Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Karla Dutton, Alaska Program Director

(c)Joan Cambray

I recently attended the 11th Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) in Anchorage. This year, the AMSS brought together almost 1,000 marine science researchers, educators, students and policy folks like me from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and other Arctic regions to learn the latest in the fields of climate, oceanography, the benthos (collection of organisms living on or in the sea bottom), fish, seabirds, marine mammals and local and traditional knowledge. The week-long symposium presentations were grouped in three marine regions: the Gulf of Alaska, the Arctic and the Bering Sea.

We heard from several leading scientists and researchers about how small marine animals (lower on the food chain) are changing, and how that change is (and will likely continue to) impact marine mammals. Dr. Jeremy Mathis, who works for the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab and the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, provided the keynote address.  He told us that glacial melt (water from melting glaciers into coastal areas) is mixing with seawater, resulting in lower levels of oxygen and higher rates of carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, which makes it more acidic. As the planet warms in Arctic regions that contain glaciers, we can expect to see more glacial melt, lower oxygen and higher CO2 levels in the ocean, and that means increasing ocean acidification.

Sea butterfly (c)USGS

Because of Dr. Mathis’s work and others, we know that some marine organisms are sensitive to changes in acidity and lower pH can affect these organisms’ ability to survive, build shells and reproduce. The ones we need to be concerned about are called pteropods. These are small marine gastropod mollusks – sea snails that can swim, with winglike lobes on their feet giving them the nickname “sea butterflies.” These animals are also sensitive to ocean acidification — when the pH of the water is low enough, the acidic water dissolves their shells, slowly killing them. Why do we care? Because these tiny creatures are the building blocks of the food web in the region. All kinds of organisms eat them, from tiny krill to fish to whales. And other animals like seals (primary prey for polar bears) rely on the fish that eat the pteropods. These “sea butterflies” are also a major food source for North Pacific juvenile salmon, which we humans enjoy.  Pteropods may be tiny, but their importance can’t be overstated – many species rely on them in one way or another.

To help marine mammal species survive the impacts of climate change, we must understand their food chain better, and that means learning how organisms like pteropods live, and how changes in their marine environment are affecting these tiny but important marine animals.

Defenders’ Alaska office continues to ensure that climate change data collection, modeling and decision-making always take the impacts to wildlife into consideration. We have served on the USFWS Connecting the Landscapes effort to use climate change models to better predict what land areas will be important to wildlife and plants as they navigate changing habitats. We also participated in the Governor’s Sub-Cabinet for Climate Change natural systems working group, which focused on preparing guidelines for wildlife and fish that are being impacted by a changing climate. And moving forward, we’re working to protect necessary habitat for polar bears, walrus and other wildlife as climate change continues to affect the landscape.

Learn more about how climate change is affecting the Arctic food chain in this article from the latest issue of Defenders magazine: The Heat Is On

Karla Dutton, Alaska Program Director

A surfacing beluga whale (©Ansgar Walk)

Beluga whales have called Cook Inlet home for a long time – some say they’ve been here as long as 10,000 years. Stretching 180 miles from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Cook Inlet provides them room to roam, but isolates them from beluga whales elsewhere. Of the five populations of beluga whales in U.S. waters, all found off the coast of Alaska, Cook Inlet belugas are the only population that is endangered.

Each summer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducts aerial abundance estimate surveys over the Inlet in search of Cook Inlet beluga whales. Scientifically-trained observers on board the plane use wide angle and zoomed video to record belugas, then compare the two videos to determine how many whales may have been missed. Two other analysts also count whales from the plane – all of this to ensure that the count is as accurate as it can be. The data is analyzed at NOAA labs in Seattle, and the results tell us how many whales are living in Cook Inlet.

Last week, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center of NOAA announced its 2012 abundance estimate, or population number, for the Cook Inlet belugas. The estimated population for last year was 312 whales — slightly up from last year’s estimate of 284 whales. But even though the population increased this year, if you examine the past 10 years of population estimates as NOAA scientists do, you see a trend: the population is declining at an average of 0.6 percent each year. Considering how small the current population is, this trend could threaten the survival of Cook Inlet belugas.

