Thanks to Joanie from Team 5 for sending in a blog entry!

We travel in from all walks of life, each of us toting our personal histories that, for many of us, do not relate directly to field biology. Then, within hours of arrival we are propelled into the great outdoors and viola...research with wild creatures of the earth. It is grand. This volunteer experience was extremely satisfying. Dr. Maldini and her research staff, Cyndi and Mark, were hands-on on a daily basis with the volunteer team, allowing each of us to peer into the methodology of collecting data in the field, involving us in every way. Many moments stand out in my mind over the 10-day expedition, all of which are archived to memory. Chasing coastal bottlenose dolphins in a boat in sea swells for the first time was fantastic. I am amazed that there are dolphins living so close to shore. With help from the experts, when one develops the eye to spot them, the dolphins are always there to see. They were so close to the boat at times that one of them came up for air while running the bow and blew water onto me and my camera. The dolphin's perpetual smile implied amusement in doing it. Also memorable was participating in the 24-hour sea otter observation. I signed up for the 1am-5am stint with Cyndi. Our task was to count sea otters at the slough near the jetties that pave the way to the bay. In the dark and every half hour we tallied otters 'hanging out' in their raft and recorded weather conditions. Watching the otters resting in the twilight with only the sounds of the night was wonderful. Their silhouettes floating in the water looked like mini gondolas. We saw five otters haul-out on shore over the course of the night as well. The ease in which sea otters move in the water is pure poetry in motion. It's astonishing how much they can eat, and must eat - high-speed shell crackers....then groom like felines. Thanks again to Dr. Maldini and her A-Team, and my fellow volunteers, for making this expedition a positive experience. It's a great project with good company in the environmental haven of Monterey Bay. EW expeditions are roads less traveled but tremendously rewarding.

Joanie, Team 5

We headed out at 6:45 am, just before the sun rose. The sky brightened as we drove the Beach Road to the launch area from our home at Pajaro Dunes. After cleaning the Nereis the night before, we trailored the boat to the launch ramp this morning. After connecting the GPS we headed out into the open water passing the sea otters who habituate the jetty waters. The day was promising and no doubt each of us wondered what adventures the day would bring. We turned north calling out each sighting of bottlenose dolphins: Nibble, Arc, Stump with her calf, Shine, Minerva, Jambi, Joker with her calf, Number 21, Excalibur and Chip were sighted....12 adults in all wiath 7-8 juveniles. The Nereis took us all the way north of Santa Cruz to Terrace Point. On the return trip we came across hundreds of jellyfish, stopping briefly to net one. In doing so we learned that they are deceptively heavy, perhaps 15-20 pounds, being 95% water. Jellyfish don't have brains but float at the discretion of the currents. It had been another good dolphin day.

Helen Betz

Our first day with the dolphins! WOW! We left our "new" home at 6:30 and were on the boat at 7am, just as the sun was emerging from behind the San Andreas hills. It was cold and breezy but we were all bundled up. After traveling north for a while we had a false alarm with a sighting of harbor porpoises. With lookouts posted on either side of the boat, a small group of dolphins were finally sighted. They were heading south, traveling symmetrically together. Sometimes it was difficult to follow them due to their varied times underwater. When we were finished photographing the group we headed further south. After searching for quite a while, we were thrilled to sight a group of 30-40 dolphins with approximately 10 calves. They were in various small groups and often swam right next to the boat. All their antics brought cheers of joy and laughter from all of us. When the boat sped up, a number of the dolphins (up to 4) swam under the bow of the boat. From this vantage point we could see their size and markings on their bodies. The young calves sometimes were very small (probably just a few months old) and others jumped right out of the water as they swam with their mothers. Others did a sort of flip when they surfaced to breathe. They were very interactive and appeared as joyful as we were!

Jane Morgan, Team 6

Today was our first day in the field, and after rising
at a very reasonable hour, we headed out. We cleaned
off the boat, jumped in, and the plan was to sail out
to the ocean to see what the conditions were like, and
if they were, we were planning on spending the day
with the dolphins. The water conditions here have been
quite unpredictable, and we want to make sure we get
enough time with the dolphins! The water conditions
were not that great, so we headed into Elkhorn Slough
to spend the day training on our observations with the
sea otters. We found a great spot, anchored, and began
training. We learned that otters have to eat 40% of
their body weight daily, so a lot fo their time is
spent foraging. We documented their foraging, and of
course, ooh'd and aah'd about how cute they are!
Daniella informed us that even though they were cute -
these little guys can be vicious in their mating
habits, which was quite shocking! Two of the
volunteers and I had been documenting one certain
otter for quite awhile, and we really got the hang of
it! It was a very cool day to learn, and Daniella,
Cyndi & Mark have been really patient with us. After
heading home, we warmed up with some tea, had some
dinner, did data entry & reviewed our day. It was a
great one!

