SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINE MAMMAL WORKSHOP

JANUARY 27 – JANUARY 28, 2017

· NEWPORT BEACH, CA ·

SPONSORED BY:PROGRAM CONTENTS:

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE (P. 1-2)

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES (P. 3-10)

LIST OF ATTENDEES (P. 11-13)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (P. 14)

APPENDIX 1: POSTER ABSTRACTS

APPENDIX 2: EVALUATION FORM

All photos credited to Robert Perry ©2017 www.CondorExpressPhotos.com

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINE MAMMAL WORKSHOP

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th

9:30 – 10:00am Arrival and Registration

10:00 – 10:15am Welcome: Tennyson Oyler, Pacific Life Foundation President

10:15 – 12:30pm New Technologies for Marine Mammal ResearchLead: John Hildebrand, Scripps Institution of OceanographyIain Kerr, Ocean AllianceShaili Johri, University of WashingtonTed Cranford, San Diego State University

12:30 – 1:45pm Lunch and Networking

1:45 – 4:00pm Marine Mammal Veterinary Medicine: Current Issues, Ideas, and ResearchLead: Claire Simeone, The Marine Mammal CenterJody Westberg, Sea World Tenaya Norris, The Marine Mammal CenterFernando R. Elorriaga-Verplancken, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias

Marinas from Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CICIMAR-IPN)Lorraine Barbosa, California Wildlife Center

4:00 – 5:30pm Poster Session (upstairs for hors d'oeuvres and sunset viewing)

5:30 Dinner, Networking, and Videos of Tagged Whales with John Calambokidis

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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINE MAMMAL WORKSHOP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th

9:00 – 10:00am Breakfast

10:00 – 12:00pm Conservation Issues in Marine Mammal ScienceLead: Dave Weller, NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science CenterBarbara Taylor, NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science CenterLynne Barre, NOAA Fisheries, West Coast Regional OfficeJohn Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Collective

12:00 – 1:30pm Lunch & Keynote Address John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Collective

1:30 – 3:30pm Social Media and Communications Hot TopicsLead: Sarah Wilson Finstuen, SCMMW CoordinatorTed Cheeseman, HappywhaleAlisa Schulman-Janiger, American Cetacean Society – LA, Gray Whale

Census and Behavior ProjectDave Bader, Aquarium of the PacificSusan Poulton, The Franklin Institute

3:30 – 3:45pm Concluding Remarks

3:45 – 4:00pm Evaluations

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESKEYNOTE SPEAKER

John Calambokidis

Saturday, January 28th · 12:00pm

John Calambokidis is a Research Biologist and one of the founders of Cascadia Research, a non-profit research organization formed in 1979 based in Olympia, Washington. He periodically (1991-2012) serves as an Adjunct Faculty at the Evergreen State College teaching a course on marine mammals. His primary interests are the biology of marine mammals and the impacts of humans. As a Senior Research Biologist at Cascadia Research he has served as Project Director of over 100 projects. He has authored two books on marine mammals (the award-winning Guide to Marine Mammals of Greater Puget Sound from Island Publishers, with R. Osborne and E.M. Dorsey and Blue Whales from Voyageur Press, with G.H. Steiger) as well as more than 150 publications in scientific journals and technical reports. He has conducted studies on a variety of marine mammals in the North Pacific from Central America to Alaska. He has directed long-term research on the status, movements, and underwater behavior of blue, humpback, and gray whales. His work has been covered on shows by Discovery Channel and others and has been featured in National Geographic TV specials and a magazine article in 2009.

Friday, January 27th · 6:00pm

John will be sharing a video presentation of new underwater behavioral video, taken from tags, featuring blue, humpback, and gray whales.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESNew Technologies for Marine Mammal Research

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th · 10:15am – 12:30pm

John Hildebrand (lead) is a professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. He is associated with the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focuses on using sound to study marine mammals and the impact of anthropogenic sound in the ocean. Born in San Diego, California, Hildebrand received a B.S. in physics and electrical engineering from UCSD and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University. He held a research position at SIO before joining the Scripps faculty. He has served on the Marine Mammal Commission’s board of scientific advisors and is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. He is a member of the Society for Marine Mammology and is the author or coauthor of more than 150 scientific publications.