But there is good news! During the 2012 survey, scientists found Cook Inlet belugas in a part of Cook Inlet where they haven’t been seen since 2001. “A group of belugas was observed just offshore of West Foreland swimming north into upper Cook Inlet,” said Kim Shelden, a NOAA scientist and the chief scientist for this survey. This could mean that the population is expanding further into Cook Inlet, and reclaiming more of the species’ historic range. Until recently, we have watched these whales occupy only a small part of their original range in the waters off of Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It would be wonderful to see these whales traveling, feeding and raising their young in more diverse areas of Cook Inlet. If they spread out, it could reduce the chance of many whales being stranded when trying to escape predators like Orcas. It is too early to tell if this year’s survey means we’ll see Cook Inlet belugas expanding into their former range across more of the inlet or not, but good news is certainly welcome for a species already at risk.

A pod of beluga whales seen from the air (©NOAA)

Cook Inlet belugas were listed as an endangered species in 2008, and in 2011 NOAA designated two areas of Cook Inlet as their critical habitat, for a  total of 3,016 square miles. Cook Inlet belugas are top predators in their food chain, which means that their decline could be a sign of a deeper problem in their ecosystem. To find out what’s affecting them, we have to look at their habitat, their food sources and availability, and many other issues including noise, pollution, fishing, ship traffic, disease and climate change. It is important that we learn what is keeping the beluga population from growing so that we can craft a plan to help them recover.

That’s where the Cook Inlet Recovery Plan process comes in. The process uses information in the National Marine Fisheries Service Conservation Plan, which determines that for a “healthy, viable population,” there need to be at least 780 belugas in Cook Inlet – a far cry from last year’s numbers, I’m afraid. This makes the work that we’re doing for Cook Inlet belugas all the more important.

I serve as the representative for Defenders on the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Team (CIBRT) Stakeholder Panel. Since March 2010 we have been working to help draft a recovery plan for Cook Inlet belugas. The draft plan will be shared with the public later this year, and the public will have a chance to review and comment on it, so stay tuned. We hope that this plan will help us find out why the belugas are not recovering, and provide us with a plan of action so that we can all work towards the successful recovery of this important and beloved species.

Our office provides field data collection equipment and outreach brochures for some of the 75 trained citizen scientists who collect shore-based observations of Cook Inlet belugas as part of the Anchorage Coastal Beluga Survey, which Defenders helped found in 2008 along with Friends of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. The data from both of these research efforts helps fill in gaps and gets us closer to answering the question of why the Cook Inlet beluga population is not recovering. We’ll continue to work with scientists and the public to find a way to help these iconic whales recover and thrive in Cook Inlet once again.

Karla Dutton, Alaska Program Director

Polar bear and cubs in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Credit: USFWS)

Wildlife conservationists often view the success of their work solely in terms of species protected or habitat saved or restored. Certainly these are worthy and necessary goals to strive for. But what many folks do not factor in are the people who live in these habitats and who rely on some of these very same species for nourishment and economical wellbeing, and to sustain their cultures. These same people also have a unique knowledge of these species based on their many years — often generations — of observations. I believe we will be successful in sustaining habitats and species only when we work respectfully with the communities that call these places home.

Our partnership with The Alaska Nanuuq Commission (ANC) is a great example. The ANC was formed in 1994 so that Alaska’s Native people would have an active and meaningful role in the conservation and management of Alaska’s two polar bear populations in the Chukchi Sea and Southern Beaufort Sea. Alaska Natives have thousands of years of history with polar bears, which has led to a deep respect for the bear as a cultural symbol, a hunter, and a timeless part of the landscape. Polar bears rely on sea ice habitat, which is critical to raising young, finding prey and traveling. Now, due to rising global temperatures, sea ice melts earlier each spring, and forms later each fall, impacting the bears’ migration and access to prey. In 2008, polar bears were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The ANC represents 15 coastal villages, many of which are faced with increasing numbers of polar bears coming into their communities and campsites. Defenders and the Commission are both interested in reducing conflicts between humans and polar bears in Alaska communities. Some of these animals are just passing through. Others, stranded on land for longer periods, are looking for alternate and less nutritious sources of food, since decreasing sea ice has made their main prey, ice-dependent seals, harder to come by. Defenders and ANC both recognize that if the same methods that keep people and their families safe also protect polar bears, then more polar bears will survive. With fewer human-polar bear conflicts, polar bears have a better chance of surviving, despite the challenges posed by climate change, and their survival allows the Alaska Native people’s culture and way of life to continue.

