SeaDoc Society News
If you are unable to follow any of these links, please contact Alison Kent, alkent <at> ucdavis dot edu.
3.29.2008
PLANNING COULD SAVE MORE BIRDS CAUGHT IN OIL SPILLS
Kitsap Sun
Feature article discussing the model adopted by the state of Washington to respond to oil spills, following the experience of California's Oiled Wildlife Care Network. Joe Gaydos is quoted.
Story
1.24.2008
VOLUNTEER SCUBA DIVER DISCOVERS INVASIVE TUNICATE IN THE SAN JUAN
ISLANDS
San Juan Islander
This feature article discusses the work of the REEF fish and
invertebrate monitoring program, in which volunteers are trained by
the UC Davis-affiliated SeaDoc Society. The article quotes Joe
Gaydos, SeaDoc Society chief scientist; and Janna Nichols, REEF
instructor.
http://www.sanjuanislander.com/groups/seadoc/tunicate.shtml
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=22603
1.20.2008
MDA GETS FEDERAL GRANT TO GET RID OF MARINE DEBRIS
Marianas Variety
The SeaDoc Society is mentioned for its recent award of
$85,000 to conduct underwater searches and collection of derelict
fishing gear along the state's coastal waters.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=22564
1.16.2008
BUSH ALLOWS NAVY SONAR USE DESPITE FEARS FOR WHALES; DECISION COMES
IN CALIFORNIA CASE
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By Lisa Stiffler
This article reports on President Bush's decision to exempt the Navy
from some environmental laws, in regard to sonar training activity
that can injure whales and dolphins. Nevertheless, Joe Gaydos of the
UC Davis-affiliated SeaDoc Society gives the Navy credit for making
an effort to use the sonar "in a respectful way" regarding orcas.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=22546
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/347644_sonar17.html
10.26.2007
SEADOC PROJECT MAPS SAN JUAN SEA FLOOR
Islands Sounder (San Juan, Wash.)
In 2001 the SeaDoc Society funded a small grant that kicked of a multi-million dollar collaborative effort to map the seafloor of the San Juans and the Canadian Gulf Islands including surrounding areas. These maps are being used to help identify important habitat for declining species like abalone and rockfish.
http://www.islandssounder.com/
8.2.2007
DIVERS CLEAN UP PIERS HOOK, LINE AND SINKER: LOCAL DIVERS AND CREWS
FROM UC DAVIS SCOURED THE WATERS AND REMOVED MILES OF FILAMENT AND
NETS FROM PIER PILINGS.
Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.)
By Josh Grossberg, Staff Writer
Crews from the UC Davis removed miles of filament and nets from pier
pilings. Named are: Jennifer Renzullo, assistant director of the
California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project, a SeaDoc program, and SeaDoc Executive Director Kirsten Gilardi.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=20495
6.11.2007
ABALONE'S DECLINE ANOTHER SIGN OF PUGET SOUND'S FAILING HEALTH
The Associated Press
By ROBERT McCLURE
The mysterious decline of Washington abalone has led confused experts
to raising them in hatcheries before releasing them into the wild.
Can they be saved? As Joe Gaydos, regional director of the
Seadoc Society put it, "Look, this species is pretty far gone. Do we really want to spend
time and money on it?"
4.18.2007
BLINDED SEA LION FOUND ON BLIND BAY ROAD, SHAW ISLAND
Islands Sounder
SeaDoc Society Regional Director Joe Gaydos examines the California sea lion in the care of the Wilf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
See full article here (reprinted with permission).
3.22.2007
GREBE EXPERIMENT ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
Kitsap Sun
A follow-up article looking at the successful experiment that details the release of five of the original birds off the Kitsap Peninsula.
Kitsap Sun Link
3.5.2007
SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BIRDS
Kitsap Sun
A surgical study in California could crack open the door to further
efforts to learn why Western grebe populations have plunged at least
90 percent; a number of birds will be studied at UC Davis.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=18756
2.27.2007
GREBES FINDING REFUGE IN SK
Port Orchard Independent
Greg Massey, who works with the UC Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine, examines an endangered species of bird in an article about
their endangerment.
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=18755
December 21, 2006
NEW PROJECT CLEANS 10 TONS OF FISHING GEAR FROM CHANNEL ISLANDS WATERS
[Editor's note: Photos are available. View them online here and here.
Scuba divers helped recover nearly 10 tons of lost and abandoned
fishing gear from the waters around the California Channel Islands,
in the first year of a unique project based at UC Davis. The clean-up
included nearly 250 commercial lobster traps, many fishing rods and
sport traps, and a huge fishing net covering 5,000 square feet of the
seafloor.
"Our priority in the pilot year of the California Derelict Fishing
Gear Removal Project was simply to get the project off the ground,"
said UC Davis wildlife health expert Kirsten Gilardi. "We had no idea
that in the process of testing and refining our methods, we would
find and remove as much derelict fishing gear as we did."
Lost and abandoned fishing gear can be dangerous to wildlife, boaters
and divers. Derelict nets in particular can entrap fish, sharks and
marine mammals, as well as divers. Similar projects in Washington and
Hawaii have removed hundreds of tons of derelict fishing gear, but
this is the first such program in California.
An important goal of the UC Davis project was to work cooperatively
with fishermen to locate derelict gear and establish volunteer
reporting among the fishing and maritime communities. Commercial
fishermen Mark Brubaker and Kenny Hill of Santa Barbara and Mike Neil
of San Diego were hired to conduct the gear removal work in the
field. Volunteer scientific divers from Long Beach Aquarium of the
Pacific and Humboldt State University helped test field-survey
methods.
