Whale Pump Research

Discussions have been going on for a couple of years to begin a collaboration with Dr. Joe Roman.  Joe Roman is a researcher at the University of Vermont and the author of “Listed: Dispatches from America’s Endangered Species Act” (Harvard) and “Whale” (Reaktion). This summer saw all of that work come to fruition.  Joe has provided the background information about the project:

A few years ago, I was writing an article about the work that Scott Baker and his colleagues were doing in Japan, uncovering the sale of illegal whale meat in the marketplace using DNA. At the time, Japan was arguing for whaling, largely for two reasons. One, whales eat “our” fish, so they should be culled. And, two, certain whales, such as minkes, are so numerous that they are inhibiting the ability of rare species, such as fins and blues, to recover.

Dr. Joe Roman, University of Vermont

This argument might have been in the back of my mind while I was taking marine ecology one spring at the University of Florida. I was learning about one of the basic process in the oceans, known as the biological pump, which causes the downward flow of carbon and nitrogen and can reduce marine productivity. Zooplankton feed on phytoplankton at the surface at night and then migrate deep in the water column by day, presumably to escape predators. This movement, and the downward flux of zooplankton fecal matter, takes nutrients away from the surface, where photosynthesis can occur, to the bottom of the ocean.


As I sat in the back of the class, I drew a diagram based on what I had seen the previous summer in the Bay of Fundy. In contrast to the biological pump, right whales were diving deep to feed--they are sometimes observed with mud on their heads--and quite often defecating at the surface.

A few years later, Jim McCarthy, at Harvard, and I put together a model that showed that whales could have an impact on primary productivity in coastal waters. They increase nutrients at the surface and enhance the growth of algae. This summer, I finally got back to the Bay of Fundy to study the right whale, which forms feeding aggregations just to the east of Grand Manan in an area called the Basin. Of all the ways to collect poop--we typically used a plankton net, patiently following whales until they defecated--perhaps the most dramatic is skirting the edge of a right whale courtship group: one female and several males actively swimming and roiling in the waters. It seemed almost inevitable, the female while swimming on her back would release a thick brown or red fecal plume. We’d wait for the group to swim off--the whales were much larger than our boat--and move in with our net.

Patch of reddish-brown defaecation from a fin whale. 
The colour indicates the whale was probably eating krill. 
Greenish defaecation is most likely from fish consumption.

Two colleagues from Harvard helped analyze the data. John Nevins, a researcher at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, examined the nitrogen levels, and Annabel Beichman, an undergrad, prepped samples to later uncover the microbes that live in whale gastrointestinal tracts. Heather Koopman, of University of North Carolina, lead the search for whales at the wheel of the research vessel Phocoena.

Annabel Beichman, Harvard University

What we have found is that whales, along with seals and seabirds, play an important role in recycling nitrogen in the Gulf of Maine. They release more of this nutrient into the gulf than all rivers combined and even more than point source pollution from sewage effluent. By excreting nitrogen at the surface of their traditional feeding grounds, whales play an important role in maintaining prey aggregations, such as copepods, krill, or herring, which, in a positive feedback loop, supports their tendency to aggregate in feeding areas. They are not eating our fish, as whaling nations claim, but helping increase productivity in areas where they are found. We can have more whales, and more fish, copepods, and krill.

Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)



Ocean sunfish or mola mola lying on its side, just under the
surface.  The head it toward the top right corner. 



Ocean Sunfish or mola mola are the largest bony fish reaching up to 3.3m (11 feet) and the heaviest over 2300 kg (5000 lbs).  They are disc shaped with two large fins, the dorsal and anal fins which they use to propel themselves through the water.  They are flattened vertically.  Their tail is a long, wavy structure.  They feed on jellies, comb jellies and other plankton.  They come to the surface and often lay on their sides giving them their name, ocean sunfish.  The French name is actually moon fish, poisson lune.  The surface behaviour has been suggested as a method to warm their bodies after spending time as deep as 600m.  Frequently those observed in the Bay of Fundy have their mouths open so perhaps they are also feeding close to the surface.  Most years we see only the occasional ocean sunfish but in the last two summers, multiple sunfish have been seen some days.  The ocean sunfish this year also seem much larger than the ones seen in other years.  Why have the numbers increased in recent years?  It is unknown but some years warm-core eddies break off from the Gulf Stream and get swept into the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy carrying with it species that are usually seen in warmer waters.  This could be the case or other forces were in play bringing these huge fish into the Bay.