A polar bear on sea ice.

Defenders of Wildlife Alaska staff are working on developing and spreading the word about ways to help polar bears and humans coexist. In 2010, we funded a report called Sea Bear Under Siege, which details the plight of polar bears in Alaska and offers recommendations on how to best assist them as they navigate the arctic meltdown and continued loss of the sea ice that is so critical to their long-term survival.

In 2011, we worked closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Marine Mammals program to develop and deliver a workshop on polar bear diversionary feeding. This involves moving or placing food sources (such as marine mammal carcasses) away from human settlements to reduce human-bear conflicts. This international workshop shared tools and techniques used by polar bear managers in Russia, Canada and the U.S. to inform decision-making in Alaska. Jack Omelak, Executive Director of the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, also participated in the workshop. He found it very useful, and asked Defenders to play a role in the commission’s development of a human and polar bear interaction strategy. Defenders assisted the ANC with developing their Polar Bear Deterrence Needs Assessment in July and August 2011. The assessment contains feedback from the 15 ANC coastal villages, and the results informed the ANC’s strategic planning going forward. One of the priorities identified was a polar bear deterrent workshop.

Now we’ve teamed up with The Alaska Nanuuq Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Marine Mammals polar bear staff and the World Wildlife Fund’s Arctic Program to develop and host a polar bear deterrent workshop to be held next month. This workshop brings together the Alaska Nanuuq Commissioners from 12 of the 15 coastal villages (from Kaktovik to the villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island) along with Russian counterparts who are also addressing human conflicts with polar bears in their communities. At the workshop, all of these groups will share tools, tips and management ideas with the Nanuuq Commissioners so that they can spread these methods to their communities. As more people use these techniques and tools, they can be replicated and refined so that we all learn how to better coexist with polar bears.

This workshop represents something larger and more important than a single event. The partnerships forged, the trust built and the knowledge shared — whether it be traditional and local ecological knowledge handed down through many generations, or the tools western science brings — means that polar bear conservation decisions made going forward will be better, stronger, more equitable and I believe better for polar bears, their habitat and the people that call their world home.

Pakak the orphaned walrus at the Alaska SeaLife Center

Quite often in our wildlife conservation jobs, we find ourselves spending far too much time at our desks, instead of viewing the very wildlife we work to protect. That changed for me this past weekend, when I was thrilled to volunteer at the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) to help care for a walrus calf that was orphaned in July when it was separated from its herd off of Barrow, Alaska.

The ASLC is the northern most arctic marine research facility, the only permanent stranding facility for marine mammals in Alaska.  It also houses a research facility and a public aquarium.  In my role as a trained volunteer, I’ve assisted with the care of Steller sea lions, arctic seabirds, and seals.  Working with the walrus calf was a very unique experience.

Walruses, or more specifically in this case Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), are large flippered marine mammals that live in remote arctic locations. Adult males can weigh more than 3,700 lbs. and, among pinnipeds (the family that includes walruses, seals, and sea lions), are exceeded in size only by the two species of the elephant seal.  Walruses prefer to haul out on sea ice over the continental shelf, near their main food source of mollusks and crustaceans.  But as Arctic sea ice shrinks each year, it becomes more difficult for them to find a safe location to rest and raise their calves safely near their feeding grounds.

The young walrus is healthy and happy, thanks to excellent care by volunteers and SeaLife Center staff.

Knowing about the challenges walruses face made meeting the orphaned calf even more special.  Staff and trained volunteers at the Alaska SeaLife Center care for the calf (who I called Walter) and another walrus calf 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  I worked three four-hour shifts, during which we prepared walrus formula and fed the calf every three hours. He now weighs about 300 pounds! When we were not feeding or cleaning up after him, we spent time with him while he played in his pool filled with icy cold water or explored his pen.  He has since been named Pakak, which means “one who that into everything” in Inupiaq.  This adorable video was taken soon after he arrived:

Walrus are very tactile and social animals. The dedicated staff and volunteer caretakers provide the social interaction that he would otherwise receive from other walruses. Walrus calves almost immediately habituate to human care, and therefore cannot be released into the wild after being rehabilitated.  So the two orphaned walrus will be placed in an aquarium with other walruses in the fall.  Like the iconic polar bear, they will become ambassadors for Arctic wildlife.

