Winter Seals

Since moving from the Northwest to the Northeast 5 1/2 years ago I haven't been going on as many excursions into the natural world, especially during winter. But I decided to make an exception and visit the Jersey Shore to see some seals that I heard were visiting. My first attempt was postponed a week due to bitter cold. The second attempt was still chilly, but a much nicer day. To top it all off, I met up with some friends I hadn't seen since moving from the Northeast to the Northwest over 15 years ago. 

Four seals visit New Jersey in the winter months. They are the harbor seal (most common), gray seal, harp seal, and hooded seal (least common). The seals I saw were harbor seals, and there were two or three dozen of them. After spring arrives, the seals return north to Canada and New England. Since it was getting to be the end of their time in my neck of the beach, I put my discomfort aside and ventured outdoors. 

I arrived in the Sandy Hook area early, so I stopped by the Twin Lights State Historic Site for a quick view. The lighthouse is on top of a hill about 200 feet above sea level, one of the highest coastal points along the Atlantic. From the heights you can see just how narrow the Sandy Hook peninsula is. A few turkey vultures down the hill were basking in the sun.

Sandy Hook seen from Twin Lights

Seals haul out when the tides are low, so I had to check a tide table to plan my trip. Low tides were around 5 AM and 5 PM. I opted for the evening low since there's still light at that hour. And because I didn't want to get up at 3 in the morning on a Saturday. The exact time of the low tide wasn't important. Seals don't wait until the tide reaches its lowest point to haul out. A few hours early was fine, and the seals were at the appointed location ahead of me and my entourage. A small crowd was gathered along a fence, looking into the bay. I said "I bet those rocks everyone is looking at are actually seals." Sure enough, one of the "rocks" moved. 

Harbor seals in Sandy Hook Bay

Harbor seals in Sandy Hook Bay through a scope (NPS photo)

It's important to keep your distance from seals (or any other marine life) not just because it's a federal law, but because seals especially are easily annoyed and will leave if disturbed. Any unnecessary movement burns valuable calories that are keeping them warm. And there's a reason they're on land, so let them stay there doing seal things. There could be any number of reasons for seals to haul out. They bask in the sun to warm up, just like reptiles and amphibians. Mother seals nurse their pups on land. They need to rest just like we do. Their time in the water is spent hunting prey and trying not to become prey. It's exhausting.

I'm glad the day went how it did. Usually wildlife can sense me coming, and I wind up seeing nothing except some tracks and scats. But the seals didn't disappoint. It was great seeing my friends again, and since one is a shark enthusiast, it was a thrill for her to see shark food in its natural environment. In spite of the chill, I would make this an annual tradition.

Seal information came from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. The NPS picture of seals comes from a post on Gateway National Recreation Area's Facebook page

Species of the Month

Shark Week is nigh upon us and we're getting in on it with July's Species of the Month. I've chosen the most famous (or infamous) sea creature, the great white shark. While they've been known to attack people, we are not their prey. Shark attacks may be curiosity or just a case of mistaken identity. Unlike Jaws, these apex predators won't eat you, even if they do happen to bite. Sink your teeth into this quick profile!

Scientific name: Carcharodon carcharias

Great white shark (NOAA)

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Chondrichthyes (rays and sharks)
Order: Lamniformes (mackerel sharks) 

Range: Coastal ocean areas of Asia, Australia, Oceana, North and South America, Africa, and Europe

(NOAA)

Habitat: Marine
Lifespan: 30 to 40 years
Diet: Fish, seals, sea lions, sea birds, squid, sea turtles, dolphins, whale carcasses, rays
Predators: Humans, killer whales, other sharks
Conservation Status: IUCN consideres great whites to be vulnerable, protected in the US

(NOAA)