Ocean sunfish or mola mola lying on its side at the surface.
Its mouth is open.  These fish feed on jellies.

They are slow moving but can manoeuvre out of the way of oncoming vessels if the vessels aren't travelling quickly but are at risk when they are at or just below the surface since they are difficult to spot until nearly on top of them. They can also breach or leap out of the water. Inshore, however, their ability to navigate leaves much to be desired. 

On the evening of September 10, two friends of the GMWSRS out for a drive had stopped at the fishermen's wharf and found a stranded ocean sunfish.  It was up against the wharf and was bumping into boats, piers and the shoreline.  They tracked us down and we rallied a few people to help, some of whom had never seen an ocean sunfish.  We tried to herd it out from between the floating wharf and the fishermen's wharf using a small inflatable and oars but to no avail.  The sunfish would not go back under or between boats or piers.  It was difficult to judge how heavy this sunfish was but it was at least 2 m across, not including the fins, the same size as the inflatable. We were quite concerned because the tide was beginning to recede and we didn't want the fish to completely strand. 

Finally we decided to grab the sunfish by its dorsal fin when it was up against the shore and try to tow it out.  A friend, who is also a whale watch captain, and the fellow who spotted the sunfish got into a much larger, motorized inflatable and were able to get the sunfish away from between the wharf and the floating wharf but lost their grip before they could get it around the end of the wharf. The fish blundered into a row of boats tied to the wharf before they could grab it again.  It was amazing to watch the sunfish try to swim away from them, jetting water out through its gills as a type of jet propulsion to increase its speed.

Pectoral fin of an ocean sunfish as it lays at the surface.

The second time they got the fish to the end of the wharf but they again lost their grip and the fish got away, this time heading off through the boat moorings but away from the wharf.  It was not seen again and, hopefully, headed out to deeper water with fewer obstacles.  The rescuers did not go unscathed because sunfish skin is like sandpaper, cover by a mucus layer, and they had several scrapes on their hands and arms.  Gloves would definitely be in order next time.

Here are some other articles about stranded sunfish this summer, the outcomes deadly for the sunfish, despite valiant efforts:

http://www.digbycourier.ca/News/2011-08-03/article-2690151/Two-sunfish-photographed-in-basin-before-stranding/1

http://www.souwester.ca/News/2011-08-03/article-2688691/Sunfish-stranded-on-mudflats-of-Moose-River/1

New England Aquarium Surveys Bay

The new England Aquarium right whale research team were able to survey the Grand Manan Basin on Thursday, August 4.  With two boats they were able to cover a good portion of the Basin and surrounding waters and found seven right whales including two mothers with their calves.

Sperm whale tail

Humpback whale tail (Sunburst)

Right whale tails.  (White marked tail is the injured tail of Slash)

They also had a hydrophone in the water at one point and heard sperm whales, although the whales were not seen.  This would be the second year in a row that sperm whales are in the Bay of Fundy.  We are not sure what this means but last year when the sperm whales were present from late July to the middle of October, few right whales were seen.  Continued surveys will reveal what this summer will bring us.

Visiting Graduate Student



Humpback whale, Flame, July 17, 2011,
off Grand Manan Island

Ashley Heinze contacted me in January to see if there was any chance of staying at the GMWSRS during the summer and collaborating with one of the whale watch companies to conduct surveys and collect whale behaviour data. Our research field season wasn't beginning until August this year so the accommodations were available in July.  Ashley planned her time accordingly, arriving the end of June and has been coming with Whales-n-Sails Adventures on most trips.  It has been a pleasure to be of assistance, both by providing accommodations and also helping with the data collection on board.  We are always happy to collaborate with others when possible.
I asked Ashley to provide a profile of her academic background and interest in marine biology:

The first time I saw or even placed my feet in the ocean I was twelve years old and ever since then the big deep blue has fascinated me. I was never solely focused on marine mammals, although, they did interest me.


