Wildlife Conservation United States Project #11667

Central PugetSound Marine Mammal Stranding Network

by Orca Network

Project Report | Sep 3, 2013
Strandings Update, and how YOU can help!

By Susan Berta | Project Leader, CPSMMSN/Orca Network

Healthy seal pup on an island near us, by Veronica

Between January 1st and August 6th the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network has answered and/or responded to these calls: 97 Harbor seal pups, 11 California Sea Lions, 1 Steller Sea Lion, an Elephant seal, 7 Gray whales, 2 Fin whales, 1 Humpback whale, 1 orca whale, 7 Harbor Porpoise, 2 Dall's Porpoise, and 10 "other" calls, including river otters, octopus, dolphin, and sea turtle. This year we are receiving many out-of-area calls, as NOAA Fisheries National hotline number has been transferred out of state, and we are somehow receiving calls from Alabama, Hawaii, California, and more - which we then work to find the appropriate stranding network to relay the reports to.

The funding situation for marine mammal stranding networks across the country is in jeopardy as the Prescott Marine Mammal Stranding Grant Fund has been severely cut from the 2013 budget, and at this time is not in the 2014 federal budget. Our Stranding Network has not received a Prescott Grant since 2010, and now must rely TOTALLY on funds from supporters like you.

Given the reduction in funds to support the work we do, we have had to prioritize our responses and cut back on the number of necropsies performed on dead stranded animals, and the sampling, testing of samples and research that helps us understand what is taking place in our ocean ecosystem. We have been doing a lot of education about seal pups on the beach, but can no longer respond to all the calls we get on seal deaths, trying to focus on priority species like porpise and whales.

We TRULY appreciate your past support, and now there is a NEW WAY YOU CAN HELP, by getting others to help support us during Global Giving's September Fundraiser Campaign, where our supporters can campaign and recruit additional donations for our project!

Global Giving's Fundraiser Campaign, September 1 through September 30, 2013, helps supporters like you create fundraising pages to share with friends, family, co-workers, and via social media, to join you in supporting the work of Orca Network's Projects through the Global Giving website.

And if gathering more support for a cause you are supporting isn't enough to make you want to give this a try, they sweeten the deal by offering awesome prizes (JetBlue tickets, a flip cam, and more!) to those who raise the most funds, and offer matching donations and bonuses to those raising $500 or more for a project.

Global Giving has a simple website tool http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/fundraiser-new/type that enables you to easily create and share your fundraising page (and Orca Network will happily share the link to your fundraising page as well, if you wish), so you can raise additional funds for Orca Network's Stranding Network without having to donate more yourself, and in the process, will be helping to spread the word about the good work we do.

Below is more information on how the Global Giving September Fundraiser works, and you can get started by visiting one of the links below to help you set up your fundraising page.

We urge you to take a few moments of your time to set up a September Fundraising page for Orca Network's Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and encourage others to help support the work we do. Thank you for your consideration, and for your past support - we couldn't do it without YOU!
Susan Berta and Howard Garrett, Orca Network
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/central-pugetsound-marine-mammal-stranding-network/

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How to start a Global Giving Fundraiser:
http://help.globalgiving.org/s/how-to/m/donate/l/131862-how-to-start-a-globalgiving-fundraiser

How does it work?

You identify supporters in your network who are passionate about your cause and ask them to create a fundraiser page.
Your supporters create a fundraiser page on GlobalGiving.
Fundraisers that raise at least $500 from at least 10 donors receive an additional $50 match for the project from GlobalGiving and become eligible for prizesJetBlue tickets, flip cam, and more!
The top three organizations with the most fundraisers that raise at least $500 from 10 donors will win bonus awards of $2,000, $1,000, and $500 respectively.

Terms and Conditions

The Fundraiser Campaign begins on September 1, 2013 at 12:01 am EDT ( This time in your time zone) and ends on September 30, 2013 at 11:59 pm EDT ( This time in your time zone).
Fundraisers must raise at least $500 from at least 10 unique donors in order to qualify for the $50 match, donor prizes, and financial bonus awards.
JetBlue tickets are for domestic travel only. Tickets are subject to fare restrictions and must be used by November 30, 2013.
Limit one fundraiser per person. If a user creates multiple fundraisers, only one of the fundraisers will be eligible for matching prizes.
Only online donations (credit card, PayPal, or gift card) are eligible for this campaign. Donations made by check or text-to-give are not eligible.
Only donations made on www.globalgiving.org are eligible. Donations made on www.globalgiving.co.uk or any GlobalGiving cobrands (Nike, Eli Lilly, Give for Youth, among others) are not eligible.
Unique donors are determined using numerous criteria, including name, email address, credit card number, mailing address, and IP address. We are monitoring these and other parameters in our system to ensure that only unique, distinct donors are counted towards the donor bonus award.
Please note that GlobalGiving maintains the right to make a final decision on all matters concerning bonus awards and prizes.

Fundraisers are a great way to raise money for the causes you care about. You could set one up to commemorate your birthday, your wedding, the marathon you're about to run, to remember a loved one, or for any other reason you can think of!
http://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/fundraiser-new/type

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP & SUPPORT!
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Links:

Sharing the Shore with Seal Pups Info. from NOAA Fisheries

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Jun 14, 2013
CPSMMSN sends a Gray Whale to the Smithsonian!

