Meet Montgomery, the new resident giant Pacific octopus at the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitor Center in Newport.

He was introduced to visitors last week and is proving to be a gregarious, active animal – especially at feeding times (Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 1 pm.

Next week is the perfect time to stop by the Visitor Center, get in out of the rain and say hello to our new octopus. Dec. 26-31 is  Winter Whale Watch Week, and we’ll be open from 10 am to 4 pm daily with special activities, exhibits and films!

Harbor seals (Photo by Dr. Brandon Southall, NMFS/OPR, courtesy NOAA Photo Library, https://www.flickr.com/photos/noaaphotolib/)

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study by microbiologists at Oregon State University has concluded that an unsuspected bacterial infection, rather than a viral disease, was associated with the stranding and death of seven harbor seals on the California coast in 2009.

The research, made with a powerful investigative method called “meta-transcriptomics,” found a high incidence of infection in the seals with the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia, and provides the first report in the Americas of this bacteria in a wild harbor seal.

The bacteria probably did not directly cause the death of the seals, researchers say, but this provides further evidence of the increase in emerging marine pathogens, and the need for improved monitoring and study of zoonotic diseases that could affect both human and wildlife populations.

In light of these findings, OSU researchers also remind the public that they should not touch stranded or dead marine mammals.

The research was recently published in PLOS ONE, in work supported by Oregon Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation.

“We now have improved tools to better identify new diseases as they emerge from natural reservoirs, and can record and track these events,” said Rebecca Vega-Thurber, an assistant professor of microbiology in the OSU College of Science. “It’s becoming clear there are more pathogens than we knew of in the past, and that some of them can move into human populations.

“This is why it’s increasingly important that we accurately pinpoint the cause of these diseases, and understand the full range of causes that may factor into these deaths.”

Learn more:

• Read the full news release from OSU News and Research Communication
• Check out Dr. Vega-Thurber’s lab and blog

(Click on image for larger version)

Keats Conley, a PhD student at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, and 2014-15 Oregon Sea Grant Malouf Scholar, studies the feeding preferences of pelagic tunicates, animals that serve as a key link between minute, lower food-chain organisms, such as bacteria, and commercially important fishes.

It turns out that tunicates, whether stationary and anchored to rocks or mobile (such as the jellyfish-like salps), all use an ornate mucus mesh to feed on much-smaller creatures, including bacteria.

Check out the video Keats made to describe what she’s learned:

Learn more:

• Oregon Sea Grant Scholars – our fellowship and scholarship programs for graduate and undergraduate students studying marine science and policy
• Keats Conley’s Sea Grant Scholars profile

A new analysis of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Pacific Ocean documents a dramatic difference in their foraging habits and overall health between years of warm water and those when the water is colder.

The study found that when the water is warmer than average – by only two degrees Celsius – young salmon consume 30 percent more food than during cold-water regimes. Yet they are smaller and skinnier during those warm-water years, likely because they have to work harder to secure food and the prey they consume has less caloric energy.

Results of the research, conducted by researchers from Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are being published this week in the journal PLOS One.

“When young salmon come out to sea and the water is warm, they need more food to keep their metabolic rate up, yet there is less available food and they have to work harder,” said Elizabeth Daly, an Oregon State senior faculty research assistant with the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies, a joint program of OSU and NOAA.

Learn more:

• Read the full release from OSU News and Research Communications
• Read about current and recent Oregon Sea Grant salmon research

When I started doing coastal resilience work for Oregon Sea Grant I first wanted to find out who else is working in this area and what they are doing. What I discovered is that there are dozens of organizations, big and small, dedicated to coastal resilience around the US. As coastal communities around the country become more interested in resilience, they may look for resources to help them navigate this complex landscape. So, I thought it would be useful to share with you three large organizations who are well established in this field of research and practice. I will follow up in another post with smaller, state level, organizations working in this area. For now, here are three national organizations working hard to make our coasts more resilient.

First, the Coastal Resilience Network is a web-based community of researchers led by the Nature Conservancy. Their work is “addressing increasing threats due to sea level rise and storms by bringing science and action together where nature is part of the solution to reduce risk.” They partner with a number of organizations in achieving their goals, including United States Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Center for Integrated Spatial Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz. You can learn more about their work by going to their website (CoastalResilience.org) or by following them on Twitter @Coastal Resilience.

Second,  NOAA developed the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, which is designed to “provide scientific tools, information, and expertise to help people manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, and improve their resilience to extreme events.” Further, “the site is designed to serve interested citizens, communities, businesses, resource managers, planners, and policy leaders at all levels of government.” Anyone who navigates to the website: toolkit.climate.gov will find an array of useful information and a variety of tools designed to help communities become more resilient to their location specific hazards. The site contains everything from risk analysis frameworks and metrics, to temperature and rainfall data sets that can be used to inform decision making.

Third, The Coastal Hazards Center was developed post Hurricane Katrina by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University also co-lead the organization. Their mission is to “enhance the Nation’s ability to safeguard its people, property, and economy by increasing their resilience to the consequences of natural hazards.” Though much of their work has taken place along the eastern coast of the United States, they are starting to do more work out here in the west. The group supports a number of projects focused on things like developing cutting-edge storm surge models, local municipality resilience plan development, and educating students interested in  coastal hazards management careers. You can learn more about this group by going to: CoastalHazardsCenter.org

Please feel free to comment to elaborate on or provide feedback regarding the information I have provided here.

(Miriah Russo Kelly is Oregon Sea Grant’s Coastal Resilience specialist. Follow her new blog, Resilience Roots, to learn more about her work, and the program’s).

COOS BAY – “Why Salmon Need Estuaries” is the question veteran NOAA Fisheries biologist Dan Bottom will explore in a Science Pub presentation at 7 Devils Brewing on Saturday, Oct. 3. The talk begins at 7 pm; there is no cover charge or admission.

For more than a century, resource managers and scientists in the Pacific Northwest have worked to enhance, protect and restore salmon. That’s often meant controlling populations or their environments to improve survival. Despite such efforts, salmon populations have declined, fisheries have been restricted and stocks have been added to the federal list of threatened and endangered species.

Recent watershed restoration efforts in Oregon offer useful case studies in salmon diversity and resilience. The region’s heavily developed Columbia River basin and its most heavily restored estuary, the Salmon River, demonstrate the importance of diverse habitats and life history to salmon in a changing world.

Dan Bottom has 38 years as a state and federal fishery research biologist. he is a co-author of Oregon Sea Grant’s book, Pathways to Resilienc: Sustaining Salmon Ecosystems in a Changing World.

The event is co-sponsored by 7 Devils Brewing, the Native Fish Society and Oregon Sea Grant.

Learn more:

• 7 Devils Brewing’s Facebook event for the talk
• Pathways to Resilience

NEWPORT – Interested in smoking or canning some of the fish you caught or bought on the Oregon coast? Oregon Sea Grant Extension is offering workshops in both techniques in September.

The first workshop, on smoking fish, takes place Friday, Sept. 4 from 9 am to noon. The class fee is $20, and participants must register by Monday, Aug. 31.

The second, on canning tuna, is Friday, Sept. 11 from 10 am to 2 pm. Registration is $40, and participants must register by Sept. 7. A seafood lunch is included in the registration fee.

To register for either workshop, call 541-574-6534. Questions? Contact Sea Grant Extension fisheries specialist Ruby Moon at that number, extension 57418.

Learn more:

• Download a .pdf flyer about the workshops