Hearing Gray: Diving into the Sonic World of the Gray Whale

By Natalie Nickells, visiting PhD Student, British Antarctic Survey

For the last three months, I’ve been lucky enough to be welcomed into the GEMM lab as a visiting PhD student to work on the acoustic data from hydrophones in CATS tags deployed on gray whales. This work has been a huge change for me! I’ve gone from studying Antarctic baleen whale foraging, the topic of my PhD, from a distance at my desk in Cambridge England, to studying PCFG gray whales in Newport- and finally being in the same country, state, and even county to the whales I am studying! Unlike my Antarctic research, where whale blows in the distance become tiny points in a sea of data, listening to the CATS tag data has allowed me to really connect with these animals on an emotional level, as I’ve spent days, weeks and months listening to the world as they hear it.

Humans are fundamentally visual creatures- we take in information through sight first, with hearing probably our second, or for some even third, sense in line. However, for marine mammals, the same cannot be said: their world is auditory first. This fact is an important realisation to get our heads around, highlighted beautifully by the phrase “the ears are the window to the soul of the whale” (Sonic Sea (2017)) or Tim Donaghy’s emotive statement that “a deaf whale is a dead whale”. High levels of ocean noise therefore have a huge impact on baleen whales. Imagine trying to do your groceries or find a friend while blindfolded or in a thick fog– you might struggle to access food or communicate with others, and your stress would certainly be high. To succeed, you would likely need to change your behaviour.

Behavioural changes in response to ocean noise are observed in baleen whales: for example, humpback whales change their foraging behaviour when ship noise increases (Blair et al., 2016), and gray whales have been shown to call more frequently and possibly more loudly in conditions of high ocean noise (Dahlheim & Castellote, 2016). However, even in the absence of notable behaviour change due to ocean noise,  North Atlantic  right whales  may still be experiencing a stress response. When shipping traffic in the Bay of Fundy significantly decreased in the aftermath of 9/11, North Atlantic  right whales in the area had decreased chronic stress levels (Rolland et al., 2012).

Previous work by the GEMM lab observed this stress response to ocean noise in gray whales. They found a correlation between high levels of glucocorticoid (a stress indicator) in male gray whale faeces with high vessel noise and vessel counts in the area. Vessel noise was measured using two static hydrophones off the Oregon coast, and it was assumed all animals in the area experienced the same noise (Lemos et al., 2022; Pirotta et al., 2023). However, a static hydrophone is an imperfect measure of the sound levels a mobile animal experiences, particularly as we might expect animals to change behaviour when disturbed (Sullivan & Torres, 2018).  This previous work became the starting point for the question I have addressed during my time in the GEMM Lab: can we measure and characterise the sound levels  an individual whale was exposed to? Enter CATS tags. These are suction-cup tags fitted with a host of sensors, which have been used by the GEMM lab since 2021 (see Image 1). So far, they have mostly been used for their accelerometry data (Colson et al. (in press), see also Kate’s blog post). However, the GEMM lab had the foresight to put hydrophones on these tags, and as a result I was welcomed into the lab by a bumper-crop of hydrophone data just waiting to be analysed!

Image 1: A gray whale (“Slush”) being tagged with a CATS tag and Natalie (right) with the same tag.

This tag data is particularly valuable, not only for its ability to follow the acoustic world of an individual whale, but also due to the whole suite of data that comes with the acoustics: essentially, the acoustic data comes with behavioural data. Or at least, it comes with data from which we can infer behaviour (Colson et al, in press)! Incorporating behaviour into passive acoustics work hugely strengthens its ecological usefulness (Oestreich et al., 2024). We can hear what an individual whale is hearing, and we can also infer what they were doing before, during, and after they heard or made that sound. Having behavioural data also means that we can ground-truth the sounds we hear. When hearing an interesting sound, I can go back to the video data and accelerometer data to check what the whale sees, what its body-position is doing (e.g., is it headstand foraging?) and the speed and direction of its travel. Context is key!

The importance of context was highlighted in my very first week here in the GEMM lab. I became very interested in a sound I could hear frequently when the whale would surface- a distorted bark-like noise, but the whale was surely too far offshore for any barking dog to be heard? And almost every time the whale surfaced? After a few days pondering, I shared my mystery with Leigh, who laughingly revealed that one of the whale-watching boats in this area has a ‘whale-alerting’ dog on board! Sometimes if it sounds like a dog… it’s a dog! Besides my slightly anticlimactic discovery of dogs barking, committing time to listening to the tags and hearing what the whales hear, has been a magical experience. My favourite hydrophone sound, that still gets me excited when I hear it, is the gray whale ‘bongo call’- or as it’s more formally known in the literature, M1 vocalisation (Guazzo et al., 2019). I’ll let you decide which name is more appropriate! I first heard this call when investigating a time on “Scarlett’s” tag when we knew her 14 year-old daughter “Pacman” had been close: about 15 minutes before “Pacman” appears on the video, Scarlett makes this call (you can play the clip below to listen).  In “Lunita’s” tag, we even hear this call three times in a row!

Image 2: A ‘bongo call’ made by “Scarlett” when her daughter “Pacman” was nearby.

Relatively little research has been done on gray whale calls compared to other more studied species like humpbacks. Most of this research has taken place on gray whale migratory routes (Guazzo et al., 2019, 2017; Burnham et al. 2018)  or in captivity (Fish et. al, 1974 ) so these tag recordings could be a valuable addition to a small sample from the foraging grounds (Clayton et al., 2023; Haver et al., 2023)- as well as being very personally exciting to hear!

We’ve also been able to use the tag hydrophone data to look at close calls with ships. As I was going through the data on “Scarlett’s” tag, I noticed a spike in vessel noise. Looking at the video from the same timestamp, I could see a small vessel passing directly over her as she surfaced. At the time this vessel passed over her, the tag was only 0.8 m under the surface of the water!

Image 3: A close encounter between a small vessel and “Scarlett”, shown both on the video from the CATS tag (top) and the spectrogram (bottom). The close call is outlined in a yellow box, when a greater intensity of noise occurred as illustrated by the brighter colour intensity compared to the white box (quieter vessel noise). Brighter colours denote a louder volume. The red boxes show surfacing noise- this can essentially be ignored when interpreting the echogram for our purposes.

Sometimes vessels may be more distant, but possibly equally harmful: we have seen vessel noise from larger and presumably more distant vessels dominate the soundscape in some of the tag data. Remembering that to a whale, the sonic world is as important as the visual world is to us, this elevated background noise from ships could have major consequences. So, the first step is to try to quantify the gray whales’ exposure to this vessel noise. I’ve been running some systematic sampling on the tag data to try to quantify background noise levels, and how this changes depending on the time of day: do individual whales experience the same daily spikes in ocean noise that were detected on the static hydrophones, at around 6am and noon due to vessel traffic (Haver et al., 2023)? If not, are they taking evasive action to avoid these spikes? These are just some of the questions that these CATS tags can help us answer, although ideally we need longer acoustic data recordings to capture day and night data, as well as potentially improving the hydrophones on the CATS tags themselves to minimise the impacts of tag interference and random noise.

