Tag Archives: Newport

The inside scoop: Newport, Oregon

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Newport, OR has been my home for four weeks now. With so many fun activities to do, I have tried not to waste a single day. During my adventures, I discovered some of the gems of Newport. Any future students staying at the Hatfield Marine Science Center should take a peek at this list if they find themselves bored in Newport.

First and foremost, if you like escape rooms, I HIGHLY recommend the Newport Escape Room at the Aquarium mall. You would not initially not think much of the place based on the exterior, but the rooms are well thought out. I had a ton of fun doing this with my family one afternoon.

If you enjoy beach bonfires, the beach next to the Devil’s Punch Bowl is ideal. There is a nice wind buffering rock wall. People watching can also be fun here, as it is a popular surfing spot. (Insider tip: You can buy wood from homeowners along HWY 101 for less money than you can at the grocery stores. I got a whole wheelbarrow full for only $20!)

Panini Bakery, in the Nye beach district, is the cutest bakery/coffee shop around. I get fresh sourdough bread from there weekly! They are even accommodating to plastic packaging avoiders like me. Just bring your own clean tea towel and reusable produce bag.

The Chelsea Rose seafood market sells the freshest and cheapest crab around, at least that I’ve seen. They were selling live crabs for only $9 a pound, when the South Beach seafood market was asking $15 a pound for non-live crabs. Their prices and availabilities change, but they keep their Facebook page up to date.

If you are itching to get more than your feet wet, and the ocean is too cold for you, head to Devils Lake near Lincoln City. The water is often a few degrees warmer than the air when the sun is out. There are several public beaches along the lake to choose from. You can also rent SUP, kayaks and boats from Blue Heron Landing Rentals along this beach. The company has waterfront property next to the lake, so you can get directly into the water. Check the wind before you go however! It can be a real workout fighting 15 mph gusts on a SUP (found that out the hard way).

A nice 3.5-mile day hike can be found an hour away from Newport near Otis, OR. The hike to Drift Creek Falls is super pretty and shaded. At the end of the trail, you cross a suspension bridge to get down to the bottom of the falls. There is a parking fee, so don’t forget to bring a little bit of cash with you.

While this list is not by any means comprehensive, it is a good place to start if you are looking for something to do in Newport.

The Summer of a Thousand Miles

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1060 miles

20 hours

14 interviews

And one day to say everything I need to say.

How could I possibly, in a five minute presentation, communicate the nuances of the 14 conversations I had with fishers up and down the Oregon coast? How could I make sure that they weren’t being misrepresented by my words, since some voices would disagree with others? Would the audience–which I knew would mostly be comprised of people in the biophysical sciences–understand the relevance of this type of work? These were the doubts rolling through my mind leading up to Friday, August 17th–the Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholars Final Symposium and, coincidentally, my 22nd birthday.

Never before have I designed a scientific poster, let alone present my scientific work in front of people who weren’t my peers or professors. As a dancer, I have been on stage hundreds of times. I know that chemically in the body, the feelings of excitement and anxiety are essentially the same. Cortisol levels spike. Your heart races. The last thing you want to do is wait. The only difference between these emotions is whether you are interpreting the situation in a positive or negative light. These feelings are not unfamiliar to me, but they caught me by surprise last Friday. All thirteen scholars–who I have come to adore over these past 10 weeks–were coming together one last time. My work, which was shared and understood within a small circle, was finally going to take the stage. I was exhausted from traveling long distances and preparing my materials. And I had high expectations for myself on this significant day. But I would not have it any other way. Excited and shaky, I took the floor in front of a standing room only audience.

My final symposium poster, which provides an overview of the projects I have been involved in and their context within the Human Dimensions Project of the ODFW Marine Reserves Program. Click the picture to view the poster in detail. If you have any questions about my work, feel free to comment below or message me at mbrist96@uw.edu

I briefly explained the place of human dimensions research in environmental policy. In my words, it boils down to analyzing a particular situation through multiple social sciences lenses at different units of people. Economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology all contribute to a holistic understanding of the world. I explained how my research dealt with individuals rather than groups of people or geographical regions, and what that looked like. I remember hearing a few empathetic gasps when I said I reviewed 785 written responses to a well-being survey four times over. And exclamations of surprise when I showed them the complex framework I used to assess how people think and what they value. I explained that being trained to think this way set me up perfectly for what I was brought to Oregon to do in the first place: to interview fishers on their perspectives of the marine reserves. For if you can’t get to the root of what people care about, you lose all potential to find common ground.