Other information: This massive apex predator can grow to lengths of 20 feet and weigh as much as 6600 pounds! It's mouth can open to over three feet wide, plenty of room for anything it wants to eat. And that mouth is packed with razor sharp teeth. Unlike humans, gifted with two sets of teeth, the great white can apparently grow an unlimited number, replacing teeth as needed. The shark's streamlined body is built for speed and power. Not much is known about their reproductive habits. Females give birth to live young, which eat unfertilized eggs and possibly even siblings in the womb. They are mostly solitary creatures, but sometimes congregate to feed, such as at a whale carcass. In situations like this, they form social hierarchies. In addition to a well-developed sense of smell, great whites can detect electrical fields. These highly developed sense allow them to detect prey by a single drop of blood in 100 liters of water, or by the beating of its heart. The great white's prefer hunting method is to strike from below. A powerful blow is enough to stun the prey, avoiding a chase or a struggle. Across the board, fish populations are declining at an alarming rate and the great white is no exception. Sport fishing, commercial fishing bycatch, and finning take a toll, and as a large species reproductive rates are generally low. As an apex predator, populations are already low to begin with. Sadly, despite its deadly reputation the great white shark has more to fear from us than we from it.
This month's information comes from the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web.
nm1 https://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?ParentMenuId=123&id=21434
nm2 https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/marine-migration-great-white-shark-3d/
nm3 https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/18whitesharkcafe/welcome.html

Species of the Month

Wherever you live, fishing season is in full swing. This month we'll profile one of the most common game fishes, the rainbow trout. They can be found in lakes and streams almost everywhere around the world, though introduced to many of them.

Rainbow trout (State Department)

Scientific name: Oncorhynchus mykiss

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Salmoniformes 

Range: Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico

Habitat: Aquatic, some also have a marine phase

Lifespan: 6-8 years average, up to 11 years
Diet: Insects, insect larvae, crustaceans, small fish, algae
Predators: Lampreys, eagles, osprey, herons, mergansers, bears, mink, river otters, seals, sea lions, other fish, humans

Fish on! (NPS)

Conservation Status: No special protection for freshwater only fish; nine populations of steelhead are listed as threatened or endangered

Steelhead (NOAA Fisheries)

Other information: Rainbow trout get their name from a colorful iridescent streak along the sides of its body. State fish and game agencies around the country raise them to stock streams and lakes for fishing season. Stocked trout remain in freshwater; some native trout along the west coast are anadromous (have a saltwater phase) and return to their birthplace to spawn and die. The anadromous trout are called steelhead. Females lay eggs in a gravel nest called a redd. Fertilized eggs hatch after a few weeks, and the hatchling remains attached to the yolk sack as a food source before leaving the redd for the wider world. Young trout tend to stick to slower, shallow water. Young steelhead remain in the stream for up to three years before heading out to sea. Due to habitat degradation and loss, several western steelhead species are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, introduced trout are becoming a problem in some areas. They eat and/or outcompete native fishes such as cutthroat and brook trout. They threaten genetic integrity by hybridizing with native species. They also carry a parasite responsible for whirling disease, which causes deformities that make a fish easier prey.

Steelhead (NOAA Fisheries)

This week's information comes from University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web and the US State Department, of all places.

Winter Adaptations

As I deal with a pair of winter storms over the course of writing this blog, I am sitting cozy and warm inside my house. How do animals, who don’t live in houses with central heating or furnaces make it through the winter? Some migrate to warmer areas, but those that stay behind have special adaptations that help them cope with the cold and snowy weather.

Many animals go into mega energy conservation mode during the winter because not only do they lack heating systems for their homes, they also lack supermarkets that carry a reliable food source. For herbivores, their plant-based food supply is either dormant (and not producing the nutritious shoots they crave), or buried under snow and ice. Whether warm-blooded or cold-blooded, both need to keep warm to survive. Cold-blooded critters rely on the sun’s radiant heat to stay warm, and this is a challenge when it’s cold outside and the sun isn’t reliable. Warm-blooded critters metabolize food to stay warm- they eat much more than cold-blooded ones. One option to keep up metabolism is to spend energy to search for scarce food. But there are other ways to get by.

Hibernation is probably the first coping mechanism you think of, and it’s quite common in the mammal world. Bears do it, bats do it. What is it, compared to normal sleep? When you go to sleep your body slows down. Breathing and heart rate go down and metabolism slows, and your body temperature cools a bit. Hibernation is an extreme version of this. But to be asleep for weeks or months on end requires quite a bit of sustaining energy, even if bodily functions slow to the point of nearly stopping. That’s why bears go on a feed frenzy each fall, gorging themselves on spawning salmon or high-energy moths if they live in the right place.

