SeaDoc Society 2023 Year In Action

THANK YOU

2023 YEAR IN ACTION

For investing in our work to create a vibrant Salish Sea. A healthy ecosystem is needed for healthy people, healthy wildlife, and a healthy economy. We could not do our work without supporters like you.

John Lowman

Alana Engle

SCIENCEINFORMED POLICY

RESEARCH

At our core, SeaDoc is a science-based conservation program. We fund and conduct science that helps us better understand how we can best take care of the Salish Sea’s natural resources.

Cy Scammell

Projects Funded

San Juan County Eelgrass Mapping, Change Analysis, and Conservation Project Led by Tina Whitman, Friends of the San Juans

6 new projects in 2023

plus an additional 10 underway Assessing threats to critical seabird foraging habitat in the Salish Sea

Led by Eric Wagner, Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington

Danite Delimont

Eelgrass decline is a major concern for the ecosystem. The team is surveying eelgrass meadows to set conservation priorities and test whether disease is an indicator for climate resiliency.

Stuart Smith

Seabirds like rhinoceros auklets & pigeon guillemots are sentinels in the Salish Sea, but we know little about their diet or foraging habitat. This study will offer new data to help protect them into the future.

Testified, provided comments, or advised elected officials: Washington State House and Senate United States Senate Fish and Wildlife Commission Wild Fish Conservancy Puget Sound Restoration Fund Washington Academy of Sciences NOAA Fisheries

Commissions & Advisory Panels served: Encyclopedia of Puget Sound (Editor) Wildlife Diversity Advisory Council (WA Department of Fish and Wildlife) We Are Puget Sound Exhibit Science Advisor (Burke Museum)

Salish Sea Institute Pacific Marine Mammal Center SR3 Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research

In addition to producing videos, books, podcasts and social media, SeaDoc Society also actively participates in management and policy decisions by testifying at hearings, participating in advisory panels, and answering questions from elected officials.

David Hicks

Led by Melissa McKinney, McGill University

Understanding the diet of Southern Resident killer whales is vital to saving them. Using sophisticated tools, we’re analyzing species of salmon consumed, amounts eaten, seasonal trends, and more.

Chinook salmon are severely endangered & crucial to the recovery of Southern Resident orcas. Tribal partners are studying how hook size impacts mortality in catch-and-release fisheries for Chinook & coho.

Traci Walter

Featured In

Renee Chamberland

Does Size Matter?

Evaluation of Hook Size on Mortality Rates of Hooked and Released Coho and Chinook Salmon in Recreational Troll Fisheries Led by Jonathan Scordino, Makah Fisheries Management

2023 FUNDED PROJECTS CONTINUED

The SeaDoc Society’s work has been featured in top international media outlets. Additionally, we are called by journalists and reporters to serve as content experts for breaking news in the Salish Sea.

Diet Composition of Southern Resident Killer Whales Revealed

by Newly Validated Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis Approach

Janna Nichols

To aid in the recovery of rockfish, a dive team is surveying sites during daylight hours and after dark to measure reproduction patterns and understand how rockfish use the environment over time.

Refining Survey Efforts to Inform Rockfish Population Dynamics and Recovery Efforts in Puget Sound through Community Science

Led by Stena Troyer, Harbor WildWatch

Cathleen Wilson

To better understand tidal wetlands, the team is studying a unique populations of beavers and the role they play in engineering this unique tidal habitat, which is important to juvenile salmon.

Mapping and Tracking Beaver in Tidal Marshes of the Whidbey Basin River Deltas

Led by W. Gregory Hood, Skagit River Systems Cooperative

SCIENCE EDUCATION

SeaDoc Society’s Dr. Joe Gaydos hosts our worldclass wildlife documentary video series.

The work is not done until the story is told. Very few elected officials and very few people ever read scientific papers and reports. SeaDoc works hard to make sure that our science and other important findings are presented in ways that people can understand and use.

Research published

3 papers published in 2023 4 currently in review

130+ scientific publications total

SeaDoc’s awardwinning podcast covers a wide range of issues and stories related to the Salish Sea ecosystem.

Kendrick Moholt

Alana Engle

2023 HIGHLIGHTS A 250-Pound Bluefin Tuna Mysteriously Washed Up on Orcas Island. Why? Is it Safe to Eat Seaweed and Kelp?

Searching for the Rarest Whale in the World Joe Gaydos

Nina Slashchilina

2023 EPISODES (clockwise from top left):

The Search for Itsy-Bitsy Rockfish Harbor Seals' Super-powered Cuteness Killer Whales: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!

