Big Miracle: A Whale of a Story from Operation Breakthrough

Tomorrow, Big Miracle will open in box offices across the nation, telling the story of the 1988 rescue of three gray whales trapped in the ice near Barrow, Alaska.  Dr. Jim Harvey, MLML Director and professor (and MLML alumnus), played a significant role in the operation.  Harvey, who frequently tells the story of the rescue to his grad students and now has proof of his whale-tale, sat down with us and agreed to paint the picture one more time, and fill in some of the lesser-known details.

Rescue team members Mark Fraker (left, oil company), NOAA’s Dave Withrow (center) and Jim Harvey (right, seated). (photo: Dave Withrow, NMML, NOAA)

Jim, you didn’t join the faculty at MLML until 1989, a year after the rescue operation took place?  What were you doing at the time, and how did you get involved?

That’s correct; I was doing a two-year postdoc position at the National Marine Mammal Lab (NMML) in Seattle, Washington when the story was picked up in the national media.  I had done a lot of work tagging gray whales in Baja, California with my advisor Bruce Mate while getting my doctorate at Oregon State University, and NMML recognized that I had experience with gray whales.  My status as postdoc also meant my time was more flexible than some of the other biologists.

The scientific community originally didn’t want to interfere with the whales; generally, we try to step back and let nature work its course.  However, with the whales in the national spotlight there was a lot of pressure to get involved, and since NMML had done work for years near Barrow, we were eventually asked to send biologists to help.  I, along with Dave Withrow, was asked to go, with plans to tag the whales.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

Do you know why the whales were there in the first place, and how they were discovered?

These three young whales were younger and inexperienced, and the truth was, they should have begun migrating south some time earlier when the other gray whales did.  They were trapped near Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the US, where a big ice flow had traveled down and grounded itself, effectively blocking their path south.

The whales were found by an Eskimo on a snowmobile who was coming back from a day of hunting.  The Eskimo mentioned the whales to scientist Craig George.  In Alaska, the native communities hire biologists to help monitor the wildlife they harvest, conduct studies, and manage the permitting, and Craig was one of these scientists.  He was interested in recording some acoustic signals from the whales, but didn’t have any equipment to do so.  Craig went to a friend at one of the local TV station to see if he could borrow recording equipment, and the friend obliged, and others at the station asked if they could film upon hearing the story of the whales.  I don’t think Craig knew what they were planning to broadcast, but it turned out that they showed the footage on the news, and pretty soon it went viral.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

What was it like when you arrived?

When Dave and I made it to Barrow, the town was swamped with media, scientists, environmentalists, government officials, and everyone else you could think of.  There actually wasn’t even a place for Dave and I to stay.   We were flown by helicopter out onto the ice where the whales were located, and given a chance to assess their condition.  Unfortunately, one of the whales had recently disappeared, and was presumed to have died since there was no way for it to find another place to breathe.  Possibly, loud noises had likely scared it and caused it to flee from the hole.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

The good news was, however, that the Eskimos had become very efficient at cutting through the ice.  There aren’t exactly a lot of trees around Barrow, so the town didn’t have any chainsaws.  A generous company actually called the town and had some sent up to help with the effort.  By the time we arrived, they were able to make a ~15 by 25 foot hole in ten minutes.  They would cut the ice, and then use poles to push down one end.  On the other end, more poles were used to push the big chunk down and under the surrounding ice.  The only problem was, the whales were too scared to leave the safety of their own reliable hole, and they weren’t moving down the path they were cutting.

Since gray whales really aren’t very good at being in ice, Dave and I assumed they were probably extremely stressed and shaken.  We suggested that they cut the holes much closer to the whales, which thankfully worked.  The whales became so accustomed to moving from hole to hole, that eventually, a whale would pop up as soon as the newly-cut piece of ice was moved.   They actually started traveling back and forth down their line of holes, maybe enjoying a little more freedom.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

This must have taken quite a bit of time to cut so many holes toward the edge of the ice.  How long were you there, and where did you stay, since Barrow was packed?

