Standing Barefoot on Dead Whales

Earlier I talked a little bit about the change in people's attitude toward whales in the last century.  I wanted to share a few images of how people used to react to stranded whales, as opposed to their reactions today.  In the following three photographs, you'll see people climbing over dead/dying whales and dolphins almost as if they are playground equipment.  The first time I saw these photos, I was shocked.  Now I see them as an illustration of just how much our attitude toward whales and dolphins has changed in a short period of time.  It also gives me some hope that we can change the way we treat other species - like tuna.

I don't have dates for all of these photos, but I am guessing from the clothes that they are from the 1940s-1960s.  It wasn't that long ago that a little girl and her mom could climb barefoot on a stranded whale while Pop and Bobby looked on.

Girls playing on a Brydes whale, Panacea, Fl (Date unknown, but before 1980.
 Courtesy of M.B. Bank, World Wide Media. Scanned from Leatherwood et al)

Sei Whale in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, 1940 (Courtesy of J.G. Mead,
U.S. National Museum,  Scanned from Leatherwood et al).

Little boy standing on stranded melon-headed whales (Photos courtesy of
US National Museum. Scanned from Leatherwood et al).

Will we look back someday at this photo of tuna in the Tokyo fish market, and wonder what the hell were we thinking?

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What Can We Learn From Doomed Whales?

In the last 50 years, humanity has radically changed its attitude about whales and dolphins.  One of the ways to visualize this change is to look back at old photographs of whales and dolphins.  Many of these photographss depict dead animals on the beach, with people (often children) standing on them.  Earlier books on marine mammal identification were full of photos of beached animals, often because 1) they had never been seen alive or 2) photography technology wasn't good enough to capture them on film.  A live dolphin just wasn't going to sit still for a daguerreotype.

Beached Whale, New York circa 1891. From the Tooker Photo Collection.

A lot of things have changed in whale conservation in the last 50 years.*  In the mid 1960s, scientists at the Southwest Fisheries science center noticed that thousands of dolphins were being killed each year in tuna fisheries.  In 1972, the US enacted the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was followed in 1986 by an international moratorium on whaling.  As I write this, I am a little bit shocked - whaling wasn't banned by the IWC until well after I was born! There are still many problems with the International Whaling Commission's ban on whaling, including the clause to allow scientific whaling.

Modern photographs of stranded whales rarely show people walking on beached whales (with the exception of scientists attempting to determine cause of death).  Instead, they show people helping the whales and dolphins - moving them back to sea, keeping them cool, helping them in a rehabilitation tank.

Volunteers moving a false killer whale back into the sea in Australia.

Although there are wonderful success stories, many stranded animals die.  Cetaceans often become beached because they are already sick or injured, and despite heroic efforts on the part of scientists and vets, there is little we can do to save them.  As a result, many beached or stranded animals are often euthanized, which is much less cruel than allowing them to suffocate under their own weight on the beach or drown in the sea.

These doomed whales can also help scientists to protect other whales from a similar fate.  One human activity that has been linked closely to beached whales is noise, specifically sonar.  Unfortunately, we don't have the foggiest idea what most species of whales and dolphins can hear.  This lack of information can lead to a lack of regulation - we can't always prove the whales can hear sonar, because no one has ever tested the hearing of many whale and dolphin species.

An infant and a false killer whale having their hearing tested.

New technology makes it (relatively) simple to test dolphin hearing.  The method is similar to how we test the hearing of newborn babies.  Suction cups are attached to the dolphin's head, and a sound is played to the dolphin.  Electrodes within the suction cups record electrical signals in the dolphin's brain that happen as a response to the dolphin hearing a noise.  The suction cup method is non-invasive, and allows scientists to learn what the research subject is hearing even when it can't talk.

I run like Phoebe, for example.

In recent years, members of my research lab at the University of Hawaii have developed a mobile hearing test that they have taken to beached whales all over the state.  Using this equipment, they have gotten the very first measurements of a beaked whale and a pygmy killer whale.  If these whales had been euthanized immediately, this valuable information wouldn't be available to the scientists and lawmakers who make the policy decisions which protect whales and dolphins from the human impacts of noise.  More hearing tests are still needed; just like we can't make assumptions all women's running ability based on Flo-Jo, we can't assume all whales hear the same based on one measurement.  And still, not a single baleen whale has had a hearing test.