Looking over Astoria–the northernmost point in my journey–toward my home state of Washington.

At this point in the presentation I felt myself balancing the need to stay on script for the sake of time with the desire to deviate into stories. I drove over 1060 miles this summer for interviews–which is the equivalent of driving the Oregon coast three times over. I conducted interviews from Astoria along the Columbia River to Brookings, which is nine minutes from the California border. Each and every person I talked to had distinct backgrounds and countless stories, and were more than open to talk about their lives as fishers, challenges related to fisheries management, conservation, and the marine reserves. I can honestly say that my perception of fishers has changed radically since coming to Oregon. They are highly satisfied with their lifestyle and are in tune with the natural environment that their business depends upon. Many of them wish to collaborate with scientists and managers to create policies that serve the greater good, so long as their input is not used against them. These insights are just a snapshot of what I ascertained from 20 hours of conversation.

But what I couldn’t tell the audience was about everything that happened in between these conversations. Moments punctuated by extensive beaches, meeting new people, and exploring the Oregon coast. Places referenced in interviews that I had the privilege of seeing with my own eyes. And the coastal cultures that my mentor Tommy introduced to me–I got to feel those firsthand. Traveling as a part of the Human Dimensions Project helped me understand the people of the Oregon coast more so than reading could ever do.

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, where I stayed for three days while conducting interviews on the North Coast.

For example, when I spent one weekend traveling to the North Coast, I was introduced to fellow Summer Scholar Dylan Rozansky’s work environment at the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP). On Cannon Beach, a whole community comes together to educate visitors on the ecology of Haystack Rock and to ensure its protection for the future.

The Historic Bayfront of Florence, one of my favorite places on the Oregon coast. However, it’s a really hard call to pick favorites. I feel so lucky to have traveled the entire coast this summer, and to have been exposed to so many different, beautiful places.

On a sunny Saturday morning I interviewed a fisher in Florence–a quaint retirement community an hour south of Newport. I took the time to wander through art shops and happened upon a bead shop called the Waterlily Studio, whose products are based out of appreciation for the natural history of our planet and cultural uses of nature.  I loved everything about the shop, and then got into a conversation with the owner about the future of our world. Our fears with the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW’s) in the Puget Sound, and what we can do to save them. And I was more motivated than ever to take everything I have learned this summer–about engaging people in conversations and marine policy–to do something about this. When I return home to Seattle this Sunday, attending a public action meeting on the fate of the SRKW’s is one of the first things on my agenda.

A blood red sun in the smoke of California fires. I stayed in Gold Beach on the Rogue River while conducting South Coast interviews.

I am feeling a lot of things in this present moment. It is bittersweet to leave this incredible slice of the world. And already, so many of the Scholars have moved on to the next chapter of their lives–whether that be school or jobs. And I wish them all the luck in the world. Of all the emotions in my heart, I feel grateful to have been entrusted with this work, to have had such supportive mentors, and to have met such an outstanding group of people.

So all I have left to say now is…

Thank you.

My people, my fellow Scholars. Oh how I will miss you. The marine science community is small enough, so I have faith our paths will cross soon enough again.

Soaking in all things Newport

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After realizing the summer was quickly slipping away, I spent the last three weeks exploring Newport and soaking in what it has to offer. There was a free screening of the documentary, Reluctant Radical, at the Newport Performing Arts Center followed by a Q&A with the director, Lindsey Grayzel, and the subject of the film, Ken Ward. The film offers the perspective of father and eco-activist Ken Ward by following him through: blocking the Shell icebreaker from leaving Portland Oregon, shutting down the U.S. tar sands oil pipeline, and the trial following his arrest. When framed by the fear of his son’s future given current oil consumption, Ward’s actions make sense. To view the film you can find or host a screening at https://www.thereluctantradicalmovie.com/ .