Kendall Melton, Team 6

We are now halfway through our adventure with Team 5. The members of this team have been exceptionally energetic and ready to tackle any task we throw their way. As we headed out of the harbor for their first day out on the dolphin boat, we met a 4-6 foot swell that would keep us alert and at a distance from the dolphins throughout the day. The team readily stepped up and helped us keep track of a group of 15-20 dolphins as they moved in and out of the challenging swell. We picked up this group of dolphins near Marina State Beach, south of Moss Landing and followed them as they headed north to the harbor. As we crossed the entrance to the harbor we encountered our second group of dolphins for the day, a large mom-calf group that were heading south. We followed this group for almost an hour, photographing them as they rode the waves. The following day we returned to Monterey Bay and headed north in an attempt to cover the northern half of the Bay. Surprisingly, we surveyed all the way to Capitola without seeing any dolphins. Taking a few minutes to formulate a plan, we decided to cut across the Bay to our most southern point of Monterey and then survey along the coast as we headed back to Moss Landing. After reaching Monterey we quickly began encountering dolphins. We worked the dolphins quickly and headed for home before the sea conditions deteriorated further.

There are a few great stories about our dolphins that I would like to share. One has to do with a mother calf pair that was sighted for the first time last year. Mom's name is MAREA (tide in Italian) and her calf was known to last year's team as Lesion Calf and is now officially named HEALER. Needless to say, this lucky calf was seen last year with a very bad looking skin condition (see the photo). We did not have much hopes that this baby would make it though the year but we were proven wrong....HEALER is still with MAREA in 2007 and definitely healed! You can still make out the scarring from the horrible blisters, but its body is clean and it has definitely grown to yearling size. We are passing the calf's picture around to experts that could maybe give us an idea of what kind of condition we were seeing....so stay tuned. In addition, MAREA is one of the dolphins we obtained a biopsy sample for last year. Maybe some answers to her calf's condition lie in her blubber.

For now, until some answers become apparent, we are just feeling happy that HEALER is still alive and well.

Introducing our new secret weapon. Our Canon 100 mm to 400 mm zoom lens! No dolphins can hide from us now!!

Sitting here I feel a sense of satisfaction in that I have helped with important research and also learned a great deal by being here, but also a sadness that soon I will be leaving to return home. I have the utmost respect for all the staff. Danny is a wealth of knowledge, and has many funny stories to tell. I hope at some point she writes an autobiography, as I think she has had a very interesting and exciting life, and she still has so many things to do! I have spent a lot of time with Cyndi; she is so friendly and personable. Her knowledge of the North Atlantic Right Whales is amazing; she is a fantastic boat captain, and a very well round young lady. I didn’t get a chance to work with Mark very much, but in the time I did observe him I can say he has a passion and dedication for his work that is not often seen, he is so smart, and witty. He is a fine young man who I think will do many great things in his life. They work so well together, and I really admire them for all that they do.

As for me, well I have changed and grown so much in the last few days. I have had my first humpback whale encounter, I have had a face full of dolphin blow, I have watched the coming and goings of a unique group of sea otters, and I have made some new friends that I hope I will stay in touch with for a very long time. Cyndi asked us each to write a short paragraph or so about our experiences, or one that stuck out to us. I have no idea where to start. Every day was fantastic with new and exciting experiences. I don’t think that I can summarize it in a short paragraph. Each person that comes here will take something unique home with them. I am returning home to finish my senior year at Ohio State University. Next summer at this time I should have my bachelor’s degree, majoring in Biology with an Environmental Science minor. This trip reinforced to me that I am pursuing the right degree, that this is what I am meant to do. My perspective is that this is a great program for people who want to learn and work. If you have a passion to help these animals it will be the most fun work you will ever do! Thanks for all the good times, and the great memories.

Sarah Rose

TEAM IV

Team quatro is well under way, and actually more than halfway done now. Time is still going by extremely fast. The good news is that the weather seems to be finally getting straightened out. The August fog has been reduced to little to none, and the days have been consistently amazing. Patterns in the bay have been developing with animals as well as the weather changes. We are seeing an average of about 3-4 humpbacks a day with as many as 9 today. We found a pod of transient orca's with a small calf a few days ago not too far from Moss Landing and we have seen them a few more times from the beach while on otters. Otters have been going well as we have decided to focus on flood tide samplings during team 4. The data has been real consistent and we are getting good results. The 24-hour otter watch which we do once a team has proved to be stretching the staff thin at times... since only Danny, Cyndi, and myself remain after Steph and Andrew left. During the last 24-hour day however, a german production group came to film us as a portion of their otter documentary.. which was interesting to say the least. More on that later.

On the dolphin front, things are heating up again this week. Many animals that we have not seen since last year are returning to the bay, many with neonates at their sides. This is very interesting, as we are finding a lot of our animals that are females. There are at least 15 mother-calf pairs consisting of neonates and yearlings in the bay at this time. One theory we are leaning towards right now is that the bay is a perfect nursery ground for the mother-calf group that we see growing - by the day it seems. We are easily up to about 95 animals identified this season, which is almost exactly half of our master catalog. Also we are in the process of matching with the L.A. catalog to find out where the animals are when not here in the bay. Hopefully, this will help us to get a better understanding of their movements and social structure and continue going forward with the great data we are collecting this season.

The past day has been full of good-byes at the Dolphin house. We are sad to say that our great friends and staff members, Andrew and Steph left us to return to college to start their semester. It was hard to see them go. We will miss Andrew's easy laughs, antics and his happy snores on the couch after a long day in the field. And for Steph, we will miss her diligent attention to the otter data and her jokes that kept us entertained on long 24 hour observations. The next day we also saw the departing of our smallest team to date, Andrew and Mayuko. The three Musketeers, Danny, Mark and Cyndi are left behind to hold the fort down. We will spend the next few days catching up on dolphin photo-id and preparing for Team 4.