Regardless of my personal preference for the precautionary principle, changing  of conservation law often requires basic knowledge of animal ecology and biology.  Until we figure out how to get whales to make appointments for hearing tests, stranding data is going to be vitally important.

Baleen whales never show up for their yearly check-up.

*Actually, the first whale conservation society, the Council for Conservation of Whales (CCW) was established  in the late 1920s, but changed quite a lot since then. (Added 4/16/2012 after reading this book).

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A Century of Ocean Shipping

For more information about this animation, go to:

http://sappingattention.blogspot.com/2012/04/visualizing-ocean-shipping.html


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Bioacoustics - lots of Bands, no Trombone.

Meatloaf references mean I'm both old AND nerdy.

When you study acoustics and sound, you'll often hear the word "band" used in various ways.  Bandwidth, narrowband, broadband.  It may sound like we're talking about the size of a musical band (this is acoustics, after all).  However, in this case band refers to sound frequencies, not the waist-size of the lead singer.  Meatloaf has nothing to do with it (although, compared to modern fitness standards, 1980s Meatloaf is looking pretty svelte to me these days).

In Acoustics terms, "band" refers to a span of frequencies.

Sound frequency is a measurement of how often the soundwave repeats itself, like so:

 

Each of these waves represents one sound frequency, like one key being played on a piano. If we were to play multiple notes on a piano at the same time, the bandwidth is measured as the difference between the highest key/frequency and the lowest key/frequency.  Here are some extreme examples from hydrophone recordings:

Broadband.  This is a spectrogram of a hydrophone hitting the side of a boat as it comes out of the water.  Frequency is on the y axis, time is on the x axis, and the more "hot" the color is, the louder the sound.  These sounds are considered broadband because they contain a large range of frequencies. On a spectrogram, the broadest band is a vertical line across the entire screen. The width of the vertical line will vary depending on the length of the sound.

Narrowband: This is the spectrogram of a dolphin whistle. Axes the same as before.  As you can see here, the whistle only uses a few frequencies at a time, so it looks like a narrow, almost horizontal or diagonal line.

What about this killer whale call, with a bunch of harmonics? On one hand, it's made up of a bunch of narrowband signals, but on the other hand, it covers a wide range of frequencies.  It's a hard call, and probably depends on the context and the scientist.

So now when you hear someone use the word "band" in acoustics, you'll know that they are referring to a range of frequencies.  For example:

Bandpass filter - Allows a specific range of frequencies pass though a sound filter

1/3 Octave Band: A range of frequencies that is defined as 1/3 of an octave

One Man Band: What a grad student in acoustics looks like when they are trying to learn programming, engineering, and statistics all at the same time.

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How to Win at Science.

There are a lot of metrics to measure one's success as a scientist.  Here are some of them:

1. The number of papers you publish
2. Where those papers are published (impact factor)
3. The prestige of your university
4. Funding sources (NIS, NSF, NIH)
5. Awards
6. Tenure

Not every scientist is a tenured professor at Princeton who has won the Nobel Prize for a series of papers published in Science and is funded by large NSF grants.  Does this sort of thing really determine our quality as scientists, or can you be a successful, worthy scientist without the top hat and tails?

On the other end of the spectrum from the prestigious ivy-league scientists, there are the hard-core field scientists.  These are the badass people who travel the world, going to exotic places for months at a time to study the most amazing animals on our planet. A good example of this type of scientist are the field researchers who spend 4-8 months every year, year after year, on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.  I recently had the opportunity to have dinner with a researcher who had just gotten back from Kure (Cure-ie) Atoll.  He told me that he has been doing fieldwork all over the world, from Borneo to Alaska, in 6-month stints for the last 5 years.  His on the ground efforts are making tangible improvements to the survival of endangered bird species.  On the other hand, that sure is a lot of time to spend away from the comforts of society. Regardless of the importance of their work, these scientists rarely get the kind of accolades awarded to the top-hat scientists, but talking to them can be intimidating nonetheless.  These are things I have actually heard come out of the mouths of the castaway-type of scientist:

Duct tape

prom dress

 "Well, I've just been to Costa Rica so many times that I can't get excited about it.  Where I'd really like to go again is Madagascar." 