When explaining to the public what it is to be a PhD student, I often refer to myself as a ‘scientist in training’, or to young children, a ‘baby scientist’. As I look toward my departure from the GEMM lab, I hope to have developed into at least a scientific toddler, having gained the ability to walk through reams of acoustic data with (relative) independence. More than that, I’m excited to take home a refreshed sense of curiosity about what drives marine mammals to behave as they do, an openness to collaboration and new approaches, and a large dose of ‘American emotion’! Let’s hope my British colleagues can handle it!

My heartfelt thanks to all those who welcomed me so warmly at the GEMM lab and Oregon State University, particularly my mentors Leigh Torres and Samara Haver.

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Bibliography

Sonic Sea (2017) Directed by Michelle Dougherty [Film] Distributed by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Blair, H.B., Merchant, N.D., Friedlaender, A.S., Wiley, D.N. & Parks, S.E. (2016) Evidence for ship noise impacts on humpback whale foraging behaviour. Biology Letters. 12 (8), 20160005. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2016.0005.

Burnham, R., Duffus, D. & Mouy, X. (2018) Gray Whale (Eschrictius robustus) Call Types Recorded During Migration off the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Frontiers in Marine Science. 5, 329. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00329.

Colson, K., E. Pirotta L. New, D Cade, J Calambokidis, K. Bierlich, C Bird, A Fernandez Ajó, L. Hildebrand, A. Trites, L. Torres. (in press). Using accelerometry tags to quantify gray whale foraging behavior. Marine Mammal Science.

Clayton, H., Cade, D.E., Burnham, R., Calambokidis, J. & Goldbogen, J. (2023) Acoustic behavior of gray whales tagged with biologging devices on foraging grounds. Frontiers in Marine Science. 10, 1111666. doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1111666.

Dahlheim, M. & Castellote, M. (2016) Changes in the acoustic behavior of gray whales Eschrichtius robustus in response to noise. Endangered Species Research. 31, 227–242. doi:10.3354/esr00759.

Fish, J.F., Sumich, J.L. & Lingle, G.L. (n.d.) Sounds Produced by the Gray Whale, Eschrichtius robustus.

Guazzo, R., Schulman-Janiger, A., Smith, M., Barlow, J., D’Spain, G., Rimington, D. & Hildebrand, J. (2019) Gray whale migration patterns through the Southern California Bight from multi-year visual and acoustic monitoring. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 625, 181–203. doi:10.3354/meps12989.

Guazzo, R.A., Helble, T.A., D’Spain, G.L., Weller, D.W., Wiggins, S.M. & Hildebrand, J.A. (2017) Migratory behavior of eastern North Pacific gray whales tracked using a hydrophone array S. Li (ed.). PLOS ONE. 12 (10), e0185585. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185585.

Haver, S.M., Haxel, J., Dziak, R.P., Roche, L., Matsumoto, H., Hvidsten, C. & Torres, L.G. (2023) The variable influence of anthropogenic noise on summer season coastal underwater soundscapes near a port and marine reserve. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 194, 115406. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115406.

Lemos, L.S., Haxel, J.H., Olsen, A., Burnett, J.D., Smith, A., Chandler, T.E., Nieukirk, S.L., Larson, S.E., Hunt, K.E. & Torres, L.G. (2022) Effects of vessel traffic and ocean noise on gray whale stress hormones. Scientific Reports. 12 (1), 18580. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-14510-5.

Oestreich, W.K., Oliver, R.Y., Chapman, M.S., Go, M.C. & McKenna, M.F. (2024) Listening to animal behavior to understand changing ecosystems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. S0169534724001459. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.06.007.

Pirotta, E., Fernandez Ajó, A., Bierlich, K.C., Bird, C.N., Buck, C.L., Haver, S.M., Haxel, J.H., Hildebrand, L., Hunt, K.E., Lemos, L.S., New, L. & Torres, L.G. (2023) Assessing variation in faecal glucocorticoid concentrations in gray whales exposed to anthropogenic stressors S. Cooke (ed.). Conservation Physiology. 11 (1), coad082. doi:10.1093/conphys/coad082.

Rolland, R.M., Parks, S.E., Hunt, K.E., Castellote, M., Corkeron, P.J., Nowacek, D.P., Wasser, S.K. & Kraus, S.D. (2012) Evidence that ship noise increases stress in right whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1737), 2363–2368. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.2429.

Sullivan, F.A. & Torres, L.G. (2018) Assessment of vessel disturbance to gray whales to inform sustainable ecotourism. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 82 (5), 896–905. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21462.

Toward an enhanced understanding of large whale ecology: a standardized protocol to quantify hormones in whale blubber

Dr. Alejandro A. Fernández Ajó, Postdoctoral Scholar, Marine Mammal Institute – OSU Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna (GEMM) Lab.

Whales are exposed to an increasing number of human-induced stressors—ranging from pollution and bycatch to the impacts of climate change on prey quality and distribution. Understanding how these factors affect whale health is critical for their conservation. The use of alternative approaches (i.e., alternative to blood samples) for gathering physiological information on large whales using a variety of non-lethal and non to minimally invasive sample matrices (i.e., blubber biopsies, blow, and fecal samples) provides a window into their endocrine state, allowing researchers to assess how these animals respond to both short-term and long-term stressors, and assess their reproductive and nutritional status. However, a lack of standardized protocols might hinder the comparability of results across studies, making it difficult to draw broad conclusions about the health and reproductive parameters of different whale populations.

Dr. Logan Pallin and I organized a lab exchange, funded by The Company of Biologists, to start a new collaboration aimed at bridging this gap by validating and standardizing methods for endocrine assessments in whale blubber. This is not just a technical exercise; it is a foundational step towards building equity and capacity in laboratories worldwide to conduct reliable and comparable endocrine assessments, enhancing the opportunities for multi-lab collaborations. Through this exchange, we aim to consolidate a standardized approach that will yield consistent results between laboratories, enabling better comparisons across different large whale populations. Hosted by the University of California Santa Cruz Biotelemetry and Behavioral Ecology Lab (UCSC-BTBEL Lab) under the mentorship of Dr. Logan Pallin, this experience is instrumental in advancing my research on large whale ecology and conservation.

Dr. Logan Pallin and Alejandro Fernandez Ajó conducting hormone extractions from gray whale blubber samples (left). Preparing a microtiter assay plate for hormone quantification in blubber (right).