Giant Sturgeon: Fishing for Dragons Divers Remove Deadly "Ghost" Net Bob Friel

SCIENCE EDUCATION

SeaDoc Society’s Dr. Joe Gaydos hosts our worldclass wildlife documentary video series.

The work is not done until the story is told. Very few elected officials and very few people ever read scientific papers and reports. SeaDoc works hard to make sure that our science and other important findings are presented in ways that people can understand and use.

Research published

3 papers published in 2023 4 currently in review

130+ scientific publications total

SeaDoc’s awardwinning podcast covers a wide range of issues and stories related to the Salish Sea ecosystem.

Kendrick Moholt

Alana Engle

2023 HIGHLIGHTS A 250-Pound Bluefin Tuna Mysteriously Washed Up on Orcas Island. Why? Is it Safe to Eat Seaweed and Kelp?

Searching for the Rarest Whale in the World Joe Gaydos

Nina Slashchilina

2023 EPISODES (clockwise from top left):

The Search for Itsy-Bitsy Rockfish Harbor Seals' Super-powered Cuteness Killer Whales: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!

Giant Sturgeon: Fishing for Dragons Divers Remove Deadly "Ghost" Net Bob Friel

Led by Melissa McKinney, McGill University

Understanding the diet of Southern Resident killer whales is vital to saving them. Using sophisticated tools, we’re analyzing species of salmon consumed, amounts eaten, seasonal trends, and more.

Chinook salmon are severely endangered & crucial to the recovery of Southern Resident orcas. Tribal partners are studying how hook size impacts mortality in catch-and-release fisheries for Chinook & coho.

Traci Walter

Featured In

Renee Chamberland

Does Size Matter?

Evaluation of Hook Size on Mortality Rates of Hooked and Released Coho and Chinook Salmon in Recreational Troll Fisheries Led by Jonathan Scordino, Makah Fisheries Management

2023 FUNDED PROJECTS CONTINUED

The SeaDoc Society’s work has been featured in top international media outlets. Additionally, we are called by journalists and reporters to serve as content experts for breaking news in the Salish Sea.

Diet Composition of Southern Resident Killer Whales Revealed

by Newly Validated Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis Approach

Janna Nichols

To aid in the recovery of rockfish, a dive team is surveying sites during daylight hours and after dark to measure reproduction patterns and understand how rockfish use the environment over time.

Refining Survey Efforts to Inform Rockfish Population Dynamics and Recovery Efforts in Puget Sound through Community Science

Led by Stena Troyer, Harbor WildWatch

Cathleen Wilson

To better understand tidal wetlands, the team is studying a unique populations of beavers and the role they play in engineering this unique tidal habitat, which is important to juvenile salmon.

Mapping and Tracking Beaver in Tidal Marshes of the Whidbey Basin River Deltas

Led by W. Gregory Hood, Skagit River Systems Cooperative

SCIENCEINFORMED POLICY

RESEARCH

At our core, SeaDoc is a science-based conservation program. We fund and conduct science that helps us better understand how we can best take care of the Salish Sea’s natural resources.

Cy Scammell

Projects Funded

San Juan County Eelgrass Mapping, Change Analysis, and Conservation Project Led by Tina Whitman, Friends of the San Juans

6 new projects in 2023

plus an additional 10 underway Assessing threats to critical seabird foraging habitat in the Salish Sea

Led by Eric Wagner, Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington

Danite Delimont

Eelgrass decline is a major concern for the ecosystem. The team is surveying eelgrass meadows to set conservation priorities and test whether disease is an indicator for climate resiliency.

Stuart Smith

Seabirds like rhinoceros auklets & pigeon guillemots are sentinels in the Salish Sea, but we know little about their diet or foraging habitat. This study will offer new data to help protect them into the future.

Testified, provided comments, or advised elected officials: Washington State House and Senate United States Senate Fish and Wildlife Commission Wild Fish Conservancy Puget Sound Restoration Fund Washington Academy of Sciences NOAA Fisheries

Commissions & Advisory Panels served: Encyclopedia of Puget Sound (Editor) Wildlife Diversity Advisory Council (WA Department of Fish and Wildlife) We Are Puget Sound Exhibit Science Advisor (Burke Museum)

Salish Sea Institute Pacific Marine Mammal Center SR3 Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research

In addition to producing videos, books, podcasts and social media, SeaDoc Society also actively participates in management and policy decisions by testifying at hearings, participating in advisory panels, and answering questions from elected officials.

David Hicks

THANK YOU

2023 YEAR IN ACTION

For investing in our work to create a vibrant Salish Sea. A healthy ecosystem is needed for healthy people, healthy wildlife, and a healthy economy. We could not do our work without supporters like you.

John Lowman

Alana Engle