Our Executive Director and founder, Jeff Hogan, got the privilege again to participate on the "fecal" follow" boat with our friends from NOAA Fisheries. They met up with the members of L Pod, at the Kingston Ferry terminal and stayed with them for nearly three hours as the whales moved northwards. The scientists were trying to collect fecal samples, (yes..poop!) as well as samples left over from predation events.
The scat samples will allow the scientists to measure many things, including hormonal levels in the individual whales, which can indicate many systemic problems in the individual whales, like stress. Check out this link to find out more:
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_052208ENV_orcas_return_KS.1c399d37.html
The prey samples collected will help to narrow down what these animals are eating throughout the year and most importantly where those fish come from. Right now it looks like mostly salmon and mostly Chinook or King at that. The DNA recovered in the sample can also identify exactly which stream those salmon come from and can help to steer recovery of those specific runs. Check out this link for more info:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local384854_orcas25.html
It was a beautiful day to boot!
