WMMSN and The Cove

Have you seen or heard of the 2010 Academy Award winner The Cove? It's about little coastal town in Japan called Taiji, and their dirty little secret: mass dolphin slaughter.

Well, that's the simplified version. It's actually a really complex issue complete with government coverups, serious health issues, dolphinariums, and captive dolphin issues. It's an amazing movie and I urge each and every one of you to watch it. Do not shy away from it simply because of the slaughter aspect, you can easily cover your eyes for the short clips, but the movie will open your eyes to so much you never knew. It will also, hopefully, inspire you to become active in helping to end the dolphins slaughter.


That's what it did for me. And now I'm writing to you from my hotel in Japan, just minutes away from the infamous cove. I have traveled here as a volunteer for Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, Save Japan Dolphins, to help document and share this slaughter with the world.

Please follow along with my blog, which I will be updating daily. And please, if you haven't already, watch The Cove! It will change your life. Besides, if I can be here to witness it in person, surely you all can watch the movie and hide your face behind a pillow every now and then. :)

Blog: http://myporpoisedrivenlife.blogspot.com/


For the Dolphins!

Heather Hill
Education Director
WMMSN

'The Honeysuckle Story' to Play at Film Festival!

We are excited to announce that the WMMSN's own documentary 'The Honeysuckle Story' has been accepted into the Film Festival at the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference held later this month in Vancouver, Canada! 

"The festival will showcase the best and most recent films, videos and multi-media presentations about regional habitats and inhabitants of the Salish Sea." ~www.salishseaconference.org

What an honor! If you haven't seen 'The Honeysuckle Story' yet, check it out!

The Whale comes to Bellingham!

Have you heard the story of Luna (L98)?


Luna was a member of our Southern Resident Killer Whale Community, born to Splash (L67) in 1999. As a resident killer whale, Luna would have, and should have, spent his entire life in the company of his family. Resident killer whales have the tightest social bonds on Earth, never leaving their mother, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, great grandmothers, etc. But this was not the case for Luna. Somehow, one day, Luna became separated from his family. He was less than 2 years old. This is the true story of his life, all the friendship he made, and all lives he changed during his short time on our planet.

'The Whale' is a remake of the amazing film 'Saving Luna', done by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit, this time with a little help from the new narrator, Ryan Renolds. It is currently playing in Bellingham at the Pickford Limelight on Cornwall Ave, through October 13th. Gather your friends and family to see this wonderful film about an amazing little whale. This is a must-see!


For showtimes and locations visit www.thewhalemovie.com/

Squalicum Beach Seal Rescue

Today we received a call about a harbor seal at Squalicum Beach with injuries to its head. WMMSN responders arrived on scene to find that this seal not only had head injuries, but also appeared to be pinned in the water between rocks.


Given the small size of the seal (about 2.5 feet in length) we determined it was under a year in age, probably weaned only a month or so ago. When I first spotted the seal, it was hard to tell whether or not it was even alive. Given the predicament it was in, it wouldn't have been hard to imagine it had died. The waves washed in and out, but the seal did not move. It was an utterly heartbreaking sight. Then, it let out a few wheezing coughs, and the rest of the WMMSN responders arrived. It was time to get to work saving this seal!


We moved as many rocks as we could, but the seal still appeared pinned in place. We were all tempted to just grab it under its flipper pits and try to gently lift it out of there, but despite its injuries, this seal was quite alert and growling up a storm. We were definitely looking at the business end of those chompers! With a little bit of creative thinking, we were able to manipulate a net into a harness around its midsection. One responder lifted another rock, the seal started to scamper out of its hole, and with the net we were able to coax it into a pet carrier. Finally, it was ready for transport!


Next came the ordeal of HOW to transport it. San Juan Airlines is very generous, and allows us to put seal pups on their plane bound for San Juan Island, home of Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, free of charge. Unfortunately for us though, the last flight of the day had already gone out. Two of our responders volunteered to drive the seal down to Anacortes, and escort it on the ferry, as Wolf  Hollow volunteers were waited on the other side to receive it.


Our mission was a success. We were able to rescue and safely transport the seal to the rehab center, but it's not out of the woods yet. Now it is up to Wolf Hollow volunteers to nurse this little one back to health. Let's hope this little harbor seal has the strength and will to live, and will pull through and be released back into the wild!