Iain Kerr is the CEO of the Ocean Alliance, an organization dedicated to whale research and ocean conservation since its founding by Dr. Roger Payne in 1970. Under Iain and Roger’s leadership, Ocean Alliance has a reputation for developing innovative research techniques that engage scientists and conservationists alike. SnotBot, our Exhaled Breath Condensate collection drones, are the most recent iteration of that. Iain lead the Voyage of the Odyssey an expedition to collect a baseline global data set on ocean pollution using sperm whales as a bio indicator species, that ran between 2000 and 2006.

Shaili Johri recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Conservation Biology, University of Washington, Seattle and is currently a SCB visiting scientist conducting elasmobranch studies in western India. Shaili is a molecular geneticist whose main focus is the development of non-invasive tools for ecological monitoring of wild life populations with respect to anthropogenic threats. To this effect, she has developed an economical and high throughput method for predator and prey species identification in carnivore scat. Her current focus is the development of ‘omic’ tools- such as the microbiome and transcriptome- as health metrics for free ranging marine and terrestrial mammals. Shaili is particularly focused on developing these tools to understand mechanisms of toxic injury from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in marine mammals. She is currently involved in studying the effect of POPs on health and reproduction in Southern Resident Killer Whales, North Atlantic Right Whales and some elasmobranch species.

Ted Cranford’s research focuses on the functional morphology of biosonar in toothed whales and hearing in baleen whales. His research can be characterized as question-driven innovation, combining modern technology with traditional anatomic tools to develop new methods that allow investigation of the structure-function complex in marine organisms. Our current hypothesis is that cetacean heads function like acoustic antennas, such that sound enters through multiple pathways that eventually collect at the ears by various means and mechanisms. Those pathways can modify the incoming sound by amplification or attenuation. Industrial CT scanners have been used to scan whale heads instead of solid fuel rocket motors. A few of those scans have led to the most intriguing recent discovery. Bioacoustic simulations of a mysticete show that the whale's skull plays a significant role in low frequency sound reception. This has significant implications for probing the potential effects of anthropogenic noise.

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Dr. Claire Simeone (Lead) is the Conservation Medicine Veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center and National Marine Fisheries Service. She is a graduate of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a post-doctoral internship with the National Marine Mammal Foundation and SeaWorld San Diego. Claire’s current primary projects include Unusual Mortality Event investigation, international stranding response, and development of the Marine Mammal Health MAP.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESMarine Mammal Veterinary Medicine: Current Issues, Ideas, and Research

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th · 1:45am – 4:00pm

Jody Westberg currently supervises SeaWorld San Diego’s Rescue Team as their Stranded Animal Coordinator for marine mammals, birds and sea turtles. She began her career more than 20 years ago, with SeaWorld’s historic rehabilitation and release of a California gray whale. She is an active member of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, large whale entanglement response team and UC Davis’ Oiled Wildlife Care Network. Westberg has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, including Trace Element Concentrations in Renal & Hepatic Tissues of Stranded Sea Lions, and also wrote a chapter for operating standards for facilities in the North American Tursiops truncatus stud book manual. She has been a technical advisor on several children’s books, and currently can be seen on Litton Entertainment’s Weekend Adventure show, “Sea Rescue,” on ABC. Her professional goal is to inspire and educate individuals to make easy, everyday choices that have the least amount of impact on the environment and wildlife surrounding them.

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Tenaya Norris has worked at The Marine Mammal Center, a leading marine mammal rehabilitation and research facility located in Sausalito, CA, for over 10 years. In her current role as Marine Scientist, she works collaboratively with scientists and managers from across the U.S. to advance marine mammal health and disease research. She collaborates with harmful algal bloom researchers in California to better understand domoic acid toxicity in marine mammals and also serves as the co-onsite coordinator for the ongoing 2015 Unusual Mortality Event for Guadalupe fur seals in California. Tenaya completed her master’s degree at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in 2013. For her thesis research, she studied the efficacy of translocations as a conservation strategy for the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Tenaya continues to participate in Hawaiian monk seal conservation and research efforts in addition to studying the health, foraging behavior, and habitat use of pinnipeds in the California Current System, particularly Guadalupe fur seals.

Fernando R. Elorriaga-Verplancken’s experience is focused on the ecology of pinnipeds. His group's main recent work is based on the Guadalupe fur seal and its recovery at Guadalupe and San Benito Islands, performing inter-annual abundance and foraging assessments (scat and stable isotope analyses) and their relationship with climatic variability. These approaches have also been applied to the California sea lion and northern elephant seals from Mexican sites (Gulf of California, Western Baja California). Guadalupe fur seal health (morphometrics and mortality causes) and dispersal (telemetry) assessments are currently being carried out, in collaboration with institutions like The Marine Mammal Center.