Well, it's hard to believe the time has come, but Andrew and I are leaving tomorrow for the east coast. A month has never gone by so fast for me before, but I definitely think it's a good sign. There are so many memories, and today was no exception. We aren't about to slow down just because our time is almost done. We woke up to clear conditions this morning and headed over to Moss Landing Harbor for a dolphin survey. Somehow, the weather thought it would be funny to change and heavy fog rolled in. You can't stop a determined dolphin hunter though and we headed out nonetheless after it lifted just a little. We headed north and hit 3 dolphins early on, but we lost site in the fog shortly after Andrew was able to snap a few shots. We traveled north all the way to the barge without encountering any other bottlenose dolphins, but there were some other animals around. We ran into a group of harbor porpoises...nothing spectacular...until it was followed by another group, and then another, and then a few more. We think there were at least 30 animals in this school; there were fins everywhere! We saw a mola mola in the water too. I'm not sure why it's beneficial to be a fish that looks like your tail was caught and ripped off in a lawn mower (or whatever the equivalent machinery is for the ocean...or whatever), but it seems to work out for these guys. I actually thought it was a dead fish floating in the water at first but then I remember that I had the same reaction looking at the mola in the deep ocean tank at the aquarium. I guess I should give them more credit. Even though we didn't find any more dolphins, we had heard rumors that the whale watch boats had recently been spotting orcas in the bay, so Danny suggested we "do something wild" and we headed offshore. Once we got out over the bay we spotted some whale watch boats and scanned the horizon for activity, but we were surprised by a school of Risso's dolphins (see picture) right near out boat. I've never seen these guys before and I have to say it was pretty spectacular. Think beluga whale with a dorsal fin and a little bit of grey. The individuals we saw were pretty white, which I believe indicates older age, and we could see them coming in the water. They're a bit bigger than our bottlenose dolphins, and have many scars on their bodies. Their brunt rostrums were pretty distinct, but I thought they were absolutely beautiful animals and I was completely entranced for a few minutes as they passed by (luckily Cyndi was driving the boat and managed to avoid the waves or else I would have been a goner). We then caught what Danny thinks was a Pacific white-sided dolphin jumping out of the water, but all I saw was belly and tail so I'll take her word for it. I think that still counts though...anyways, we headed back to Moss Landing and hit the fog once again, but it definitely could have been worse. Our afternoon was filled with dolphin data work. The catalog is over 200 animals now, with new ones being named all the time. The names are getting more random and creative as more people contribute, but Mark still somehow has a handle on it all. Too bad I haven't found a way to start naming otters...I'm sure I could come up some winners. Who knows, there's always the future :)

-Steph

This morning we broke into teams of 2 so we could monitor the otter raft and focus on individual otters at the same time. Mayuko and Andrew held down the fort at the otter raft, counting the otters every fifteen minutes and monitoring the boat traffic. Meanwhile Daniela, Cyndi, Mark and Andrew ventured into the slough to scout out new places to observe foraging otters. Cyndi and Andrew picked a spot and quickly lost their otter. After an hour without finding any other foraging otters, they returned to the harbor. At the harbor there were several foraging otters, as well as an amazing amount of kyakers. Labor Day weekend has brought people from far and near seeking the refuge of Elkhorn slough. Mark and Daniela had much better luck. They found a great spot at the end of a boardwalk where they could observe several otters while they foraged. We plan to use this location for our focal follows over the next month. Later this afternoon we switched gears and walked from Sea Cliff beach to our housing complex at Pajaro Dunes, taking GPS points along the way. We'll use this data to set marks along the coast in our GPS on the boat. This will help us navigate in the fog. The entire walk was about 15 miles and took us 4 hours to complete. We all will sleep well tonight!!

Me, Dolphins, and Breakdowns...

Early morning fog delays the second survey that Team 3 attempted. We finally got underway aboard the 'Nereis' around 10 AM. Onboard are Capt. Cindi, photographers Andrew and Mark, and Volunteers Mayuko and Myself. Skies are blue and wind is low. Following an early sea otter encounter, we find our first group of dolphins an hour after start, about five animals are photographed and identified before we continue south. Six minutes later we encounter our second group. We begin following them when all of a sudden the motor cuts out and we are left dead in the water. My first thought is "Oh No, Not Again"...
Just over a year ago I was on the Earthwatch "Amazon Riverboat Exploration". Whilst on a small boat conduction a river dolphin survey our engine died on us and we were left at the mercy of the Amazon. We were rescued after about an hour and the engine was fixed. Luckily, this time the problem was quickly fixed and we had caught up with the dolphins within a half hour. They gave a fine display for us, bowriding and one dolphin gave us a spectacular jump right in front of the boat. After enjoying the dolphins for half an hour and collecting the necessary data, we headed back to the harbor while I considered whether or not I should enroll in another project that includes both dolphins and boats.

Posted by Andrew Miller

We did 24 hour otters survey, today. It wasn't that cold.
The weather was very strange, there were no cloud above our head but it rained.
I was in the shift of 5-9 am with Danniela and Andrew. We used alarm every 30 minutes and took a nap.
The Mexican mocha, near the north beach was good!!
We went to Cosco to buy foods and came home.
I also was in the shift of 1-5pm with Cyndi.
A bit busy, but I was lucky to see many otters.
About 70 otters were there when I started counting at 1 pm.