Dave and I were on site for about two weeks, and we stayed for the rest of the rescue operation.  Our accommodations were actually sort of a funny story.  Because of the lack of lodging, we were housed at the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL).  Due to the Cold War, NARL had gained importance because of its proximity to Russia.  It was a pretty top-secret place, and here we were, a couple of scientists.  Well, NARL was quite a ways out of Barrow, so the only food available was from the commissary, served on a strict schedule.  Somehow, our schedules seemed to be the exact opposite, and we were constantly missing all meals.  As luck would have it, we discovered a Mexican restaurant in Barrow that had a limo that would come and pick you up.  Dave and I spent quite a few trips riding back and forth in a limo so we could actually eat.

You mentioned tension from the Cold War, but it was a Russian icebreaker that eventually helped the whales out of the ice.  How did that work out?

You’re right, there was a lot of tension from the Cold War, but the Russians did come to the rescue.  The reason that we needed an icebreaker was because an ice ridge was built up against the shore, and it was far too thick to cut through.  They actually considered blowing it up at one time, and took an ice expert from NOAA out to the ridge to take a look.  They dropped him off by helicopter, and planned to be back in five minutes.  On their way back, they found that he was being stalked by a polar bear, though he had no idea.  Thankfully, they were able to get him back into the helicopter before he became a meal.  In the end, they decided the icebreaker would be the best bet.

A Russian icebreaker was in the Beaufort Sea, and they were talked into helping, although there was concern because it would bring them so close to NARL and our coastline.  The Russian captain and a few other crew actually ended up visiting by helicopter, and took the chance to take pictures of the scene, and shared their traditions by handing out gifts to those of us there.  I can’t remember what I was given, but I remember I wasn’t able to give anything in return, because the only article I had was my jacket, and I never could have survived without it in the 10 to 20 degree below zero temperatures.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

So was the icebreaker able to reach the whales and lead them to open water?

Yes, the icebreaker was actually able to plow all the way through, up to the last hole that was carved by the research team.   The ship then backed out, and it created a channel that the whales were able to follow.  I wasn’t able to watch from the helicopters during this part of the rescue, but there was word that people had seen the whales in open water, and others reported seeing a pair of gray whales off of the California coast.  We never ended up tagging the whales because we didn’t want to further stress them out, so we couldn’t say for sure where they ended up.  But, I feel confident we gave them a good fighting chance.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

What do you think of a movie being made? 

I plan to go see the film, and I’m curious to see how the story is told.  I don’t think there’s any character in it that portrays the role I played.  But hopefully now, my students wont think I’m spinning a yarn when I tell them about my part in the rescue.

(photo: Jim Harvey)

How to Find a Dead Whale

by Nate Jones, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

STUNNING, isn’t it?

 

Humpback and Shearwaters, Unimak Pass. Photo: NMML

 

The magnificent power, the grace,  the vigor of truly giant life.  BUT, where do whales go when they die??

And, what about all those seals, sea lions, dolphins … heck, walruses, even?!

 

A Walrus carcass makes it into the 300m strip transect! Turns out even veteran at-sea researchers like USFWS Marty Reedy can still be surprised by new experiences. Photo: M. Reedy

What happens to them if they die at sea, as you might expect most of them would do?  To explore this question, we might think to ask a marine scientist (naturally!).  And, of course, there are scientists that are studying dead marine mammals (you aren’t surprised, are you?).  In fact, Moss Landing’s very own Gillian Rhett is focusing her MSc research on dead whales!  Turns out, studying the afterlife of marine mammals is every bit as intriguing as chasing them in the living flesh.  Scientists are  still learning about what happens to these animals after they die, and it’s a remarkable story.

 

Scientists and crew (Nate Jones, among them) encounter a dead Sperm Whale, seen from flying bridge of USFWS R/V Tiglax. Photo: N. Jones

Nate Jones first saw this whale at about 2 km distance; a mysterious, looming chunk of something, floating low in the water, unmistakably immobile in the snotty tumult that is a typical Bering Sea day.  Whatever this thing was, it was large.  And probably of animal origin; there were about half a dozen gulls swarming the area, looking for a free meal.  Sure enough, a Sperm Whale carcass.