Lorraine Barbosa first entered the marine mammal field working as a research assistant at the Long Marine Lab while completing a degree in marine biology at UC Santa Cruz. She then went on to obtain her DVM and MPVM degrees at UC Davis, followed by a small animal rotating internship and then a marine mammal medicine and pathology internship at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Since 2015 she has worked as a wildlife veterinarian at California

Wildlife Center.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESMarine Mammal Veterinary Medicine: Current Issues, Ideas, and Research

(continued)FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th · 1:45am – 4:00pm

Dr. Dave Weller (lead) has been studying the biology and ecology of marine mammals for over 25 years. His specialization is focused in the areas of behavioral ecology, population assessment and evaluation of potential disturbance impacts from human activities. Dave has authored or co-authored nearly 60 papers or reports on baleen whales. These works examine a variety of topics, including: conservation, abundance, occurrence, distribution, migration, reproduction, survival, behavior, genetics, population structure and interactions with human activities such as fishing gear and offshore oil and gas development. The geographic scope of these papers covers the eastern and western North Pacific, including areas off Mexico, California, Canada, Russia, Korea, Japan and China. In the past decade, he has worked closely with the International Whaling Commission and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on issues related to the conservation and management of endangered whale populations.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESConservation Issues in Marine Mammal Science

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th · 10:00am – 12:00pm

Dr. Barbara Taylor has been researching marine mammals for over 30 years. She leads the marine mammal genetics program at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. She is member of several endangered species recovery teams, and has served on many status reviews of species petitioned for listing, chairs the Conservation Committee of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, and serves as the Listing Authority for the Cetacean Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2016 she was awarded the Society for Conservation Biology’s LaRoe award for her outstanding career achievements in translating conservation science into real-world conservation efforts especially in efforts to save vaquitas from extinction.

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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESConservation Issues in Marine Mammal Science

(continued) SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th · 10:00am – 12:00pm

Lynne Barre has been with the Protected Resources Division in Seattle for over ten years implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA). Since 2003 she has worked on the endangered listing of the Southern Resident killer whales, designated critical habitat, developed and finalized a Recovery Plan and has implemented actions to conserve and recover the whales. In addition her work on killer whales, Lynne supports other aspects of the marine mammal program, such as helping coordinate the stranding network. Lynne also works on ESA-listed rockfish species and coordinates with Puget Sound salmon recovery efforts. Lynne’s background is in marine mammal research including field work in Southern California and Shark Bay, Western Australia studying social behavior, mothers and infants, and genetic relationships of local dolphins. Lynne also worked with the Crittercam team at National Geographic, putting underwater cameras on marine animals to learn about their lives under the surface before joining NOAA first in the Office of Protected Resources in Silver Spring, MD and then on the West Coast.

John CalambokidisSee keynote biography on page 3

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Ted Cheeseman grew up in California, whale watching and getting seasick in Monterey Bay from the age of a toddler. He was fortunate to grow up amid wildlife expeditions, studied tropical conservation biology at Duke University, then was seduced by the glory of polar extremes, leading expeditions to Antarctica for Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris (www.cheesemans.com) for over two decades. Ted has long been deeply involved marine conservation and Antarctic tourism management, turning in the last two years to found Happywhale as a lever for citizen science to both improve public engagement with marine conservation and to cost effectively fill the voids of data hindering effective ocean conservation.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESSocial Media and Communications Hot Topics

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th · 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Susan Poulton is the Chief Digital Officer of the Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia where she is currently implementing one of the most comprehensive virtual reality strategies in the museum space, including a mobile app with imbedded VR library. Her passion is inspiring and awakening curiosity in any audience and moving them to action through digital experiences and storytelling and virtual reality is a powerful medium for inspiration and learning. Susan has eighteen years of digital media strategy experience, working with organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Before her current role, she spent seven years as Vice President of Digital Media for the National Geographic Society and prior to that spent nine years at America Online specializing in large-scale digital live event and content production. An avid traveler, photographer, and space enthusiast, Susan spends her spare time photographing rocket launches and volunteers to provide media and digital training to non profit organizations around the world.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIESSocial Media and Communications Hot Topics