The pilot project was funded by California's Ocean Protection Council
through the California State Coastal Conservancy, and by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program.
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands
National Park authorized the work. The project is managed by the
SeaDoc Society, a marine ecosystem health program of the UC Davis
Wildlife Health Center.
The work received significant support (including onshore storage,
docking privileges and air-tank refills) from Two Harbors Dive Shop
on Santa Catalina Island, Jankovich & Son Fuel Dock in San Pedro, and
the City of Santa Barbara Waterfront Department.
Between May and October, the fishermen used scuba equipment and an
underwater scooter to search for and recover derelict fishing gear in
20 to 100 feet of water around Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa and
Santa Catalina islands. When they located debris, they raised it to
the surface with float bags and winches, then took it to shore by
boat. Once on shore, reusable material was returned to commercial
fishermen. Non-reusable material was sent to a landfill.
The huge fishing net was a purse seine net -- the type used to catch
anchovies or sardines. It weighed 4,000 pounds and was snagged on a
rocky reef in 80 to 100 feet of water at the eastern end of Santa
Rosa Island.
Of almost 550 pieces of fishing equipment collected in five weeks of
work in the water, many were reusable commercial lobster traps. With
traps costing $60 to $100 each, Gilardi said, the recovery work saved
California lobster fishermen at least $6,000 in materials costs.
Lobster traps are lost when they are carried away by storms or run
over by boats. To reduce the potential for "ghost fishing" by lost
traps, commercial fishermen fit the trap doors with devices that
eventually disintegrate underwater. The doors open and confined
lobsters escape unharmed. Of the derelict traps recovered in this
project, some of those collected soon after the close of the
2005-2006 commercial lobster season contained live lobsters, whereas
all the traps collected several months post-season were open and
empty. That indicates the safety-release system is working, Gilardi
said.
Anyone who loses fishing gear or observes derelict fishing gear
underwater is encouraged to report their sighting by calling
1-888-491-GEAR or filling out a reporting form available online at
<http://www.derelictfishinggear.org>.
Additional information:
* California Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Program <http://www.derelictfishinggear.org>
* UC Davis SeaDoc Society <http://www.seadocsociety.org>
* UC Davis Wildlife Health Center <http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc>
* California Coastal Conservancy <http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov>
* Ocean Protection Council <http://resources.ca.gov/copc/>
Media contact(s):
* Kirsten Gilardi, Wildlife Health Center, (530) 752-4167,
kvgilardi@ucdavis.edu
* Sylvia Wright, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-7704,
swright@ucdavis.edu
December 13, 2006
Puget Sound Partnership Final Report Delivered to Gov. Gregoire
Saying that we must “do more” and “do it better” to protect and restore Puget Sound, Governor Chris Gregoire launched an initiative in December 2005 to revitalize efforts to improve the health of Puget Sound, one of the nation’s crown jewels. The Governor enlisted some of the region’s leading citizens to form a new public/private group called the Puget Sound Partnership to develop an aggressive 15-year plan to solve Puget Sound’s most vexing problems. To assist this group, she also convened a group of 11 scientists to provide scientific input and advice on how to accomplish this lofty goal. Orcas island resident Dr. Joe Gaydos, Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, was a member of the Science Working Group and has been intimately involved in this process for the last year.
After a year of deliberations, the 22-member commission concluded “The dazzling appearance of Puget Sound is deceiving; the numbers of salmon, orcas and many other creatures are at a fraction of historic levels and tell us that our ecosystem is in trouble. The essential natural processes that support the wealth of species in Puget Sound have been disrupted through our actions.” Titled “Sound Health, Sound Future?: Protecting and Restoring Puget Sound,” the report addresses all of the Governor’s charges to the Partners.
Today, December 13, 2006, the Puget Sound Partnership released its final report to Gov. Chris Gregoire outlining a series of recommendations to reach a healthy Puget Sound by 2020. Gaydos says, “This is an exciting start to a long-term restoration effort. I’m glad that good science is playing a role in this process and it has been an honor for the SeaDoc Society to be involved. I’m looking forward to this regional effort translating into action.”
Report Summary (3.46 mb, PDF)
Full Report (1.25 mb, PDF)
This story was featured in the San Juan Islander on December 12.
November 29, 2006
Stellar Sea Lion shot, killed
Published in Islands Sounder
October 3, 2006
SeaDoc Society Advisory Board Member was published in today's Seattle Intelligencer, praising the The West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health initiative.
Marine Lecture Series, 2006-2007
A series of FREE talks to inform and engage the public about local marine wildlife and issues. Download the full series program HERE.
Lectures will take place at Camp Orkila’s Marine-Salmon Science Center on Orcas Island at 7:00 pm on Tuesdays, unless otherwise noted.
January 9 Phytoplankton in Eastsound: Why it Matters to Us
Brandon Jensen – Western Washington University
February 13 Elwha Dam Removal and Habitat Restoration
Rob Young – Western Carolina University
March 13 Seabird Ecology and Conservation
Julia Parrish – University of Washington
April 10 Minke Whales
Jonathan Stern – San Francisco State University
The 2006 - 2007 marine science lecture series is free to the public thanks to the generous sponsorship of :
Barbara Brown
Rick & Cindy Gould
David & Ginger Ridgway
Jim & Kathy Youngren
For more information contact:
Anne Stoltz
Director of Development & Communications
The SeaDoc Society
awstoltz@ucdavis.edu
tel: (206) 281-9987
|
1/27/2006