You can see how tall tales are born on the high seas!  Some of them are true…

Harbor Seals in Alaska: To Flush Or Not to Flush Part 2

Colleen looks for seals in John Hopkins Inlet (photo: L. Carroll)

by Colleen Young, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

In my last post I told you about the findings of my thesis research on the effects of vessels on harbor seals (that cruise ships caused the most disturbance of all vessels), but then left you hanging about what the findings mean and why anyone should care.  So now that you’ve had a chance to think about it, what do you think?

Well, finding that cruise ships accounted for a greater incidence of flushing (when seals leave the ice and hit the water) was not what I expected, based on previous studies, which found that kayaks and canoes (non-motorized vessels) caused greater disturbance.  However, these previous studies were conducted at terrestrial haulout sites, where the water depth near the harbor seals is extremely shallow, making it easy for non-motorized vessels to get close to seals, and difficult for motorized vessels.

Harbor seal mom and pup resting on an iceberg in Johns Hopkins Inlet. (photo by C. Young)

In Johns Hopkins Inlet, however, seals haul out on floating icebergs in a deep fjord, so motorized vessels can get very close to seals, whereas kayaks stay more distant.  Therefore, the differences between reactions of seals to different vessel types may actually be a response to how close the vessels approach.  I tried teasing apart the effect of vessel distance on harbor seal behavior, but that proved less straightforward than I anticipated.  That’s because, like humans, harbor seals have individual personalities, meaning that they respond differently to approaching vessels, making their behaviors difficult to predict.

So harbor seals are disturbed by cruise ships and motorized vessels more than kayaks.  So what?  Well, harbor seals numbers in Johns Hopkins Inlet have been decreasing since 1992.  In contrast, cruise ship numbers in Glacier Bay National Park have increased, meaning the potential for disturbance is greater than ever before.  Harbor seals are top-level predators, so they exert great influence over marine ecosystems through the food chain.  Therefore, it is important to protect harbor seals, including reducing disturbance, in order to maintain a healthy ecosystem in Glacier Bay.

A sense of scale: a cruise ship approaches harbor seals (center). (photo: J. Womble, NPS)

I made some recommendations to the resource managers at Glacier Bay National Park about how they could reduce disturbance to harbor seals by cruise ships.  I recommended that they teach boaters about how to avoid disturbing harbor seals by keeping a good distance and not approaching seals head-on.  I also recommended that they limit the number of motorized vessels allowed to enter Johns Hopkins Inlet, and have disciplinary action for boaters who disturb seals.

I was able to voice my recommendations to the park superintendent and other important decision-making people at a special conference.  It felt really good to know that the people who have the authority to protect these harbor seals wanted to hear what I had to say and were interested in implementing many of my suggestions.  I hope to go back to Glacier Bay some day to see how the harbor seals are doing.

Fishing for seabirds II

How DO marine ornithologists catch the birds they study?  Sometimes, it’s just like catching fish!

Of course, first you’ve got to find the birds.  The oceans are HUGE expanses.  They can be difficult to navigate, and birds can fly literally hundreds of miles in a single day!  Luckily for biologists, the most predictable place to find seabirds is actually on land, on a breeding colony during their reproductive season.  So, how does a biologist catch a seabird while it’s on a colony?  Amazingly, many seabirds exhibit no instinctual fear of humans while on their breeding colonies, and if they nest on flat ground then researchers can simply walk right up and touch them!

Albatross census. Photo: USFWS

In many places where birds nest on cliffs they also exhibit little fear when humans lean over from the top, just a few feet above them.  This allows biologists to employ a modified “fishing” pole, with a slip-knot noose, to grab a bird (loosely!) by the neck, nudge it off its perch, and gently guide it through the air (as it flaps in a startled flurry!), back up to the cliff top where measurements, blood draws, and other work can be done.

M. Murphy, fising for kittiwakes! Photo: N. Jones

Photo: N. Jones

How can it be that these animals, which routinely fly thousands of miles in a year, would just sit there and allow themselves to be captured on their breeding grounds?  Wouldn’t this lack of caution put the breeding birds at great risk of predation?  Yes, but… many seabird colonies are located on relatively small and terribly remote islands, and in prehistoric times, as the birds evolved their breeding habits and reproductive strategies, there were NO land predators whatsoever!  This is because many of these remote islands emerged as the tops of ancient volcanoes, which oozed and spewed and built their way straight from the depths of the oceans, and so were never associated with any parent land mass.

