By Kadeine Peterson The thing I love most about taxonomic naming is its literal nature. For example, the Delphinapeterus leucas translates from Greek to mean “white dolphin without fin”, a perfect description of the beluga whale. Day four of our Earthwatch program began with an informative lecture on these charismatic toothed-cetaceans. Emma, an undergraduate student in marine biology, spoke about the research being done on particularly, the ~50,000 strong Western Hudson Bay population of belugas, with large contributions from the citizen science project called Beluga Bits. The goal of this research is to elucidate the natural history of the Hudson Bay pod, which includes information regarding age, sex and group size. Beluga Bits is of particular importance because a huge barrier to beluga research is the difficulty of identifying individuals using known techniques applied to other whales. The patterning and scars evident on more distinctly colored cetaceans are similar to fingerprints on humans, in that no two whales will have exactly the same combination of markers. Belugas lack of a dorsal fin combined with their unique white coloration and molting behavior, renders their “fingerprinting” difficult. This is where citizen science comes into play. People from across the globe are able to access the live feed of belugas in the Churchill River estuary from July to August and snap pictures of the curious whales as they swim into frame. After a quick and basic anatomy lesson on belugas, they are able to sort the images into stacks based on number of individuals, age, distinct markings and the “bits” mentioned in the project name. To me, female beluga genitalia resemble the Greek letter Psi(ψ) and male genitalia is a hyphen(-). I think we were all excited at the prospect of using this tool in our classrooms as a way to get our students involved in citizen science as well as contribute to the growing pool of knowledge regarding these magnificent whales.
After the morning lecture, we had a change of plans and headed off to see a large patch of sea ice that had come ashore the day before. As we all bundled up into the van to drive to our destination, the excitement was audibly tangible; but then again, I am not sure that we haven’t had this level of enthusiasm since we arrived in Churchill only three days ago. This is where I wish I had more vocabulary to describe the experience of walking on sea ice. All I can come up with is that this has got to be one of the coolest (pun intended) things I have ever done. Guess what? Ice IS actually that blue up close. We briefly ventured into town for a “snack and beverage” run, before returning to CNSC in preparation for our first afternoon collecting samples in wetlands. LeeAnn explained to us the importance of this multi-year research in determining the environmental impacts of climate change on the Hudson Bay area. We were split into four teams with tasks that will rotate over four days. These teams were environmental/water quality, trap collecting, dip net sampling, and the physical nature of the pond. LeeAnn took the time to explain to us our jobs, the equipment needed and the expectations for collecting good and useful data. I think this is the moment it became clear to us that we were here to DO ACTUAL RESEARCH. *Happy Dance* For many of us on this expedition, our time in Churchill will mark the first time that we can say that yes, we do have field research and lab experience and what a wonderful thing to be able to bring home to our students. We ended the day with an informative session on polar bears, Ursus maritimus (Latin for maritime bear because...duh), given by LeeAnn. Though I loved learning about these hypercarniverous bears, in particular the sows’ ability to undergo delayed implantation of embryos, I quickly got an appreciation for just how powerful and potentially dangerous they could be. They are after all, the largest non-aquatic predator. I think I left that session with a greater appreciation for our dedicated bear guards and LeeAnn’s 30 years of living/working in this environment. Today was packed to the core with experiences and as I keep saying to my husband in our nightly talks from 1500 miles apart, “...and it’s only day 4!”
3 Comments
Melissa
6/29/2019 07:28:45 pm
Wow....that is so cool (pun intended) that you walked on sea ice!!! And to learn so much about Beluga Whales! Did you see any whales today?
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Kadeine
6/30/2019 02:18:43 pm
Not that day, but we did absolutely see so many beluga whales up close on Saturday!
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Melissa
7/4/2019 06:39:09 am
So cool!!! Leave a Reply. |
Carla Yawney4th Grade Teacher Deb BerlinMiddle School Science Teacher Melinda Lang2nd Grade Teacher Sarah Blomberg7-12 Science Teacher Tammy DrazkowskiMiddle School Science Teacher Kadeine PetersonHigh School Biology Teacher Erin Cymrot5th Grade Math and Science Teacher Arjun CollinsHigh School Biology and AP Environmental Science Teacher Katrina RoddenberryEarthwatch Senior Fellow and Middle School Science Teacher ArchivesCategories |