Posting by Mayuko Dan

It was a tough day.

Team 3 started their expedition with a full survey of Elkhorn slough this morning. After two and a half hours, they had navigated the 7 mile length of the slough and counted 36 otters. As they came into Moss Landing Harbor, an additional 55 otters were counted in the raft. As the team counted each otter, they recorded the sex of the animal, the amount of grizzling on the otter's head and chest and the otter's behavior. Returning to the dock, the team met Cyndi and Mark who had spent the morning photographing a group of dolphins off the barge to the south of Moss Landing. While many of the animals were the same that have remained in the Bay for the past month (Poke, Kahuna, Kristal, Echo), they saw several new arrivals in the Bay. One of Daniela's favorites, Joker, has returned with her yearling. After running home for lunch, the team was back out in the afternoon to learn about otter behaviors and to practice recording accurate otter counts. After two hours of watching the otters everyone was prepared for the 24 hour otter observation which will begin at 1am on Thursday.

Dinner tonight...Bones and Twigs

Team 3 arrives tomorrow! This will be a small team with only two volunteers. The small team size will give us some more flexibility to explore the Bay more extensively though. We plan to take both boats, Spyhop and Nereis, out so that we can do a complete survey of Monterey Bay and get a snapshot of all of the dolphins in the Bay in one day. As we run around the house finishing the last of the cleaning chores, there is a buzz of excitement in the house to get back out on the water with the new team!

Looking for a brief break from Monterey, the staff took advantage of the time in between teams and ran up to San Francisco for some well-earned down time. Winding up coastal Route 1, we arrived in SF in the afternoon and hung out along the piers while we waited for our ferry to Alcatraz. While waiting to get on the ferry we ran into Penny and Andrew from Team 2! Unfortunately they were already coming back from Alcatraz and we could only talk for a few minutes before our ferry left the dock. We learned all about the history of Alcatraz, including the history of the maximum security prison and the Native American occupation in the 1960's. After several hours of touring around the buildings, we headed back to SF to find our hotel. We danced the night away to the only Peruvian salsa band in SF at a benefit for the Peruvian earthquake relief fund!! We were so excited to be part of the event, even though we proved to be amateures at salsa dancing! The next day we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful sunny afternoon. After buying some souvenirs for our families and catching dinner at a great Mexican building, we headed back to Monterey refreshed and excited to get back in the field!!

Team 2:

While staying busy in the field, we've found that our time with Team 2 flew by with barely a chance to stop and update our blog. Dolphin id's continued until a few days before the team left, when intense fog and a 9-10 ft swell kept us off the water. With the help of the volunteers, all the photos have been rated and matching is underway. And we have exciting news to report! Mark just matched the 50th individual dolphin for the season!! Also, we're seeing some dolphins that haven't been seen since the mid-90's. Now that a lot of the dolphins have been matched, Daniela is beginning to outline the social organization of the dolphins, identifying mothers and male buddies. As some of these social ties are extremely tight and important aspects of a dolphin's life, we expect to see many of the same dolphins together throughout the season. The otter project has been focusing on the focal follows to identify dive times, prey selection and size and success rates. Steph is beginning to analyze this data, the result of which will be her senior thesis. (Look for her preliminary findings throughout the season)

On the last day of Team 2's time with us, we woke up to a third day of intense fog and heavy swell. Frustrated by the weather we decided to explore the coast and we all took off for Big Sur. We spent the day hiking through Pfeiffer State Park, learning about the Coastal Redwoods. After spending a few hours among these century-old trees we returned to the coast and winded our way along the coastal road, back to Carmel. The team gathered at Carmel for well-earned dinner and took in the sunset while we watched surfers enjoy the large surf that we had avoided earlier today. Exhausted from the day's adventure, we returned home and everyone prepared to depart the next morning.

Team II - Science and Fun

These last few days went really fast. We have been busy with both projects and collected an enormous amount of data. Team II is very proud of its hard work. So far we have identified 43 dolphins, many of which are mothers with either neonates or very young calves. For the first time in years we are caught up with photo-identification early in the season, thanks to Mark's keen observational skills.

We are catching up to the pattern the dolphins are exhibiting this season. They are, as usual, moving up and down the coast but this year they seem to prefer the southern portion of the bay, or at least, the mother/calf group that we have been trying to decode seems to like it near the Barge. There are other dolphins in the bay though, and these we found up north, all the way up near Seacliff Beach.

Anchovies seem to still be abundant in the bay and the dolphins forage for them just slightly offshore, beyond the crest of the breakers. However, the foraging frenzies of last year are over, and we see the animals resting and traveling slowly much more often.

We have seen quite a few aerial behaviors, even high jumps which are not common for this population. The calves in the nursery group are particularly rambunctious. They are eager to ride the wake of our boat for long periods of time and seem to wait for us to "speed it up" impatiently by positioning their sprinty tiny bodies just in front of the boat and looking up in a "plea" for fun.

We have also discovered that by tapping the sides of the boat with our hand, we easity peak the curiosity of the little ones which come closer and inspect the source of the weird noise. Playing with the calves a couple of days ago, was the height of our week.

In the sea otter department we are doing very well. We have completed another long 24-hour observation bout and got to watch them haul out near Seal Beach in Moss Landing Harbor. We had up to 15 animals on shore between 1 and 5 am.