Stay tuned for more updates about this little seal, as well as our soon-to-be-released rescued pups from this summer!

Ski to Sea Fun!

Have some free time this Memorial Day Weekend?

Come out and say hi to us at our Ski to Sea booth! We will be located on the Fairhaven Green behind the Colophon Cafe, from 9am to 8pm on Sunday, May 29th. Our booth will be stocked full of whale bones, informative handouts, and of course, your friendly WMMSN volunteers! Learn more about the marine mammals of Whatcom County, sign up to volunteer, or donate to our cause. See you then!

Wings Over Water

We all had a great time at Wings Over Water educating others about our wings under water! The biggest hit was by far our 'hands on' exhibit made up of a stuffed northern fur seal and harbor seal, a killer whale tooth, whale lice, skulls from a Steller sea lion, harbor seal, and northern fur seal, and various bones from an adult gray whale. Thanks to all those who came out to see us, and for those that couldn't make it, take a look at our pictures! 

'Bag it Bellingham'

A spinner dolphin with an abandoned plastic bag wrapped around
it's torso, dangerously close to covering it's blowhole.
Photo courtesy of the Wild Dolphin Foundation

Local citizens concerned with the environment have started an effort to ban one time use plastic bags from Bellingham stores, and implement a 5 cent fee on paper bags. This will greatly reduce our plastic waste and encourage members of the community to use reusable bags. Approximately 100,000 marine animals are killed every year by plastic debris that has either been blown or carelessly tossed into our waterways. This spans all ocean creatures including whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, birds, turtles, sharks, etc., etc. Please join us on Monday, March 28th at 7pm at the Bellingham City Council Meeting and take a stand against plastic!

Council Chambers, City Hall

210 Lottie Street

Bellingham, WA 98225

For more information visit: http://www.bagitbellingham.blogspot.com/

WMMSN @ Wings Over Water

Tomorrow is the annual Wings Over Water Festival in Blaine, and the WMMSN will be there to teach everyone all about the wings UNDER water! Stop by our booth and get the rare change to hold a killer whale tooth, pet a soft seal pelt, see the gigantic skull of a Steller sea lion and marvel at the enormous vertebrae of a gray whale! We'll have a face painting table and coloring station for kids (and those young at heart) and some faux blubber and arctic water to see just how our marine mammals stay insulated in their freezing environment. 
We also have brand new whale and dolphin & porpoise t-shirts that will be for sale, a 'guess how many shells are in the jar to win a seal print' game, and we'll be debuting an awesome mini documentary of the rescue, rehab and release of one lucky seal pup name Honeysuckle!
So come say hi, and learn all about the marine mammals of the Salish Sea; our wings under water!


Details and Directions:
http://www.blainechamber.com/wow/

J1 Ruffles Officially Missing

 J1 Ruffles swimming alongside J2 Granny

Photo by Sandy Buckley

After several recent encounters with J pod the Center for Whale Research, charged with keeping the Southern Resident Killer Whale population census, has officially listed J1 aka Ruffles as missing. The last time he was photographed was on November 21st, causing concern that he may not have survived the winter.

 Ruffles was the first Southern Resident to receive a photo-identification letter (J, meaning he is a member of J pod) and number (1, the first J pod whale to be documented). His name is an attribute to his immediately recognizable dorsal fin; tall and wavy like a Ruffles potato chip.

Born in 1951 (est.) Ruffles is the oldest and most recognizable male of this endangered orca community. His closest companion is J2 Granny, a 100 year old female who is believed to be his mother. The two were often seen traveling together. Granny, along with almost all other J pod whales have been photographed back in the Salish Sea in 2011, but the absence of the massive dorsal fin normally alongside of Granny has been hard to ignore. 

Ruffles has many offspring from K,  L, and even his own J pod. Preliminary paternity testing suggests that he is the most active male breeder, and has fathered more calves than any other male in the community. Perhaps the females of his community chose to mate with him time and time again because of his mature age and massive size, an indicator of 'good genes'. Or maybe it had to do with another reason entirely, a reason we humans may never understand. What is known however, is how much he will be missed if he is truly gone.

