Author: Solene Derville

Cruising through space and time – a GEMM Lab’s journey in the Northern California Current

By Solène Derville, Postdoc, OSU Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab

Last month I had the privilege to participate in the 2023 September Northern California Current (NCC) cruise onboard the NOAA RV Bell M. Shimada. These cruises are part of a long-term NOAA/NWFSC effort to study the NCC ecosystem and they have been taking place every February, May, and September since 2002. Thanks to a collaboration with NOAA (and more specifically the NCC cruise chief scientist Jennifer Fisher), the GEMM Lab has been able to put marine mammal observers on these cruises since 2018.

As a postdoc working on the OPAL project, I have been the main person in charge of processing and analyzing the cetacean data collected across the 10 (now 11!) cruises that the GEMM lab participated in. These data have played a paramount role in improving our understanding of rorqual whale (e.g., blue, humpback, fin) distribution and habitat use off the coast of Oregon (Derville et al., 2022) and assessing the resulting risk of entanglement in fishing gear that they face while migrating and feeding in our waters (Derville et al., 2023). But while I have been very involved in the data analysis side of things, up to now I had never been able to contribute to data collection for this project. First, I was working remotely at the height of the COVID pandemic and second, because the NCC cruises are onboard a NOAA vessel, they have strict limitations on non-US citizens participation. So, you can imagine how excited I was (as a French citizen) to finally set foot on the famous Bell M. Shimada that I had heard so many stories about!

The NCC cruises illustrate how valuable long-term ecosystem monitoring is. Station after station, miles surveyed after miles surveyed, little by little, we learn about the complex ecological relationships and changing patterns that shape life in the ocean. The data, the experience, and the memories accumulated over the years are a true legacy that I have felt very proud to be part of. Finally, being on this ship, I felt like I was walking in the path of so many of my friends who had held those same binoculars before. Florence Sullivan, who pioneered the GEMM Lab’s NCC cruise observer effort in the harsh winter weather of February 2018. Alexa Kownacki (May 2018, May 2019), whose detailed field notes I read years later with emotion and appreciation as they helped me figure out how the Seebird software used to collect data back then (and abandoned since!). Dawn Barlow (Sep 2018, Sep 2019, Sep 2020, May 2021, May 2022), our master observer who is said to be able to detect a whale’s blow 10 miles away in a 10-foot swell and Beaufort sea state 6, all while sipping an Affogato coffee. Clara Bird (Sep 2020, May 2022), who abandoned her beloved nearshore gray whales (twice!) to sail all the way to the NH-200 station (200 nautical miles from land!). Rachel Kaplan (May 2021, May 2022, Sep 2022), our jack of all trades who concurrently studies krill and whales, and by doing so probably broke the record of numbers of times running up and down between the flying bridge and the echosounder screen room down below. Renee Albertson (Sep 2022), a Marine Mammal Institute research associate who shared observations with Rachel until the cruise was cut short by an engine issue that led them to the docks of Seattle. And finally, Craig Hayslip (May 2023), who swapped his usual observer work on the United States Coast Guard’s helicopters as part of the OPAL project for two weeks onboard the Shimada.

What a team!

From left to right and top to bottom: Florence; Alexa; Dawn; Clara; Renee, Rachel and the rest of the science team including Jennifer Fisher and Anna Bolm; Craig; Rachel; and I!

The 11th NCC cruise with GEMM Lab observers onboard was equal to its predecessors as it provided a perfect combination of camaraderie, natural beauty, Pacific Northwest weather, and unexpected change of plans.  After being delayed by one day, we discovered that a big storm system was coming upon us and would have us retreat to Yaquina Bay in Newport for 4 days! Overall, I spent 5 days surveying for marine mammals from the flying bridge, in conditions that went from a beautiful sunny Friday on September 22nd to an impressive Beaufort sea state 7 on the 29th. This experience was the king of weather in which it became particularly cool to be on a ship as big as the Shimada (63 m, 208 feet long!) that can withstand swell and wind better than any ship I had worked on before.

Overall, I observed 36 groups of cetaceans, including seven different species of dolphins and whales: one sperm whale, a possible Sei whale, several fin whales, blue whales, humpback whales, and pods of Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall’s porpoises and common dolphins. Among the highlights of this cruise was the observation of several blue whales and humpback whales that seemed to be feeding on the western slope of the Heceta bank. My personal favorite memory was also to observe common dolphins -a species that despite its name is not that common (at least not in the nearshore environment) and that I had never seen before in my life! How magnificent and graceful they were… and how lucky was I to be part of this voyage.

