Jim Rice, stranding program manager for the Marine Mammal Institute, said it’s normal behavior for what the seal is currently going through — catastrophic molting.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Jim Rice, stranding program manager for the Marine Mammal Institute, said it’s normal behavior for what the seal is currently going through — catastrophic molting.
Jim Rice was recently interviewed by the Willamette Week about the process of responding to marine mammal strandings on the Oregon coast.
At approximately 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 5, a live 39 foot sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) was reported to be struggling in shallow water on the beach amongst large rocks at Face Rock in Bandon, Oregon. It became high and dry with the outgoing tide under a bright, warm sun. Supportive care was provided by personnel with the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation (OPRD), Oregon State Police (OSP), and several local and regional volunteers (who...
Jim Rice, who coordinates the statewide Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network headquartered at OSU's Marine Mammal Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, urges the public to refrain from touching or approaching seal pups, which in most cases are not orphaned or abandoned. Seal pups are frequently left on the beach by their mothers, who are out looking for food.
According to Jim Rice, stranding coordinator for the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, the boys are getting geared up to vie for a mate when they return to California during late May and June.
The north Oregon coast’s Sand Lake Recreation Area near Pacific City received a rather large and unsettling visitor on Friday. A camp host at the area discovered the corpse of a 39-foot gray whale. Jim Rice of OMMSN responded.
Nearly 10,000 Oregonians have purchased gray whale license plates since they went on sale a year ago, providing critical support for Oregon State University researchers studying gray whales that frequent Oregon’s waters.
At springtime, harbor seal pups are frequently found alone on area beaches. They are usually not stranded but simply resting and waiting for their mothers to come back ashore to nurse them. Adult female seals are shy and unlikely to rejoin a pup if there is activity nearby. Please remember to stay away from seal pups and to keep dogs from disturbing them. Mother seals may only return to suckle their pup at night when people and dogs are not around. It is very important not to interfere with this process, and especially not to move a pup from where it is receiving care from its mother.
A bacteria outbreak is making sea lions sick along the Oregon Coast, so state officials are warning people and their dogs to stay away from the animals. The outbreak began in September and likely will last into December, said Jim Rice, coordinator with the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Anyone who comes across a sick sea lion or other ill marine mammal is asked to stay at least 50 feet away and call Oregon State Police dispatchers at 800-452-7888.
As in past years, we are currently seeing a significant increase in the frequency of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) appearing on Oregon beaches in varying states of health and disease. Many have been affected by Leptospirosis, a contagious bacterial infection of the kidneys. This disease causes animals to appear very lethargic and unable or unwilling to move their hind limbs, and is often accompanied by weight loss and pneumonia. While it is possible for infected animals to recover from this disease if given plenty of opportunity to rest, there is no option to rescue and rehabilitate these animals in...
The Marine Mammal Institute will be well represented at this year's Sharing the Coast Conference in Waldport, OR. Leigh Torres will be providing the keynote address at 6:30 pm, Friday, March 3, 2017. Dr. Torres will discuss the latest in research into the lives of gray whales and other marine megafauna inhabiting our coastal waters and ways in which citizens can help scientists monitor whale populations. Her presentation is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, March 4, Jim Rice, coordinator of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, will give an overview of the state’s marine mammal populations and explain how citizens can engage in tracking these populations through reporting stranded animals, alive or dead. The...
MMI’s Jim Rice, coordinator of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and collaborator Debbie Duffield from Portland State University, have been busy performing necropsies on dolphins that stranded along the Oregon coast in late February. Tissue samples have been sent to OSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and others, for analysis. The causes of death are still undetermined. (The full article can be read in the Newport News-Times.)
A new webcam has been installed at Newport’s popular sea lion haul out, Port Dock 1. This camera is monitored by the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network to check for injuries due to entanglements in fishery gear and marine debris. Sea lions periodically come ashore with plastic packing bands wrapped around their necks and fishing lures hanging from their mouths. A capture cage is sometimes deployed at this site to treat entangled sea lions.
Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, said genetic identification showed that, in many cases, the mothers of calves were missing entirely from groups of whales that died in the stranding. This separation of mothers and calves suggests that strong kinship bonds are being disrupted prior to the actual stranding – potentially playing a role in causing the event.