Within the next few months the entire community will likely return to the Salish Sea, and the whales unaccounted for will be declared 'missing and presumed dead' by the Center for Whale Research. Until then all we can do is hope that Ruffles is out there somewhere, alive and well, and finding plentiful schools of salmon.  

Sighting of Our Local L Pod in Monterey Bay

 Southern Resident Killer Whales in Monterey Bay, Jan. 27th 2008

Photo by Nancy Black

About 10,000 years ago the Vashon Glacier that covered our area was melting and retreating, exposing the deep channels it had carved. The water from the Pacific Ocean flooded in and created the inland sea now known as the Salish Sea. These waters became thick with salmon, and a group of killer whales living on the outer coast followed the salmon runs in and made a new home in the Salish Sea. Three pods made up this killer whale community; J, K, and L pod. Together they lived, played, and feasted almost year round in the channels and straits.

Then, the salmon they so heavily depended upon began to steeply decline as a result of continuous commercial fishing and heavy damming of rivers. With no food, the killer whales had to expand their winter range. Their search for food also split the group; smaller groups needed fewer salmon. Up until 2000, the furthest south the 3 pods were seen was near the Columbia River along the outer Washington Coast. Then in January 2000 there was an unexpected sighting of K and L pod in Monterey Bay California! This amazed researhers, as they were not typically seen in the winter months and no one knew where they were traveling. Members of L were sighted in Monterey Bay again in March 2003, January 2008, and were just sighted again on February 10, 2011. This time, Center for Whale Research founder Ken Balcomb was there, and was able to record the encounter himself. Meanwhile, parts of J pod are being seen near Whidbey Island, Washington, about a thousand miles away from the rest of their community.

Researchers are still looking for answers behind the long distance travels, but there's one thing we can likely be sure of: until and unless the salmon populations drastically increase in the Salish Sea, we can expect to see our local resident killer whales few and far between in the winter, making long treks in search of something to eat.

Read about the Monterey Bay sightings here.

Furthering Our Education and Making Connections!

Several WMMSN will be attending this year's "Ways of Whales" workshop put on by Orca Network. There are many presentations we're looking forward to, one of which will provide particularly useful information to us as a stranding network. John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research Collective will be discussing unusual cetacean sightings in the Salish Sea, such as the 34'5" Bryde's whale seen in December (necropsy complete and awaiting results, though cause of death appeared to be massive injuries obtained from a collision with a ship) and the lone bottlenose dolphin currently swimming around Puget Sound which may or may not be a member of the U.S. Navy's security program. The Navy announced it's plans to use both sea lions and bottlenose dolphins in the Puget Sound by the end of 2010, however they will not say whether this dolphin is from such program.

If you're interested in learning more about this workshop, visit the link below. Feel free to join us, it looks like it will be a fun and informative day!

Orca Network's 'Ways of Whales' workshop

Join WMMSN this Saturday at O'Donnell's Bellingham Flea Market!

Join us this Saturday the 18th 10am -5pm at the flea market on Cornwall Ave! We will have a booth set up right in front and will be selling our WMMSN t-shirts and beautiful seal prints drawn by our own Volunteer Coordinator Bob Ryerson - both of which make excellent holiday gifts! We will also be awarding one seal print to whoever can guess how many seashells are in a jar. Only $1 per guess, maybe you'll be that lucky winner!

As at all our booths, you'll also be able to learn more about our local marine mammals, sign up to volunteer with us, or make a donation to help keep us going.

Hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays!

Public Market Building, corner of Cornwall/York

(the old "Tube Time")

1522 Cornwall Ave.

Bellingham, WA 98225

A local sighting of wild weaned pups:

Every once in a while (usually due to some level of human interference) a seal pup needs a helping hand. For whatever reason some pups are abandoned and we're able to rescue them from certain starvation and send them to Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. During their stay at Wolf Hollow they'll be checked for any injuries or illnesses, fed a nutritious formula, gain lots of weight, and finally learn to swim and catch fish. After they meet the specific health requirements they're released back into the world to live out their lives as the wild harbor seal they were born to be. These rehabbed pups get a second chance at that "happily ever after" story.