I also participated in the NOAA fish cutting party which was a huge success!! Three days were scheduled for fish processing but a great early turnout of volunteers cut the processing time in half. Over 1900 fish were processed, which included removing the stomachs and otoliths, as well tags and fin clips in some. While I have gutted and filleted fish before, searching for otoliths was a whole new challenge. Otoliths, tiny little ear bones the size of a sesame seed, slip from your tweezers in the blink of an eye escaping to a mess of brain and tissue. It was easy to become immersed in the search and all the more satisfying when the little piece was found, especially knowing the otoliths were being used to age the fish by counting growth layers like rings on a tree.

Up at a nearby café, Café Bosque, my roommate and I spent an evening with Ranger Ryan talking about marine debris along Oregon’s coast. He presented a slide show on the subject and then screened Chris Jordan’s Albatross the Film while providing commentary along the way. I am currently working on research outside of my Sea Grant project which investigates the presence of microplastics in seawater and zooplankton and it was nice to see the combination of art and science to help communicate such a hidden yet ubiquitous issue.

A photograph, inspired by Chris Jordan’s Albatross the Film, of a bird I spotted while walking along Nye Beach. The film documents the dying albatross population on Midway Atoll. Jordan dissects multiple birds to find their stomachs filled with plastics.

I went and checked out the historic Nye Beach neighborhood which was filled with live music. There was a band playing outside the Newport Visual Arts Center, another at the Taphouse at Nye Creek, and more at Nana’s Irish Pub! Nye Beach is a cute little area with a lot of shops and restaurants near the beach. I ended up taking my visiting family there for breakfast at Cafe Stephanie where we all had delicious breakfast burritos and complimentary scones.

I also finally made it to the Saturday farmers market with my roommate, where I stocked up on berries, salad, and tomatoes. There were so many good smelling food stands serving prepared food that next time I’ll have to remember to go hungry. Later that day, my roommate and I went crabbing on the public dock. We sat out in the sun, reading our books, and chatting with fellow crabbers for about four hours. We had some exciting catches of a couple Dungies that were just a little too small to keep. We ended up with 3 Red Rock crabs but realized we wouldn’t be around for dinner, so passed them along to our neighbors.

The crab that was JUST too small. My roommate Meg is to my left and a little helper who offered to throw it back for us.

While my brother and sister-in-law were visiting we checked out the Aquarium Village, then went for a hike in Wilder, followed by a beer at the nearby Wolf Tree Brewery, and topped it off with dinner in Nye Beach. It was a lot of fun showing them around and exploring new places at the same time.

Family fun at Aquarium Village, diving into the deep unknown.

I am currently soaking in a little more Newport by eating some clam chowder I made from cockles gathered in Yaquina Bay. I have to say, it was a lot of work shucking and cleaning the cockles, but it is the best clam chowder I have ever had and am already planning when I can get back out and harvest more.

In other news, my summer project is complete! We ran the last experiment on Friday, but you’ll have to wait until the next blog post for all of the details.

Me in my happy place, at Nye Beach.

 

The Human Dimension of Marine Reserves

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Mission:  To inherit the knowledge of every place and people I call home. 

 

There’s a first for everything. First job, first road trip, first time meeting the people you now cherish. Being a Summer Scholar promises to be full of firsts: this will be the longest that I have been away from home (Seattle, WA), is my first time doing human dimensions research, is my initiation into the world of working for the government and policy-related work, and is my first internship. I am incredibly grateful that the Oregon Sea Grant in association with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife trusted me to do this work and brought me to where I am today.

Also, thank you mom, dad, loved ones, and my extended family at the University of Washington for all you have poured into me.