During this exchange at the BBE Lab, I had the privilege of working closely with Dr. Logan Pallin, whose expertise in large whale endocrinology (particularly analyzing blubber biopsies) has been instrumental in shaping modern approaches to whale research. The lab’s cutting-edge equipment and Logan’s extensive experience with hormone extraction and quantification methods provided an ideal setting for refining our protocols. Our work focused on the extraction and quantification of progesterone from gray whale blubber samples provided by the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Stranding Network, part of MMI. These large blubber sections allow for repeated sub-sampling to ensure that the selected immunoassays reliably detect and measure the hormones of interest, while also assessing potential sources of variability when applying a standardized protocol. We initially focused our tests and validations on progesterone, as it is the precursor of all major steroid hormones and serves as an indicator of reproductive state in females.

A fieldwork day off Monterrey Bay, California with Dr. Logan Pallin, and PhD candidate Haley Robb. Blubber. Blubber biopsies can be obtained from free swimming whales with minimally invasive methods. From each sample we can derive multiple information about the reproductive status, genetics and overall health of the individuals.

The broader impact of our work
The successful validation and standardization of these protocols represents a significant advancement in whale conservation physiology. Once these methods are established, we plan to acquire funds to apply them to a larger collection of blubber samples. We hope to expand our work to include other species and regions, building a broader network of researchers dedicated to studying large whales in a rapidly changing world, and to assess hormone profiles in relation to factors like reproductive success, body condition, and exposure to stressors such as vessel traffic and environmental changes.

During our fieldwork in Monterey Bay, we had fascinating encounters with Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata, top left), a large group of Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus, bottom left), playful Humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae, top right), and a Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus, no photo).

As I conclude this lab exchange, I am filled with excitement for the future. The knowledge and skills gained during this experience will undoubtedly shape the next phase of my research, allowing me to contribute more effectively to the conservation of these incredible animals. I look forward to applying these standardized methods to ongoing and future projects, and to continuing this fruitful collaboration with the BBE Lab. This journey has reinforced the importance of collaboration, standardization, and innovation in the field of conservation physiology. By working together, we can better understand the complex lives of large whales and take meaningful steps towards their protection in an increasingly challenging environment.

Acknowledgments: This exchange was made possible by the support of The Company of Biologists Traveling Fellowship Grant. I would like to thank Dr. Ari Friedlaender (BBE Lab PI) for facilitating this exchange, and Dr. Leigh Torres (GEMM Lab PI) and Dr. Lisa Balance (MMI director) for their support in helping me expand my collaboration network and skillsets. Special thanks to PhD student Haley Robb for her assistance in the laboratory and fieldwork, and a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Logan Pallin for generously sharing his knowledge and time.

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The Beginning of the End

By Rachel Kaplan, PhD candidate, Oregon State University College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab

I moved to Corvallis exactly four years ago, in the deep, dark midst of the Covid pandemic, and during the added chaos of the 2020 Labor Day Fires, some of the worst in Oregon’s history. I vividly remember attending our virtual lab meeting sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes, while my labmates told me their own stories (many, surprisingly!) of moving during natural disasters. At the time, beginning graduate school represented so many big changes in my life: I had quit my job, sold my furniture, and moved across the country, hoping to explore an area of research that had been calling to me for years, and to gain a new skillset and confidence.

Highlight: A very pandemic cruise. My first day of marine mammal fieldwork in 2021, at sea with (now Dr.) Dawn Barlow.

Now, I’m starting the fifth year of my PhD, thinking about all that has happened and all that is to come. Graduate school is full of milestones to mark time and progress: I’ve taken the courses required for my program, sat for a written exam to test my broad knowledge of oceanography, and written a dissertation proposal. Earlier this year, I spent two months buried in the literature on oceanography, krill, and whale ecology in preparation for my oral qualifying exam. I’ve stared at the water for dozens of hours watching for whales off the Oregon coast, and experienced polar night studying winter krill in Antarctica. I’ve conquered my fear of learning to code, and felt constant, profound gratitude for the amazing people I get to work with.

The last four years have been incredibly busy and active, but now more than ever, it feels like the time to really do. I can see the analytical steps ahead for my final two dissertation chapters more clearly than I’ve been able to see either of the other two chapters that have come before. One of my favorite parts of the process of research is discussing analytical decisions with my labmates and supervisors, and experiencing how their brains work. Much of our work hinges on modeling relationships between animals and their environment. A model, most fundamentally, is a reduced-scale representation of a system. As I’ve learned to use statistical models to understand relationships between krill and whales, I have simultaneously been building a mental model of the Northern California Current (NCC) ecosystem and the ecological relationships within it. Just as I have long admired in my supervisors and labmates, I can now feel my own mind becoming more playful as I think about this ocean environment, the whales and krill that make a living in the NCC, and the best way to approach studying them analytically.

Highlight: Working on my dissertation proposal during a friend’s 2022 wedding celebration in Utah.

Graduate school demands that you learn and work to constantly exceed your own bounds, and pushing to that extent for years is often stressful and even existentially threatening. However, this process is also beautiful. I have spent the last four years growing in the ways that I’ve long wanted to, and reveled in feeling my mind learn to play. I wouldn’t give up a moment of the time I’ve spent in the field, the relationships I’ve built with my labmates, or the confidence I’ve developed along the way.

As I look ahead to this next, final, year of graduate school, I hope to use what I’ve learned every day – and not just about how to conduct research, but about myself. I want to always remember that krill, whales, and the ocean ecosystem are incredible, and that it is a privilege to study them. I hope to work calmly and intentionally, and to continue appreciating this process of research and growth.

Highlight: My first in-person oral presentation, at the 2024 ICES-PICES International Zooplankton Production Symposium in Hobart, Tasmania.

The Theme of the Year is Learning New Things!

By Hali Peterson, rising freshman, Western Oregon University

Hello, my name is Hali Peterson and I am a rising freshman in college. Last summer (2023) I was given the opportunity to be a paid high school intern for the OSU Marine Mammal Institute’s very own GEMM Lab (Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory) based at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. My time working in the GEMM Lab has been supported by the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. I started my internship in June 2023 and I was one of the two GEMM Lab summer interns. However, my internship did not end when summer did, as I continued to work throughout the school year and even into this summer. 

Figure 1: Leaving work late and accompanied with a beautiful view of the Newport bridge over Yaquina Bay.

June 29, 2023 to September 20, 2024 (1 year, 2 months, and 21 days if anyone is curious) – what did I do and what did I learn during this time…

Initially, I was tasked with helping the GRANITE project (Gray whale Response to Ambient Noise Informed by Technology and Ecology) by processing drone footage of Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales and identifying their zooplankton prey. I started off my internship under the mentorship of KC Bierlich and Lisa Hildebrand and I dove into looking at zooplankton underneath a microscope and watching whales in drone footage, both gathered by the GEMM Lab field team. 

