4/19/2016 0 Comments Lets Go Save Some Seals!
And of course, all of this work is done to help save the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Endemic to [found only in] Hawaii and one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world.
In the field we'll be doing population assessments, reunite pups who get separated from their moms, study their behavior, free them of marine debris entanglements, perform necropsies and collect tissue samples to be analyzed back in Honolulu. All of the data collected will be used to inform researchers on how to help save the Hawaiian monk seal from extinction.
The program even goes so far as to bring critically sick or injured seals back to the main Hawaiian islands to be rehabilitated. In September 2015, seven seals were brought to the Marine Mammal Center’s Ke 'Ola Kai monk seal rehabilitation facility on Hawaii Island. They are now rehabilitated and ready to be released back into the wild.
0 Comments
4/17/2016 1 Comment S.A.F.E.T.Y Dance!Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program offices are located in NOAA's Inouye Regional Center on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu. A lot of history to think about while training here. Training started off with two weeks of a small boat training. Learning the ins and outs of the boats we'll be using to survey the atoll for seals. Knots, safety, more safety and maneuvering. Not all camps are boating camps but they are all remote! At Pearl and Hermes we'll be doing a lot of boating. While it is considered to be one of the more untouched atolls in the NWHI chain, Pearl and Hermes has nonetheless be hugely impacted by man due to the enormous amount of marine debris that washes onto the atoll; catching on the reef, washing ashore and entangling the wildlife. The HMSRP is collaborating with marine debris crews to not only help clean it all up but to help survey what and how much of it washes ashore in specific quadrants around the island. Preparing for the field is no small task. Because the Northwestern Hawaiian islands are so remote, each camp must be stocked with everything it needs to sustain itself for the 4.5 month field season. Each camper is given an excel spreadsheet food list and takes down what and how much they think they may want to eat over the field season. A helpful hint: 'Think about how much you might eat of one item in one week and multiply it by 17' - the approximate amount of weeks we'll be out. That list is then compiled per camp and when we arrive in Honolulu, one Thursday morning during training, we headed to TIMES grocery store and emptied the shelves. Packing gear in 5 gallon buckets is not only convenient but also conducive to the strict quarantine regulations of the NWHI. Again, because of their extreme remoteness the NWHI have their own insular ecosystems. Although incredibly diverse, they are very susceptible to invasive species. Many of the islands have historically been devastated by guano miners and invasive species such as rabbits, rats, ants, weeds etc. For example, the Bonin Petrel population on Midway atoll went from 250,000 to 5,000 pairs in a 40 year period due to the introduction of the black rat [ref. link]. A lot of work has gone into restoring the natural habitats of the islands and a part of that is strict quarantine protocol. Everything brought to the islands is either frozen for 48 hours or bug bombed to kill anything that could tag a long for the ride and potentially wipe out a marine or terrestrial species. The buckets are sealable and can be both frozen and bug bombed! In the event of an emergency it is possible that it could be up to 7 days before rescue can make it from Honolulu. Field campers take an intensive 3 day wilderness first aid course to learn how to deal with medical emergencies - including learning how to put in an IV.
4/3/2016 2 Comments New Year : New ResearchExciting research! From mid-April to the end of August I will be working with the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program [HMSRP] in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands [NWHI] as an embedded member of one of their field camps for the 2016 field season. While we think of remote places like the middle of the Pacific ocean or the Antarctic as being void of humans, in fact these fragile ecosystems have been hugely impacted by people. This work is a continuation of my research on the effects of anthropogenic impact on fragile and remote ecosystems and what we are doing to help conserve and preserve the natural world. The HMSRP will deploy 5 field camps this year to the NWHI, leaving April 17th from Ford Is. However, the work has started with one month of training and preparations in Honolulu. I'll be headed to Pearl and Hermes atoll with three other colleagues until the end of August when we'll be picked up by a NOAA research vessel and brought back to Pearl Harbor. With no infrastructure and about 1,200 miles from Honolulu, this is a remote field camp setting. Meaning we will be living in wall tents, have very limited access to the outside world and because there will be no re-supply, we will need to bring all food, water and other supplies with us. More information can be found here.