Me on Nye Beach at sunset

Image result for marine reserves odfw

For the next ten weeks I will be working with the ODFW’s Marine Reserves Program on the Human Dimensions Research Project. This type of work is fascinating, but ultimately I selected this project because of who would become my mentors.  Tommy Swearingen is the project leader and is a one man show of expertise, initiative, and charisma. He oversees at least 15 different studies that assess the socioeconomic impacts of marine reserve implementation. He has had a Summer Scholar under his wing every year since he was brought onto the team. Being a mentor to him means more than just supplying interns with work–he wants to understand where they come from, and how he can best help them become fully immersed in the work and contribute to their future goals. He is a researcher, but also a teacher. In only the first week under his tutelage, I have gained a comprehensive understanding of the history of Oregon’s coastal communities and of the scope of the Human Dimensions Research Project.

Fishing vessel at dusk approaching the Yaquina Bay Bridge

To ensure the marine reserves are not adversely affecting coastal residents, Tommy and his associates have collected socioeconomic data on the scale of communities to individuals. Seeing as the reserves only make up 3% of Oregon’s coastal area, these effects are difficult to disentangle from larger trends. This is where studies on the individual level–specifically of well-being, world view, and feelings–become crucial. For this, you need an anthropologist.

Specifically, you need Elizabeth Marino. Beth is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at OSU-Cascades, and every now and then she will be driving down from Bend, OR to conduct interviews on fishers and to mentor me. I am inspired by her outlook, knowledge, empathy, and dedication to her work. Just to give you an idea of her background, Beth is the author of Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground: An Ethnography of Climate Change in Shishmaref, Alaska. This documents her decade-long research on some of the first climate refugees, the Iñupiaq people, who are running out of time while their home is engulfed by the sea. Needless to say, her work has real-world consequences.

I am humbled to be working under these incredible researchers and people. By the week’s end, I now know where I fit into the Human Dimensions Research Project:

  • First and foremost, I will be conducting interviews of fishers on their knowledge of the local ocean–which can span back five generations–and on how marine reserves might be affecting their livelihoods. Giving them a voice just might reveal effects that quantitative data fails to do alone.
  • Secondly, I am already in the process of coding (aka categorizing) open-ended responses of a well-being survey of coastal residents. This converts qualitative responses to quantitative data, which could reveal how geography, community culture, and economic well-being all correspond to people’s feelings. It also speaks to what people value and how much they are willing to give up for these values.
  • Lastly, I will be trained on how to maintain an ongoing database of the economic status of coastal communities.

I am beyond excited to see where this work takes me.

Other snapshots from my first week in Newport, OR, my home for this summer:

(Almost) every OSG Summer Scholar working at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. From left to right: Me, Abby Ernest-Beck (EPA), Dani Hanelin (ODFW), and Taylor Ely (ODFW-Marine Reserves). Not pictured + photocreds: Anna Bolm (USDA).

The expanse of Nye Beach, the first beach I visited upon arriving in Newport, looking at Yaquina Head.

A lush beach-side cliff of salal. Coming from a background in both terrestrial and marine science, I am seeing from daily excursions how the ecology of coastal Oregon is not very different from that of western Washington. It feels like home–except with massive beaches of soft sand.

Some of my new friends on the Sea Lion Docks in South Beach.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which we visited the very next day.

Silhouette at sunset. Each day is full here.

 

 

New Age in Newport

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As a transplant from Monterey, CA I was definitely excited to return to a scenic coastal town after living in the Bay Area for four years. Over the past year I spent every free weekend traveling back and forth between the city and the California’s Central Valley, so getting to stay in one place for two months sounded like a treat. Bonus points for the tall trees and windy beaches, us NorCal kids don’t expect to do much swimming anyway.

My first day on the job I drove out to Salem with my mentor, Meg, and quite frankly chatted her ear off. In the Salem office I met a good amount of the Department of Land Conservation and Development staff and all of them seemed to take interest in my project. A few of them also had some hand in it over the years and I believe they were excited to see where I could take it being that it is my main focus during my time here.

Beauty of the bridge.

The official title of my project is the Oregon King Tides Photo Initiative. This project is actually an international initiative dependent on citizen science. Coastal communities around the world are asked to take pictures of “King Tides”, or the highest tides of the year, and standard high tides for comparison. This helps coastal management organizations visualize and plan for the ways in which these communities may be affected by sea level rise. Newport is a prime location to witness the King Tides in the winter and is where I’ll be working for the next 10 weeks.