From left to right, top to bottom: a CTD deployment from the Bell M. Shimada; a whale’s dinner? Krill collected with a bongo net during a previous cruise; a very distant yet unmistakable sperm whale dorsal knob; a group of common dolphins; a marine mammal observer’s work tools; a blue whale surfacing at dusk.

More NCC cruise stories…

Surprises at Sea
Yonder Whales and Nearby Prey: A New Look at a Familiar System
Roger that, we are currently enamored
Marine mammals of the Northern California Current, 2020 edition
Surveying for marine mammals in the Northern California Current
Marine Mammal Observing: Standardization is key
Albatrosses at sunrise, dolphins at sunset: Northern California Current cruise
The Recipe for a “Perfect” Marine Mammal and Seabird Cruise
Living the Dream – life as a marine mammal observer

References

Derville, S., Barlow, D. R., Hayslip, C. E., & Torres, L. G. (2022). Seasonal, Annual, and Decadal Distribution of Three Rorqual Whale Species Relative to Dynamic Ocean Conditions Off Oregon, USA. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 868566. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.868566

Derville, S., Buell, T. V, Corbett, K. C., Hayslip, C., & Torres, L. G. (2023). Exposure of whales to entanglement risk in Dungeness crab fishing gear in Oregon, USA, reveals distinctive spatio-temporal and climatic patterns. Biological Conservation, 109989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109989

Whale Filled Summer in the GEMM Lab

By Cristy Milliken, Thomas More University, GEMM Lab REU Intern

It’s summertime in the GEMM Lab, meaning many visiting students, interns, and technicians working in the lab (12 additional people to be precise!). This influx of new faces in the lab means blog posts by some new people, including me, Cristy Milliken, as I am an NSF REU intern. I am a rising junior at Thomas More University where I am majoring in Biology along with obtaining a double minor in marine biology and environmental science. Prior to this internship I knew little about humpback whales aside from them being baleen whales and large mammals. Safe to say, I know much more about humpbacks after researching them for the SLATE project. SLATE stands for Scar-based Long-term Assessment of Trends in whale Entanglements. The project utilizes photos of humpback whales that have been collected from 2005 to 2023 to develop and refine methods of analyzing scaring rates. These methods of scar analysis will be used to determine the effectiveness of fishing regulations in Oregon. The SLATE project started recently (February 2023) and thus the current stage of the project is focused on analyzing many individual photographs of humpback whales captured in Oregon waters to determine the presence or absence of an entanglement scar.

Finding evidence of a scar on a whale is tricky, and we have encountered a few issues while developing our methodology.  There is no universal method to analyze the scarring rate in whales, yet we are building off the methods created and utilized by Annabelle Wall and Jooke Robbins (Wall et al., 2019; Robbins., 2012). Robbins first developed the method of scar analysis using images of humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine. Wall refined the methods by creating set categories that classified every sighting of each  individual to determine the likelihood of being entangled in the past. The image scoring methods have some flaws, and the descriptions can be vague, leaving more questions than answers. One specific issue we faced was how best to define when an image is of the dorsal or perpendicular side of a whale’s tailstock because there were photos that were a mix of both body parts as seen in Figure 1. In the end, we chose to classify photos that did not show a clear view of both insertion points of the fluke into the tailstock as a perpendicular tailstock. It is important to make this distinction because the view of a whale’s body part can show very different markings that could change our perspective of the whale’s possible entanglement history. We also have to assess the quality of each image because the quality can hide or show details that could influence our ability to access the whale’s history. The quality of the photos range from being very good to being illegible, which can make scoring a bit difficult. Aside from these issues, I have been making progress and I have been enjoying the work that I am doing knowing could help researchers in the future. This area of research is something that I could possibly pursue in the future because I enjoy working in an area helping with conservation efforts.

Figure 1: Perpendicular tail fluke of a humpback whale. Photo taken by Jenn Tackaberry; Copyright Cascadia Research Collective.

In addition to my research project, I am also expanding my personal connections and boundaries.  I have started to feel more comfortable here in Newport, although I do miss my family. Everyone in the GEMM lab, as well as in the MMI in general, was very welcoming and kind so that made things easier to settle in. I have also been learning about other projects occurring since everyone has been showing off all the amazing videos and data being collected.  

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been four weeks since I’ve arrived in Oregon. Had anyone told me that after my freshman year of college I would spend an entire summer in Oregon studying humpback whales scarring I would have never believed them and called them crazy. I’ve spent the majority of my life in Ohio thinking that it’d be impossible to study marine biology. But yet I was offered the opportunity to work in the GEMM lab and I will always be thankful for the opportunity.