We discovered that sea otters vocalize more frequently at night perhaps to keep in touch with the rest of the group. It is true that during the day there is a lot of noise that could mask some of the vocalizations, but the sounds we are hearing and recording at night are distinct and quite loud at times and we would certainly hear then during the day as well since we are quite close to the raft.

The first few recordings are already in so stay tuned for more information on what we are finding out.

Team 1, Day 5-10:

The remainder of Team 1’s days were full of photographing dolphins and observing sea otters. We began conducting focal follows of individual otters in order to record dive time, prey species and prey size. Linda took to these observations quickly and really enjoyed following one individual. From her station above the jetty, she even caught sight of a whale’s blow in the distance (which she noticed while her otter was on a dive, of course!). I think that the entire team got a good feel for what voracious appetites our sea otters have! Within the ten days that the team was here, we photo-identified 24 dolphins and added a few new dolphins to the catalog. Luna, Machete, Toodle-pip and Reg were added with love by Hannah, Hilary and Linda. Meanwhile, once everyone returned from the field, we all shared a lot of laughs and some delicious meals. Linda was always ready to help in the kitchen, while Hannah worked hard on the computer inputting the data from the day. Mark helped Daniela feel like she was in Italy again as they chatted in Italian night after night. After dinner the crew would split up, some heading for bed to prepare for an early morning while others stayed up gabbing and laughing late into the night. We want to thank Hannah for tirelessly entering Team 1’s data, Mark for keeping us entertained late into the night, Maho for taking video of all of our events, Hilary for our new British sayings (which we still use!), Jin for sharing his love of reptiles and awesome photos from Australia and Linda for always being an extra set of hands in the kitchen! You all made the beginning of our season very memorable.

Team 1 recap, Day 4:

Due to our mechanical problems with the Spyhop’s engine, we decided to use today as our recreation day. We headed to Monterey early this morning and split up. Jin and Maho took to Fisherman’s Wharf, where they went out on a whale watching trip. A few hours later they returned with stories of humpback whales and a basking shark. The rest of the crew went down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to take in the giant kelp forest tank, the diverse displays of sea otters and jellyfish and the ocean tank with yellowfin tuna and the HUGE sunfish! After a great day, we met up for a late dinner of Hawaiian cuisine and headed home to prepare for a full day in the field.

Team 1 recap, Day 3:

The engine of Spyhop failed on us this morning before we were even out of the harbor!! After paddling back to the dock and a few hours of scratching our heads, we decided that a mechanic would have to come look the poor machine. Unfortunately, the mechanic wasn’t available for two days. We would have to wait on land until it’s fixed. Hannah and Hilary were very good sports about the whole ordeal, entertaining the team with a few British grammer lessons (Toodle-pip is still one of our favorites!!). Meanwhile, the otter team was busy recording behaviors and plotting out the raft formation every 15 minutes. In between 15 minute observations the team was kept busy identifying the multitude of birds that inhabit the harbor. Brown pelicans, marbled godwits, surf scoters, great blue herons, snowy egrets and Clark’s grebes are just a sampling of the bird life in the harbor. Between our field guides and the extremely helpful, local birders (who have no interest in the otters), we were able to identify a multitude of species!

Team 1 recap, Day 2:

Today began with an eventful morning on our research vessel, Spyhop. After sputtering for a minute, our 1976 outboard motor roared to life and we were off the dock. We found a group of 15 dolphins right at the entrance of the harbor and quickly started snapping away with our camera. After about an hour of photographing, we obtained identifying photographs of almost all the dolphins. We photograph the dorsal fin of each dolphin to identify each individual. This coastal population of dolphins has been cataloged since 1989. Since then 167 dolphins have been identified and added to the catalog. We will use today’s photographs to determine who is using Monterey Bay this summer and who has a new calf this year. As we continued south we noticed that the engine began sputtering. We quickly turned for home and returned to Moss Landing. After filling the gas tank the engine sounded better and we headed back out. We turned north this time, but didn’t find any dolphins before the seas began building and we headed home once again.

Team 1, Day 1:

Jin, Maho, Linda, Mark, Hilary and Hannah, the members of Team 1, arrived eager and ready to jump into the field. After a full day of introductions, lectures on Monterey Bay and sea otters we began our 24 hour sea otter observations. The staff began the first shift at 1am and quickly found out that the lights in the parking lot behind the harbor were so bright that our night scope wouldn't work properly. Without the night scope we couldn’t distinguish the behavior of each otter. We amended our data protocols to record the number of resting otters that were rafted together in the harbor and whether they were active or inactive. The members of Team 1 joined the staff in the field beginning with the 9am shift, after recovering from a bit of jetlag. We will conduct a 24 hour sea otter observation with each of the 7 teams. Over the course of the season we’ll be able to compare these observations and determine the flux of otters in and out of the raft throughout an entire day and an entire tide cycle.

The 2007 field season is well underway!! Our core team of staff arrived in Monterey one day before our first team joined us. We were elated to find our new home is in the quiet town of Watsonville, right on the beach. A two minute walk takes us to the shores of Monterey Bay, a pleasure that we've been surely taking advantage of!! The season was off and running once Team 1 arrived. Unfortunately, setting up our internet service has been a nightmare! After about five phone calls and two visits from Charter Communications technicians, we are FINALLY online and can begin updating the blog. To remind Team 1 of how much we loved working with them, we will start by posting a recap of the team's adventures.

