A Tale of Two Kelp Forests

The title above is the name of a science lecture I attended yesterday at the U. S. Geological Society. The lecture was being delivered as part of "Sea Otter Awareness Week". It addressed the difference in health between two sea otter populations, one in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the other in the adjacent Commander Islands off of Russia. The population in the Aleutian Islands is in serious decline (down 90% over the past 15 years), whereas the sea otter population in the Commander Islands is at steady state, at presumably the ecosystem's carrying capacity.

The lecturer described:
(a) How the marine ecology in those respective islands differed as a result of the numbers of sea otters.
(b) How the population density of otters affected the sea otters' behavior, diet and health

The lecturer also sought to explain why the sea otter population was in decline in the Aleutians, while the the population in the Commander Islands was not. Also, a few fascinating slides were spent detailing the difficulties of studying sea otters in these remote environments.

Impact to Marine Ecology

A solid case was made, in the form of box plots, bar graphs, and photographs that sea otters have a huge impact on the surrounding marine ecology. In very simplistic terms:

*An abundance of sea otters keep the sea urchin population in check, which keeps the kelp forest from being killed off.
*An absence of sea otters allows the sea urchin population to explode, which destroys the kelp forest.

Sea Urchins eating and killing Giant Kelp

The presence or absence of the kelp forest also has manifold effects:
*The kelp forest provides a nursery for healthy fish populations.
*A kelp forest also introduces increased nutrients in the water, which encourages the growth of filter feeders (mussels, clams etc...)

In summary, sea otters are what are called "keystone" predators. Their presence or absence has a large influence on the ecosystem. A subtle point, which I'm sure I don't fully understand, was the non-linear relationship between the number of sea urchins and the biomass of the kelp forest. As the number of sea urchins increases, their destructive effect upon the kelp forest accelerates.

My only challenge to the scientist's assertions are:
(1) Why are Monterey/Channel Island kelp forests relatively less impacted by the lack of sea otters? There are far fewer sea otters off California (2-3,000) vs. off Alaska, Canada, and Washington (~70,000), yet the kelp forests in California continue to exist.
(2) If there are other predators in California that keep the sea urchin population in check, why don't those predators exist off Alaska (wolf eels, for one)?

Impact to Sea Otter Diet/Health
Fascinatingly enough, the sea otters in the Aleutian Islands have grown in size in response to their population decine. The sea otters in the Aleutians (low populations) are the fattest, healthiest sea otters the scientists have ever seen. The scientist called them, "rotund", "jumbo" and happy. With so little competition, these few sea otters have plenty of sea urchins to eat. In comparison, the sea otters in the Commander Islands were smaller, equivalent to the size their Aleutian neighbors were before their population declined. Furthermore, the Aleutian sea otters also have a far less varied diet than their Commander Islands neighbors.

Funny Science Anecdotes

The lecturer got a few laughs describing the difficulties of studying sea otters, from their capture, to surgically implanting radio transmitters into their bodies. Here are some observations:
-Sea otters have a nasty bite
-Catching sea otters in a net is a nightmare, particularly when you are catching a dozen per hour, as was the case when they stretched a net across the sheltered lagoon.
-Rebreathers are required to encounter awake sea otters underwater, because they can smell your bubbles hundreds of feet away.
-A lot of hiking is required in the Russian islands, where there are no trails.
-Mina's aside: science is truly hard work, and often enormous amounts of effort is required to prove every logical step of one's scientific assertions (that's what doctoral students, and master's students are for).

Commander (Komandorski) Islands on the Left, Aleutian Islands in the Center and Right

Probable Cause for Sea Otter Decline in Aleutians
The answer might surprise you: the scientist from UC Santa Cruz hypothesized that the decline in sea otters in the Aleutian islands is attributed to increased attacks from orcas. The main evidence for his hypothesis are as follows:

(1) An increase in orca attacks witnessed over the past 15 years.
(2) An absence of sea otter carcasses found, or sick otters found.
(3) The sea otter population protected by a lagoon that was inaccessible to orcas declined much less rapidly than everywhere else in the Aleutians.
(4) A computer model accounting for the metabolic requirements of both orcas and sea otters predicted that it was a possible for a small group of 6-10 orcas to decimate the sea otter population over the years.
(5) Sea otters in the Aleutian islands stay closer to shore than they used to 15 years ago, and also stay closer to shore than the the sea otters of the Commander Islands.

One of the grey-haired scientists in the audience challenged this hypothesis and wondered if the population decline could not be attributed to pollution instead. The speaker did not have an excellent response to this challenge. He stated that the pollution was the same between Russia and Alaska, but he did not provide any numbers to back up his assertion.