Then there are the pups who don't need our rehab centers, and these are the stories we love to hear! A baby seal's best shot at life is to have a caring and attentive mother who will nurse it and teach it everything it will need to know to be a harbor seal. Only a mother can teach her pup invaluable life lessons such as effective hunting techniques, and how to watch out for those big black and white seal-eaters. These are the truly lucky ones, the ones with the greatest chance of survival. WMMSN volunteer Katharine Sell recently came across such a group near a popular seal haulout at Semiahmoo. While the larger adults haul out on the docks, these four weaned pups seemed content to rest together on a smaller floating log. Perhaps getting up on the docks is a bit too tricky for these pups right now. This will be just one of the many skills that both the wild weaned and rehabilitated seals will be practicing in the next few months, and we wish the best of luck to both!

Here's a brief account and a few pictures of the Dogwood/Snowberry adventures!

Their crates were open, and Snowberry was first to peek his head out. He slowly made his way out of the crate and into the water. He turned back towards the beach and climbed up, then turned back towards water. He finally started to swim a bit and then there was some big splashing and gulls circling him. Could he have found a fishy already?! We hope! We watched him swim around for a good ten minutes, occasionally glancing over at Dogwoods crate, which he was still in. Actually, he turned around so his head was facing away from the water! Apparently what Snowberry was doing looked like no fun. 

The Wolf Hollow volunteers pushed the crate closer to the water, until he was about 2 inches deep. They tipped his crate, we could hear him trying to scamper to the very back. Eventually the volunteers had to turn the crate completely upside down so he had no choice but to fall out of it into the water. He just stared at us. After a few minutes went by, one of the volunteers threw some pebbles his way to make a splash. He didn't move. After a few more minutes another volunteer walked right up to him and started kicking her boot right near his face to splash him with water. He looked up at her and jumped (as much as a seal can jump) right up at her. If he were a dog he'd have jumped right in her arms! It was so sad, you could almost hear him "But mama, I want to stay with you!" Eventually he started to swim away, but swam by all of us first, looking right up at us. Oh, poor baby, didn't want to go out in the big world! He also didn't really seem to get the concept of swimming like a normal harbor seal. He kept the "banana" pose the whole time, trying to keep his back flippers out of the water instead of using them to propel himself. Maybe his flipper tags were making him a bit uncomfortable? 

SeaDoc Society says we should be able to track them on a daily basis, I think starting in a week, on their website. 


~Heather Hill

WMMSN teams up with WhatcomCounts.org

What is WhatcomCounts.org?

     "WhatcomCounts.org is a o­ne-stop source for community health information in Whatcom County. Find data, learn about the issues, and determine effective methods for lasting improvement." - from their website


Click here to see the WMMSN page at WhatcomCounts.org:

WMMSN in the news: Komo 4 video

WMMSN in the news at bellinghamherald.com

POSTED: Friday, Jul. 16, 2010

"A newborn harbor seal pup was rescued from the beach Thursday, July 15, after its mother died and left it stranded. Volunteers from the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network picked up the seal at about 4:30 p.m. in the busy beach area across from the restaurant core along Birch Bay Drive."

Click here for full article

 

POSTED: Thursday, Sep. 09, 2010

"A newborn seal pup rescued from a Birch Bay beach after its mother died is expected to be released back into the wild by the end of September.
Meanwhile, rescue groups have seen a recent rash of seal killings in the area and are concerned fishermen may be killing the seals instead of deterring them other ways."

Click here for full article

Meeting Minutes 9/1/10

Date:

September 1, 2010

Location:

Metcalf Hodges Accounting Firm conference room

Meeting called to order at:

6:30 pm

People present at Meeting:

Mariann Carrasco

Heather Harris

Michael Bowland

Anastasia Edgar

Kelly Armijo

Lori Crawford

Victoria Souze

Edradine Hovde

Claudia Olejniczak

• Unanimous approval to accept minutes from past meeting
• Treasurer’s report from Lori shows that we have about $1400 in our account after paying some bills and getting all our refunds and donations covered.
• Mariann brought in all the items that go in the necropsy kits except the formaldehyde. Necropsy kits were passed out to Stasi, and Victoria said she could take Christi hers. Michael bought a kit on the spot. Mariann will hang onto Kellie’s until she gets back.