The weather was unusually clear for an early morning in the Monterey Bay area. We set out on the water around 8am in search of dolphins, sea otters, and other interesting marine mammals -- if we would be so lucky. Our first stop was the sea lion buoy. It seems to be a favourite hangout area among sea lions; they seemed to enjoy our company and followed us playfully. Shortly after, we observed a humpback whale with its calf. We followed them until the mother raised her fluke high in the air and dove for a satisfying meal.
The fog was becoming thick so we took a short break on shore until the fog passed. We went out again. This time to multiple dolphin sightings. There were three schools; one in particular was quite large [6-10 dolphins]. The larger school had some quite playful dolphins. An observer at the front of the boat could see their smiles as they raced by the bow. Their eyes, skin markings, and fins all clearly visible.

Check out this News Release from USGS regarding the results of their otter census this past spring!
California Sea Otters – 2007 Survey Count Reaches New High
It will be interesting to find how many otters are in the slough this year!

Thank you to Renee, Team 7, 2006 for submitting this article.

THE STAFF

Principal Investigators

Daniela Maldini, Ph.D., is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Daniela completed her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Pavia, Italy, in 1988. During this time she managed the university’s marine biology laboratory and completed a thesis on the conservation biology of pleuronectiform fishes in the Ligurian Sea. She moved to the United States in 1988 and interned in the Oceanography Department at the University of Texas at Austin Marine Laboratory located in Corpus Christi, Texas. Later, she worked with marine mammals and birds at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Monterey Bay, California, where she completed her M.S. in Marine Sciences in 1996. The topic of her M.S. thesis was the ecology of bottlenose dolphins in Monterey Bay. During this time she was also involved in a variety of ecological studies focusing on whales, dolphins, sea otters, and pinnipeds; co-founded the Pacific Cetacean Group, a non-profit corporation focusing on research, education, and conservation; and led the Marine Mammal Center Monterey Bay Operations’ stranding network in 1994-1995. Daniela completed her Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2003 with a study of odontocete abundance and distribution around the island of Oahu. She is also the co-founder and vice president of the Oceanwide Science Institute, a Hawaii non-profit organization. She has been contracting as a biologist with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary since 1998. From 2001-2004 she worked as Research Associate at the Alaska SeaLife Center focusing on the ecology of killer whales and sea otters in Alaskan and Russian waters. Daniela is interested in behavioral ecology, population biology, and predator-prey relationships. Her work focuses on the ecology of odontocetes in various parts of the world.

Thomas A. Jefferson, Ph.D., is a visiting scientist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, California. He has been studying marine mammals since 1983, and has conducted research on a variety of different species in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Africa, the Caribbean, and throughout Southeast Asia. He has published over 95 scientific papers and books, 10 popular articles, and one CD-ROM. Since 1995, Dr. Jefferson has been conducting research mainly on dolphins and porpoises in Southeast Asia, and leads a long-term project on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises in Hong Kong waters. He completed his Ph.D. in 1995 at Texas A&M University, working on cetaceans in offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. He also holds a M.S. in Marine Sciences completed while working at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, in Monterey Bay, California. His primary interests are the systematics and conservation biology of small cetaceans.


Research Coordinator - Cynthia Browning
Cynthia is an independent cetacean biologist who has been working on various field projects for the past five years. Originally from Long Island, NY, Cynthia moved to New Hampshire in 1999 to pursue a BS in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. Cynthia’s primary interest in conservation led her to develop a deep interest in the North Atlantic Right Whale. Since completing her BS in 2003, Cynthia has worked on four different field projects, covering four out of the five critical habitats for right whales. Cynthia spends her winters with the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, flying aerial surveys as both an observer and the flight coordinator. For the past two years she has surveyed the offshore habitat of the Great South Channel with the New England Aquarium. During the late summer and fall, Cynthia moves up the coast to work in the Bay of Fundy (between northern Maine and Nova Scotia) and Roseway Basin (southeast of Nova Scotia). While she has worked with survey teams in these areas, Cynthia also was part of a groundbreaking project that collected whale scat in order to investigate the internal health of right whales. This will be Cynthia’s first year with the Marine Mammals of Monterey Project and she is excited to be part of the team.

Student Assistants – Stephanie Wallace, Andrew Walsh and Mark Cotter
Stephanie, Andrew and Mark are all undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst working with Dr. Maldini in various capacities. Stephanie is completing her senior thesis on sea otters under the supervision of Dr. Maldini. She will be coordinating sea otter observations and will welcome volunteer help in completing her data collection in the field. Andrew is also working with sea otters and Mark has been conducting photo-identification of dolphins for the past year.

Monterey Bay - Welome to the 2007 Season !

Dear Past and Future Volunteers,

I am so excited to finally be able to launch the 2007 Season. I am getting ready to travel cross-country to Monterey Bay where I will be from mid-July to the end of October. It has been a long year for me, full of changes and new adventures. I just moved to North Carolina...Wilmington to be exact where my husband and trusted Director of Field Operations, Peter Nilsson, whom you have all grown to appreciate and love, has started a new job at the University of North Carolina, working with Marine Mammals on the East Coast.