(continued)SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th · 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Alisa Schulman-Janiger has been the director and coordinator of the shore-based ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project since 1984. She has served on the American Cetacean Society/Los Angeles Chapter's Board of Directors since 1983. She is an instructor for the Cabrillo Whalewatch program, training whale watch naturalists. Alisa has been documenting California killer whales for over 30 years - a project which evolved into the California Killer Whale Project. She is a co-author of the 1997 NOAA Technical Memorandum called “Killer Whales of California and Western Mexico: A Catalog of Photo-Identified Individuals”, and is working on that catalog update. Alisa has worked as an onboard naturalist in California, Baja California, and Alaska, a naturalist and staff scientist while researching humpback whales in Massachusetts, and a NOAA scientist studying harbor porpoise, humpback whales, killer whales, gray whales, and others off Alaska and from British Columbia to San Diego. She taught marine biology, advanced marine science, and biology in San Pedro High School Marine Science Magnet for 21 years, and for ten years prior to that was the head marine biologist/educator on LAUSD's SEA (Sea Education Afloat) Program. Alisa has a special interest in citizen science: sharing cetacean photo-ID images with other researchers, and utilizing social media to share, locate, and archive cetacean sightings and photos. She has authored and co-authored papers on killer whales, gray whales, and humpback whales; her work has been featured on National Geographic Explorer and PBS.

Dave Bader is the Director of the Education Department at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. He has played an integral role in developing and managing school and public programs since joining the Aquarium in 1998. He has established programming that utilizes the incredible living resources of the Aquarium to bring visitors the latest information in marine science. David has created a suite of capacity building opportunities for Aquarium staff, university and agency scientists, and for informal science educators throughout the Los Angeles area. David has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master’s Degree in Biology with an emphasis in educational media design from the University of California at Irvine. Recently David has taken on the role of Vaquita Public Engagement Coordinator for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Saving Animals From Extinction program (AZA SAFE).

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LIST OF ATTENDEES

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Last First Affiliation

Alps Bernardo California Whales and Wildlife

Alps Diane California Whales and Wildlife

Austin Yee Eric Dana Wharf Whale Watching

Bader Dave Aquarium of the Pacific

Baijnauth Holly NOAA, SWFSC

Baker Karen Orange Coast College

Bakhtiari Kimberly National Marine Mammal Foundation

Barbosa Lorraine California Wildlife Center

Barbosa Miguel California Wildlife Center

Barlow Jay NOAA, NMFS, SWFSC

Barnett Kelli Pacific Marine Mammal Center

Barre Lynne NOAA, NMFS

Beckham Briana Aquarium of the pacific

Bowman Victoria National Marine Mammal Foundation

Brassea Pérez Elizabeth CICESE

Calambokidis John Cascadia Research

Campbell Greg NOAA, NMFS, SWFSC

Capes Donald Aquarium of the Pacific

Cardenas Hinojosa GustavoCoordinacion de Investigacion y Conservacion de Mamiferos Marinos -Instituto Nacional de Ecologia y Cambio Climatico

Cheeseman Ted Happywhale

Chudeau Karli California State University San Marcos

Coates Shannon Okeanis

Cohen Rebecca Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Cossaboon Jennifer San Diego State University

Cotter Mark Okeanis

Couffer Michael Grey Owl Biological Consulting

Cranford Ted San Diego State University

Danil Kerri NOAA, SWFSC

De Maio Lauren NOAA

Debich Amanda Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Donald Kirsten Pacific Marine Mammal Center

LIST OF ATTENDEES (CONTINUED)

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Last First Affiliation

Earhart Anne Individual

Ellis Robert Orange Coast CollegeFahy Tina NOAA, NMFS

Fajardo Cindy Aquarium of The Pacific

Falcone Erin Marine Ecology & Telemetry Research

Ferguson Liz Bio-Waves, Inc.