During my undergraduate career I tried to explore many aspects of the marine biology field. I was always looking to be involved in hands on or field research to gain as much experience as possible. I first began entering data for the Census of Marine Life at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography and at the same time I began volunteering at Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. While at the aquarium I had the opportunity to be an exhibit interpreter for two years and then a husbandry assistant for another two years. To gain a greater amount of field experience I worked under two graduate students at the University of Rhode Island, one from the Wilga Lab and one from the Thornber Lab. While working for the Wilga Lab I was able to help with the Kinematics of Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias, the function of the dorsal fin in bamboo sharks and the functional morphology of the dorsal fins in sharks during steady swimming and maneuvering. The Thornber Lab allowed me to expand my knowledge of the distribution of algal communities in Rhode Island.

Ashley Heinze, Masters student,
 College of the Atlantic

When studying abroad in Australia I gave my future education and career a great amount of thought. After traveling around the country I started to begin questioning different tourism activities. How much does the activity change the behavior of the animal involved and how much does the activity affect the people involved? I began to ask myself what tourism activity is growing in North America then I thought whale watching. College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME has allowed me to create a project in which I am able to look at both of these questions. In collaboration with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company and Whales-n-Sails Adventures I am able to compare the two whale watching areas. I am comparing the knowledge and attitudes of whale watching passengers before and after the whale watch trips. I am also looking at the differences and similarities between the whale watches in Grand Manan and Bar Harbor and comparing whale behaviors during these trips. Whales-n-Sails Adventures and Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company have donated trips to me when space allows. I currently have two field assistants this summer, Kathryn Scurci and Jessica McCordic, both are in Bar Harbor collecting data while I am here on Grand Manan. Since my assistants were not able to be here on Grand Manan, Laurie has graciously offered to provide me with photos taken from each trip that will be used for photo identification.

I am having an amazing time here on Grand Manan and eagerly look forward to my remaining time here on the island and collaborating with Whales-n-Sails Adventures (http://www.whales-n-sails.com/). This was my first visit Grand Manan and I know it will not be my last!

Whale watching trip July 2

I first started working on whale watch boats during my masters and used the  chance to collect behavioural data on right whales.  Each year since, I have worked on a whale watch as a naturalist, and used that opportunity to collect data of whale, seabird and other large pelagic sightings, such as sharks and blue fin tuna.  The trips are all a bit different and some more memorable than others. 

July 2 we had an amazing day south east of White Head Island, part of the Grand Manan Archipelago and a tidal upwelled area that concentrates prey and attracts predators such as whales and seabirds.  There have been some fin whales in the area which we found easily but then groups of Atlantic white-sided dolphins arrived and the fin whales immediately changed their behaviour from 4 to 6 minute dives to 2 minute dives. The fin whales kept in a small area and the groups of dolphins associated with the fin whales, bow riding. The number of fin whales increased over the time we were with them with the whales keeping in a tight area with the dolphins.

Before we spotted the dolphins I was intrigued but the activity of some of the fin whales who were arching highly but not going for long dives. Some also seemed to be charging (swimming quickly to the surface throwing a large bow wave) and then the dolphins showed up. The dolphin vocalizations can be heard underwater for several kilometres. Perhaps the fin whales were anticipating their arrival or the dolphins were attracted to the activity of the fin whales.

There was great excitement on board but it seemed like there was great excitement with the fin whales, some of whom were vocalizing at the surface (low rumbling calls) which we could hear. Fin whales have deep voices and usually their calls need to be speeded up for us to hear them. For fin whales this was like us talking several octaves above our normal range in a high shrill. I heard more fin whale calls during this whale watch than I have ever heard at one time.

The dolphins were mostly juveniles and adults with no calves and stayed in three groups of about 10-12 individuals each, associating only with the fin whales who were in groups from two to six or seven. Normally dolphins will come over to a boat and check it out but they completely ignored us and stayed with the whales.

The fog moved in on us but not before we counted 23 fin whales and about 35 dolphins. As we left the area but could still hear the activity through the fog.

