We were lucky to be joined by research volunteer, Stewart Macintyre! He has been taking pictures seasonally with the Center for Whale Research for almost 30 years. It was great to have an experienced photographer on board with us to contribute to our conservation research photo catalog! We use photos to identify individuals present during our fecal sample collection. We can comapre results from DNA analysis against photos to validate our analysis results. Photos also allow us to identify skin abnormalities as part of our health assesment work. We departed Snug Harbor around 2:30 PM to align with the timing of the slack tide. We caught J pod individuals coming around East Point and trailed them towards Turn Point on Stewart Island. The water conditions were great in the beginning but soon turned fairly choppy as well. We returned to Snug Harbor around 5:45 PM.
Research Vessel
R/V Cheena
Species
Southern Resident Killer Whales
Pods
J Pod
Research Activities
Fecal Collection, Behavior Data
This work is made possible in part by a grant from
