The people of Cornwall, UK are enjoying the increased number of marine mammal sightings over the past couple of years; however, unfortunately, they are also seeing an increased number of marine mammal strandings. 

New sightings might have to bring about new policies that can change the way people in Cornwall fish and use the ocean in the future. 

Link to article: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/good-year-whale-dolphin-sightings-6408638

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Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO) Whale Protection Program has several investigations open of illegal drone activity along the southern shores of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. 

The drones are being flown near marine mammals (whales, seals, and sea lions) causing disturbances and, in some cases, interfering with government activities surrounding whale entanglement. 

DFO has issued a warning to residents in the area that the penalties for breaking the law with illegal drone activity can be severe (mandatory court appearance and a $100,000 fine).

Link to article: https://www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/troubling-trend-of-drones-buzzing-b-c-marine-mammals-leads-to-dfo-warning/

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The Marine Mammal Center is an organization that specializes in rescuing Marine Mammals along a 600 mile stretch of California Coastline. It's not an easy thing to do; however, the organization has saved thousands of animals over a 45-year period.

I was able to be connected to Adam Ratner (bio below) to discuss how the Marine Mammal Center goes beyond rescuing Marine Mammals through its various programs and storytelling. Listen to a few different stories of how the Marine Mammal Center has helped Marine Mammals and inspired people to live for a better Ocean!

Background on Adam

Adam Ratner began at The Marine Mammal Center in 2009 leading educational programs for high school students and visitors. Over the years, he has challenged people to think differently about ocean conservation using the stories of individual patients that are rescued by The Marine Mammal Center. By providing hopeful stories of action and tangible solutions, Adam helps people find inspiration and empowerment to become the heroes of their own environment and community. Today, as the Associate Director of Conservation Education, Adam serves as an expert on topics related to ocean health, such as climate change, ocean trash and sustainable seafood. His ability to break down big and complex ideas helps people understand how their actions have an impact on the ocean.

Adam was named one of the 30 under 30 Game Changers for the Planet by the North American Association for Environmental Education. Working collaboratively across sectors and geographic regions, he serves as the chair of the Training Committee of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation and is currently the Executive Chair of the Bay Area Climate Literacy Impact Collaborative. He is also a member of the Zero Waste Marin Local Task Force, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative and the Pacific Ocean Aquafarms Stakeholder Advisor Group.

Adam has been in the conservation field for over 10 years leading environmental education programming. He graduated from Bates College with degrees in Marine Biology and Psychology, with a focus on animal behavior. He has completed field research and studied animal behavior in labs around the country. His research includes studying bird hearing, as well as fish learning and memory.

About The Marine Mammal Center

Headquartered on the site of a former Cold War missile base, The Marine Mammal Center is a global leader in marine mammal health, science and conservation, and is the largest marine mammal hospital in the world. The Center’s teaching hospital and training programs operate globally, with its headquarters in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, part of the National Park Service. Expert teams from the Center travel around the world to work with emerging first responders and has itself rescued more than 24,000 marine mammals from 600 miles of its authorized rescue area of California coastline and the Big Island of Hawai‘i. The Center’s mission is to advance global ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, and education.

For more information, please visit MarineMammalCenter.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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S-203 is a Bill in Canada that will make marine mammal captivity illegal in Canada. The bill is set to be presented in the House of Common before the House is released for summer. The Vancouver Aquarium and Marineland are the only two facilities that currently hold marine mammals. The current cetaceans in the facilities are grandfathered in; however, they cannot take on any more animals after the bill is implemented. A fine of $200,000 for each violation will be enforced if the facilities do not abide by the new law.

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Marine Mammals and Marine Biology Careers/Entrepreneurs is what I cover on today's podcast. Two Marine Mammal stories and 1 editorial on marine biology careers. 

The first marine mammal story is about a sea lion that is trying to enjoy some fish guts at cleaning stations in North Harbour, BC.; however, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have ordered fishers to cease all cleaning to ensure the sea lion does not come back. They are worried that the sea lion will get too close to a fisher and become aggressive around food. One of the spokespeople for the department said they wanted to avoid a similar incident to the one last year, where a little girl was dragged into the water by a frustrated sea lion who was offered food and then teased with "fake offerings". It eventually lashed out at the people by dragging in a little girl. The sea lion was not at fault, but the act of trying to get rid of the sea lion in North Harbour is evidence that people are trying to exclude sea lions from part of the Ocean where they should be allowed to frequent. 

I also rant about how some people inside and outside the Marine Science and Conservation industry are dead set against Marine Biologists making money. There seems to be a stigma about the lifestyle of Marine Biologists and that they should be happy with their salaries and all of the "Cool Places" they get to go. 

There are some innovative Marine Scientists and Conservationists out there who are trying to create a path for others to follow in so they can make a great living and conduct marine science and conservation as they were trained to do in the first place. My problem is with the people who are trying to say that people shouldn't try to rock the boat. 

Finally, I talk about the first sighting of the Northern Right Whale off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (Canada). It's an important sighting as we know Right Whales will continue to come north to Canada as they did last year. The goal this year is to reduce and eliminate incidences where the whales are killed through ship strikes and/or entanglement in fishing gear. There are two crucial guidelines (maybe laws) that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans created last season that carried over to this season. Find out what those are in the recording. 

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Dr. Lyne Morissette, marine mammal scientist and science communicator extrodinnaire, joins us on the podcast today to discuss her takeaways from the 22nd Biennial Conference for the Society of Marine Mammals. That means she gets to spend more than 5 days listening and talking about whales, dolphins, seals, walruses, polar bears and more!!! It's a dream come true!!!

Lyne's highlights were the talks of the Northwest Atlantic Right Whales and what we will do about them, hearing about the Vaquita (only 19 left!!!), and the fusion of collaboration among various professions such as art and conservation. 

By the way, the conference was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia and in true Canadian fashion, the entire conference took place on a hockey rink. The conference shirts were hockey jerseys! 

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