A humpback whale, named Tornado, on the northern edge of the whale distribution rounded out the trip.  I also recorded eleven species of seabirds (great and sooty shearwaters, Wilson's storm petrels, northern gannet, northern fulmar, common eider, herring gulls, greater black-backed gulls,  razorbill, common murre, black guillemot) and a bald eagle and an osprey.  There were also a couple of blue fin tuna that we could see pushing at the surface - this is swimming just below the surface and leaving a visible wake.

Lobster Egg Collection

Drs. Heather Koopman and Andrew Westgate and their two dogs and one cat arrived at the research station for two weeks in December, Dec. 7-21. This is the second December they have been on Grand Manan, having experienced most months on the island with the exception of the coldest winter months.

Heather has been monitoring lobster egg production and viability in female lobsters of all sizes. This means she has to go out on lobster boats and when a berried female (a female carrying eggs on the underside of her tail) comes up in a trap, Heather measures and collects a few eggs for lab analysis of lipids or fats. The amount of lipid in an egg gives an indication of the fitness of the female, more lipid also means the egg has a better chance at survival because of more stored energy available to it during development. The berried female is carefully returned to the water with a notch on her tail, indicating if she is caught again, after releasing her eggs, that she was a berried female and will be released. The notch stays in the tail for several moults before growing back in. The reproductive cycle in lobsters is long - two years.

Heather put in some long days, often leaving the wharf at 4 AM and one day, not getting back until midnight. These are hours that lobster fishing often put in, 14+ hour days are not unusual. While there are more berried females in June in the traps, the December samples are important to the overall trends. She was pleasantly surprised by a large blue lobster, a rare colour in lobsters.

For a comical look at inshore lobster fishing (and also what a berried female lobster looks like), check out http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/video.html or http://www.youtube.com/mercerreport and look for the segment "Rick and Lobster Fishing".

Christmas Bird Count

On December 20 I again participated in the Christmas Bird Count for Grand Manan Island. I have a relatively easy route that takes in the shoreline from south of Seal Cove to Southern Head. The woods were very quiet but the shoreline was busy with one flock of common eiders numbering above 500 birds. There may have been more but unfortunately a raging snow storm started mid day, preventing much observation in the afternoon.

There has been an abundance of small herring or brit around the island this year and Seal Cove Sound and Southern Head were certainly showing signs by the bird activity. In fact I saw two different birds each bring a small herring to the surface. Another good indicator were three harbour porpoises working back and forth in an area just off Southern Head.

I saw 24 different species of birds, totalling more than 1200 individuals with only 3 species being "land birds", ravens, black-capped chickadees and a peregrine falcon. The rest were on or above the ocean, including five species of alcids (dovekies, black guillemots, razorbills, common murres and thick-billed murres). The only alcid missing were puffins and if I had been able to spend more time at Southern Head, would no doubt have seen a puffin as well. I also had five species of gulls (herring, greater black-backed, black-legged kittiwakes, Bonapartes and Iceland), common loons, red-breasted mergansers, red-necked grebes, buffleheads, long-tailed ducks, mallards, American black duck, common eiders, black and surf scoters and northern gannet.

During count week, there were also 44 Canada geese migrating south and a sharp-shinned hawk in my neighbourhood.

The Christmas Bird Count has become an important indicator of population trends and is an amazing organizational feat. Even if you aren't an experienced birder, it is a great way to try to improve your birding skills, particularly if you can be paired with someone with more experience.

House begins to fill up

For the last month, the research station has been relatively quiet with the museum and gift shop open. This week we have had five people arrive and begin work on various projects. On July 15 zooplankton samples were collected from the Grand Manan Basin with bongo nets, a pair of nets towed from our research vessel, Phocoena, attached side-by-side resembling bongo drums. Three right whales were seen on this trip but were not relocated later in the day.

Much of the work this week is sorting and organizing equipment. Tonight (July 18) two people will be going to Kent Island and the Bowdoin Scientific Station, to see if a project analyzing food brought back to chicks by Leach's storm petrels is viable. Leach's storm petrels are small seabirds that nest in burrows and feed on zooplankton and marine oils on the ocean surface. The goal of the project is to analyze what the petrels are eating and assess any toxins present in the food.