NPS graphic of a hibernating bear

For those that don’t hibernate, finding food is a priority. Arctic foxes and snowshoe hares both grow a white coat for snow camouflage. The fox uses its camo to hunt; the hare uses its to avoid being eaten. The bison uses its large head as a snowplow to uncover buried vegetation. Ever wonder what that large hump at its shoulder is? Extra muscles to support all that head.

Snowshoe hare (Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks)

Bison plowing for food (NPS)

Preserving body heat is a great way to maximize caloric efficiency. The thick fur coat of a muskox traps body heat. Blubber insulates whales, seals, and walruses. Polar bears have black skin that absorbs heat, and their fur traps heat, including body heat that they radiate.

Walruses (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Ease of mobility is also an efficiency adaptation. Lynxes and caribou both have large feet that act as snowshoes, making it easier to get around so they burn fewer calories doing so.

Check out the foot on that lynx! (Natural Resources Research Institute)

These are just a few of the many adaptations that make survival possible for warm-blooded mammals. There are others, and there are also adaptations for cold-blooded animals (like a frog with antifreeze in its blood) and plants too! Enjoy your heater for the rest of the winter! 

Coca-Cola's Fuzzy Ecology

Remember a few years back when Coke started running their polar bear commercials around Christmas? Not long after that, they added penguins to the mix. I don’t know about the general population, but apparently the marketing people at Coke don’t know much about polar ecology.

Geographically and ecologically incorrect soft drink

Aside from wild animals drinking carbonated beverages, the biggest mistake in the commercial is mixing animals that are literally polar opposites. Polar bears live at the North Pole and penguins live at the South Pole. You could theoretically have them share a Coke, but one or the other would have to travel quite a distance for that to happen. Not all penguins live at the South Pole, but none live at the North Pole. The southernmost polar bear range doesn't even come close to the northernmost penguin's range.

Polar bear in search of seals and Coke
(US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Penguins, seen here being photobombed by a seal.
The seal is hiding from polar bears. (USF&WS)

Polar bears are carnivores that prey mainly on seals, which glide through the water in much the same manner as penguins. I have a feeling that if they shared overlapping range, rather than drinking Coke and playing together, polar bears would have another option for their holiday feasts. Hungry polar bears have been known to chomp on the occasional puffin, which looks like the flying penguin of the north, so it's not too much of a stretch.

Species of the Month

September’s Species of the Month is our first fish to be featured. Pink salmon are returning to their birth rivers along the Pacific coast. They are the smallest and most abundant of the five Pacific salmon species found in North America. When you buy canned salmon, it is most likely pink. Besides feeding us, they also support entire ecosystems.

Scientific name: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Teleostei (ray-finned fishes)

Order: Salmoniformes (salmons)

Range: Northern Pacific Ocean from East Asia to California and upstream

Habitat: Rivers and ocean

Lifespan: Two years typically, some may live three years

Diet: Insects and plankton (juvenile) and fish (adult)  

Predators: Bears, killer whales, osprey, eagles, sea lions, seals

Conservation Status: No special conservation status

Other Information: Pink salmon is an anadromous fish, meaning it is born in freshwater then moves to a saltwater phase before returning to the stream it hatched in to spawn. These fish typically spawn close to saltwater, sometimes even in the saltwater. After hatching, the salmon fry immediately swim downstream to the ocean. Pinks are also known as humpies, named for the large hump spawning males grow on their backs. The two-year life cycle of the pinks is the only completely predictable salmon life cycle. Other species may spend 2-5 years at sea, depending on the species and the individual. Pinks, like other salmon, are an important food source for bears fattening up for winter. They are also incredible swimmers, amazingly agile in just a few inches of water. I walked in the river with them and despite their fins being above the surface and my longer stride, I was unable to keep pace with them. Due to low river levels followed by flooding that affected the 2015 spawners, the 2017 pink salmon run is forecasted to be a fraction of the previous run.