By Susan Berta | Project Leader, CPSMMSN/Orca Network

Charley Potter of the Smithsonian, and Matt Klope

Thanks to our GlobalGiving donors, the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network has been able to continue the good work we do in Washington State.

The national Prescott Marine Mammal Stranding and Health Grant Program has been cut from the federal budget, leaving Marine Mammal Stranding Networks across the country with no funding, while the need for stranding response has increased due to the effects of climate change, increased shipping and boat traffic, increased human interaction, and the spread of diseases and effects of toxic pollutants in our marine waters.

But because of your support, the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network has been able to continue to respond to the calls we receive, and assist scientists and researchers in their work by supplying samples and specimens from dead stranded animals, so some good can come out of the unfortunate ending of a marine mammal's life.

For this report we are featuring our BIGGEST accomplishment yet - shipping an ENTIRE Gray whale skeleton across the country from Washington State to the Smithsonian Institute's Marine Mammal Collection Center in Maryland!

Under the direction of Matt Klope from the CPSMMSN, and with support from NAS Whidbey Island, we were able to tow our last dead Gray whale to NAS Whidbey for necropsy by CPSMMSN, Cascadia Research, and WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife staff. After the initial necropsy, CPSMMSN volunteers and NAS Whidbey Island volunteers continued to flense the flesh off all the bones, collect them and place them into large barrels that were hung off a dock at the NAS Whidbey Island Seaplane base. There, small marine critters like crabs fed on the last of the flesh, cleaning the bones over a period of months. The bones were then pulled up and scraped and cleaned by volunteers, then packed up into crates and shipped onboard a C-130 on a Military Training Logistics flight from NAS Whidbey Island to Andrews Airforce Base in Maryland, where the whale skeleton was picked up by the Smithsonian and transported to their Marine Mammal Collection Building.

During the bone flensing process, we were honored to have Charley Potter and Maya Yamato of the Smithsonian fly out to Whidbey Island to assist us. Maya is conducting groundbreaking research on baleen whales' hearing - and she was able to extract the inner ear bones of this whale to assist with her research. It was a wonderful experience for our staff and volunteers to work alongside these researchers, and they were ecstatic to finally receive a Pacific Gray whale for their collection. Take a look at the link below to the article and more photos of this project from the Smithsonian magazine.

It is partnerships like this, and the ability to conduct research and provide further knowledge and education as a result of a marine mammal stranding, that is at the heart of what we do. The more we and others can learn about how marine mammals live, and why they die, the more we can help preserve and protect marine mammal populations for future generations.

aboard a C-130 on a Military Training Logistics Flight from Whidbey Island to Andrews Air Force Base in Md - See more at: http://smithsonianscience.org/2013/05/gray-whale-specimen-a-major-addition-to-natural-history-museum-collection/#sthash.ipAXdrLI.dpuf

CPSMMSN displays at Deception Pass State Park, May

Deception Pass State Park, hands-on displays

Matt Klope shares his knowledge with park visitors

Smithsonian staff working with CPSMMSN volunteers

Links:

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Mar 29, 2013
Your support keeps us going!

By Susan Berta | Project Leader, CPSMMSN/Orca Network

Necropsy session with Dr. Stephanie Norman

Thanks to our generous Global Giving donors, the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network was able to conduct our first necropsy of 2013 in early February. We had several carcasses stored in freezers, waiting for funds to pay our Marine Mammal veterinarian, Stephanie Norman, DVM, MS, PhD, to assist our volunteer team in conducting necropsies and collecting samples for future testing, to try to determine cause of death and to collect information on the health of our marine mammal populations and ocean waters.

We had collected a Harbor seal pup, a young Harbor porpoise calf, and a spiny dogfish for this necropsy session.

Unfortunately, the condition of these animals did not yield too many results and they were not optimum for testing samples, but they did provide us with some information, and most importantly, a training session for not only our staff and volunteers, but for a local veterinarian who has joined our team, and a forsenic pathologist from Seattle, who will be a helpful partner for future cases of marine mammals killed by gunshot or other means of human interaction.

Dr. Norman is a wonderful and patient teacher, and has trained many of our volunteers in how to take samples and assist with necropsy sessions, as well as numerous veterinarians, students, and teachers from our area.

The other exciting thing about this necropsy session was learning more about the shark family by taking a look inside the spiny dogfish we had collected. Sharks are not marine mammals, but there has been much research on the six gill shark through the Seattle Aquarium, and we are beginning to assist them in collecting samples from sharks that strand in our area. This session provided a great training opportunity so we can correctly collect samples to share and assist the Seattle Aquarium's research into this species.

We will soon be into our busiest time of the year for strandings, and extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our wonderful GlobalGiving donors! We hope you will continue to support this important program ~ without your support, we would not be able to respond to marine mammal strandings and investigate the health of our ocean ecosystems and marine mammal neighbors.

Links:

To learn more about our Stranding Network, visit our website

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