 

USGS. http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/hotspots.html

Murre colony. Photo: USFWS http://alaska.fws.gov/mbsp/mbm/seabirds/projects.htm

As such they remained for eons in isolation, free of any land predators.  Seabirds find these types of islands particularly suitable for breeding.  Without many foreign disturbances, they are left to partition the breeding habitat amongst themselves to a maximal extent.  Often, this means some VERY dense nesting aggregations!

Fishing for sea birds

Everyone knows how you catch a fish:   With a net, or with a pole, right?

NOAA ship Oscar Dyson, Bering Sea, 2010 (photo: N. Jones)

But, how do marine scientists manage to catch sea birds?  Can’t they just “fly away”?

Black-footed Albatross, NE Pacific; (photo: Bert Ashley)

Of course, most species can do just that!  So, how to get your hands on these shy creatures?  Wouldn’t it be nice if the birds just gathered in groups, like so many fishes do?

Fish aggregations recorded by echosounder

Wait …

Seabirds DO gather in groups – to nest at their breeding colonies,

Seabird colony on Buldir Island, Aleutians (photo: N. Jones)

… and sometimes at sea in large, drifting “rafts”!

Auklets (-Least, -Crested, -Parakeet), Buldir Island, Aleutians (photo: N. Jones)

…So, how to catch seabirds … hmmmm?

author Nate Jones, with a feathered friend

Icy Spring Time

Author: Nate Jones

It’s early June, and there’s still ice in the Bering Sea!  This year the seasonal ice cover has persisted late into the “spring” time.  Much later than in recent years.  In fact, it hasn’t felt much like springtime here on the water; it’s snowed (or, is it frozen fog?) on many days, and the mercury in the thermometer outside pools listlessly at about the 32F mark, even at high noon.  To be sure, the ice is melting, breaking up into pancakes, jumbled, layered, and amalgamated by spring storm waves and wind… but, sloowwly, slowly…  the water is still cold; as cold as the ice itself.  A reluctant catalyst, at best.

(ice) pancakes, anyone? It's June 2nd...

We are surveying on the R/V Thomas Thompson, a University of Washington UNOLS ship.  This is an ice-reinforced vessel, so we can push (carefully!) through this kind of cold slurry in search of oceanographic data.  The scientists on this cruise are primarily interested in measuring the physics and chemistry of the spring ice retreat, and the rich plankton communities that tend to bloom and grow during this transition time.  Like the first spring buds and shoots of green in a garden, the explosion of microscopic marine algae, diatoms, and copepods forms the base of a food web that will sustain all the fish we eat, and the seabirds, seals, and sea lions that also depend on them.  So, this is a very important time of year in the Bering Sea!

Sea Ice

Bering Sea surveys resume

Nate Jones

by Nate Jones, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

The seasonal ice is breaking up, and it’s time once again for oceanographers to motor out into the Bering Sea to check the vital signs of the rich sub-arctic.  This summer Brian Hoover and I (from Dr. Harvey’s Vertebrate Ecology Lab ) will spend many weeks observing seabirds and marine mammals while on scientific research vessels that ply the waters of the Bering, Chukchi, and Arctic.  We are participating in a large, coordinated research effort led by scientists from across the country and funded through the North Pacific Research Board’s BEST-BSIERP science plan.

Humpbacks and shearwaters feeding on the north side of an Aleutian pass (photo: NMML)

This plan applies research to every aspect of the marine environment – from the flow of currents and micro-nutrients, through the growth and transport of plankton, and on across an interconnected food web to include fish, seabirds, seals, walrus, whales, and even humans and our species’ relationship to the oceans.

Brian and I focus on marine birds and mammals for our studies.  While on these ships we will be counting and describing the animals we encounter, entering information as we observe the activity from the wheelhouse, high above the water.  This is a good location from which to appreciate the dynamism of these productive regions.  In the following four months we will be posting more pictures and stories about our studies, brining you along with us as we push through ice, buck storm swells, and glide through the glassy bliss of calm seas between.  Can’t wait!