Although a lot of my work involves sorting through photos and developing ways to discuss the importance of this project, I will have the chance to do some field work! Many of the photos sent in do not include the “normal” high tides comparison shots. Throughout the summer I will travel up and down the coast a few times to make sure we gather the missing pieces and develop a clear message about why this project matters.

Drew some inspiration from past posters, but still proud!

My first week was mostly full of correcting the photos uploaded to the Flickr page that had missing or scrambled information. Meg had mentioned that most of the participants were from *much* older generations… and it showed just a bit. One of my own goals this summer is to help Meg create a stronger social media platform for the project so people of all ages are informed and start to get involved (follow @oregonkingtides on Instagram!). Social media has be become an incredible marketing tool in the last 5 years and I see so much potential in it. If used correctly, projects like this and others that depend on citizen science can truly gain massive numbers of dedicated participants and continue to educate the public on why the issue of our rapidly-changing planet is important.

My favorite part of the week was getting to do some graphic design work for posters being used at an upcoming beach bash. This project has so many great opportunities for me to be creative. I also feel obligated to learn as much as I can about photography which has really helped get me outside to explore and take some photos.

Tell them Meagan sent ya

On my lunch breaks I usually grab a Dutch Bros (they are a true delicacy in California!) and head to the beach to play around with my camera. I’m hoping I’ll soon be contacted by Dutch Bros offering me a large sum for advertising their coffee so well.

Lastly, I found both a gym and a natural foods store where I can lift weights and purchase my favorite vegan snacks. My personal goal is to hit a couple personal records while I’m here and try some new recipes out on my roommates. If anyone misses work due to food poisoning that’s probably my fault, apologies in advance! Newport may be small but it’s full of kind and passionate people. Cheers to week one and embarking on a new adventure.

It took me five minutes to figure out how to set the exposure on my camera to take this picture but I’d say it was worth it!

Report from Oregon Ocean Science Trust Science Summit

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For two days in Newport in May, over 40 natural and social scientists and agency natural resource managers met to discuss research and monitoring priorities in Oregon’s nearshore. Convened by the Oregon Ocean Science Trust with funding support from The Nature Conservancy, Oregon Sea Grant, and the Packard Foundation, the goal of the workshop was to identify and prioritize research and monitoring funding needs, scalable to budget resources available, to provide baseline and trend data and inform key research questions. These research questions could relate specifically to changing ocean conditions such as ocean acidification and hypoxia, marine habitat, fish and wildlife, and the vulnerability and resilience of coastal communities to changing ocean conditions and the effects on marine resources.

The Oregon Ocean Science Trust is intended to serve as a funding mechanism for research and monitoring in Oregon, and by convening an interdisciplinary Science Summit to prioritize funding needs, the Trust will better be able to direct available funds to the most relevant and urgent areas. The attendees at the Summit were a Who’s Who of oceanography, fisheries science, marine ecology, geochemistry, economics, sociology, and anthropology. It would have been enough to be a fly on the wall for this event, but I was fortunate to be one of the breakout session facilitators. The breakouts were organized to spread representatives of different disciplines out among all the groups, making the groups as academically diverse as possible. Each group was then tasked with generating research and monitoring plans at three different budget levels that would address key nearshore questions. There were great back-and-forth discussions, and it was fascinating when all the groups came back together, to see how each group had approached the tasks. As a facilitator, I used a much lighter touch than I otherwise might have because it seemed like a good idea to let the conversation and exchange between group members really develop, and then bring everybody back to the template we were given. The end result will be a report with key research themes, questions, and monitoring approaches identified, as well as a plan for a comprehensive research and monitoring program for Oregon’s nearshore with three budget levels identified. The event, which was conceived of in late January, came together quickly and nearly everyone invited was able to attend, and produced substantial results which can be used to guide funding for important efforts in the nearshore as we face changing ocean conditions and the related impacts on communities. Definitely one of the coolest gatherings I’ve gotten to attend in my time with OSG!