Old Minutes:

• Discussion on Adopt-a-seal program, donating seal prints. Danielle passed on costs she received from her boyfriend at 79 cents per copy not including matte. Since Bob wasn’t here we decided to table the discussion for a board meeting or the next Oct when everyone needed could make it. We need Bob, Victoria, Trisha, and others all at the same meeting at the same time. Bob was not able to get costs for the prints yet.
• Mariann gave a brief summary of the grants process. Mariann and Lori are finalizing the grant and it is with the grant reviewer now. Hopefully it will get finished and out this week or next. Claudia also asked to review it.
• Most folks are doing their beach surveys, although it has not revealed very many extra strandings, but the season is still young!
• This summer’s fundraiser, the boat trip, was cancelled as Trisha was very sick this summer and couldn’t plan the fundraiser properly. Get well Trisha! She should be on the mend now.
• Mariann reminded everyone to send their hours/expenses to Bob at the end of each month.

New Business

• Mariann and Kelly put in a plug for everyone to see the movie “The Cove”, an excellent documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Japan. Well worth viewing if you get a chance.
• Mariann updated everyone on a volunteer appreciation party to be held in January. Awards will be given out (some of them humorous!) and certificates for hours volunteered (so get your hours to Bob) as well as food, drink and other great stuff! More info to come out later.
• Mariann provided a statistical summary of strandings so far this year, in preparation for an article to come out in the Bellingham Herald either Sept 9 or 10. Watch for this article.
• We discussed have another seal triage training at Wolf Hollow to coincide with release of our pups later this month or next. Julie or Mariann to check into this possibility. (see what happens when you miss a meeting; an assignment!)
• We reviewed the highlights of the summer strandings and discussed the unusual ones and what things might work to make responses go more smoothly.
• We discussed ordering 2.5% Dextrose so that we have the proper fluids available should another pup go to NWRC. Mariann and/or Julie to look into this.
• We may include pictures of what we are doing into our grant to show how our education efforts are working. Mariann to look into this.
• Starr Johnson, one of our volunteers who was gone this summer while she served on the Sea Shephard, will be our presenter at the October meeting. She will talk about her experiences on the boat and what it was like working in the Mediterranean this summer.
• Next board meeting we should review our goals for 2011 and see what we can or can’t do with the money we have since we would not get grant money until summer of 2011, as well as finalize our adopt-a-seal program.
• Stasi, Lori and Heather gave updates on how the 2 summer education events went at Birch bay and Blaine.
• Mariann mentioned that elections will be held in November. The Co-Investigator position is open and all other positions, except the Education director which was just filled, will be available for new folks. We are looking for a NON-BOARD member to head up the elections committee (could be just 2-3 people) to canvas for board members in the November elections. If you are interested, please contact Mariann.

Mariann showed a draft clip (about 10 minutes) of the gray whale necropsy that happened last spring. This clip will eventually be part of a small documentary about the WMMSN and what we do that we can use at educational events that Ken Carrasco is working on, and will finish sometime in 2011.

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.

NOAA releases State of the Climate Report

This week NOAA released The State of the Climate report.  More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report.  This report shows the past decade was warmer than any other on record and our planet has been growing warmer for the last 50 years.

Details and more information about climate changes can be found here:

• Read the full report and supplemental information at BAMS Annual State of the Climate Report.
• See video release explanation of findings at NOAA Climate Services web page.
• View the press release from NOAA

 For updated information from NOAA check them out on Facebook.

Recent stranding news

On July 15th, the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network received a call about a seal pup at Birch Bay.  The pup was located on a populated portion of beach below the Blue Fish Restaurant.  An adult female Harbor Seal who appeared to have been the pup's mother was found dead near by.  The cause of death appeared to be complications with the birth.  The pup was very healthy and active but without a mother to nurse him and was in need of help as beach goers, kids and dogs were harassing the pup.

Volunteers arrived to crate the pup for a quick transfer to the Wolf Hollow Rehab Center in Friday Harbor and put him on the next flight.  The pup is now doing well at the rehab facility and is a boy.  His name is Dogwood and we hope he can be released into the wild again soon, probably in late September or early October.

The volunteers who participated in this days event were:

• Marcia Steadman
• Katharine Sell
• Shirley Sell
• Stasi Edgar
• Lynn & Michael Bowland