Sea Notes Summer 2007 |
Summer Science Series: A summer of Success The Petersburg Marine Mammal Center began its second annual Summer Science Series with a presentation given by Andy Szabo of the Alaska Whale Foundation (AWF). Andy’s presentation discussed general humpback whale information, along with his research plans for this summer, which is to gain a better understanding of the interactions between whales and their various prey species. The following week, Andy’s research associate from AWF, Sean Hanser, shared with the community his knowledge about cooperative feeding with a special emphasis on vocalization. Sean also discussed his research plans for this summer which includes understanding the effects of underwater noise pollution on whales while they are cooperative feeding. The last Summer Science Series presenter of the month was Volker Deecke, research associate from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Volker discussed the vocalization of transient orcas, and his summer research plans of D-Tagging these orcas in Southeast Alaska. D-tags are used to record location, sound, and depth of transient orcas. The second annual Summer Science Series was held in the City Council Chambers on Friday nights and each researcher was met by a full house of 20-30 people. The presenters did a great job of holding the audience’s attention, while the audience showed enthusiasm by asking questions and showing genuine interest in the material. After three very successful presentations, the second annual Summer Science Series will continue this August with Karen Dillon from the Forest Service and Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research, Friday Harbor.
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