Confidence has always been a struggle for me, but I wanted to challenge my insecurities, so I put myself out there in my application. Doing so opened up this opportunity and it makes me glad that I took the chance. Internships are a great way to build up confidence while gaining research experience, especially this one. I have met many amazing and kind people here and it has created an amazing atmosphere here at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. So, this is my message to everyone: take the chance and reach out because the opportunity could be an arm’s length away.

References

  1. Robbins, J. (2012). Scar-based Inference Into Gulf of Maine Humpback Whale Entanglement: 2010.
  2. Wall, A. (2019). Temporal and spatial patterns of scarred humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off the U.S. West Coast. Master thesis, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

“May the Force be with you” – or how to be a good mentor?

By Solène Derville, Postdoc, OSU Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Science, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab

This year, for the 15th consecutive summer, the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) will be hosting undergraduate interns as part of the NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program. The GEMM Lab will provide research experiences to no less than three REU interns for a 10-week period starting mid-June. Along with Leigh, Dawn, and Allison, I will be a daily “mentor” to one of these students; a role that the HMSC REU program takes very seriously.

I used quotation marks here because although I have been supervising/helping/engaging/leading teams and students for many years, I only really learned this new word, “mentoring”, after moving to the US. In my native language, French, the word “mentor” exists and has the same meaning as in English (i.e. a person who gives a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a period of time, especially at work or school; Cambridge Dictionary). However, the verb derived from this noun – “mentoring” – does not exist in French and the word we use instead sounds more like “supervising”. Actually, an advisor to a trainee or intern is often called “maître de stage”, literally meaning “internship master”, which conveys a pretty different message from the title mentor…

Why does that semantic nuance matter? Well, I believe that the words we use are an extension of the way we see the world. Fact is, although I have been an advisor to several students before, I had never received any formal mentoring training up to today and I never put that much thought into what mentoring meant to me. Well, I certainly did not see myself being anyone’s Master! So, what is the difference between mentoring and supervising?

A quick google search gave me a hint… supervision is very much task-oriented, it’s about overseeing a person’s activities and providing instructions and recommendations to ensure that the task is successfully completed. That’s all good and well, but mentoring adds an additional layer of care for the person’s long-term development, in an approach that strives to be more holistic. That approach may seem obvious to many academics today, but unfortunately things don’t always happen that way. Many of us could cite several cases where we have observed students being used as additional work force without much attention given to their wellbeing, learning, and personal development. Who has never seen a real-life professor like that of Phd Comics (Illustration below)? On top of that, mentoring styles, and the academic system as a whole, have long shaped the new generations of scientists to resemble their senior mentors, hence perpetuating inequity in education and a lack of diversity in research carriers.

PhD Comics is probably one of the most hilarious yet highly accurate depictions of the flaws of academic mentoring. Comic reproduced from “Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com.

I discovered that there are a lot of great resources out there to help early-career scientists navigate the waters of mentorship (e.g., Center for Improved Mentored Experiences in Research, OSU guidance for DEI learning). I also really appreciated the fact that the HMSC REU program director, Itchung Cheung, would take the time to meet all future mentors ahead of time, and make sure that they had the tools and resources to be good mentors. He made it clear that a student has many mentoring needs (e.g., role models, emotional support, access to opportunities, professional development…) and that it is not possible for one person to fill all these shoes. As PhD student Rachel Kaplan pointed out “It takes a village to raise a PhD student”! That being said, there are a couple simple rules that everyone should agree on before taking on interns or new students. I will not list all these best practices here but some of main take-away messages for me were the importance of planning, having clear expectations while staying flexible, encouraging interns to take an active role in setting goals and providing critical feedback, and fostering a welcoming environment in which the student can feel a sense of belonging.

Along those lines, I would like to end on a more personal note. Although I never received formal mentorship training, I do believe that I learned some of these skills in the most traditional way;  that is by learning by example. And (hopefully!) this process did not turn too badly because I was lucky to have great mentors to look up to. Among other qualities, my mentors always made me feel like I belonged, like what I had to say mattered. Reflecting upon my years as a graduate student, I now realize that this feeling is one of the things that allowed me to love research, with all its setbacks and challenges. My mentors always made me feel like I was among their priorities, whether it be by returning manuscript edits in time or listening to me present all of my latest analysis outputs and coding tribulations. Holistic mentoring is a bit of a jargony word, and although I am still learning the theories underlying that approach, I know that if that’s what I experienced as a mentee, then that’s what I will try to do as a mentor!

To learn more about research experiences for undergraduate at Oregon State University, check out this link.