com/

 

Jim Borrowman, Mike Durban and Dave Towers worked together and succeeded in freeing this whale from the lines. This heroic effort served as the inspiration for the children’s book “The Rescue of Nanoose” by Mary Borrowman and Chloe O’Loughlin; illustrated by Jacqueline Wang.

More, larger photos showing the severity of this entanglement at this link.

If you need more background on how to vote for the Humpback Comeback Project , please click here.

“Idol” for Humpbacks – Vote #5773

Update: See this link for the results of the Humpback Comeback Project in the AVIVA competition.

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Ready Team?

If you are reading this it is because you likely care enough to take one minute a day (to 9 AM Pacific, December 15, 2010), to help British Columbia’s humpbacks.

$25,000 for humpback entanglement research is at stake. Our “Humpback Comeback Project” has made the final round of voting in the AVIVA Community Fund and will need your votes to successfully compete “Idol style” against projects supported by the population base of urban Ontario.

How to help?

  • Register at this link if you have not yet had the opportunity to do so  (then click the link in the email that will be sent to you).
  • Spread the word any way you can . Our huge thanks to those who have Tweeted, Facebooked, forwarded these email bulletins, made posters and helped us get radio and print interviews. Your support has not only landed the Project in the final voting round, it has been deeply inspirational.

    "Arial" (BCY0767); known to us to be 3-years-old; born to "Houdini"( BCX0022); and having very strong fidelity to the area. Image: Hildering

    Whale-sized thanks indeed.


    Jackie Hildering
    Marine Educator / Biologist

If you would like a daily reminder, I would be very happy to provide you with one. Please click here.

If you would like to follow along on Facebook, join at this link.

For knowledge of just how bad the threat of entanglement can be, please see the images at the postings here.

Please note that your minute of voting a day supports the effort invested by myself and others who have volunteered their own resources for up to seven years to catalogue the return of the humpbacks and strive to understand the threats to them.

We will continue to volunteer our data collection time but can not carry out this extended study without financial support.

Looks Like We Made It – Humpback Comeback Project

Update: See this link for the results of the Humpback Comeback Project in the AVIVA competition.

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Thank you so much!

Our  small, Northern Vancouver Island project has withstood whale-sized odds and, with your continued support, may now win $25,000 for humpback conservation research.

The Humpback Comeback Project competed against community projects from across Canada in the AVIVA Community Fund’s contest that operates very much like an “Idol” for charities.

So many people voted for Humpback Comeback that it has advanced to the final round of the voting, finishing in the top 30 of 528 projects in the funding category.  But now the going gets really tough since our Project is up against many (wonderful) community projects that are championed by large population bases in urban Ontario.

Our Project may not originate from a densely populated area, but the community of people who recognize the importance of this research is very large indeed.

So, please, in true Idol style, from December 2nd to 15th,  click here to find out how to vote for the Humpback Comeback Project, #5773!

You have one vote a day for ten days in this time period.

Please too could you promote the Project by sharing this blog item with your social networks? Demanding, I know – but a great deal is at stake.

BCY0710

BCY0710 "Twister" who was entangled in prawn trap lines and anchored to the bottom, twice in a 3 week period in 2009 (May 18th and June 10th). Photo: Jared Towers.

 

If you would like a daily reminder, I would be very happy to provide you with one. Please click here.

If you would like to follow along on Facebook, join at this link.

If you’ve not registered in the prior round of voting, you will have to do so and then click the link that gets sent to you in an email.

Click here for the direct link to the Project.

After the final voting round, a jury will decide which of the top scoring Projects will be funded.

What a SPLASH it would create if this included the Humpback Comeback Project!

From team MERS – again, thank you so much.


Humpback Comeback Project – Please Vote!

Update: See this link for the results of the Humpback Comeback Project in the AVIVA competition.

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I have a whale-sized favour to ask . . . I need your votes.

To be exact, I need one vote a day for the next 10 days and your support in spreading the word to generate more votes for our “Humpback Comeback” research project.

It is of huge importance to me and the others in our small group of dedicated whale researchers on the Northern Vancouver Island (British Columbia) who, for the past 7 years, have been using our own boats, fuel, and equipment to try to learn more about humpbacks.
We have a chance of getting support through the Aviva Community Fund for an essential study to determine the rate of entanglement of humpbacks in B.C.  (whales getting caught in fishing gear). In a well-studied area of the North Atlantic ocean, about 75% of humpback whales have been tangled up in fishing gear at some point in their lives but there has been very little research into this threat to humpbacks in British Columbia.

Our motivation for this project is a direct result of what we have observed locally. See below for a very recent example of the severity of entanglement injury to a local humpback. The shocking images are of the before-and-after-entanglement of a whale we have nicknamed “Sharktooth” (no DFO catalogue number yet).

Please start voting today and up to November 26th, so that we might move on to the semi-finals.

Everyone has 10 votes (one vote a day), and you can vote for the same idea all 10 times.

So use your votes, tell your friends, and use Facebook or other social networks to spread the word! Please.
You need to register to vote at this link.

Then, please click the link in the email that is sent to you. You can then vote for the “Humpback Comeback Project” every day by clicking here.

Great thanks.

"Sharktooth" on June 20, 2010 - no injuries. Photo: Jackie Hildering. Click to enlarge.

"Sharktooth" on October 2nd, 2010 - with entanglement scarring. Photo: Bruce Paterson. Click to enlarge.

"Sharktooth" on October 2nd, 2010 - with entanglement scarring. Photo: Bruce Paterson.

"Sharktooth" on October 2nd, 2010 - with entanglement scarring. Photo: Bruce Paterson.