Shades of Grey: Uncovering The Hidden Complexities Of The Lives Of Harbour Porpoises

Daisy the harbour porpoise. Photo via Vancouver Aquarium

You've most likely been to the Vancouver Aquarium, roamed the halls peering at fish, marine mammals, birds, frogs & all the other amazing creatures that live under their roof. But have you ever wanted to know more about these beautiful animals?

The Vancouver Aquarium has regular public lectures about many different topics. The next one, on November 13, is all about harbour porpoises.
Though they're common & live in the ocean right around Vancouver, harbour porpoises are shy animals that you rarely see. Except at the Vancouver Aquarium: the two most recent cetaceans to join the Vancouver Aquarium are harbour porpoises Jack & Daisy. Both were rescued at very young ages & though they were brought back to health with round the clock care, the Department of Fisheries & Oceans deemed both unreleasable.

Harbour porpoise in the wild. Photo via Vancouver Aquarium

This lecture is a great opportunity to learn more about the hidden lives of our little cetacean neighbours. Dr. Anna Hall will present an overview of what we know about harbour porpoises based on observations & documentation from the mid-1800’s to today. Dr. Hall will also present some of the latest findings from research on the foraging & breeding behaviours of harbour porpoises in BC. She'll finish her talk with a discussion on the conservation status of harbour porpoises, threats & actions we need to take to protect this highly intelligent but largely overlooked species.

Thursday, November 13, 2014, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Vancouver Aquarium

$10 non-members or $8 members

Buy Tickets

If you'd really like to hear the talk but can't make it to the aquarium, you can watch LIVE on the Aquarium's YouTube channel, or later on when you have the time. 

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Stellar Sea Lion Disentanglement & Rescue

I'm sure you're aware of the risk of plastic garbage like six-pack rings getting caught around the necks of birds & fish. Did you know that larger marine mammals like sea lions are at risk of entanglement from plastic garbage too? Fishing nets & plastic packing straps like you'd see around boxes or stacks of newsprint get caught around the necks of animals, eventually cutting into flesh & causing infection.

Until very recently, disentangling these poor animals was all but impossible. The veterinary staff at the Vancouver Aquarium have developed a technique & discovered a combination of anaesthetic drugs that effectively sedate animals safely so they can be freed from the garbage that was slowly killing them. Watching video footage of these rescues brings tears to my eyes, I can't imagine the incredible pain the animals must be in, given the horrible wounds they suffer from marine debris entanglement.

Photo Credit: Skunkworks Photographic via Compfight cc

I've written about the sea lion disentanglements before, but it was only this week that I learned the details of how Dr. Haulena & the other Aquarium staff have learned how to carry out these amazing rescues. Saving these animals in the wild could not have happened without the help of one particular Vancouver Aquarium resident. Tag was a Steller sea lion who lived at the aquarium for nearly all his 15 years. He was part of the ongoing research into why more than 80% of the Steller sea lion population has disappeared since 1980. Tag developed cancer in his old age & the veterinary team there performed surgery as well as administering chemotherapy. These interventions required anaesthesia multiple times & it was through this experience with Tag that Dr. Martin Haulena & his team developed a protocol for safely sedating these massive beasts.

It's not just Tag that has contributed to important research. All the captive marine mammals at the Vancouver Aquarium are providing extremely valuable opportunities for us to learn how to conserve wild populations. The researchers at the aquarium are looking at things like how dolphins use echolocation so we can hopefully prevent their future entanglements in fishing nets; collecting data on Steller sea lions diving & feeding habits in the wild, in an effort to determine why their populations are crashing; developing rescue techniques for animals we weren't able to rehabilitate & release before, like harbour porpoises; & much more. You can find a more exhaustive list of research areas at the Vancouver Aquarium here.

If you're interested in more details about the sea lion disentanglement excursions & the protocol for sedating them in the wild, the Vancouver Aquarium recently posted a video of a presentation by Dr. Haulena & marine mammal researcher Wendy Szaniszlo. Rescuing Sea Lions - Notes from the Field is what inspired me to write this post. 

You can also read more about Steller sea lions on the Aquafacts Page.

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Why does the Vancouver Aquarium keep cetaceans in captivity?

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Infographic: Canadian Bobcat (+ last-minute gift idea)

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Infographic: Canadian Swift Fox Facts

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Spokesmama Shopping Guide: Gifts of Canadian Nature (+ Giveaway!)

If you're looking for something to give the person who has it all & gift cards just won't cut it, consider giving a Gift of Canadian Nature (GCN), from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

GCN features symbolic gifts of habitat for a snowy owl, swift fox, grizzly bear, moose or bobcat. A Gift of Canadian Nature is a great way to avoid the holiday clutter, the shopping malls, & give something meaningful.

From the hiker to the rock climber, the photographer to the educator or the armchair nature lover, NCC's Gifts of Canadian Nature are as unique & diverse as the individuals on your holiday shopping list. Every gift includes a personalized certificate plus a 2014 nature calendar full of Canada's most stunning protected places and animals.

For some of the many reasons to support the work of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's work, check out the infographic I posted yesterday.

For even more information you can visit the Nature Conservancy Gifts of Nature website: www.giftsofnature.ca

Enter below to win a Gift of Canadian Nature yourself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Infographic: Canada's Animals & Environment in Peril (+ what you can do about it)

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