Just an-“otter” pun…

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What a great week! Tons of field work in the mudflats last week and got to spend last Friday with all the fellow SeaGrant scholars at Beverly Beach. We went to the Newport Aquarium and I got to spend my birthday with friends while exploring Eugene. Bought my first wetsuit and plan on giving surfing a try this week! Please enjoy the photos below that show all the nifty native creatures of the Pacific Northwest coast. Also I highly recommend clicking on the Otter_Video link below. You won’t regret it!

 

Otter_Video

Big ole eel

Wolf eel being fed

Jellyfish tank

Hagfish are not exactly the best looking fish, but they are used as a fake eel skin in a lot of clothing

Baby Pacific octopus

Puffin’ puffin his chest

Week 2: Dungeness Crab in the Lab

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Week 2 has ended and I have to say that Oregon is becoming more and more homely. Friends are being made and new experiences are occurring. Early in the week, core samples were taken in order to capture mud shrimp. A core sample, to those of you unaware of what that is, is where you take a large metal tube and press it completely into the ground and then proceed to dig all of the sediment out and sift through it while for mud shrimp. To get the core into the ground you must stand on top of it and do the “shrimp dance” which consists of wobbling motions. Once the mud shrimp were captured we measured the carapace length, sexed them, and checked for the infestation of parasites. The parasites are definitely not the most appealing creatures to look at, but they are still very interesting.

The mudflats show no mercy to those who science.

Mid-week many bucket lids were purchased (24 total). The reasoning for this is that we began to build experimental pit traps that would be size selective for the capture of small Dungeness crabs. We made two different designs, one with a larger whole and steeper funnel, and the other with a smaller hole and more gradual funneling. To set these traps, you basically just dig a hole in the ground and place the bucket in and wait for the crabs to fall in. Some people around here call them the “Dodos of the sea”. This is not due to having a resemblance with birds, but because of their ease of capture. After setting the traps we decided to place GoPro cameras onto two of the traps to capture some footage and observe the crab’s interactions with the traps. I’ve taken a brief look at the footage and there is some interesting behavior to note. I will definitely be including some of the video in my next blog entry. Several crabs were captured overnight, as well as a few Staghorn Sculpins, and a lone jellyfish. The next step will be to build 24 traps in total, and set them out in various locations. I’m really looking forward to see how things will play out with the implementation of our traps.

Young Dungeness crab captured in the pit traps

It’s been only two weeks and I already feel like I’ve learned quite a lot. Being from a freshwater background, marine and estuarine has offered a new perspective. 8 more weeks to go!

Thar She Blows!

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Hello Again Sea Grant Readers,

Michelle Fournet checking in with an update about the marine mammals of our Oregon Coast.  In my first blog entry (where I introduced myself as one of the 2013 Malouf Fellowship recipients) I told you a little about the marine mammal survey that I’m conducting along the Oregon Coast. Well I wanted to follow up with a short synopsis of what we’ve seen and who’s been along for the ride.

We’ve been conducting surveys on at least a monthly basis — more when the weather cooperates.  This may seem intermittent, but we had good the good fortune to go out quite a few times during the winter months, allowing us to conduct one of the first ever rigorous marine mammal surveys on our coast during that season. We’re looking for signs of all marine mammals, but I’m particularly interested in odontocete species (dolphins and porpoises).  So far we’ve seen harbor porpoises on nearly every survey, we’ve seen Dall’s porpoise on many of our surveys (including one glorious bow riding event), and we’ve seen at least one species of common dolphin.

I’m interested in these species in particular because they are commonly described as sound sensitive.  Our coastal waters are home to bustling marine industry, the lifeblood of many of our coastal communities.  Vessel traffic, marine research, tourism, sustainable energy development, and more all produce noise.  Sound travels faster and further in the marine environment.  On this one hand this makes sound the ideal sensory modality for marine communication, on the other it also means the ocean is particularly vulnerable to noise pollution.  The input of anthropogenic noise, or man-made noise, may alter the behavior of marine mammal species that rely on sound to navigate, communicate, or forage.

The first step to assessing species resilience (a key tenet in the application of ecosystem based management) is knowing how much these sound sensitive species are currently overlapping with industries that produces noise, and how that overlap is likely to change as we make decisions about how to develop our ocean resources.  All of this research is firmly rooted in the answering the question: who’s there and when?