"Midway Island was just too populated and built up after being on Kure."

Five years ago, I think I was fully in the castaway corner, and in some ways I still am.  In addition, grad school, relationships, and pets make it kind of hard to pick up and move to a desert island for 7 months. Over the last several years, I've been inundated with information about how "successful" scientists are the ones with the most prestige.  I've been reading a lot of science lately from various sources, from Female Science Professor to Deep Sea News.  These sources measure success in many ways, including the metrics listed above.  I can't speak for everyone, but societal norms have never really been my thing (see photo at right).  I think "prestige" is nice, but there are also people out there that never had prestige, but did amazing, world-shattering, important science (Gregor Mendel comes to mind).

So I decided to sit down and think about the things that are important to me, personally, as a scientist. So, here is my personal list of goals for success:

Fighting on the planet's side!

1) Make the world a better place
At heart, I am a conservation scientist.  I hope that the research I do helps to protect the vulnerable species on our planet and the ecosystem as a whole. I also think that I should do things outside of research to make the world a better place, like write blog posts to educate the public about conservation issues or volunteer my time to teach kids about science. Do I lose scientific credibility by being a little bit of an idealist? Possibly.  But it's an important part of who I am.


2) Do Good Science
Doing good science does not always mean that you will be right, it just means that you do good background research, have thoughtful and repeatable methodologies, and try not to draw unwarranted conclusions from your data.  It does NOT mean that you will always be right about everything (science is always evolving), but I think a good scientist can take criticism and new information in stride.  Even if it doesn't agree with their results!


3) Enjoy the Science that I do
I don't see any point in doing something I hate.  OK, I may not LOVE every minute of my research (oh, data crunching, how I do loathe you!).  However, I want to think that the research that I do is worthwhile (see #1 on the list).  And it wouldn't hurt to play the castaway scientist once in a while.


4) Treat others with respect

When your a scientist, even
being a crazy cat lady can be
too much commitment

I don't want to be the kind of scientist who looks down on other people, or who treats others with disrespect.  Science is a team effort. Although the members of that team don't all get to be co-authors on the journal article, it's important to acknowledge the hard work that everyone does.  A little diplomacy and genuine respect can go a long way ("How to Win Friends and Influence People" should be required Scientist reading).




5) Be healthy
This means not doing science long enough to exercise, eat right, and go to the doctor when necessary.  When I am in my 70s, I want to be like my dad, skiing 50+ days a year.


6) Have a (reasonable) personal life
There's not really enough time to be a social diva or go clubbing, but it's important to maintain friendships with at least a few good people. This is very important for mental health - sitting in front of a computer constantly can make you crazy (also applies to #7).

7) Pay My Bills

Let's be honest, financial security is important.  I would like to be able to afford rent, health insurance, auto expenses, food, and other bills to take care of myself and my family.  It would also be nice to have a little extra, for books, bikes, and maybe a potter's wheel *sigh.*

OK, so that's my list.  Those are the things I want out of life. Anything else is a bonus.

That being said, those prestigious things can sure make life easier in some ways.  Like I've mentioned in earlier blog posts, students and faculty at big schools have a lot of advantages.  I'm not saying I wouldn't like those advantages - but they are just tools that make the goals I've listed above easier to achieve.  If they help meet goals 1-3, I may go for the prestige items.

It'd be nice to have a paper in science, but you can make a difference without it.

This would probably be easier with a laser.

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Endangered Species on eBay

Hawaii (bottom left) is really far
away from the mainland!

I want to talk about endangered snails.  I know, this blog is supposed to be about Sound and the Sea, but since I happen to also be very interested in conservation, I can't help crawling back on land sometimes.  Living in Hawaii makes conservation even more important to me.  Hawaii is the most isolated island chain in the world.  It is about 2,000 miles from Hawaii to the nearest mainland - that's at least a 5 1/2 hour airplane ride.  Hawaii also has the greatest number of species that are found nowhere else on earth; even more than the Galapagos Islands.  The Hawaiian Islands are an absolutely amazing example of evolution in action, but most of their native species are either threatened, endangered, or rare.  In fact, Hawaii has been called the "Endangered Species Capital of the World."

Ohia trees in Native Hawaiian Forest.