The Hawaiian monk seal [HMS] is endemic to Hawaii [found only in HI] and with only 1,272 remaining, one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world. The HMSRP has been working to help recover the HMS for about three decades and it is estimated that about 30% of the population is alive today because of their efforts. The HMSRP is the most proactive marine mammal recovery program on the planet and have a number of one-of-a-kind recovery activities including translocations and vaccinations. While my primary role with the HMSRP will be assisting with population assessment and recovery activities benefitting the Hawaiian monk seal population, I will use the experience to inform a didactic body of work discussing remote field research and conservation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. My interest in this research lies in the ideology that the dialogue between artists and scientists is imperative for a most informed and diversified understanding of life. With science far too often inaccessible and unattainable, the goal of this collaboration is to bring awareness to the plight of the Hawaiian monk seal and the effects of human impact and climate change on vulnerable ecosystems by propagating public interest through art. I'll do a few updates before we leave for camp to show you how the preparations are going. The HMSRP also has a great FB page. Be well and thank you for your continued support! 3/17/2014 0 Comments People and PlaceTime continues in it's ever momentous move 'forward' and it is already March 17th, 2014. The season is wrapping up at Palmer station and I am hopeful that it was a productive year for the scientists and the crew who support them in their work. I myself, left the high latitude for a more moderate one before the New Year and have started compiling my research for the work to come. Despite being iced in for the vast majority of my time at Palmer, I managed to be incredibly productive and gathered what feels like a copious amount of information. I left with thousands of pictures, a few dozen pinhole camera images, hours of video, a handful of interviews, a lifetime of inspiration and a tremendous amount of gratitude for all of the people who helped me actualize my project. With that gratitude is an enormous amount of respect for those who dedicate their lives to Antarctic field research and the people who support them. Many returning year after year to continue their respective research and jobs. All in the name of furthering our knowledge of the world by focusing on the unique ecological environment that is the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). While I was expecting to be taken by the science and the place itself; the mountains, ocean, ice and wildlife - I was not expecting to be taken by the people. As you can imagine, it takes a certain type of person to dedicate their life to Antarctic research and support. Spending months away from family and friends, away from civilization, living in very tight quarters, sleeping in bunk beds and eating a diet (as delicious as it was) with a minimum of fresh fruit and vegetables, is certainly not for everyone. It's true that I have no data to support my hypothesis here, but I hardly find it rash to say that Antarctic research stations are filled with misfits of all sorts. People who feel they don't fit in any other place, or people who wish not to fit in any place at all. I never did quite summate the social order of the station and felt a bit of an outcast myself. But I did meet people who live their lives as I have dreamt of living my own and I was filled with a deep sense of admiration, such as I have never felt before. It is one thing to dream of doing or being something and entirely another to actually live it. And so for a moment there, I wondered if perhaps I had missed my calling as a wildlife biologist or some other type of field researcher. Then I remembered that despite my admiration, I am not a scientist - I am an artist and it is who I am. And although my occupation is not that of my admiration, the room for dialogue is open and through my work, I can speak of their research and inform people about it in a way that they perhaps cannot express it themselves.
From what I observed, most seemed to be there out of a passion for their work. Of course however, there are many reasons one travels to the ends of the earth and I expect those reasons are different for everyone. In Fen Montaigne's book, 'Fraser's Penguins' when speaking of Antarctica, Mr. Fraser (a scientist who has lead research at Palmer station for over three decades) is quoted as saying, 'There's nothing good for a person here, except for the soul'. From my estimation, it is quite possibly the unspoken reason many people find themselves there, of course that is just my very unscientific opinion man... This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. A short clip of Mr. Harcuba by the one and only Derek Klein.
Link to Jiri's In Memoriam that I wrote for GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet 12/1/2013 4 Comments I Am HereA funny little posting on the board today. Sea ice has moved in again. For days. And days. And for miles. And miles. It feels good to know the quiet magnitude of Mother Nature on a daily basis.
