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On Kaplan’s first try, the krill did avoid the net. “They’re just too smart for us,” Kaplan said. Research shows krill often scatter away from nets.
Talia Davis (left) and Rachel Kaplan pick through a filter to find krill. “They’re probably like, ‘Swim away from the net! Here it comes!’” “But, the water depth right now is only 140-meters, so they can’t go that deep. Scientists have found krill will often dive as deep as 200-meters during the daytime. At night, the krill have a better chance of avoiding predators, Fisher said. Typically, the scientists tow for krill at night when the crustaceans surface to eat. On board the Shimada, Kaplan watched for krill frequencies at depths of around 100 meters. A fathom is the measurement of your outstretched arm, or about six feet, she said. Now, the gear must stay inside the 40-fathom depth line, a direct result of marine mammal observations, Barlow said. Whales most frequently are reported entangled in crab pots. For example, in 2021, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission restricted Dungeness crabbing gear. Some marine mammal research has already helped to change policies. Scientists quickly realized, to answer those questions, they’d need to know more about where to expect whales off the coast of Oregon. But how can we also mitigate entanglement risks to whales?” Kaplan said. “We’re trying to figure out: how can people who fish off the coast keep fishing because that’s so important to people’s livelihoods and Oregon’s economy. In recent years, an increasing number of whales, especially humpbacks, have gotten tangled in fishing gear. That’s why Kaplan’s krill findings could have big impacts on fisheries management. In 2009, NOAA enacted a rule that protected krill from commercial fishing up to 200 nautical miles off the U.S. Krill are so important to the marine ecosystem that in 2006, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council squashed talk of harvesting krill. Whales eat krill, so the two species should be around at the same time. The crew dipped a bongo-shaped net into the water, hoping to pull up a bunch of krill. Then, the chief scientist on the voyage, Jennifer Fisher, asked to stop the ship for what’s known as an opportunistic bongo net drop. In what’s known as the ship’s acoustics laboratory, Kaplan said she hoped to spot the acoustic frequencies of krill swarms on a computer readout at the same time mammal observers spot whales. student with the Krill Seeker Lab at OSU’s College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and OSU’s GEMM Lab. The aggregations can be pretty variable in shape,” said Kaplan, a second-year Ph.D. “The backscatter for krill turns up as red. Scientist Rachel Kaplan watches for krill in acoustics frequencies on the Bell M. At other times, she spent much of her days three stories below the fresh air of the flybridge, staring at a computer screen that displayed acoustic readings of what was below the water’s surface.
She watched from the flybridge to see where the whales and other marine mammals popped up. On this survey expedition, scientist Rachel Kaplan, from OSU, had dual roles. Scientists hoped to learn a little bit more about the mysteries of the ocean by sampling, measuring and observing the marine life in it. This particular voyage traveled from the San Francisco Bay all the way to La Push, Washington, and back home to Newport, Oregon. At least twice a year, a science team boards this vessel to sample and observe the Northern California Current ecosystem. These scientists are part of an interdisciplinary 13-person science crew aboard the Shimada from May 6-17. Wind, rain or perfectly flat conditions, the marine mammal observers scanned the seas for any signs of a whale – a water spout in the distance, a dorsal fin breaking the surface, or, if they were lucky, a breach. “The eye drops were a game changer,” Bird said. candidate with the GEMM lab, scanned the ocean waves, varying between watching with binoculars and just using their eyes.Īlso close at hand: bottles of eye drops. To lessen the eye strain 12 hours of staring could cause, Barlow and Clara Bird, a Ph.D. Whales need a healthy, functioning ecosystem, which means the presence (or absence) of whales could indicate the health of the surrounding ocean, said Dawn Barlow, with the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute. The scientists were searching for signs of whales. Shimada’s flybridge – the very top deck, around 13 meters above the water line – the scientists didn’t take their eyes off the water.