Here’s Pakak in a later video enjoying his baby pool, which it looks like he may outgrow very soon!

To learn more http://www.alaskasealife.org/New/rehabilitation/index.php?page=firstpage.php

As part of my job at Defenders, I continue to learn about the myriad tools we all have to help make wildlife management work in good times, and during crises like oil spills. I made a commitment after the heart-breaking BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to be a better citizen by becoming a certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responder. Recently, on a clear, crisp, cold Saturday, about 40 of us gathered in a windowless training room to spend the day with trainers from International Wildlife Research (IWR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Sea Life Center and the Alyeska/SERVS to get a first-hand look at what it takes to be a certified responder.

Sea otters are unique among arctic marine mammals since they rely on the thickness and distinctive make-up of their fur, rather than blubber, to keep them warm or cool and dry. They live in sea-ice covered coastal areas and spend considerable time floating on their backs, often eating shellfish or nursing and caring for their pups that, unlike the young of other aquatic mammals like seals, cannot swim when first born.

Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities.

Sea otters require very specific round-the-clock care when oiled. Their survival and return to the wild depend heavily on certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responders both knowing their jobs and doing them correctly – the first time and every time.

The IWR team that leads these trainings includes scientists, veterinarians and wildlife specialists with expertise and real world experience in the care and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife. In fact, many of them are actual veterans of the infamous Exxon Valdez Spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. IWR has provided expertise for preparing and executing oil spill response operations for sea otters and other marine and land mammals for over 15 years.

Karla Dutton and vet tech Willow are demonstrating the proper taping technique to put on XL-sized protective equipment.

As I embarked on the 9-hour training, I was struck by not only the complexity of the course, but also the very real and serious commitment I was making by being there. After much coffee, careful listening to lectures and participating in a number of team problem-solving sessions, we were deemed ready for any oil spill emergency that might come our way. As a result, I now have my certificate and am on the national register of first responders.

The course and the online training and exam are well worth your time if you feel motivated to be part of a group who could be called in to help wildlife in an oil spill someday. Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities. But 40 more people are now prepared if the phone rings.

Learn more about sea otters and what Defenders is doing to protect all wildlife  from the threat of oil spills.

The answer is, we don’t know yet. But as energy companies increasingly seek to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic, increasing the chances of a catastrophic oil spill, “we don’t know” isn’t good enough.

And that’s why I found myself at an exciting hands-on marine mammal de-oiling workshop in Seward, Alaska. Along with more than 30 first responders, I joined conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Clean Seas, the Alaska SeaLife Center, the North Slope Borough, BP and Exxon to share knowledge about the current state of marine mammal de-oiling practices.

Over the course of two days, we  examined the lessons we’d learned from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which oiled approximately 2,500 sea otters, as well as from SeaWorld experts Dr. Pam Yochem and Bill Winhall, who respond to oiled marine mammals off the coast of California. We also got to experience hands-on just how difficult it is to remove even a small amount of oil from the thick fur of marine mammals by vigorously cleaning an oiled sea otter pelt.

On the left, Karla helps clean an oiled sea otter pelt

The Arctic presents many challenges to us. We have little marine mammal oil clean up equipment in place, few roads, darkness and hostile weather much of the year. These known challenges make this workshop so important and timely – providing us with time to examine what we know, what we do not know and what resources and training we need to prepare for a spill.  This type of training is likely to become an annual event, in order to establish a timely, trained response team in place with the resources and tools needed to treat oiled marine mammals like polar bears.

Federal help for polar bears

The Department of the Interior took an important stand for the future of polar bears last week,  announcing it will protect more than 187,000 square miles of onshore barrier islands, denning areas and offshore sea ice as critical habitat. Critical habitat designation will ensure that the federal government considers the impacts on polar bear habitat of actions it authorizes, funds, or carries out to ensure that critical habitat will not be adversely modified or destroyed.

This decision will provide crucial protection for polar bears, a species watching its habitat melt from beneath its feet. Designating critical habitat will help ensure that federal actions will not contribute to the polar bear’s plight.

Post by Karla Dutton, Alaska program director for Defenders. The Alaska office is focusing increasingly on initiatives on climate change and the related habitat impacts on polar bears.

Learn more about polar bears and how Defenders is working to save this Arctic icon.