I had the opportunity last week to go to the island of Molokai and help a friend with his research on Molokai tree snails.  I wrote a blog post about the trip for Scientific American's Guest Blog, and I'll post the link here as soon as it becomes available.  I feel like my time in the forests on Molokai completely shifted my perspective.  We spent three days hiking and living in native plants, like Ohia trees and Ohelo bushes.  Coming back to Honolulu was a surreal experience.  What the heck was going on with the trees and plants? These species didn't belong here.  It reminded me of the experience of returning to my neighborhood after a huge wildfire had destroyed miles of forest and homes.  Everything seemed like it was in the wrong place.

Living in Hawaii, I am very lucky that I get to see animals and plants that may be extinct in the next 10-20 years.  These opportunities will only be there for so long.  I guess it is a little like making sure each visit with an elderly grandmother counts - I know that time is running out for these species, so I try to treasure what little is left.

Which made it especially galling to look up "Hawaiian Snail" on eBay and find two separate species of endangered tree snail for sale.  I have been trying to find a good gift for my friend David (who studies tree snails), and I thought it might be fun to find an antique book print of tree snail species.  Instead, I found these:

The top, green snail shell is from a snail from Papua New Guinea.  The bottom snail is an Oahu snail.  Both are endangered species, which makes them illegal to sell.

You can click here and here to see the actual listings (at least until the end of the auction, in two hours).

I contacted ebay's customer support four days ago (on Saturday, March 31st), but it doesn't look like they've done anything, since the shells are still for sale.  I also reached out to the greater twitter community and to people on facebook, to see if more people could make a bigger difference.  Some of these people contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer, who has since gotten back to them with this information:

Oahu Tree Snails (the entire genus Achatinella) were listed as endangered in 1981, pursuant to the U.S. law, referred to as the Endangered Species Act. As such it is prohibited (i.e. illegal) to sell or offer to sell them in interstate or foreign commerce. Offering to sell them over the internet, which is literally, the world-wide web, is automatically an offer in interstate and foreign commerce.

The State of Hawaii also considers the entire genus of Achatinella as both "Endangered" and as "Indigenous Wildlife" pursuant to State of Hawaii law [see Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 13, Subtitle 5, Part 2, Chapter 124]. The State of Hawaii prohibits their sale and even mere possession. Please feel free to forward more information like below. We investigate and depending on circumstances, attempt to work with the Hawaii Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) to investigate matters like this. 

He also writes that a special agent is now investigating this issue, which is great.

Ebay no longer allows the sale of ivory or endangered
species, but reporting sales of another endangered species
(a tree snail) has gotten no response (so far). 

I found the whole experience very frustrating, as far as eBay is concerned.  I have yet to find a way to call someone from eBay to report this, and it's obvious the report had no effect at eBay (did anyone even read it?).  Will they be able to do anything about this, at all?

I realize that in the grand scheme of tree snail conservation, this is probably small peanuts.  One or two snail shells for sale on eBay is a drop in the bucket compared to habitat loss and invasive species predation.  Here's the thing that really gets me: I'm a dolphin and whale biologist.  I know that if an endangered dolphin or whale head for sale as a "craft item," people would be rioting in the streets.

But, to many people, it's just a snail. I don't think that's fair.  These snails are amazing - their species deserves to exist just as much as a dolphin. We should afford them the same outrage when people exploit them.

Just as worthy as a dolphin (look at those cute little eye-stalks).

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Update (4/8/2012): I wanted to add that I did originally contact the International Fund For Animal Welfare (IFAW), who were one of the ones responsible originally for getting eBay to stop selling ivory.  They were really great about getting back to me quickly.  Here's an excerpt from the second email I got from them, after I let them know that I had been able to contact law enforcement:

Thanks so much for stepping up and doing something about this.   There are far more animal abuses going on then the animal welfare agencies can handle and we rely on people like you to keep an eye out, speak up, alert authorities and educate others.

So, if you see people breaking the law, tell someone! Also, big kudos to the IFAW for being so responsive.


Update (4/21/2012): I set up a search alert with ebay to let me know whenever either of the two species of snail above were listed.  There was another listing last week for a tree snail shell from Papua New Guinea, this time being sold by a seller in Sarasota, FL.

I called Wildlife Enforcement in Florida and they asked me to report this sale at their website.