I am very excited for him, but I am sad to say that he will not b e joining us in the field this year although he will be hard at work on the upcoming bottlenose dolphin book and catalogue that we are putting together, ... so stay tuned....

Our wonderful Field Assistant and Coordinator Anna Janovicz is pursuing her career at Earthwatch where she has been promoted (and she deserved it greatly!). SHe also will not be able to join us in the field this year and I wish her the best of luck with her new adventures. Thank you for keeping the blog alive Anna!!!

Thank you to all others that have contributed to the Blog through the winter. It is amazing to see how many wonderful contributions many of our past volunteeres have made to conservation through their workplace or personally. Keep it going, because individuals such as yourself can really make a big difference in the world today.

My winter has been spent working hard as Director of Research at Earthwatch. After some thinking, I have decided to move on and dedicate myself full-time to research and teaching since these are the things I love the most. This means that I will be able to do a full-season in the field with the upcoming teams and to spend time with the animals. I am very excited!

I will be starting to post the news more regularly now and I am hoping to be able to give you a glimpse of the findings so far.....

I am looking forward to forge new friendships and to revive old ones. Please keep in touch through the blog.

Sincerely

Daniela

Hi, I'm Tom Jefferson, one of the Principal Investigators for the project. I am looking forward to another exciting time in Monterey Bay this autumn, as our project enters its second year. We will again be collecting a wealth of information on bottlenose dolphins and sea otters of Monterey Bay, and this year we hope to do a bit more detailed work involving biopsy sampling and photogrammetry (measuring things with photos, that is).

We have put in several funding proposals and are now waiting to hear back the results. If we are successful in getting the additional funding, we will be able to do some very neat, state-of-the-art work with new biopsy equipment and special devices for our camera that will allow us to take measurements of dolphins' dorsal fins and get specific distance readings to the animals.

I have just finished the field work for a two-year project on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in Hong Kong . I am now in the process of analyzing all the data and writing up the final report. In this project, we biopsy-sampled 36 dolphins, mostly individual dolphins that we recognize by natural markings and have been observing for many years. Because we know these individuals so well, we are able to keep track of them after they are sampled, to see if there is any evidence of infection of the small wounds, or any changes in their range or behavior.

As we expected, the tiny biopsy wounds on the dolphins have healed fast, with no evidence of infection or any other adverse effects. Also, we have seen no indication of a change in behavior (other than a short-term reaction) of the sampled dolphins ñ they continue to hang out in the same areas, and sometimes approach our research boat, despite having been hit (sometimes more than once) with the biopsy dart! It seems that the procedure has little effect on the animals, and it is yielding a great jackpot of information about them and their environment.

On a personal note, I will be having major surgery on my left knee (injured in a mountain biking accident) in May, and will be slowly making my way back to full mobility and balance over the next few months. I should be fine by the time I begin fieldwork in SeptemberÖ

I am sure that this year in Monterey Bay, we will see some old friends (human, dolphin, and otter) and make some new ones as well. It promises to be very exciting and I know that the start of our field season will be here before we know it. I can't wait!

Take care,
Tom

Update from Robert, Team 5:

As I've told you in my previous update, myself, Celine and Eugene had submitted our write-up on our experience in Monterey to our Marketing Dept for publication in the local media. On the 21st January our write-up was published in "THE TIMES", Malta'a most popular newspaper and on the 22nd February it was published again, now in Maltese on another newspaper called "In-Nazzjon" (in English, The Nation) . I have also submitted my personal write-up to my Local Council of Dingli for publication in their local newsletter which is distributed free of charge to all residents. This should be published next month.

As regards our local community project, we will be doing our project with BICREF (The Biological Conservation Research Foundation). There has been some change of plans since I've wrote to you. Seeing the useful work that this organisation is doing, instead of teaming up with Celine and Eugene only, I've contacted other HSBC fellows who were on other Earthwatch projects and they have decided to join us to support BICREF. In fact, we will be ten in all who collectively will contribute STG 4000 (approx US 7800). In fact Bicref's proposals have already been approved by Earthwatch and funds have already been received. On March 14th, we had our first official meeting to discuss the way forward and also our participation on the project. Also, myself, Celine and Eugene and some other HSBC fellows have enrolled as BICREF members.

Hereunder is an idea how the funds will be utilsed:.

The funds will be utilised to meet costs incurred during field work and marine surveys. While BICREF would make use of its instruments and expertise, side by side with trained volunteers, the HSBC/EARTHWATCH fund would allow the continued long-term efforts of monitoring and research to fill the gaps of necessary environmental knowledge to assist conservation measures. The major share of the funds would be utilised for marine conservation research surveys: mainly to meet the costs of hiring a large boat and/or its fuel; some diving equipment; small aircraft aerial surveys costs; important upgrades for and maintenance of BICREF's dinghy; research equipment used for marine conservation research there will be an allocation of LM 2230; while toward the production of a coloured and informative HSBC/Earthwatch-BICREF Biodiversity Poster for Schools an allocation of LM 350 is planned.

Outputs of the projects:

These costs would also allow for the production of an educational slide show for secondary school children which may also be delievered by the fellows if they wish; a public seminar in summer with the participation of the HSBC fellows' personal experiences; Biodiversity surveys in Conservation areas of Ghajn Tuffieha and Ramla; Biodiversity surveys in non-conservation areas around the Maltese Islands and the production of a report for local awareness using observations obtained during the surveys. The latter would also be in form of a feature & news clip that would be sent to local newspapers and then placed on the BICREF webpage. The report may also be sent to the local environmental authorities as positive recommendations for future management requirements.