Another scientist wondered why the orcas didn't attack the sea otters off of Russia. Apparently, different orca pods have very different geographical domains. Also, differing orca pods are extremely variant in their diets, behaviors, and even genetics. The "transient" (read: mammal-eating) orcas that supposedly ate the sea otters don't wander into the Russian islands. Supposedly, these orcas developed their sea-otter eating behavior due to the dwindling in their other food sources (harbor seals, sea-lions). The most fascinating thing I heard was that "resident" (read: fish-eating) orcas are as much as 1000 years genetically different from the "transient" orcas.

I went up to the mike and had to ask my bone-headed question. I was probably the only non-scientist in the 80-100 strong audience, and was perhaps the only person below the age of 50, but I braved it out with my unscientific question. I asked if: (1) the rumor that the California sea otter population decline was caused by "feline leukemia virus" was true, and (2) what could have been the cause of death for the 4 foot long dead sea otter I encountered off of Monastery Beach.

The scientist was quite nice in his response. First of all, it wasn't "feline leukemia virus" but another feline borne disease, Toxoplasmosis that was attributed to 17% of sea otter deaths a decade ago. He asserted that sea otters most likely caught toxoplasmosis through the prey that they ate, rather than kitty litter. Toxiplasmosis as a cause of death is in decline, however. He wouldn't elaborate on what caused the myriad of other causes of death in the pie-chart.

He couldn't elaborate on what caused the sea otter that I encountered to die. But he did mention that more than anywhere else, more sea otter carcasses were found in California than anywhere else. Also, a necropsy had to be performed on a fresh sea otter carcass in order to find the cause of death.

I left the lecture feeling good that there was so much science left to be done. There is still much to understand about why sea otters in California are not reaching carrying capacity. There is also so much yet unknown about orcas, and their behaviors.

Alaskan Cruise, Aug-Sept 2007

Here's a trip report from my recent Alaskan cruise with my mother earlier this month. This was my first cruise, and also my first trip to Alaska. I definitely see myself coming back to Alaska, someday. Alaska's Inside Passage, is a mystical, spiritual, beautiful place. Cruising itself, was also a surprisingly pleasant, eye-opening experience. I probably won't be taking a cruise anytime soon, due to there being too many limitations inherent with cruising. This I will describe in more detail later on in this report.

For those of you who have never been on a cruise, here's a little about cruise ship life. I shared a suite with my mom. The cabin was nicely appointed, with a shower, head, seating area, and even our very own porthole looking out to sea (see left).

We were on a Celebrity cruise line, which, is a top-of-the-line (read expensive) cruise line. The clientele were mostly my mother's age. There were very few people my age in attendance, other than those accompanying their parents. This was a veritable floating hotel with glass elevators (see right), and private nooks from which to view glaciers (see right).

Below, leaving the protected bay of beautiful Vancouver for Alaska's Inside Passage The most mind-blowing thing about this cruise vacation was seeing wild-life surrounding you while carrying on with everyday activities aboard the ship:

For example:

• While contemplating the ocean view while in the sauna in our bathing suits, I spot the a group of humpback whales. This was a particularly zen-like experience.

Below, a view of Hubbard glacier from the cafeteria hall

This wouldn't be my only surprise encounter with wildlife from aboard the ship. Other moments:

• Running on the treadmill: watching as the cruise ship approached, and ultimately overran a sprinting pod of 30+ strong porpoises. I remember hoping that no porpoises were hurt.
• Jogging on the deck: stopping in awe at humpback whales.
• Eating lunch: running out to gawk at orcas alongside the ship. The image of the male orca's 6' high dorsal fin making its cyclic, mechanical slice through the calm waters has forever been burned into my memory.

Below, enjoying the sun in the Inside Passage

The other nutty thing about cruise life, is the incongruity of having all of this entertainment packed into a boat. It was like Disneyland, but afloat. There was a full scale two story amphitheater, inside of which one would have never suspected one was on a boat. There was an art gallery from which daily live auctions were held. A smoke filled casino straight out of Vegas, a state of the art gym, a saltwater whirlpool the size of a pool. Shops selling expensive diamond encrusted watches. Countless bars, restaurants, night clubs and even an Italian cafe to drink espressos.

Above, drinking a martini flight with Andrea (a friend I made on board the cruise)

If you enjoy gluttony, than cruise life is for you. There was a never-ending parade of food. My favorite meal of the day was breakfast, where I and my mom could eat al fresco on the stern of the ship.

Above, breakfast with my mom

Breakfast consisted of the usual eggs and bacon, but there were also nods towards Alaskan cuisine, such as smoked salmon, smoked trout and pickled herring. Catering to the Asian clientele was a Chinese rice porridge station and Japanese miso soup station.

Above, dinner

Dinner was my least favorite meal of the day, due to there being a strict dress code (formal wear-2 nights, semi-formal wear-1 night, jeans were never allowed). Also, by the middle of the week, I was becoming slightly stressed by always being seated with my mom's high-school classmates.

This Alaskan cruise also happened to be my mom's 40th high-school reunion. There were about 40 other former classmates and their families on board. At any rate, as on any extended boat trip, one eventually wants to get away from people, no matter how nice the company.