A view from on high

Photo of the Week: Here’s Looking at – Who?

(photo by L. Whitman, submitted by and B. Hoover and N. Jones)

Counting birds is harder than its sounds when your place of observation is the ocean, not a bird feeder.  This week’s photo features Brian Hoover of the Vertebrate Ecology Lab up in Alaska looking for a clue – to what drives seabird distribution, that is.  Brian and Nate Jones, a Drop-In regular, spent several weeks on the Bering Sea this summer recording where and when they spotted seabirds, as well as gathering data on bird prey and oceanography patterns.

If you have a good caption for this illustrious researcher hard at work, submit it as a comment. We’ll post our favorite!

Just what kinds of birds might Brian be counting? Check out Nate’s previous posts on the Bering Sea to find out!

Safety at Sea

Author: Nate Jones

by Nate Jones, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

(still in the Bering Sea)   … Of course the bad weather I’ve been writing about was nothing compared to what happens on the Bering during the months of February or March, and the Gold Rush fishes regularly during that time of year, so I had complete faith in the seaworthiness of the ship and the judgment and skill of the crew.  I took comfort in that thought, and stumbled down to my bunk for what became a grueling 72 hours of bumps, rolls, and queasy stomachs.  During this stormy time the crew exchanged watches at the helm, keeping the ship pointed into the fury.

Bumpy Bering Sea

We all hoped for the best, but by the time the seas had calmed to (a more manageable?) 8-10’, the hungry ocean had damaged and ripped off much of our scientific equipment, snapping several ¼” steel bolts and ripping welds clean apart!

The Gold Rush itself weathered this storm in fine shape (wish we could say the same of our scientific equipment!), and there were no major injuries to anyone on board.  It really was quite a minor event in the context of the Bering Sea; just another blowy, bumpy day or two out on the water.

Another day at "the office" for a marine scientist

But, it impressed me and I couldn’t help contemplating darker scenarios – what happens when there is a true emergency?  What if someone had been swept overboard, or, worse yet, what if the ship itself had been damaged or taken on water and started to go down?  Such things do happen, although not as frequently now as they have in the past (coast guard regulations and improvements in technology and crew training have contributed to much increased safety).

In my next post I’ll put up some images from training exercises that are routinely undertaken to help prepare crew and passengers (scientists) for emergencies at sea…

Neal takes a dip in the Bering Sea

Into the storm

Photo: K. Benoit-Bird

…Our research cruise on the Gold Rush got off to a bumpy start.  We were delayed in leaving Dutch Harbor after working to attach the acoustic equipment, rig up our nets, and wire our electronic devices into the ship’s circuitry.  All this had to be done before hitting the seas to gather any data, but it was tough to know that the clock was ticking.

So, we were impatient when we heard that the ocean would be rough, and we decided to motor out anyway and get going on our course.  As it turned out, we probably should have stayed in port, gone for beers and a hotel room, and waited for the water to calm down; We did not collect much usable data during that first 72 hours anyway!

A good sign of our impending experience was the ship’s barometer.  Keep in mind that anything under 29.92 is considered, on average, a “low” pressure event, and is likely associated with stormy weather…

Photo: C. Waluk

The waves and wind slammed us as soon as we rounded the last point of land and pushed into the open Bering Sea waters.  The ship pitched and plunged, leaving us weightless, even as we braced and grabbed with our hands.  Everything that was not bolted or strapped down began to slip, slide, and slam every which way.  The Gold Rush turned into the storm, facing torrents of spray and heaving mountains of slate gray water.

Photo: N. Jones

Up and up we would rise, pushing through choppy, liquid cornice crests, only to plunge steeply into dark troughs.

The height of the ship's rail is approx. 15' above waterline...

Even the captain, Bert Ashely, who has 30 years’ fishing experience in the Bering Sea, marveled at how unseasonably rough these waters were:  seas of perhaps 12-18’, and winds a sustained 40+ knots.

Photo: N. Jones

Photo: N. Jones

Blog entry: Nate Jones

And yet, it was the middle of summer…

This was how I spent my July 17^th and 18^th.