{"id":1766,"date":"2017-12-18T20:36:42","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T20:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2017-12-18T21:39:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T21:39:05","slug":"gemm-lab-2017-year-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gemmlab\/2017\/12\/18\/gemm-lab-2017-year-life\/","title":{"rendered":"GEMM Lab 2017: A Year in the Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dawn Barlow, MSc Student, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife<\/strong><\/p>\n

The days are growing shorter, and 2017 is drawing to a close. What a full year it has been for the GEMM Lab! Here is a recap, filled with photos, links to previous blogs, and personal highlights, best enjoyed over a cup of hot cocoa. Happy Holidays from all of us!<\/p>\n

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The New Zealand blue whale team in action aboard the R\/V Star Keys. Photo by L. Torres.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things started off with a bang in January as the New Zealand blue whale team headed to the other side of the world for another field season. Leigh<\/a>, Todd<\/a> and I<\/a> joined forces with collaborators from Cornell University<\/a>\u00a0and the New Zealand Department of Conservation<\/a> aboard the R\/V Star Keys<\/a> for the duration of the survey. What a\u00a0fruitful season<\/a> it was! We recorded sightings of 68 blue whales, collected biopsy and fecal samples, as well as prey and oceanographic data. The highlight came on our very last day when we were able to capture a blue whale surface lunge feeding on krill from an aerial perspective via the drone. This footage<\/a> received considerable attention around the world, and now has over 3 million views!<\/p>\n

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A blue whale surfaces just off the bow of R\/V Star Keys. Photo by D. Barlow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the spring Rachael<\/a> made her way to the remote Pribilof Islands of Alaska to study the foraging ecology of red-legged kittiwakes. Her objectives included comparing the birds that reproduce successfully and those that don\u2019t, however she was thrown a major curveball: none of the birds in the colony were able to successfully reproduce<\/a>. In fact, they didn\u2019t even build nests. Further analyses may elucidate some of the reasons for the reproductive failure of this sentinel species of the Bering Sea\u2026 stay tuned.<\/p>\n

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Rachael releases a kittiwake on St. George Island. Photo by A. Fleishman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The 2017 Port Orford field team. Photo by A. Kownacki.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Florence<\/a> is a newly-minted MSc! In June, Florence successfully defended her Masters research on gray whale foraging and the impacts of vessel disturbance. She gracefully answered questions from the room packed with people, and we all couldn\u2019t have been prouder to say \u201cthat\u2019s my labmate!\u201d during the post-defense celebrations. But she couldn\u2019t leave us just yet! Florence stayed on for another season of field work on the gray whale foraging ecology project in Port Orford, this time mentoring local high school students as part of the project<\/a>.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Florence’s M.Sc. defense!<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon the gray whales\u2019 return to the Oregon Coast for the summer, Leila<\/a>, Leigh, and Todd launched right back into the stress physiology and noise project. This year, the work included prey sampling and fixed hydrophones<\/a> that recorded the soundscape throughout the season. The use of drones continues to offer a unique perspective and insight into whale behavior.<\/p>\n