Hubbs Sea World Research Institute

OCEAN HEALTH Conducted scientific research on 7 projects on ocean health, promoting a healthier planet where humans and marine life thrive together. To advance ocean health, we study ways to prevent disease transmission, promote ecosystem health and resilience, and provide rapid first response to marine life strandings and entanglements. HSWRI is responsible for stranding response and coordination for 222 km of the north and central east coast of Florida (~40% of Floridas east coast), as well as response within about 1800 km2 of estuarine waters. HSWRIs response area covers three coastal counties, including the federal lands within and surrounding the Kennedy Space Center, and HSWRI responds to more strandings than any other organization in Florida. This portion of Florida averages 67 strandings a year and is one of the most active areas for strandings in the southeastern U.S., receiving both live and dead cetaceans, including large whales, from mass strandings. HSWRI provided 24/7 first response to stranded whales and dolphins in Florida for over 50 events, including a rare beaked whale, striped dolphin, sperm whale, and killer whale, a species not observed stranded in the Southeast US in about 70 years. Response this year included 16 live-strandings, including Floridas second (and Brevard Countys first) grey seal stranding. Data collected by our team in Florida was included in a collaborative study examining the accumulation of trace elements, including essential nutrients and toxic heavy metals, in stranded toothed whales along the Florida and Georgia coasts. The entire dataset, gathered from tissue and fecal samples from 90 individuals across nine species, revealed that Risso's dolphins and short-finned pilot whales exhibited the highest concentrations of harmful metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead. The study also found increasing levels of certain elements in pygmy and dwarf sperm whales over time, signaling growing environmental exposure. This collaborative effort underscores the importance of toothed whales as indicators of ocean health and environmental contamination, with far-reaching implications for human health.Our team in Florida published a comprehensive study examining the morbidity and mortality patterns of common bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon from 2002 to 2020. The study analyzed 392 stranded dolphins, identifying causes of death in 57% of cases. The leading causes of death were inflammatory diseases, such as pneumonia, and trauma, mostly from human-related activities like entanglement and propeller strikes. Starvation peaked during the 2013 unusual mortality event, underscoring the vulnerability of this population. This research provides essential baseline data for the conservation and management of dolphins in the region.Over the past year, we have furthered the Institutes mission by establishing key partnerships with regional leaders in restorative aquaculture in Florida. Specifically, we have developed collaborations with organizations specializing in seagrass restoration and shellfish cultivation to enhance habitat recovery efforts. These partnerships allow us to tackle challenges associated with human disturbances, habitat degradation, pollution, and the impacts of climate change. By working across sectors, we can create more sustainable marine environments, supporting biodiversity and improving ecosystem resilience.

ANIMAL BEHAVIORConducted scientific research on 1 grant-funded animal behavior project, using sound to harmonize human and animal interaction. By understanding how marine life uses sound for communication and survival, we can reduce impacts of human-made noise, minimize entanglements, and injuries and use sound to warn marine life of hazards.This year, our team contributed to a collaborative project that presented an analysis of the acoustic repertoires of Icelandic killer whales, examining group-specific calls across five locations from 1985 to 2016. The study identified 91 distinct call categories, with some overlap in calls between regions, particularly in Vestmannaeyjar and Breiafjrur, while certain areas featured unique call categories. The occurrence of specific calls remained relatively stable over a 14-year period but varied year-to-year in correlation with the movement of individuals. The study provides a more comprehensive and updated analysis of the call type repertoire of killer whales in Iceland, expanding on the foundational work of HSWRI scientists from 1988, supporting our commitment to understand the dynamics of animal behavior and communication. The program continued testing low-cost underwater video monitoring and sound data collection systems that will be useful for monitoring the biological community and behavior of animals around human structures in the ocean, including offshore aquaculture structures. Pilot testing near our white seabass net pens in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, CA were conducted to monitor biodiversity around the structure. This research provides insight into opportunities for low-cost monitoring in areas where wildlife potentially aggregates and interacts around human activity in the ocean. This year, we welcomed a new postdoctoral researcher to our Animal Behavior and Senses Lab, whose research continues to focus on the communication systems of toothed whales. Our team is actively leading projects investigating vocal learning in belugas and how human-made noise impacts their signature signals. In addition, our team is focusing on identifying the specific calls narwhals use to maintain contact with their social groups, with the aim of exploring how these vocalizations might be used for monitoring purposes. In addition, research is underway on mother-calf communication and vocal learning in toothed whales. This research is a critical contribution to our understanding of how these species communicate and respond to environmental changes and individual and population level interactions.