Good News and Bad News

Let's start with the bad news.

Bad news #1: The tag of 7718 never turned on. I'm sure he is off swimming, feeding, and doing all sorts of interesting things that I'll never know about because his tag didn't work.

Bad news #2: The tag of male 9930/ 9839 (same individual, two different IDs) has stopped transmitting.  His last location was uploaded on March 20, 2015.

Track of 9930/9839.  His last tag transmission was 03/20/2015.
The red dot is from his last known location.

Best case scenario: The antenna stopped working so it can't transmit information through the ARGOS satellite network.  But, maybe his tag is still recording so that when he comes back, we'll still be able to get data from his tag!  Fingers crossed, guys.

Okay scenario: His tag stopped working altogether, but he's still doing just fine out at sea and will come back to Ano Nuevo during the male annual molt (June-August).  We just won't have data for his trip.

Worst case scenario(s): A predator got him. Let's hope that didn't happen. Males tend to hang out in areas with more predators (white sharks, killer whales), so it's always a possibility.

Now, the good news!

Male 7717 is still transmitting and still being weird!  He continues to hang out right off the California coast, which is not typical male behavior.  All of our previously tagged adult males headed straight up the coast toward Canada/Alaska/the Aleutian Islands. At least the one guy whose tag is working is doing something very cool!

Track of 7717.  He's been continuing to hang out around
the Monterey Bay!

And, because I can, here's some pictures of an awesome 7717.

Male 7717 swimming offshore. Photo by Stephen Trumble. NMFS permit #14636.

Male 7717 sleeping on the beach at Ano Nuevo State Park. Photo by Stephen Trumble. NMFS permit #14636.

Another One's Left the Beach!

And, we have take-off!  9930 (or 9839) has finally left the beach and headed out to sea for his post-breeding trip.

ARGOS satellite track of male northern elephant seal 9930

His satellite tag connects through the ARGOS satellite network, so we positional information about where he is while he is at sea. As you can see in the map, he took off from Ano Nuevo State Park (which is near Pescadero, California).  He immediately headed north along the Californian coast up past San Francisco, and then, most recently, he made a sharp left turn so that he is now heading west into the North Pacific Ocean.

Male northern elephant seal 9930/ 9839 at sea.
Photo by Stephen Trumble. NMFS permit #14636.

Male Sandbeasts, A Poem

This is not really a science related post, but it does have to do with male elephant seals so it qualifies! As the writer of said blog, I get to make the rules. 

The other day I wrote a ridiculous poem to my goofy, awesome friend, Mel, who also happens to be my lab mate. 

My poem:

An Ode to Mel

Mel is a girl

She works on birds

And writes a lot

Her friend

Sarah

Wishes she would come to the lab more

Instead of stupid writing

Then they could play

And sing Frozen

Or play in poison oak

Or pet Tuk

The end.

She wrote a poem for me about male elephant seals (or sandbeasts) in response. It was shockingly good, and it needs to be shared (with her permission of course). 

Her poem

A haiku storyline for my dear friend Sarah:

Friday morning.

The young sun's rays flood across the planar horizon

Early deployments

She finds a sandbeast

To tag or not to tag?

The omnipresent question

Sleepy slumbering snout

A bottomless eye opens

Consider me

Consider me, he says

An old defeated man. Battle scarred.

From squid and love

Each exhale an 'Atom Dance'

Release particles of experience and wisdom

He sighs

The morning clock ticks louder

than that in the afternoon

She hesitates

Emerging scientist! The quest for knowledge

A fire inside. She looks at him.

Data point

Take a step. Closer.

One large, sleeping sandbeast, in a good location

Data point.

Tell me your story, old man.

I want to know. The world will learn.

I want to publish. 

Your data point.

Take a step. Closer.

But now! She meets the eye.

On an exhaled sigh.

Oh. She says. 

I didn't know. I didn't know the age of you.

One step back.

You've seen it all.

My data point.

Let old men lie.

Let the sand absorb your story

Let the salty sea extract 

The broth of you.

She aches for his story

How far would he go

How deep would he dive

But from the eye and the sigh

She knows:

Let it go

Let it go

-Mel Conners, poet/ scientist extraordinaire 

I'm glad to have such talented friends. Also, I will never challenge Mel to a poem writing contest. I will lose.

Exciting News!

One of my satellite tagged males, 7717, has left the beach at Ano Nuevo State Park and gone to sea!

NMFS permit #14636. 7717 hanging out in the water at Ano Nuevo State Park.

Interestingly, instead of going straight out to the open ocean or up the coast (like adult females typically do), he seems to be hanging out in the Monterey Bay. 

Satellite transmissions from 7717's tag on a map of the California coast.

I can't tell you how happy I am that his tag is properly transmitting (meaning it survived the rebatterying process)!

And So My Thesis Begins!

NMFS permit #14636. Adult male northern elephant at Ano Nuevo State Park.

One of my dissertation projects started this weekend! We (a team of researchers from UC Santa Cruz, Sonoma State University, and Moss Landing Marine Labs) deployed satellite tags on three male northern elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park. I will be using the information that I collect from these tags along with the morphometric data and biological samples to investigate the foraging behaviors and habitat use of northern elephant seals.

The three adult males we are tracking are:

9930 (otherwise known as 9839)

NMFS permit #14636. Photo by Daniel Costa.

7717

NMFS permit #14636. Photo by Sarah Kienle.

7718

NMFS permit #14636. Photo by Sarah Kienle.

Now, we just need to hope that they all survive their months long journey at sea, that the tags work, and that they come back to Ano Nuevo during the molt!