Tag Archives: whales

Is Climate Change Making Gray Whales Picky Eaters?

The Oregon Coast is known for its ruggedness and harsh weather, but also offers a prime opportunity to spot gray whales on their migratory paths. These majestic marine mammals undertake one of the largest migrations of any animal, traveling from the Arctic to Baja California to breed before heading back north along this “whale super-highway.” Despite having the mechanisms to feed in the water column, these benthic specialists prefer bottom feeding, scooping up sand from the seafloor and filtering out invertebrate prey through their baleen, likely targeting locations of high caloric content. However, along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, a behavior known as ‘prey switching’ has been observed, where gray whales feed in the water column instead of their preferred benthic prey, amphipods. Our upcoming guest, Taylor Azizeh, a first-year Ph.D. student at the Marine Mammal Institute, explores what may be driving this prey switching behavior.

Polar regions are among the top locations to be impacted by climate change, which Taylor suspects may be responsible for grey whales switching from benthic to pelagic prey. Changes in bottom water temperature and sediment grain size may result in habitats less favorable for amphipods, leading whales to seek food elsewhere. In response to warming, the distribution of other predators may shift to where they compete for the same food source, or the reduced sea ice cover could result in more productive pelagic waters. How do gray whales, these benthic specialists, adapt to changing food availability?

Gray whale populations often experience boom and bust cycles or unknown mortality events, with the most recent one currently underway. Taylor’s research on the foraging plasticity of gray whales is not only timely, but also employs a holistic approach using a combination of methods to assess the big picture. She plans to use stable isotopes to provide information on what whales are feeding on, but only when combined with GPS tags tracking movement and drone photogrammetry measuring body conditions can one understand where and why. Taylor plans to utilize this combination to ask big picture questions such as whether they’re feeding in areas of high biomass, if they return to those same areas, and how much adaptability can individual gray whales display?

At its core, Taylor’s research delves into the adaptability of gray whales. Gray whales have survived the ice ages, proving their ability to deal with harsh conditions, and Taylor hypothesizes they may be more flexible than we currently understand.

To learn more about Taylor’s passion for these charismatic animals of ecological, social, and cultural importance, the adventure which led here to grad school—from Costa Rica to Ecuador, Denmark, and London—tune in to KBVR 88.7 FM this Sunday, Nov. 3. You can listen to the episode anywhere you listen to your podcasts, including on KBVR, Spotify, Apple, or anywhere else!

A surprise trip to the coldest continent on Earth!

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had a very impromptu guest join us for our show on February 18th. Rachel Kaplan is a 4th year PhD student in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, who researchers whales and krill around the world to better understand predator-prey dynamics. Part of her PhD research involves going to Antarctica so we sat down with Rachel to chat about what it’s like conducting field work on the coldest continent on Earth!

You can listen to the episode anywhere you listen to your podcasts, including on KBVR, Spotify, Apple, or anywhere else!

A Gut Feeling: Examining Whale Ecology Using Number-Two Genetics

This week we have a MS (but soon to be PhD) student from the department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Charles Nye, joining us to discuss their work examining the dietary and environmental DNA of whales. So that begs the question – how exactly does an environment, or a diet, have DNA? Essentially, the DNA of many organisms can be isolated from samples of ocean water near the whales, or in the case of dietary DNA, can be taken from the whales’ fecal matter – that’s right, there’s a lot more you can get from poop than just an unpleasant smell.

Why should we care about what whales eat?

As the climate changes, so too does the composition of creatures and plants in the oceans. Examining environmental DNA gives Charles information on the nearby ecological community – which in turn gives information about what is available for the whale to eat plus what other creatures they may be in resource competition with. He is working to identify the various environmental DNA present to assist with conservation efforts for the right whale near Cape Cod – a whale that they hold as dear to their hearts on the East Coast as the folks of Depoe Bay hold the grey whale to theirs.

By digging into the whale poop to extract dietary DNA, Charles can look into how the whales’ diets shift over seasonal and yearly intervals – and he is doing precisely that with the West Coast grey whales. These dietary shifts may be important for conservation purposes, and may also be applied to studying behavior. For example, by looking at whether or not there are sex differences in diet and asking the ever-important question: do whales also experience bizarre pregnancy cravings?

two people underwater in scuba gear. Some tall kelp in the background. One person is holding a light which emits a beam into the water.
Scuba diving underwater.

How does someone even get to study whales?

Like many careers, it starts with an identity crisis. Charles originally thought they’d go into scientific illustration, but quickly realized that they didn’t want to turn a hobby he enjoyed into a job with deadlines and dread. A fortunate conversation with his ecology professor during undergrad inspired him to join a research lab studying intertidal species’ genetics – and eventually become a technician at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. 

After a while, simply doing the experiments was not enough and they wanted to be able to ask his own questions like “does all the algae found in a gray whale’s stomach indicate they may actually be omnivores, unlike their carnivorous whale peers?” (mmm, shrimp).

Turns out, in order to study whales all you have to do is start small – tiny turban snail small. 

Image of Charles working in the lab and using a micropipette. They are wearing a lab coat and white rubber gloves. He is holding a small tube into which the tip of the micropette is inserted.
Working in the lab.

Excited for more whale tales? Us too. Be sure to listen live on Sunday, February 5th at 7PM on 88.7FM, or download the podcast if you missed it. Want to stay up to date with the world of whales and art? Follow Charles @thepaintpaddock on Twitter/Instagram for his art or @cnyescienceguy on Twitter for his marine biology musings. 

Are You Listening? For Whale’s Sake, Keep it Down!

Our guest tomorrow night, Selene Fregosi PhD student in Fisheries and Wildlife, investigates noises produced by marine mammals and in particular, whales. Selene employs an under water microphone to record the bioacoustics produced by marine mammals over large spatial and temporal scales. Attached to remote controlled marine gliders, these microphones can record bioacoustics of marine mammals, some of which produce sounds of inaudible frequencies. Marine gliders limit the time and expense of whale monitoring from the deck of a marine vessel. This cost effective alternative allows Selene to collect oceanographic measurements like temperature and salinity and her audio recordings remotely through satellite transmitted programing. Selene’s explorations through her project will provide information about the effectiveness of this technology for future research with marine mammals.

Selene getting the glider ready.

Selene getting the glider ready with the help of Alex Turpin.

In addition to the practical aspects of this research, Selene is interested in how noise pollution from ships, submarines, and other vessels affects the behavior of charismatic mega fauna. By examining the sound spectra of an audio recording, Selene can identify each species by their characteristic sound patterns. After deciphering bioacoustics obtained from the microphoned-gliders, Selene can understand whale behavior during different times of year or different locations around the world. In fact, some of Selene’s recordings are the first ever to record whale behavior and movement off the coast of Guam!

Characteristic sound pattern of a beaked whale.

Characteristic sound pattern of a beaked whale.

Selene hopes that in the future, her work will aid the conservation of whales and other marine mammals. Deciphering bioacoustics can allow for the identification of when and where specific species are breeding, and conservationists can then work to reduce noise pollution. As our oceans become noisier from human activities, Selene’s research could provide accurate and specific information to limit disruption of crucial population maintenance and growth.

Learn more about Selene’s and other interesting research from the Klinck lab at OSU by visiting their blog.

Join us Sunday, November 22 at 7 pm to hear more about Selene’s research and her unique journey to graduate school. Tune in to KBVR Corvallis 88.7 FM or stream the show live!