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.
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.
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.
How did you start your day? Was it by looking at a massive #bluefin tuna that washed up on the beach near your home? That’s how we did! That’s right, we woke up to find this beautiful bluefin tuna dead on Crescent Beach in Eastsound—right here on Orcas Island.
It’s easy when you live in the Salish Sea to feel like you’re sort of perpetually camping. Water surrounds you, trees line up on the horizon, the air is fresh, etc. etc. etc. But you also have a phone in your pocket and bills to pay and new series to binge on Netflix. Sure it’s beautiful outside, but those are the trappings of regular nine-to-five type stuff. The forays into nature are carved out and fleeting.
By Bob Friel
Local luminaries together with boldfaced names from the worlds of science, business, entertainment, education, politics, and even space exploration met beside the glittering waters of Orcas Island’s West Sound this July to show their support for the Salish Sea and SeaDoc’s work to preserve and protect it.
Now in its 9th year, the SeaDoc Wine and Sea Auction has become the Northwest’s must-do of the summer. This year, nearly 200 donors and volunteers gathered in a fabulous setting at Family Tides Farm to enjoy amazing seafood, live music, games, great conversation, and an ocean of superb wines. Under the big tent, the auction was fast, furious, and a lot of fun. By the time the dust settled and paddles were put away, we’d raised more funds than ever to continue our work!
SeaDoc couldn't conduct science that is helping to heal the sea we all love without the support of private investors. Thank you for making a difference.
Be sure not to miss Wine and Sea 2017! Put Saturday July 8, 2017 on your calendar now!
By Joe Thoron
Talk about mixed feelings! After almost a decade of hanging around the SeaDoc offices, first as a consultant and then as an employee, I'm moving on to a job opportunity too interesting to pass up (a startup still in stealth mode).
I first met Joe Gaydos because our daughters were in preschool together. When he told me about SeaDoc, and that it was trying to save marine wildlife and the marine environment not only by doing great science but also by making sure the results got into the hands of decision-makers, I was hooked.
It wasn't long before I was helping Joe write a piece about SeaDoc's traveling harbor seal skeleton. Then I was fixing up the website. Then helping to write and send the newsletter. The more work I did with Joe, Jean, and SeaDoc's amazing board members and supporters, the more I loved it. So it was a natural step to join the staff about 5 years ago.
As I roll out of here, I want to give a big shout out of appreciation to everyone here in the office and at UC Davis. And I especially want to say thanks to all of the great donors and supporters I've had a the privilege to get to know over the past decade. SeaDoc attracts some of the warmest and most generous & thoughtful people I've ever met. It's been a great adventure!