Info this week is from USGS  and Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Spawning female pink salmon, Mashel River 2015

Spawning male pink salmon, Mashel River 2015

Sea Lions and Whales

Summer weather is hear for most of us (off and on here in the Northwest- off as I write this) so let’s take another trip to the beach in search of marine mammals. Actually, this a recap of a trip to the beach I took in December 2014. I went to Florence, Oregon to check out the local pinnipeds and cetaceans. What are those you ask?

Cetaceans are whales and pinnipeds are critters such as seals and walruses. Pinniped means fin footed, and the feet of these critters are modified into swimming flippers. Maybe you’re wondering why I went to the beach in December. I actually stopped by the Sea Lion Cave in August, but the sea lions weren’t home. Sea Lion Cave is the largest sea cave in the world, home to a Stellar sea lion rookery. During the summer the sea lions are out to sea, and I got so see some swimming at a distance. Because they weren’t home, I got a rain check to return any time within a year and chose December because they would be roosting and migrating gray whales would be passing by.

For those of you outside of the Northwest, this was a big gamble, picking out a weekend to get a hotel months in advance. The weather is notoriously wet in this corner of the world, especially during the winter months. On the coast, winds can reach hurricane force during a good storm. And I was betting that I’d have good enough visibility to see a whale out there somewhere.

I was either lucky or a genius. Saturday’s drive to Oregon and Sunday at the cave were great for driving and whale watching. Inside the cave smelled of sea lion, but the fresh sea breeze kept the smell from becoming overwhelming. It’s a noisy place, alive with the sounds of crashing waves and the grunts and groans of half-ton beasts. No flash photography, and humans are in a cage to keep us and the sea lions safe from each other.

 

Lion's den, devoid of sea lions (summer 2014)

Incoming wave at the sea-facing opening of the lion's den (summer 2014)

 Outside, squadrons of gulls and guillemots patrolled the skies above. Heceta Head Lighthouse kept watch to the north, southward were the city of Florence and the towering Oregon Dunes. The back side of the Sea Lion Cave gift shop (at the top of the elevator down to the “lion’s den”) is a picnic area and observation deck on a bluff over a hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean. All around were sea bird rookeries. It’s a huge area to scan, hoping to see a whale drift by. What are the odds that one would surface right where I was looking? I didn’t see any whales that day but I did see the spouts of a few. This was exciting for me, since I’d never seen a whale before, other than Shamu and friends in Orlando.

Pigeon guillemot (from Audubon Society)

Gray whale (from NOAA)

Stellar sea lion (from NOAA)

Rain and fog settled in north of Salem as I headed back home after a successful day of new wildlife encounters. Since then I’ve encountered harbor seals just offshore from Tacoma and I would love to do a whale watching cruise in the San Juan Islands. What do you watch for when you hit the beach?

Ocean-going sea lions (summer 2014)

Shore bird rookery #1

Rookery #2

Whale jaw bone at Umpqua Lighthouse in Oregon

Sea lion (NOAA) http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100806_sealion.html

Gray whale (NOAA) http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/gray-whale.html

Pigeon guillemot (Audubon) http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/pigeon-guillemot

The Urban Wilderness

A few weeks ago, I mentioned some of the animals of the urban wilderness, those that have adapted extremely well to life with humans. This week I’ll share some wild urban spaces, little patches of actual jungle in the urban jungle. Note: the actual jungle I refer to isn’t really a jungle.

The Seattle area where I live is home to quite a few wild spots in not so wild areas. I’ll run through some of the ones I have been to. 

Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park is one of the largest city parks in Washington. It has Puget Sound shoreline, which is hope to marine life such as harbor seals and giant Pacific octopi. It also has some old growth forest, home to black-tailed deer and eagles. Other attractions include the zoo and Fort Nisqually. 

Not-so-giant giant sequoia at Point Defiance

The recently renamed Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge preserves the delta of the Nisqually River. Located between Olympia and Tacoma, it is bordered by Interstate 5. With freshwater and saltwater marshes it is an important stop on the Pacific Flyway and its estuarine waters nurture salmon smolts adjusting to seawater. 