The projects would run through out the year 2007. Scientific surveys would pave the way to obtaining accurate data but also real local images used for educational purposes. For BICREF this would allow the contribution of the HSBC fellows to go beyond the single year project but the long-term monitoring effort. Side by side with this valuable contribution, funds for running costs related to research requirements are also essential. BICREF members are happy to work voluntarily and do not get paid for their research, monitoring or local awareness work. Thus the outputs of research are voluntarily utilized for accurate and illustrated local awareness for the public of all ages for years to come.

The informative poster in classes of local schools would be an important way of highlighting the need of conservation research and monitoring for biodiversity protection and survival in a changing world. The message BICREF will forward together with lovely photos will allow children to increase their curiosity and appreciation for the lovely marine and coastal environment. This effort will complement other educational resources BICREF has and would prepare in the coming year.

Also our collective contribution to BICREF and eventually our commitment in our local project with this organisation was given publicity in most of the local media:

Malta Star, March 15
Times of Malta, March 16
Di-ve, March 27
Times of Malta, April 1

Excerpt from "A Close Encounter with the Marine Mammals of Monterey"
by Angeli, Team 7:

My Earthwatch experience is indeed a memorable and fruitful one. I was given a rare opportunity of having a very close encounter with dolphins, whales, sea otters, and other marine mammals. It was a privilege to work and deal with a diverse team of wonderful people and scientists. This experience has opened my eyes to a different world - a world in which man and animal live together as one family under the care of Mother Nature. And lastly, I was given a once-in-a-lifetime chance of spending my birthday in Monterey – with the dolphins, whales, sea otters, and my dear fellow team members who made it truly special. These moments were truly priceless.

The Argonaut article about Renee, Team 7.

Letter from a student of Renee:

Dear Earthwatch program,

After Ms. Klein came back from Monterey, I have learned the importance of conservation and sustainability in our ocean; especially for marine mammals. We learned the importance of marine reserves to balance and protect our marine life. Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough are rich marine areas. The blog and “live from the field” presentation was very interesting.

Marine debris and pollutants are destructive to our ocean that makes sea life sick. Water quality is important so we do not pollute the ocean. We have learned about testing and analyzing the quality of the water. We have made conclusions about what we have learned and illustrating a freshwater biome and writing information about the influence of stormwater runoff. We will take our ideas and use this information to develop a community project to improve water quality. We have written letters to our politicians to improve conservation of our ocean.

We have learned about ocean energy; and the many resources that can give us alternative energies. The ocean environment has many energy resources, which are renewable and nonrenewable. Ocean resources will be able to meet energy needs if conservation practices are practiced.

I have enjoyed reading and seeing Ms. Klein’s Earthwatch blog. The bottlenose dolphin, humpback whale, sea otter pictures are exciting to see. We have learned a lot about marine mammals and maintaining environmental health from Ms. Klein.


Thank you Earthwatch program
Richard

From Marie, Team 7:
(Marie was sponsored by her shipping company, NYK, to join the expedition in Monterey)

"I have finished my presentation on our expedition at the end of January, and have one more within this month. Fortunately, I had a great opportunity to speak to a big audience, more than two hundred staff members, and even better, most of them were top management from NYK Group companies.

I explained that Monterey is the place where human and wild animals live really closely and coexist peacefully. This situation reminds me of the importance to take action for preserving the surrounding environment. I also asked the audience to pay more attention to the problem regarding striking whales and merchant ships in North America."

Update from Renee, Team 7:

The students created the paintings at the Venice Boy's and Girl's Club; They are hanging up there as a tribute to our ocean themed program. In December, we took the elementary students to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. In the new year, we are planning to paint a mural on the building too!

Update from Marie, Team 7:

Below is further information regarding protection of right whales. My colleague provided me with this. It seems so complicated to change commercial shipping lanes...

Excerpts from the Maritime Executive article:

A decision to shift busy shipping lanes off the coast of Massachusetts for the purpose of protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whales is being described by scientists as the right thing to do. The move, if approved, could eliminate up to 80% of whale strikes off the coast of New England. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a London-based arm of the UN, is expected to approve the change in traffic patterns this week. Back in Massachusetts, some shipping experts and mariners are calling the move ill-advised and say that they were not consulted or given adequate time to voice their opposition to the move....

...The proposed, first ever shift of a shipping lane in US waters for the purpose of protecting an endangered species will probably save the lives of many whales. It is not the first time this has been done and the IMO issued a similar edict a few years back in the Canadian Bay of Fundy. The proposed move in Massachusetts waters, however, has far-reaching political, commercial and marine safety implications.

Great News from the US and Abroad:

Donna Konkright (Team 3) has been nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching! Way to go Donna! While Donna was in Monterey, she kept in touch with her seventh graders from Osborn Middle School in Phoenix, AZ. Donna posted journal entries, photos, and answered student questions on her blog. In the picture to the right, Donna's making a call to her students to tell them how many otters were spotted on the census!


The write up on their experience in Monterey written by Robert (Team 5), Celine (Team 4) and Eugene (Team 6), together with some photos has been published in Malta's most popular Sunday newspaper - The Sunday Times! Published on 21 January, 2007.