KC taught me how to process drone footage, measure whales and calibration boards, test an artificial intelligence model, as well as write a protocol of the drone processing methods that I had worked on. These tasks were a big responsibility as the measurements need to be accurate and precise so that they can be used to effectively assess the body condition of gray whales, which provides crucial insights into population health.

Figure 2: My favorite drone video of moms and calves meeting up for a playdate!

Under Lisa’s mentorship I learned how to identify and process zooplankton prey samples, process underwater GoPro videos, as well as identify and analyze kelp patches from satellite images. Within these tasks, I honed my expertise in zooplankton and habitat analysis and the results of my work will contribute to a deeper understanding of gray whale feeding habits along the Oregon coast.

Figure 3: My favorite zooplankton to see, a juvenile crab larva.

As my main mentors, KC and Lisa taught me so much about the world of science and research. All of these detail-oriented and multi-layered tasks helped me improve some of the skills I already had before I started the internship as well as gift me with skills I didn’t previously possess. For example, I learned how to collaborate and work with a team, pay attention to detail, double and even triple check everything for quality work, problem solve, and learn to ask questions. 

However, as my time in the GEMM Lab extended beyond the summer of 2023, so did my tasks. Later on I received another mentor, Clara Bird. Under Clara I learned how to identify whales from drone footage recorded in Baja, Mexico (an area that is specifically known as the breeding lagoons where the gray whales go in the winter), as well as use the Newport, Oregon drone footage and CATS (Customized Animal Tracking Solution) tag data to measure inhalation duration and bubble blast occurrences. These experiences furthered my knowledge and yet again I learned something new, a common theme throughout my time in the GEMM Lab. 

Just a few months ago, the GEMM Lab hired Laura Flores Hernandez as a new high school student summer intern, and under the guidance of both Lisa Hildebrand and Leigh Torres, I was given the opportunity to develop my own mentoring skills. I used the skills I had obtained over the past year to teach someone else how to do the tasks I once was new to. I taught Laura how to identify zooplankton, process drone footage, and measure calibration boards. Stepping into that mentor role helped me reflect on my own learning and experiences. I had to go back and figure out how I did things, where I struggled, and how I overcame those struggles. Not an easy task but one I was glad to be presented with. 

Figure 4: Matthew Vaughan (chief scientist on the trip) and me (right) looking at a box core sample.

During my time here I was also invited to join a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) cruise led by Oregon Sea Grant with fellow high school students. On this science cruise I got to help look at box core samples (a tool used to collect large amounts of sediment off of the ocean floor). Equipped with my previous knowledge on zooplankton identification, I was able to help the chief scientist on the trip to explain to other high school students what we were seeing in the samples. This trip helped me grow my teamwork and identification skills, as well as experience what it is like to collect data while on a moving ship. 

Figure 5: Sea Kayaking through the fjord with the Girls on Icy Fjords team of 2024.

Another amazing opportunity I was selected for was to join the 2024 Girls on Icy Fjords team. This program, in association with OSU, was designed to empower young women in STEM in the backcountry of Alaska. With a team of 3 amazing instructors and 8 girls (all from different parts of the United States of America) we camped in the backcountry for 8 days, learning about glaciers and fjords, surviving in the backcountry, sea kayaking, and working as a team. I would highly recommend any young woman interested in science, art, or just an amazing experience to check out Inspiring Girls Expeditions.

Bonus Image: This is Jeff the Moyebi Shrimp and I love him.

All in all this will be a job that I will not soon forget; interning in the GEMM Lab has been both a learning opportunity as well as a challenge. My internship wasn’t without its challenges, from a computer that seemed determined to shut down whenever I made progress, to endless hours spent staring at a green screen, waiting to count a fish that might eventually swim by. Though the job had its ups and downs, I am so glad I was given this opportunity and was kept on in the lab for as long as I was. In just a few weeks, I will start my Bachelors of Aquarium Science at Western Oregon University and I’m both excited and nervous. I know that without a doubt the skills I learned during this internship will come in handy as I continue my education and pursue a career in the future. 

Thank you to all my mentors, anyone who answered one of the many questions I had, and to the friends I made along the way!

Two Leaders Wearing Two Hats: A wrap-up of the 2024 TOPAZ/JASPER Field Season

Celest Sorrentino, incoming master’s student, OSU Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, GEMM Lab

Allison Dawn, PhD student, Clemson University Dept of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, GEMM Lab Alum

Allison:

Celest and I were co-leaders this year, so it only feels fitting to co-write our wrap-up blog for the 2024 field season.

This was my first year training the project leader while also leading the field team. I have to say that I think I learned as much as Celest did throughout this process! This hand-off process requires the two team leaders to get comfortable wearing two different hats. For me, I not only made sure the whole team grasped every aspect of the project within the two training weeks, but also ensured Celest knew the reasoning behind those decisions AND got to exercise her own muscles in decision making according to the many moving parts that comprise a field season: shifts in weather, team needs, and of course the dynamics of shared space at a field site with many other teams. With the limited hours of any given day, this is no small task for either of us, and requires foresight to know where to fit these opportunities for the leader-in-training during our day-to-day tasks.

During this summer, I certainly gained even more respect for how Lisa Hildebrand juggled “Team Heck Yeah” in 2021 while she trained me as leader. Lisa made sure to take me aside in the afternoon to let me in on her thought process before the next days work. I brought this model forward for Team Protein this year, with the added bonus that Celest and I got to room together. By the end of the day, our brains would be buzzing with final thoughts, concerns, and excitement. I will treasure many memories from this season, including the memory of our end-of-day debriefs before bed. Overall, it was an incredibly special process to slowly pass the reins to Celest. I leave this project knowing it is ready for its new era, as Celest is full of positive energy, enthusiasm, and most importantly, just as much passion for this project as the preceding leaders.

Fig. 1: Two leaders wearing two (massive) hats. Field season means you have to be adaptable, flexible, and make the most out of any situation, including sometimes having to move your own bed! We had a blast using our muscles for this; we are Team Protein after all!

Celest:

As I sit down in the field station classroom to write this blog, I realize I am sitting in the same seat where just 12 hours ago a room full of community members laughed and divided delicious blueberry crumble with each other.

We kicked the morning of our final day together off with a Team Protein high powered breakfast in Bandon to have some delicious fuel and let the giggles all out before our presentation. When Dr. Torres arrived, the team got a chance to reflect on the field season and share ideas for next season. Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for:  at 5 PM Team Protein wrapped up our 2024 field station with our traditional Community Presentation.

Fig 2: Team breakfast at SunnySide Cafe in Bandon, which have delicious GF/DF options.