Taking flight at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

The US Army Corps of Engineers’ Hiram Chittenden Locks provides a channel for boats to travel between Lake Washington and Puget Sound. On the west side of the locks is a rookery of great blue herons, the only place I’ve ever seen one. Harbor seals frequent the locks, hoping to snag a migrating salmon. Salmon are visible at the lock’s fish ladder. 

Great blue heron rookery

Sockeye salmon at the fish ladder

I grew up near Philadelphia, and there are some urban wilderness areas there also. John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is right alongside Interstate 95, just south of the airport. It is one of the last remaining tidal marshes on the Delaware River and an important bird habitat. 

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

Valley Forge National Historical Park is best known as the location of George Washington’s winter camp during the American Revolution. Now completely surrounded by suburban development, it is a haven for white-tailed deer. I’ve also seen turkey vultures and heard turkeys there. 

Colonial Springs, deep in the woods (right off the highway) at Valley Forge

New York, the largest city in the country, even has some wild spaces. Central Park is home to more than just pigeons. I’ve seen a woodpecker and squirrels there. Migrating birds on the Atlantic Flyway probably stop there from time to time. The Oakwood Beach neighborhood of Staten Island is no longer a neighborhood; home have been bought out following Hurricane Sandy. The area is already reverting to nature. Across New York Harbor, New Jersey’s Sandy Hook boasts a rare intact holly forest, as well as coastal dunes. Imagine my delight watching crabs skittering through the woods. 

A woodpecker grows in Manhattan

Holly forest at Sandy Hook (Middletown, NJ Patch photo)

One last place worth mentioning is Springbrook Nature Center in Minneapolis. I’ve never been there but a friend is there frequently. It is home to many species of birds, plus the usual deer and even foxes. With any luck I will get there some day. 

Springbrook Nature Center (photo by Mark Layeux)

What are some surprisingly wild places near you?

US Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/John_Heinz/visit/plan_your_visit.html

Middletown, NJ Patch: https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/holly-forest-walk-at-sandy-hook

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

We all know there are a lot of animals out there. You see them all the time. When I’m roaming the woods, I don’t always see critters. But with a little bit of training, you can tell who was there before your arrival. Here in Washington, it rains a lot. That means mud, which fortunately reveals what critters came and left tracks. Animals even help themselves to our trails, making it easier to follow their travels. On one expedition to the Ohop Valley, I found an animal superhighway. The highlight was a coyote track inside an elk track on top of a mole hill.

Deer track in sand near Mashel River

Scats are another obvious animal sign. When nature calls, animals answer right on the trail as they walk. Scat can tell us who walked before us and what they ate. Owl pellets are the indigestible remains that come up the other way and are just as revealing.

Coyote scat showing the remains of a bird

Otter scat

Great horned owl pellet

Other signs are more subtle. Trees might contain fur that got snagged as animal walked by and brushed against it. Or the bark could be scraped off by a deer, elk, or bear. Lower branches might display gnaw marks from a busy beaver. Easily overlooked is a squirrel midden, the pile of husks left over from a sciurid feast.

An elk rubbed its antlers on this tree

A bear scraped the bark off this tree

A beaver almost chopped down this tree

Squirrel midden, husks from a demolished fir cone

Carcasses are the next best thing to seeing a live animal, even though I rarely encounter them. The good work done by the decomposers happens quickly, except in cases of roadkill where it is too dangerous to be rapidly effective. Also, animals typically run off to seclusion to die and are not likely to be found close to a trail. In my years of wandering the wilds, I’ve come across a rabbit, an opossum, bits of a deer (likely killed by a coyote), a mole, a pile of feathers belonging to an owl or hawk (possibly done in by a bobcat) and a seal. So when someone suggests the lack of a body as evidence against the existence of Bigfoot, ask when the last time they found a dead anything in the woods. 

Deer fur left over from a kill by a coyote

Harbor seal carcass at Kalaloch Beach, Olympic National Park

Feathers from a hawk or owl, I suspect killed by a bobcat

What signs have you seen lately?