Fontaine Christine The Marine Mammal CenterFrasier Kait Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Greenman Justin NOAA, NMFS

Griffiths Emily NOAA, NMFS, SWFSCGrimes Tracy San Diego State University

Halaska Barbie The Marine Mammal Center

Haskell Robert Pacific Life Foundation

Hepting Daniell Red Head Green World

Hildebrand John Scripps Inst. Oceanography

Jefferson Thomas VIVA Vaquita

Johri Shaili University of Washington

Keating Jennifer NOAA, SWFSCKeen Eric Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Kerr Iain Ocean AllianceKesaris Alex California Dolphin Online Catalog

Kowalewski Michelle Channel Isalnds Cetacean Research Unit

Kownacki Alexa NOAA, NMFS, SWFSCLang Aimee SWFSC

Leeds Wendy Pacific Marine Mammal CenterLieber Kurt Ocean Defenders Alliance

Marquis Sarah NOAA Office of National Marine SanctuariesMatassa Keith Pacific Marine Mammal CenterMathes Kera Aquarium of the Pacific

Meza-Fidalgo Joshua Gray Whales CountMile Susan Oregon State University / Aquarium of the Pacific

Natalie Noll Stanbridge UniversityNoll Natalie Stanbridge University

Norris Tenaya The Marine Mammal CenterNorris Thomas Bio-Waves IncOyler Tennyson Pacific Life Foundation

Penna Shannon NMFSPosdaljian Natalie UCSD

Poulton Susan The Franklin Institute

R. Elorriaga-Verplancken Fernando CICIMAR-IPN

Riesenberg Katrin University of Redlands, Whale mAPP

Robbins Michelle NOAA, NMFS, SWFSC

LIST OF ATTENDEES (CONTINUED)

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Last First Affiliation

Ruvelas Penny NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region

Saez Lauren NOAA, NMFS

Sanders Greg Department of the Interior- BOEM

Schenck Gaynell Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Schenck Gaynell Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Schorr Gregory Marine Ecology & Telemetry Research

Schulman-Janiger Alisa Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Sherman Kathryn NOAA, SWFSC

Shield Jennie U.S. Navy

Simeone Claire The Marine Mammal Center

Simonis Anne UCSD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Smith Michael Gray Whales count

Smith Harrison Discovery Science Center of Orange County

Stelle Lei Lani University of Redlands

Stewart James Aquarium of the Pacific

Sumich James Oregon State University

Swimmer Yonat NOAA, PIFSC

Taylor Barbara NOAA, SWFSC

Tisler Michelle National Marine Mammal Foundation

Tombach Wright Christina CTW Wildlife Consulting

Trego Marisa SDSU

Trickey Jenny Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Vagts Hannah University of Redlands

Van Oosten Christina American Ceatacean Society

Viezbicke Justin NOAA Fisheries WCR

Wachtendonk Rachel Western Washington University

Weeks Becky National Marine Mammal Foundation

Weller Dave NOAA, SWFSC

Westberg Jody SeaWorld San Diego

Whitaker Katherine UCSD .SWFC

Wilson Finstuen Sarah SCMMW

Wurster Elyse NOAA, SWFSC

Yack Tina EcoSound Bioacoustics

Zoidis Ann Cetos Research Organization

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Southern California Marine Mammal Workshop is not possible without the support of our host and sponsor,

Pacific Life Foundation. We’d like to thank Tennyson Oyler , Marryn Santucci, and everyone at Pacific Life for

continuing to provide this valuable service to our community. Thank you!

Many thanks to all of the past and current members of the Workshop Advisory Committee:

Bernardo Alps – California Whales and Wildlife

Diane Alps – California Whales and Wildlife

Maddalena Bearzi - Ocean Conservation SocietyMichelle Berman - Santa Barbara Natural History MuseumJohn Calambokidis - Cascadia Research CollectiveMonica DeAngelis - National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAASarah Wilson Finstuen – SCMMW CoordinatorFrances Gulland - Marine Mammal Center and U.S. Marine Mammal CommissionBob Haskell - Pacific Life FoundationTennyson Oyler - Pacific Life FoundationJohn Hildebrand - Scripps Institution of OceanographyJudy St. Leger - SeaWorld San DiegoTim Regan - U.S. Marine Mammal CommissionClaire Simeone – The Marine Mammal CenterLei Lani Stelle - University of RedlandsBarbara Taylor - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, NOAADave Weller - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, NOAABernd Würsig - Texas A&M University at GalvestonAnn Bowles - Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute

The SCMMW Coordinator and the Workshop Advisory Committee would like to thank everyone who helped make

this workshop happen, especially the panel leaders, panelists, and rapporteurs. We would also like to extend a

special thank you to our keynote speaker, John Calambokidis.

All marine mammal photos in this program were generously contributed by Bob Perry.©2017 Robert Perry www.CondorExpressPhotos.com

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