Within a month and a half, I transitioned from learning alongside each of the interns at the start of the season knowing only the basics of TOPAZ/JASPER, to eventually leading the team for the final stretch. The learning spurts were quite rapid and challenging, but I attribute my gained confidence to observing Allison lead. To say I have learned from Allison only the nitty-gritty whats and whys of TOPAZ/JASPER would not suffice, as in truth I observed the qualities needed to empower a team for 6 weeks. I have truly admired the genuine magnetic connection she established with each intern, and I hope to bring forth the same in future seasons to come.

Witnessing each intern (myself included!) begin the season completely new, to now explaining the significance of each task with ease to the very end was unlike any other. Presenting our field season recap to the Port Orford Community side-by-side with Sophia, Eden, Oceana, and Allison provided an incredible sense of pride and I am thrilled for the second TOPAZ/JASPER Decadel party in 2034 when we can uncover where this internship has taken us all.

…Until next season (:

Fig 3: Team Protein all together at the start of season all together.

Fig 4: Team Protein all smiles after wrapping up the season with the Community Presentation.

Fig 4: Our season by numbers for the 2024 TOPAZ/JASPER season!

Speeding Up, Slowing Down, and Choosing My Fig

Celest Sorrentino, incoming master’s student, OSU Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, GEMM Lab

It’s late June, a week before I head back to the West Coast, and I’m working one of my last shifts as a server in New York. Summer had just turned on and the humidity was just getting started, but the sun brought about a liveliness in the air that was contagious. Our regulars traded the city heat for beaches in the Hamptons, so I stood by the door, watching the flow of hundreds upon hundreds of people fill the streets of Manhattan. My manager and I always chatted to pass the time between rushes, and he began to ask me how I felt to move across the country and start my master’s program so soon.

“I am so excited!” I beamed, “Also a bit nervous–”

“Nervous? Why? 

“Are you nervous you’ll become the person you’re meant to be?”

As a first-generation Hispanic student, I found solace in working in hospitality. Working in a restaurant for four years was a means to support myself to attain an undergraduate degree–but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also love it. I found joy in orchestrating a unique experience for strangers, who themselves brought their own stories to share, each day bestowing opportunity for new friendships or new lessons. This industry requires you to be quick on your feet (never mess with a hungry person’s cacio e pepe), exuding a sense of finesse, continuously alert to your client’s needs and desires all the while always exhibiting a specific ambiance.

So why leave to start my master’s degree?

Fig 1: Me as a server with one of my regulars before his trip to Italy. You can never go wrong with Italian!

For anyone I have not had the pleasure yet to meet, my name is Celest Sorrentino, an incoming master’s student in the GEMM Lab this fall. I am currently writing to you from the Port Orford Field Station, located along the charming south coast of Oregon. Although I am new to the South Coast, my relationship with the GEMM Lab is not, but rather has been warmly cultivated ever since the day I first stepped onto the third floor of the Gladys Valley Building, as an NSF REU intern just two summers ago. Since that particular summer, I have gravitated back to the GEMM Lab every summer since: last summer as a research technician and this summer as a co-lead for the TOPAZ/JASPER Project, a program I will continue to spearhead the next two summers. (The GEMM Lab and me, we just have something– what can I say?)

 In the risk of cementing “cornball” to my identity, pursuing a life in whale research had always been my dream ever since I was a little girl. As I grew older, I found an inclination toward education, in particular a specific joy that could only be found when teaching others, whether that meant teaching the difference between “bottom-up” and “top-bottom” trophic cascades to my peers in college, teaching my 11 year old sister how to do fun braids for middle school, or teaching a room full of researchers how I used SLEAP A.I. to track gray whale mother-calf pairs in drone footage.

Onboarding to the TOPAZ/JASPER project was a new world to me, which required me to quickly learn the ins and outs of a program, and eventually being handed the reins of responsibility of the team, all within 1 month and a half. While the TOPAZ/JASPER 2024 team (aka Team Protein!) and I approach our 5th week of field season, to say we have learned “so much” is an understatement.

Our morning data collection commences at 6:30 AM, with each of us alternating daily between the cliff team and kayak team. 

For kayak team, its imperative to assemble all supplies swiftly given that we’re in a race against time, to outrun the inevitable windy/foggy weather conditions. However, diligence is required; if you forget your paddles back at lab or if you run out of charged batteries, that’s less time on the water to collect data and more time for the weather to gain in on you. We speed up against the weather, but also slow down for the details.

Fig 2: Throwback to our first kayak training day with Oceana (left), Sophia(middle), and Eden (right).

For cliff team, we have joined teams with time. At some point within the last few weeks, each of us on the cliff have had to uncover the dexterity within to become true marine mammal observers (for five or six hours straight). Here we survey for any slight shift in a sea of blue that could indicate the presence of a whale– and once we do… its go time. Once a whale blows, miles offshore, the individual manning the theodolite has just a few seconds to find and focus the reticle before the blow dissipates into the wind. If they miss it… its one less coordinate of that whale’s track. We speed up against the whale’s blow, but also slow down for the details. 

Fig 3: Cliff team tracking a whale out by Mill Rocks!

I have found the pattern of speeding up and slowing down are parallels outside of field work as well. In Port Orford specifically, slowing down has felt just as invigorating as the first breath one takes out of the water. For instance, the daily choice we make to squeeze 5 scientists into the world’s slowest elevator down to the lab every morning may not be practical in everyday life, but the extra minute looking at each other’s sleepy faces sets the foundation for our “go” mode. We also sit down after a day of fieldwork, as a team, eating our 5th version of pasta and meatballs while we continue our Hunger Games movie marathon from the night prior. And we chose our “off-day” to stroll among nature’s gentle giants, experiencing together the awe of the Redwoods trees.

Fig 4A & 4B: (A) Team Protein (Sophia, Oceana, Allison, Eden and I) slow morning elevator ride down to the lab. (B) Sophia hugging a tree at the Redwoods!

When my manager asked the above question, I couldn’t help but think upon an excerpt, popularly known as “The Fig Tree” by Sylvia Plath.

Fig 5: The Fig Tree excerpt by Sylvia Plath. Picture credits to @samefacecollective on Instagram.

For my fig tree, I imagine it as grandiose as those Redwood trees. What makes each of us choose one fig over the other is highly variable, just as our figs of possibilities, some of which we can’t make out quite yet. At some point along my life, the fig of owning a restaurant in the Big Apple propped up. But in that moment with my manager, I imagined my oldest fig, with little Celest sitting on the living room floor watching ocean documentaries and wanting nothing more than to conduct whale research, now winking at me as I start my master’s within the GEMM Lab. Your figs might be different from mine but what I believe we share in common is the alternating pace toward our fig. At times we need speeding up while other times we just need slowing down.

Then there’s that sweet spot in between where we can experience both, just as I have being a part of the 2024 TOPAZ/JASPER team.

