On behalf of the research team working in southern California on marine mammal behavioral response studies (SOCAL BRS), I write to respond to the anonymous posting from "Stranded No More" on 14 March.  We have taken our responsibilities for an open and transparent process in planning, conducting, and reporting on this project very seriously.  We encourage constructive dialog and appreciate any questions about the conduct of this work.  We also take very seriously our responsibilities to minimize any potential for adverse impacts on focal animals or those incidentally exposed in controlled sound exposure experiments.  As is described in summary documents and presentations about the project <see: www.sea-inc.net/SOCAL10>, explicit protocols for starting, conducting, and terminating sound transmissions were developed and followed.  

A stranding response plan was developed to ensure our coordination and communication with local stranding organizations.  These groups, organized within a regional stranding network, have the expertise and authority to respond to marine mammal stranding events.   In the event of any stranding within a plausible range of impact from our activities, our protocols required coordination with the stranding network, and to provide any assistance in response if requested and possible.  These protocols further required us to cease any sound-producing experiments and discuss with the Southwest Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) whether the event had any plausible relation to our activities before resuming.  No such events occurred during the late-August and September 2010 timeframe of the SOCAL-10 project, although we were made aware of and assisted in the recovery of a dead floating Cuvier's beaked whale during the scouting leg, prior to the experimental sound-producing phases of the project.  None of the strandings included in the 14 March MARMAM posting were included in the project report because we have no reason to suspect they have any relation to SOCAL-10 operations.  

We obviously took this posting very seriously and investigated each of the incidents mentioned to determine whether it was plausible any were related to our 2010 activities.  However, the numbers of strandings reported in the “Stranded No More” posting do not agree at all with those provided to us by the NMFS Southwest Regional Office which compiles stranding records for California.  Unlike the posting, these data do not suggest any elevated stranding rate during or immediately following the SOCAL-10 BRS project. There are a number of inconsistencies based on the information we obtained, which are described below:

1) "In 2009 only 3 large whales stranded in California during the whole year."  This is incorrect; 20 large whales were reported stranded in 2009 in California – cause of death was determined in seven cases, six of which were vessel-strikes.

2) "Sept 2010 Fin whale, Ocean Beach."  A fin whale was reported stranded in Ocean Beach (in San Francisco) on 20 September 2010; cause of death was determined to be a vessel strike.  Another fin whale was reported stranded on 16 September in Oakland Harbor; cause of death was uncertain.  Neither Ocean Beach nor Oakland Harbor is in southern California; these sites are several hundred miles from any SOCAL-10 operations.

3) "Sept 2010 - Humpback whale calf, Pacifica."  The date here is in error by three years. A humpback stranding event was reported in Pacifica on 30 September 2007 as a suspected but not confirmed killer whale predation event.

4) "Sept 2010 - 3 Blue whales, Santa Barbara Channel, Long Beach Harbor."  The date here is in error by three years.  A blue whale stranded in Long Beach Harbor on 8 September 2007 and was confirmed as a vessel strike.  Three additional blue whales stranded in Ventura and San Miguel Island later in the fall of 2007, each of which was confirmed as a vessel-strike.

5) "Sept 2010 - pilot whale, Humboldt County".  Humboldt County is in northern California and the date is in error by three years regarding this event - a short-finned pilot whale stranded in Humboldt on 23 September 2007 and was determined to be injury-related. 

6) "October 2010 - 2 blue whales (female+fetus), Bean Hollow State Park in San Mateo County".  San Mateo County is not in southern California (several hundred miles away), but timeframe and location are accurate.  On 2 October 2010 a female blue whale stranded (confirmed cause of death was vessel collision) and was determined to have been pregnant.

In addition to misrepresenting the 2009 stranding record and having inaccurate dates and conclusions about the locations of southern California strandings, "Stranded No More" did not identify the one large whale stranding that actually did happen in southern California during the SOCAL-10 project.  A blue whale stranded on San Miguel Island on August 25, 2010, which was two days after the start of SOCAL-10. We were made aware of this incident, but had no reason to believe that our operations, over 100 miles away, played any role in it; cause of death was later determined to be vessel collision.

Ship strikes have been a growing source of concern off the U.S. West Coast with at least 4 blue whales struck in fall 2007 in the S California Bight.  In 2010 there were numerous ship strikes off central/northern California near San Francisco Bay (some described above) where a large feeding concentration of whales occurred in some of the shipping lanes leading into the bay. The “Stranded No More” post implies there has been a dramatic increase overall in whale strandings in 2010.  While their numbers are inaccurate, it is true there were a high number of large whale strandings in 2010 (at least 24 according to NMFS records).  However, 18 of these occurred prior to the start of the SOCAL-10 project, many of which were documented as ship strikes.  During our 2010 field season, we observed and documented a large number of close interactions between blue whales and vessels of all sizes, including large ships (see our 23 August blog post from the field: http://sea.typepad.com/sea-blog/2010/08/close-call-for-southern-california-blue-whale-documented.html).

We emphasize our commitment to obtaining behavioral response data in a responsible and ethical manner, minimizing the potential for harm in conducting these studies.  We also reiterate our openness to questions, discussion, or critiques of any aspect of our research effort.  An important part of constructive dialog, however, is the accurate and fair representation of information (including one’s identity), particularly when implying or assigning blame for marine mammal strandings as "Stranded No More" did in their 14 March MARMAM posting.  We maintain, based on the available information, that the assertion of a connection between strandings and SOCAL-10 activities are entirely unfounded.  

Brandon Southall (SOCAL BRS chief scientist), on behalf of our research team 

8 cetaceans including endangered blue whales stranded in California during or shortly after SOCAL-10. We would like to know why this information is not given in the final report. In 2009 only 3 large whales stranded in California during the whole year.

September 2010

- Fin whale, Ocean Beach

- Humpback whale calf, Pacifica

- 3 Blue whales, Santa Barbara Channel, Long Beach Harbor

- pilot whale, Humboldt County

October 4, 2010

-2 blue whales (female+fetus), Bean Hollow State Park in San Mateo County

StrandedNoMore

email: strandednomore at gmail.com

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PLEASE NOTE: New mailing address and office/FAX #s for SEA, Inc.

Brandon L. Southall, Ph.D.
President, Senior Scientist, SEA, Inc.
Research Associate, University of California, Santa Cruz
9099 Soquel Drive, Suite 8, Aptos, CA 95003, USA
831.332.8744 (mobile); 831.661.5177 (office); 831.661.5178 (fax)
Brandon.Southall@sea-inc.net; www.sea-inc.net