I am humbled This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 11/30/2013 4 Comments Slowed Down to See MoreIt is not often that I allow myself the time and space to stop or simply slow down. When I do find myself in a moment of pause, I am often left with a feeling of unrest. Admittedly, a part of my desire to come to Antarctica has had to do with a deep longing to escape both the societal and self-induced pressures inherent to the 21st century. An era filled with ideas of endless growth and relentless perseverance that to me, appear to be bulging the seams (perhaps both literally and metaphorically) of first world nations. For a need of wanting to allow myself the freedom to move at a slower and conceivably more considered pace than I usually find myself traveling, I decided that when I came to Antarctica I would make a series of long exposure pinhole photographs. The process of exposing film paper over the course of several days to several months with a pinhole camera. Nearly a year ago, in a rather serendipitous way, I met the Seattle based photographer, Janet Neuhauser who just so happened to be leading, 'The Pinhole Project' - a long exposure pinhole camera project. Go figure. Janet was kind enough to teach me the ropes of long exposure pinhole photography and off I went. Before I left home I made 12 small pinhole cameras and since I have been on station, I have made approximately 10 more. The cameras are simple light tight containers with literally a pinhole serving as the open aperture. They are set either in or outdoors and left for several days/weeks and then 'developed' by scanning. It is a simple process that takes only a small amount of active time but one that challenges patience. Because I am so used to the instant gratification of digital photography, to wait a week (or much longer) for a single picture, can be trying. But the long exposure captures everything that a digital photograph could never quite grasp in the same way. Like the idea of time measured by light with the movement of the sun through the sky. A poem rather than a definition. I believe that my intrigue to this type of photography comes from the same place that many other photographers find it - from a want to slow down and really look and see again. While my digital camera is no doubt a marvelous thing, I have to ask myself, what good are the thousands of pictures I have taken in just a few weeks? And how will they compare to the couple dozen or so pinhole images I will leave with, when all is said and done? It feels good to slow down and see more with less. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 11/22/2013 6 Comments What We're Good ForThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
11/11/2013 8 Comments Headed NorthPerhaps I got carried away with this panorama. Expanse of the horizon feels wholly endless. The air here is clear and feels good in the lungs. After three days of trying to get to station and only making progress of half the length of the boat in the last 24 hours, today it was decided that the L.M. Gould must start to make it's way to open water and then back up north to Punta Arenas. Just a few nautical miles away from station and well within viewing distance, it is a bit heart breaking for the 5 people on station who were supposed to be going home. They'll have to wait another 6 weeks, unless the ice blows out by the time the Gould gets to clear water. Unlikely with current weather conditions... The light here is like none other that I have experienced. Sunset last for hours. Difficult to know when to sleep with 17 hours of daylight and the rest a dreamy twilight. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 11/8/2013 1 Comment Pack Ice Got You Down?Palmer Station, located on the south end of Anvers Island, is the only US station located in the Antarctic Peninsular region. It sits at the end of a small point with a glacier towards it's back and open (or not so open, depending on the pack ice) waters on all other sides. The site for the station was chosen specifically because it is located in a biologically rich area that can easily be reached by ship. After four seasons of building, the station opened in 1970. The station supports a vast amount of research covering everything from diatoms to sea birds. Since it’s inception, it has also helped support long-term environmental research (LTER) projects, of which I am particularly interested in. The LTER projects study a range of subjects that are inevitably linked: sea birds, prey (krill), phytoplankton ecology and the microbial loop. Because these projects have been running for so long, an incredible amount of knowledge and information has accumulated. It is this knowledge that I hope to begin to tap into while I am here. Part of what makes research at this particular station interesting, is that it is located in the fastest warming region on earth. Though there are many factors to this, part of this warming is due to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the strongest fastest ocean current on earth. The ACC isolates the Antarctic from more temperate climates and is now hitting the peninsula with warmer waters as the ocean temperatures rise. (Please note that this is an especially simplified explanation of what is happening with the ACC and why it is warming the Antarctic peninsula. There is a lot more information if you care to read about it. I felt it worth mentioning in brief here…) The average winter temperature has risen by 6 degrees Celsius, or 42.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1950! Just here at Palmer, the glacier behind station used to be right behind the buildings, now it is half a kilometer away. The glacier is retreating 33 feet a year. In fact, it is widely agreed upon that if the glacier continues to melt/calve off as it has been, it will reveal that Palmer station is not actually on Anvers island proper, but a smaller island off of it’s coast. All of this talk about the sea temperatures rising and glacial retreat makes it hard to understand that why today, the LM Gould could not reach station because the pack ice is too thick to break through. It is important to understand that Antarctica started off extremely cold and though temperatures are rising, temperatures are still very cold by a temperate climate perspective. And just like every place on earth, fronts move in and create overly cold or hot periods. The important thing here is not to look at just one week or even one season – but the overall trend spanning many years. Current life on station: Since arriving a week ago, pack ice has blown into Arthur Harbor locking all researches on station, ‘in’. Most of the research here is related to marine biology in one way or another, meaning many of the scientists collect their data away from station, on Zodiacs. Because the weather has been cold and the winds are blowing in the ‘wrong’ direction, the ice has become more compacted and we are now looking at a thick cover of pack ice in the harbor. So thick in fact, that the L.M. Gould cannot navigate it’s way back to station to pick up folks who are ready to go home. One fellow who has been here since April is particularly disappointed. Worse case scenario, it could be another 6 weeks before he can go home, due to the shipping schedule of the Gould. Others on station who are waiting for the waters to clear, appear to be doing ‘busy’ work. The birders are looking through frozen Cormorant boli (a mucus like sack Cormorants regurgitate that is filled with indigestible food such a fish bones) samples from last year looking for otoliths. The otloliths will be saved and sent to the University of Washington to determine what fish species the cormorants are eating. Important work, but not necessarily their main field work or purpose for being here. In the mean time, we wait for the winds to pick up from the north to move out the pack ice. And if the weather is clear, it changes by the minute - go for a hike up the glacier. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1158885.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. |