Fig 6A and 6B: (A) My sister and I excited to go see some dolphins for the first time! (~2008). (B) Taking undergraduate graduation pics with my favorite whale plushy! (2023)

Fig 7: Team Protein takes on Port Orford Minimal Carnival, lots of needed booging after finishing field work!

Little bit of Kayaking, Lot a bit of Zoops

Eden Van Maren, Homeschool Student from Brookings, TOPAZ/JASPER High School Intern

Hey! I’m Eden Van Maren, an upcoming high school senior from Brookings. I am homeschooled and am taking electives at Brookings Harbor High School. 

Growing up in rural Oregon, the outdoors have always been more than just my backyard. It’s been both my classroom and my playground. When Oceana (the other high school intern) and I were homeschooled together as children, Fridays meant her mom would take us up the Chetco River. One Friday, we took our snorkels to observe mature salmon migrating upstream. I remember being so amazed by the size and quantity of the salmon, my young brain could not understand why such large fish would want to swim up to such a small area to lay eggs. The next year when we returned to try and see if the salmon would swim upstream again, we found only one salmon swimming around. This river became my classroom, planting my initial interest in science. 

However. Let’s be clear: Being outside in nature was never “all work, no play” – Definitely lots of play! Summers were filled with sunsets on the beach, some foggy day hikes, but most importantly kayaking on the river. I have many fun memories of waking up early on a weekend to pack food for a long day of kayaking in a tandem with my dad and a bunch of other friends. As I’ve gotten older, my passion for both the environment and science have only grown.

Fig 1: My dad and I kayaking with my dog on the Chetco River.

After going on a college tour at the University of Oregon in January, I suddenly started thinking that I should begin planning for college and future career options. On that tour, I met Ma’yet, the Youth Program Education Coordinator at Curry Watershed Partnership who had worked with Allison. Ma’yet was familiar with the TOPAZ/JASPER program run by the GEMM Lab and, while we were discussing possible summer opportunities in science, they suggested that I would be a great fit.  

In early March, when I discovered there would be someone from the program coming to present at school, I had already been scheduled to work a shift at Dutch Bros. I managed last minute to have one of my coworkers cover the last few hours of my shift so I would be able to get there. He arrived late, so I ran to get there on time, but I made it! Upon arriving, I sat down for the presentation, and, within minutes, Allison confirmed my desire to be a part of this program. I always knew that science is where I wanted to focus my studies. When I came across this program, I was very interested because it involved exciting outdoor activities while learning and experiencing scientific field work. I was thrilled to meet Allison in person to ask questions and share my enthusiasm about the project. 


Before working at the Port Orford field station, I had never given much thought to zooplankton. I had known they were the primary prey for whales, but other than that, I hadn’t considered that there was much else to think about. After starting the work associated with zooplankton on this project, I learned through Sophia how zooplankton can be affected by water temperature and kelp abundance, among other things. Along with learning more about zooplankton ecology, part of the program includes collecting zooplankton samples from 12 different stations (using a kayak) out along the Port Orford coastal area. On my very first training day of zooplankton sampling, I pulled up a ridiculous number of zooplankton in the net (much more than the last few seasons).

Fig 2: Me pulling up my first net of zoops! Look at all that zoop!

Once we return to the lab after a morning of zoop collection, we observe these samples under a microscope, identify their species, and count how many species we collected from each station. Just two weeks into our data collection, we have collected 4291 individual zoops, which already surpasses the total amount of zooplankton collected in 2023 and 2022 combined! That’s a lot of zoops! But how do we do it? 

In our team, I am considered the zoop expert, but I couldn’t do it without a handful of Welch’s fruit snacks and my playlist full of bangers. Zoop processing can be very tedious, but I really enjoy the peace that comes with finishing a giant sample by myself. I love being able to blast AJR in the background while ID’ing each zooplankton even though my team loves to tease me for it (but really, I’m totally putting them on). As I’ve gotten better at ID’ing zooplankton, I started brainstorming about what could help teach other interns in the future. Allison and Lisa, the previous TOPAZ/JASPER leaders, created very useful guides used to train me but I felt that there could be other interactive methods to help interns learn about zoop. Having used Quizlet in the past, I thought it would be a great resource to introduce the zooplankton basics to new interns, so I created an online Zooplankton Identification quiz!

Fig 3A & 3B: Me processing a giant sample of Atylus Tridens.

Despite having only completed three weeks of our data collection season so far, I have already learned so much! From waking up at 5:30 ten days in a row, to kayaking for four hours straight, to even counting 995 (not 1000!) zooplankton in one sitting, this internship has been amazing. It’s been a great introduction to working in the scientific field as many of the responsibilities we have been taught are completely new to me. I am excited to share this internship experience as I apply to colleges and add to my list of skills “Zoop expert.”

Fig 4: My favorite zooplankton! A Dungeness Crab Larvae.

“So, I hear you’re an expert in marine mammal ecology?”

Oceana Powers-Schmitz, Brookings-Harbor High School student, TOPAZ/JASPER GEMM Lab Project, MMI Oregon State University

Hi, I’m Oceana Powers-Schmitz and while I am not quite an expert in marine mammal ecology (yet!), I am quite the expert in bringing the team together through a clever game and a heartfelt laugh. One game I turned the team onto this summer during a team dinner was “So, I hear you’re an expert in ______.” Essentially, someone in your group provides you with a niche topic and someone else will have to then go on a spiel about it for at least a minute. One of the best ones I heard so far was when we were driving back from getting Langlois Market hot dogs (don’t knock it, till you’ve tried it). I tasked Eden with “So, I hear you’re an expert in the price of tea in China”. The most fun part of this game is how you have to think on your feet when the pressure is on. This skill is helpful during this internship because I have had to troubleshoot a lot in the field. One example of this was when the team had to rethink the mechanics of our zooplankton net because it was not collecting efficiently. We solved this problem by taking a trip to Gold Beach Lumber and attaching a washer to the bottle to weigh it down, allowing for more space to catch zooplankton within the bottle.

Fig 1: Zooplankton net (Left) with fishing weights in the bottle. Zooplankton net (Right) after removing weights and adding washer.

Although I’m definitely the best at this game, the team has shown some promise at getting better as we spend more and more time together. At the start of the internship, I watched the team make our share of mess ups (fortunately during training week!) such as not turning on equipment or losing the spare zooplankton net overboard. As the internship has progressed, it has been amusing to experience us getting a handle on all the new methods and protocols that come with the TOPAZ/JASPER project. For example, in the beginning, one of the most challenging methods to execute in the field is setting up the Theodolite on an unlevel cliff side. But now Celest and I have a competition to see who can set up and level the Theodolite the fastest. (If you ask her, we’re tied— but I’m obviously winning.)

Fig 2: Celest (right) and me (left) after I assembled the theodolite. (Celest thinks she’s winning.)