The shot I took of the top deck, above, looks straight out of a travel brochure

Earlier, I mentioned there were certain limitations to cruising. The biggest limitation is never being able to truly experience a place deeply. I always felt as though I was viewing Alaska behind a thick pane of glass. We stopped at 4 stops during the week long cruise. At each spot, one was limited to a few daylight hours to explore the spot. This prevented one from exploring beyond the touristy areas designed to ensnare cruisegoers.

Above, salmon spawning in a stream

The first stop after a day at sea was Ketchikan, Alaska. On this particular stop, I chose to do a snorkeling excursion. The dive operation was Mountain Point Snorkeling. The water was warmer and clearer than in California. But the water that day was also more barren.

Below, a picture taken by Belinda Li of entering the water

We saw unfamiliar starfish, including the sunflower star, that is supposed to be the same as the ones in Monterey, but which seemed more fragile than the indestructible ones I've encountered in Monterey. I freedove to a depth of about 20 feet to watch a couple of wolf-eel for the first time. One wolf-eel was slithering out in the open and chomping away with its powerful jaws on a poor crab. To my surprise, the wolf eel had stripes. As I faced it on the bottom, it stopped chomping and stared back at me stupidly with its beady eyes. (Sorry, no photos, don't have an underwater camera yet).

Below, a picture taken by Belinda Li of myself free-diving

Below, a close up view of Mendenhall Glacier

I asked about scuba diving in Ketchikan. They don't take too many people scuba diving in Ketchikan due to the strong current in the passage. The tide comes twice daily in Alaska, and is famously strong, sweeping water up and down as much as 20 feet. The current I experienced that day was wickedly strong.

Another fun excursion was viewing the Mendenhall glacier (see above, and below). I took a detour from the main path to get as close to the glacier as I could. There were only a few people who got to witness the glacier from such close proximity. I nearly missed the bus on my way back, however, since I got detoured, and had to climb several steep rocks to get back on path.

At right and below, Mendenhall glacier up close

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, my mother's favorite excursion was salmon fishing off of Icy Strait Point. She was pretty excited about catching her Coho salmon (below). I caught two Coho salmon. The Coho salmon are famously tough. My first salmon had been bludgeoned in the head, but still beat furiously in the icebox for a good 15 minutes before expiring for good. I had to go inside the boat to escape the horror.

Below, Alaskans dressed in Tlingit costume at Icy Strait Point.Juneau was my favorite stop. Juneau is a charming town that is accessible only by plane or boat, and is surrounded by an ice field and glaciers. It has the same bohemian, laid back spirit as Seattle (see below). There was one good coffee shop in which I enjoyed a very good caffe latte. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping for native American Tlingit inspired art. See here for an example. I bought two prints of orcas (my self-proclaimed totem animal), and one print of a harbor seal, which I intend to hang up on my walls.

From Juneau, we also went on a whale watching and wildlife excursion, which I highly recommend, despite the price of $100/person. We ended up seeing porpoises, Stellar sea lions, humpbacks, and bald eagles. I was fascinated by seeing the Stellar sea lions, who are much larger than the sea lions we see here in Northern California, and whose voices, consequently, are much lower. Their calls sound more like growls, rather than barks. I learned from Seneca, the Juneau born naturalist on board, about the various behaviors of the species there, which is probably too boring to include here.

As we headed back to Vancouver, I tried to capture the magical mystical quality of the Inside Passage. Here is a view taken at sunset:

Wedding Priorities

Today, Mark and I sat at Peet's for some coffee and we generated a spreadsheet to prioritize our expectations for our wedding. A "high" means we think it is important to have high quality for that particular aspect of the wedding. A "low" indicates we have no expectations, and wouldn't be crushed if it didn't even happen. This exercise was inspired by our friend, Coco, who recently got married. Her advice for how to live through wedding planning: have low expectations for everything but the few truly important things. This exercise was to find out what those truly important things are.



Fortunately, we have very similar views. For example, neither of us care about wedding cakes, or wedding photographers. So we probably won't buy or hire either. Neither of us care about having a bachelor/bachelorette party either, so we won't be crushed if these don't happen for us either. Actually, the only thing we both care a lot about was having the wedding at the Descanso Beach Club.

Where there was a difference in priority, the person who cared more was placed in charge for that particular thing. For example, I care more about having an engagement photographer, and wedding invitations than Mark, so I have ended up "owning" these particular items. Mark cares more for food and the wedding registry than I do, so he's been placed in charge of these things. My feeling on the wedding registry is that people can buy us fun scuba diving gear (such as a nice underwater camera setup), but that didn't fly with Mark, who thinks that appears selfish. So I put him in charge of that.

As you can see below, neither of us care about the actual wedding ceremony itself, meaning the sharing of vows etc..., so I'm not sure what we will do there.