Justin Cox
Velcro Star Eating a Spotted Ratfish in the ...

Check out this velcro star with a spotted ratfish locked in a full nelson! SeaDoc Society scientists Joe Gaydos and Cat Lo came across this scene during a research dive in Howe Sound in British Columbia.

Justin Cox
Training The Trainers at Camp Orkila

Thousands of fifth-graders will cycle through Camp Orkila on Orcas Island this summer to engage with our marine ecosystem. As we round the corner into Spring, the counselors who will guide those kids (5,800 total!) are deep in preparation and training. 

Last week, our team was honored to lead a low-tide beach walk at Camp Orkila to train this year’s Orkila staff. All of the counselors received a signed copy of our best-selling (and award-winning!) book for fifth graders, Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids. 

Training The Trainers at Camp Orkila
Justin Cox
Rochelle Severson and Kevin Campion Cycle off ...

After a decade of service on the SeaDoc Society’s Board of Directors, Rochelle Severson and Kevin Campion will cycle off, with Board Member Ardi Kveven taking over as Board Chair.

Justin Cox
Farewell Southern Resident IPA & Thank You ...

As I write this, sitting in The Woods taproom where Southern Resident is brewed, Two Beers has donated more than $15,000 in support of the SeaDoc Society’s collaborative work to save Southern Residents. 

Not to mention the story they’ve helped tell on thousands of boxes and cans sold throughout the Pacific Northwest over the last five years. In that initial creative design phase, their team was insistent that the whales’ story and SeaDoc’s mission be clear and prominent on the packaging. 

Farewell Southern Resident IPA & Thank You Two Beers Brewing
Justin Cox
Why are Killer Whales Harassing and Killing ...

For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them—a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

A study published today in Marine Mammal Science, co-led by Deborah Giles of Wild Orca and Sarah Teman of the SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, looked at more than 60 years of recorded interactions between Southern Resident killer whales and porpoises in the Salish Sea to better understand why they exhibit this behavior.

Why are Killer Whales Harassing and Killing Porpoises Without Eating Them?

gary greene

Into the Sandy Sea Floor with a Vital Forage Fish

Into the Sandy Sea Floor with a Vital Forage Fish

“Well-aerated, well-sorted, medium-to coarse-grain...” might sound like a wine flavor profile, but it actually describes the type of sandy, sea floor habitat preferred by Pacific sand lance. Sand lance play a crucial role in the Salish Sea’s food web, providing nutrition for everything from seabirds to whales, salmon, and lingcod. It’s thought that one sand wave field in the San Juan Archipelago alone could be home to over 12 million sand lance, but we’re only beginning to learn about their habitat.

Going Deep to Study the Small But Vital Sand Lance

Going Deep to Study the Small But Vital Sand Lance

How do you conduct research on tiny, elusive fish that live hundreds of feet below the surface, burrow under the sandy seafloor, and are only half the size of a dollar bill? Like any challenge in marine biology, when there’s a will, there’s a wave.

In 2018, SeaDoc and Ocean Gate worked together to bring a submersible to the San Juan Islands for researchers needing such a platform for their work. A team of scientists from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, University of Washington, Moss Landing Laboratories, and Tombolo Mapping Laboratory was awarded sub time to study a very important forage fish.