Afternoons in the lab are an enjoyable part of the day (for me at least) because it is a chance to relax after an eventful, physically demanding (and hopefully whale-filled) morning. After we break for lunch, I head to the kitchen to make my go-to: 4 slices of Oven-roasted Turkey, a slab of butter, pinch of pepper and salt (can’t be stingy with the salt) on two toasted slices of Buttermilk bread. Pro tip: food is best digested with a book; I’m on my third one.

Fig 3: The best post-field day lunch combo 🙂

The afternoon is also a chance to become closer as a team. From watching the GoPro bloopers to trying desperately to get Google Earth to work in order to check if we were “on station,” these afternoons are always fun. While this statement might be a hot take, I’ve really gravitated to data processing over zooplankton ID. For this project, data processing consists of inputting RBR data, visibility metrics, and going through each station’s GoPro footage into an excel sheet. This process is an important part of the long-term study of our Port Orford field site because researchers will be able to access and use this information. Using what we have collected, future studies may draw new conclusions or make important findings that can be published and add to our knowledge of the ecology of the local gray whales.

Though I am not yet an expert in the field, this internship has solidified the idea that I could become one in marine science. I’m glad for the hands-on experience this internship has provided and through this I feel confident in the fact that I would enjoy this career path. Over the next couple weeks, I can’t wait to introduce the team to more entertaining games to keep us on our toes while we wait for whales. I’m excited for each of us to return home saying “I’m an expert at GEMM Lab’s TOPAZ/JASPER Gray Whale Project.”

Fig 4: Locked in, listening to my favorite podcast, looking through RBR data.

*P.S. Here’s a great podcast to listen to when processing data, you can thank me later 🙂

Radio Lab Link

Getting to the Bottom of it

Sophia Kormann, NSF REU Intern in the GEMM Lab, St. Olaf College

Hello! My name is Sophia Kormann and I am an NSF REU intern this summer in the GEMM lab being mentored by PI Leigh Torres, Allison Dawn, and Clara Bird. I was introduced in last week’s blog as part of our awesome whale team (deemed “Team Protein”) working out of Port Orford. I am a rising senior at St. Olaf College where I am studying statistics and biology. One of my personal goals for this summer was to get to the bottom of what is next for me. A pretty small task if you ask me… I really want to figure out if research is the route I want to go within the intersection of these two subjects or if something else would be a better fit. When looking into internships I wanted to find something where I could analyze data and see how research works as a career first hand, but not be stuck at a desk all day. I pretty much struck gold with the GEMM lab.

This summer I get to participate in field work that involves ocean kayaking, tracking whales, and identifying zooplankton, while also conducting statistical analysis on data collected from the past two years of this decade-long project. In 2022, the TOPAZ project introduced a new sensor to the data collection procedures, the RBR concerto,which records for dissolved oxygen and temperature readings during a “cast” through the water column. My big task for the summer was to explore how temperature and dissolved oxygen affect zooplankton abundance data that were simultaneously collected via a GoPro during the 2022 and 2023 field seasons. 

Figure 1. Me (!) doing my first zooplankton sampling in our kayak R/V Robustus. 

My project involves modeling zooplankton abundance as a response to temperature and dissolved oxygen. The ultimate goal would be to be able to plug in the dissolved oxygen and temperature to an equation and get back an accurate prediction for the zooplankton abundance, but this is often tricky to do with data that has been collected from the field. I needed to get to the bottom of what causes a change in zooplankton abundance. After a lot of trial and error, I eventually determined that temperature and dissolved oxygen at the lowest depth of each cast has the best relationship with zooplankton abundance along the whole cast, and thus produce the most accurate predictions of zooplankton abundance from the model. I literally had to go to the bottom of the ocean to get to the bottom of the relationship. 

In hindsight, these relationships make a lot of sense for the Port Orford ecosystem. Ask anyone at the field station this summer and we can all tell you that it can be VERY windy here. This abundance of wind mixed with the shallow depths of the system make for very well mixed water, which means that there is little variation in the temperature and dissolved oxygen in the entire water column from the surface to the floor (Kämpf 2017).  The wind here causes an increase of upwelling, which is the process of moving surface water away from the coast and allowing for deeper water to replace it. This upwelling brings cold, nutrient dense water that is low on oxygen to the surface (Bograd 2023). Since this Port Orford ecosystem is so well mixed, the bottom is likely the most stable in terms of temperature and dissolved oxygen (Ni 2016). Therefore, it would make sense that this stability would then lead to a better prediction of zooplankton as it is less affected by other factors that could be affecting the zooplankton abundance such as wind speed, land temperature, turbidity and other variables that we did not take into account while modeling.

Figure 2. Functional response curves produced from a general additive model for zooplankton abundance in response to bottom dissolved oxygen (top left), bottom temperature (top right), and station (bottom).

Table 1. Zooplankton abundance is significantly affected by bottom dissolved oxygen and bottom temperature.

At this point during my summer. I have made a lot of progress in completing the data analysis and I also have made a lot of progress in getting to the bottom of “what’s next?” for me. Thankfully, this effort did not involve going to the bottom of the ocean, although I aced my kayak safety and basic life safety training since being here, so I would definitely be able to self-rescue even if I did end up there. Anyhow, one thing that helped me with this process is that I had the privilege of attending the Decadal Celebration for the TOPAZ/JASPER project. I got the chance to interact with so many people that had been in my exact place as an intern on this project over the last nine years. We discussed gap years, masters programs, and just got to hear about so many different pathways to current roles. There truly is no one “right way” to go from here. 

This internship experience also taught me that I really enjoy sharing what I have discovered in this research. Whether answering the “What are you doing?” questions we get almost everyday from tourists while we are doing cliff work, or creating templates of my code for future researchers to use, or teaching Leigh Torres Gen-Z slang over dinner (ask her what “I’m dead” and “Let him cook” mean… she knows now!), I have found out that I love sharing information with others.

Figure 3. Me teaching the other interns and our new team lead how to analyze the GoPro footage. 

Part of what has drawn me to statistics is the ability to turn a long string of data into an easily digestible graph for the general public. Being a part of this opportunity has allowed me to really figure out my interests and I have discovered a very genuine passion for making sense of the unknown through data analysis. With this experience I know I will be happy with whatever comes next for me as long as there is someone to share results with and a challenging question for me to get to the bottom of.

We have four more weeks of work for this field season which means more time on the ocean and hopefully more time with whales! I am very excited to see what the near future holds for me and what more we will be able to uncover this summer. With our community presentation in front of us, I am excited to share our summer with those in Port Orford. I also get to present my own research in our REU poster symposium. I look back on the almost six weeks that have already flown by with gratefulness for all I’ve already been able to learn and look forward to the next four weeks with excitement for what’s yet to be discovered.