I’ve been fortunate to expand my research team over the past few months.  We have a number of volunteers from the community of Newport as well as students from OSU staffing the Elakha as she makes her coastal surveys.  In conjunction with a marine bird survey, conducted under the leadership of M.S. student Jess Porquez and her advisor Dr. Rob Suryan of the Hatfield Marine Science Center, we were able to mount a large scale training initiative to get volunteers prepared for their time on the water.

Lastly, in thanks to the Malouf Fellowship, I will be attending the Northwest Student Chapter Meeting for the Society of Marine Mammalogy this coming May.  It will be a great opportunity to present some of the work that I’m pursuing as a grad student, as well as rub elbows with other marine mammoligist students.  Meeting and collaborating with other students in the field is priceless.  We are often facing the same problems, and in collaboration can brainstorm some effective solutions.  Further, it’s always nice to spend a weekend with ocean-minded folk, watch a few whales, and talk shop.

Cheers!

Michelle

A new hat

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A few weeks ago I went to a small luncheon in Corvallis; it was there that I received, as a gift, a new hat.  It’s a blue baseball cap with the words “Oregon Sea Grant” across the front.  As you know, baseball caps are particularly well suited to a number of uses: (1) Baseball playing, (2)  Keeping the sun out of one’s eyes , and (3) Keeping the rain off of one’s face.  Tomorrow when I head out on the ocean my brand new Oregon Sea Grant baseball cap is going to take a beating… and I won’t be playing baseball.

My name is Michelle Fournet.  I’m a PhD student in Oregon State University’s department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and a proud recipient of a 2013 Robert E. Malouf Fellowship.  My lab, the Oregon State Research Collective for Applied Acoustics, or ORCAA for short, uses sound (acoustics) to study marine organisms.  My research in particular is centered around the cetacean species that inhabit Oregon’s near coastal oceans.  The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins, and porpoise- and we have many of them here in Oregon.  How many exactly? We’re not yet sure.

Part of my PhD research is aimed at identifying what cetacean species regularly use Oregon’ near coastal ocean, and when they seem to be here.  To answer this question I’m taking a two prong approach that, at first glance, sounds a lot simpler than it really is:  I’m going to look for them and I’m going to listen for them.

I’m conducting visual surveys along Oregon’s continental shelf with a team of observers, binoculars, float coats, and cameras.  We’re hopping on board with other labs as they take cruises to collect biological and oceanographic data out of Newport Oregon.  We perch ourselves on the bow of OSU’s R/V Elakha and spot whales, dolphins, and porpoise whenever the vessel is underway- rain or shine, wind and waves, if the boat goes out we try and get on it!  We’re using a line transect sampling protocol and hope to be incorporating photo identification into the project.  Both of these methods allow us to ultimately identify what species are present and to calculate species abundance.  If we are able to sample throughout the year we can also address questions about seasonal and diel variability, ask questions about larger scale processes, and paint a more comprehensive picture of our whale, dolphin, and porpoise communities.

This is only part of the method, however.  While looking from the bow of the boat can be a very effective method for documenting mammals, porpoises and dolphins can be difficult to spot under even the best conditions.  To compliment our visual surveys we have plans to launch multiple hydro-acoustic platforms that will record oceans sounds for analysis.  Cetaceans are highly vocal.  Baleen whale species produce some of the loudest calls on the planet, that may be capable of traveling across ocean basins.  Odontocete species utilize echolocation for navigation and foraging, and produce whistles under various social situations. However, high frequency odontocete calls may only be detected in the range of meters, and low-frequency baleen whale calls may be masked by anthropogenic or ocean noise.  What we have in the wings, is a few technologies that will help us work around these problems to get clear recordings of cetacean vocalizations.

Our hope is that the combination of the two methods will yield sufficient data to form a comprehensive understanding of who is really out there.  Why do we want to know?  Well… I’d love to tell you all about it (and I’m sure I will in my next post!).  But for now, I have a rainy  boat ride to prepare for, and I need to find my hat.