Spring Research

We have four of our researchers here at the moment. Heather Koopman and Andrew Westgate (and Arran, Skye and Nevis) are on Grand Manan for a couple of weeks to sample lobster eggs from berried females, arriving May 21. Berried females are individuals who are brooding their eggs externally on the underside of their tail. Heather is looking at energy content of the eggs and comparing this to the various sizes of the females to determine if there are particular size ranges where energy stores are better than others. Heather goes out lobster fishing with local fishermen to measure the size of the females and to collect small samples of eggs from different sized females. Heather is also sampling at different times of the year, her last sampling period was in December.

Heather and Andrew are offshore today in our research boat, "Phocoena", collecting zooplankton as part of monitoring zooplankton in the Grand Manan Basin. This monitoring was re-initiated in 2006 after a long lapse when Zach Swaim began his Master's thesis looking at lipids or fats in right whale faeces and comparing these to what is found in their favourite prey, calanoid copepods, a small zooplankton that can occur in huge concentrations, attracting filter feeders such as right whales, herring and basking sharks. Zach's research discovered that right whales can metabolize or break down waxes found in the copepods. Most mammals are not capable of this although the mechanism in right whale digestion that breaks down waxes into a usable energy source is not known at this time.

Heather's Masters student Caitlin McKinstry, began a study of basking sharks last summer, successfully attaching a data logger to one basking shark which recorded dive patterns. She will be returning this summer to try to tag additional sharks and will be interested in looking at zooplankton concentrations as well. An interesting study of satellite tracked basking sharks was recently aired on CBC radio:

"The basking shark is the world's second largest fish, and during summers, it lives a peaceful life sifting plankton from temperate ocean waters. It leads a mysterious double life, however, as during the winter, it simply disappears. Dr. Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, used special tags to track the sharks' movements during the winter. He discovered that these huge animals were sneaking off for southern vacations, travelling thousands of kilometers to tropical waters in which they'd never been seen before. He suspects these trips are to the secret nursery where the basking sharks bear and raise their young."

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/08-09/qq-2009-05-23.html

Rob Ronconi and Sarah Wong arrived on Monday, May 25 and immediately headed for Kent Island and the Bowdoin Research Station. Rob is working on a comparative study in habitat use of greater shearwaters and herring gulls to confirm feeding "hot spots" in the Bay of Fundy for seabirds. He hopes to attach solar powered satellite tags to three herrring gulls that may operate for more than a year. Herring gulls are nesting this time of year and it is easier to catch the gulls on their nesting islands than at sea.

Research in May

It won't be long before we have some of our researchers return for two projects. While most people will be arriving in July, Dr. Rob Ronconi and Sarah Wong will be arriving the last week of May to go to Kent Island for the week to begin a study of herring gulls. Herring gulls are very difficult to catch at sea but Rob and Sarah will be trying to obtain samples (small bits of feather and blood) from herring gulls that are beginning to nest on Kent Island. The birds will be temporarily restrained, the samples taken and released as quickly as possible to minimize the stress to the birds and disturbance to nesting. This project is part of Rob's continuing study of diet in seabirds. Satellite telemetry tags will also be attached to some of the gulls to determine what areas they are utilizing in the Bay and will be compared to areas used by sooty and greater shearwaters. These feeding "hot spots" are important to define as a recognition of potential areas that need protection from such damaging events such as oil spills. In all likelihood these are also important areas for marine mammals.

Kent Island is the field station for Bowdoin College in Bowdoin, ME. The island was purchased by Stirling Rockefeller and donated to the college. Their main focus is nesting seabirds (Leach's Storm Petrels, Common Eiders, etc.) but also study fog and nesting land birds. Bowdoin College also now owns two other islands in the Three Island group. Sheep Island has a small nesting colony of common terns that we helped for a number of years until circumstances prevented us from continuing. The colony was very busy last year and we hope that it will continue.

Dr. Heather Koopman and Dr. Andrew Westgate will also be arriving the last week of May for about a week. Heather has a project looking at lipid (fat) content in lobster eggs and she goes out lobster fishing with some of the local lobster fishermen to obtain the necessary samples for analysis. The more fat in an egg, the better chance of survival of the egg.

We will be opening our Gaskin Museum of Marine Life toward the end of May, beginning of June.