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References 

Bograd, SJ, Jacox, MG, Hazen, EL, Lovecchio, E, Montes, I, Pozo Buil, M, Shannon, LJ, Sydeman, WJ, Rykaczewski, RR (2023) Climate change impacts on eastern boundary upwelling systems. Annual Review of Marine Science 15

Kämpf, J (2017) Wind-driven overturning, mixing and upwelling in shallow water: A nonhydrostatic modeling study. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 5(4), 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse5040047

Ni, X, Huang, D, Zeng, D, Zhang, T, Li, H, & Chen, J (2016) The impact of wind mixing on the variation of bottom dissolved oxygen off the Changjiang Estuary during summer. Journal of Marine Systems, 154, 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2014.11.010 

Giving Ecologists Mega Muscles: Introducing the 2024 Port Orford Gray Whale Foraging Ecology Project Team, “Team Protein”!

Allison Dawn, Master’s alumni, OSU Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab

“Days are long and weeks are short” is the common quip used to describe our field work at the Port Orford Field Station, and given we have already breezed through our first week of the TOPAZ and JASPER projects I can confidently say this feeling has not changed. We have officially entered our 10th consecutive year of these two integrated projects, which provides experiential learning internships to high school and undergraduate students while conducting long-term monitoring of gray whale foraging ecology in this small study region.

To properly celebrate the decade of successful field seasons of TOPAZ/JASPER, the GEMM Lab organized a proper 10-year reunion party. Last Friday, 32 interns, previous team leaders (Florence Sullivan and Lisa Hildebrand), project PI Leigh Torres, and important project collaborators all gathered to share in a bit of nostalgia and laughter as we celebrated the project’s milestone. To get a preview of this “Decadal Celebration”, as well as our journey this summer, be sure to follow @gemm_lab on Instagram! Also keep an eye out for an upcoming blog post dedicated to recapping the celebration.

In addition to honoring the decade-long legacy, this year is also special as I am co-leading “Team Protein” with Celest Sorrentino, incoming GEMM lab Master’s student. Now with four South Coast summers under my belt, I am beyond excited to get to share what I’ve learned with someone equally as passionate about immersive marine science education and mentorship. While I am teaching Celest how to prepare for weather-dependent fieldwork, lead a team of 5, shop on a budget, organize the lab, and more, I am also learning so much from her. I am especially grateful for her bright energy and unwavering positivity, which are skills that can rarely be taught yet have such a powerfully positive influence on the success of a field season. After just a week together I feel there is no one better suited for me to pass on the “GoPro/RBR torch” to and I know she will lead the project successfully into its next chapter.

Figure 1: Allison and Celest, on a particularly windy day, fully packed with gear and groceries, ready and excited to head to the South Coast Outpost!

That said, we still have 5 weeks before the 10th year has officially culminated, and it is my honor and pleasure to introduce you to the team who will be paddling us through this incredible milestone! Before I talk about each individual, I’d like to explain the inspiration behind our team name this year.

Every Port Orford field team gets to choose their team name, and we quickly settled on ours – “Team Protein”! After we spent a few days together, the five of us found we have at least two things in common: we all love exercise and to fuel up on protein. Between quick 2-3 mile evening runs, competitive pushups after dinner, yoga – on top of our kayaking and gear-carrying- and so much baked chicken, we are undoubtedly getting stronger together. 

In addition to this name describing the team well, we also have seen an increase in zooplankton abundance sampled during the first-week than in previous years. Because whale food seems to be prevalent this year, we all agree that this season’s whales will also be on “Team Protein”. We hope that means we will see strong, healthy PCFG whale visitors in the next several weeks!

Figure 2: Logo for “Team Protein”, created by NSF REU Sophia Kormann

So, who exactly are the brains and brawn behind Team Protein? First, we have team leader Allison (me!). I defended my master’s degree in June 2023 and loved the beauty and community of the South Coast so much I decided to stick around for one more adventure-filled year before moving on to begin my doctorate at Clemson University in South Carolina. There I will be implementing all the skills and lessons learned in the GEMM Lab into studying grassland bird habitat using remote sensing technologies. I am thrilled to get another year of leading this incredibly dynamic project, mentoring students, and obviously increasing my muscle mass before I move on from studying (gray) whales to (bobwhite) quails.

Figure 3: Allison stoked on great conditions for our first kayaking sampling training day

Next, we have our co-lead, Celest Sorrentino!

Figure 4: Celest, Allison, and Leigh grabbing a selfie before the awesome Decadal Party!

Name: Celest Sorrentino

School/year: Oregon State University, incoming master’s student 

What interested you in this project/what are you most excited for?

As an older sister of four, teaching and mentoring them has always been something I’ve loved to do and intended to hone my skills in as I pursued higher education. When the opportunity arose during a conversation with Dr. Torres last summer to be able to develop these valuable skills during my masters, I couldn’t be more excited. Now having completed just my first week here in Port Orford, I can totally understand the enamor Allison has shared for this project. I am excited to continue to learn from her as not only a lead for this project, but also from her own mentorship style that is both naturally impactful and unique. 

Our third team member is our NSF REU student Sophia Kormann. Stay tuned for her blog next week on the exciting project that she has been co-mentored by myself, Leigh and Clara.

Figure 5: Sophia enjoying the beautiful moonrise on the cliff site at the Decadal Party.

Name: Sophia Kormann

School/year: rising senior at St. Olaf College

What interested you in this project/what are you most excited for?

I was looking for something within biology research that would allow me to do a lot of analysis but wouldn’t just be sitting at a desk all day. And if you get the chance to whale watch everyday for the summer…you take it. I am the most excited to combine my interests in biology and statistics.

Next we have Eden Van Maren, who I met during a recruitment talk in Brookings. Eden immediately stood out as an enthusiastic and bright student.

Figure 5: Eden’s first zooplankton net sample had more amphipods than Allison had ever seen in the net!

Name: Eden Van Maren

School/year: I am homeschooled doing electives at Brookings-Harbor High School. 

What interested you in this project/what are you most excited for?

I was interested in this opportunity because of the opportunity to do scientific field work while getting to kayak on the ocean. I’m excited to learn about how ocean conditions affect zooplankton and how that impacts whale foraging.

Last but not least, we have Oceana Powers-Schmitz. Oceana is a passionate bookworm and impressive history buff. In addition to taking on this fieldwork internship, she is also teaching herself Algebra 2 in order to test out of taking the class next year.

Figure 6: Oceana finds a red urchin at Nellie’s Cove!

Name: Oceana Powers-Schmitz

School/year: Brookings-Harbor High School

What interested you in this project/what are you most excited for?

Getting actual research/lab experience as well as using it to see what part of science I’m interested in, and to hopefully have a whale-filled summer. 

Well, as a surprise to no one, we’re off to do some yoga. Tune into our Instagram takeover by following @gemm_lab on instagram for more real-time updates from “Team Protein”!

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