The Magazine of the Catalina Marine Society

OceanBights The Magazine of the Catalina Marine Society

Winter 2014 Volume 5, Number 2

Contents This Issue 2 El Nino Predictor, Please! 2 Return of the Giant Sea Bass 3 Society News 7 The Turtles are Coming 8 Reducing loss of Marine Fauna 9 Whither the Sea Stars 16 Crowd-Sourcing and CCD Urchin Counts 17 New CMS Lecture 21 Upcoming Meetings 21 Urchins by Species for over 2 Decades 22 Urchins by Depth for over 2 Decades 23 Membership Application Backcover

OceanBights ______This Issue Ocean Defenders Alliance, where individuals go to heroic There was no planned lengths to save our macro ma- theme to this issue of OceanBights rine fauna. for why would we break tradition? But two themes devel- Catalina Marine Society oped. First is local sightings of El Nino Predictor, 15954 Leadwell St two endangered species; green Van Nuys, CA 91406 turtles and giant black seabass Please! www.catalinamarinesociety.org (Mary Ann Wilson’s article). What this country needs The first time I saw a giant is a good El Nino predictor. I Publication Committee black sea bass (I was a pre-teen) was prompted to write this dur- Michael Doran it was in the bed of my neigh- Karen Norris ing a recent hellacious rain bor’s truck. And, he needed a Craig Gelpi storm, a symptom of El Nino. truck to transport it. I’ve also However, starting in the sum- had interesting encounters with Interim Editor mer and continuing into the fall, them in Malibu, where one stole Craig Gelpi the predictions for El Nino have my supper. Mary Ann describes become weaker, even tepid the fisheries history, natural his- OceanBights is published by the though the water temperature at tory and current research on Catalina Marine Society. It is Santa Catalina Island has been these behemoths at Santa Cata- distributed free of charge to unusually warm: a harbinger of those interested in the Society’s lina Island. an El Nino. (See the last issue activities. The Society holds cop- Sightings of sea turtles of OceanBights for a winter- yright to all articles within and are also becoming more com- they cannot be reproduced with- mon and we have an article on a summer temperature compari- out the written permission of the surprisingly local population, son at the island.) Society. Strong El Ninos have and how, you, too, can go see them. dramatic effect on our phyto- The Catalina Marine Society is a plankton, kelp, fisheries and nonprofit membership corpora- The second theme is the marine mammal populations. tion founded in 2009 in Los An- very warm water we have expe- geles to marshal volunteer re- rienced this summer and fall. It Indeed, time series of popula- sources to study the marine envi- may influence turtles, kelp and tion numbers are strong indica- ronment of Santa Catalina Island sea stars, and if it portends a tors of El Nino years with most and the Southern California large El Nino, every animal will species exhibiting a steep de- Bight. cline during and after the time probably be affected. This topic is touched on in a tribute to the of warm water. If we cannot Submissions. The magazine may predict an El Nino, we cannot publish submitted articles that Catalina Conservancy Divers predict and manage these re- pertain to our mission state- and their efforts to measure ma- ment. Contact the e-mail address rine species at the island. sources. To promote accurate below for more information. Finally, we introduce predictions, I suggest that the Cassandra Heredia who has government gives a prize Letters to the editor should be sent via e-mail to the address written her first article for for development of an ac- below. OceanBights. She describes the curate El Nino predictor. [email protected] plight of our fisheries and ef- Let’s call it the “EL” forts to sustain them, especially prize.  ©Catalina Marine Society the works and dedication of the

OceanBights ______Return of the Giant Sea In 1981, the California Soup fin sharks became scarce Bass, King of the Kelp State Legislature banned com- in the early 1940s, while leop- mercial and recreational fishing ard sharks declined in the mid- Forest for giant sea bass, but still al- 1980s. In a drastic move to save lowed commercial fishermen to the fish, gill nets were banned Mary Ann Wilson retain and sell two fish per trip as of 1994 from within three miles of southern California's Back in April 2011, my mainland. This regulation sig- friend and I were diving off Ca- naled a turning point for fish sino Point on Santa Catalina populations. In a presentation Island in chilly waters when we given this past October, Dr. looked up and saw four large Larry Allen, biology department black fish. They were about chair at CSUN, said the Propo- four to five feet long, cruising sition 132 ban on gill nets is slowly in around 20 feet of wa- what turned the tide for many ter at the edge of the kelp. To commercially fished species. my friend they looked like un- “We’ve seen a response of hali- derwater cows; to me they but, a response of giant sea bass seemed more like mellow hip- that we’ve published, a re- pies on floating motorcycles. sponse of leopard sharks and Whatever they were, I was in Mary Ann Wilson soup fin sharks and a variety of awe of them. We were told they other large elasmobranchs were giant sea bass (GSB), Ste- if caught incidentally in a gill which seem to have gotten reolepis gigas, which return to net or trammel net. This law some relief from commercial the waters off Catalina Island also limited the amount of giant fishing.” every summer, and we were the sea bass that could be taken in first to see them that year. Mexican waters and landed in These apex predators California. The law was amend- have had a rough time, being ed in 1988, reducing the inci- nearly fished to extinction until dental take to one fish in Cali- saved by legislation. Commer- fornia waters. cial fishing of giant sea bass After the moratorium began in Southern California was enacted in 1981, catches in1870 when fish were taken decreased substantially. From with hand lines. But as the 1983 to 1992, incidental catches take declined between remained low, ranging from 1.7 1915 and 1920, fishermen to 5.9 tonnes. switched to gill nets, tem- But the moratorium porarily increasing catch. didn’t prohibit fishing over gi- Commercial landings peaked in ant sea bass habitats where they 1932 at 115 tonnes but then de- could be caught incidentally. creased rapidly. By 1935 most Entangled giant sea bass that commercial fishing had shifted would exceed the catch limit if to Mexico. And by 1980 com- landed were discarded at sea or mercial landings in California distributed among fishing boats. waters had declined to 5 tonnes. Other fish have also suf- fered from nets and overfishing. June 1906 world record 428 lbs. Library of Congress 3

OceanBights ______Dr. Allen worked for 20 2004. That’s when Allen decid- ing the kelp beds in southern years before seeing a juvenile ed it was time to begin a study California, they also consume giant sea bass in 1993. His first of giant sea bass. But his article Pacific mackerel, ocean white- observation: entitled “The decline and recov- fish, midshipmen, stingrays, “Last year while trawling in ery of four predatory fishes white croakers, small sharks, Newport Bay on a sampling from the Southern California crabs, and mantis shrimp. trip for Cal Fish and Bight” was turned down by Sci- Historically, giant Game's BENES program ence, Nature and PNAS, be- sea bass were distributed targeting local sport fishes, cause “there was one reviewer from Humboldt Bay to something memorable hap- that simply didn’t believe our pened...Almost as soon as data. He thought we made it southern Baja California the trawl had hit the deck, up,” Allen said. It was finally and the Sea of Cortez with my chief research assistant, published 2008 in Marine Biol- populations concentrated south Motz (Tom Grothues), be- ogy. of Point Conception in shallow gan yelling something rocky reefs. According to Al- about a black sea bass. I len, the current primary was on the back deck in range is Pt. Conception an instant grumbling in south to about Punta Abreo- disbelief. I had never seen jos, Baja Mexico and in the or heard of a black (or northern Gulf of California now, more properly, a gi- (north of the Midriff Is- ant) sea bass being taken lands). “We think they occur from inside Newport Bay off the coastline of southern in all of my 20 years of Baja California, but if they experience there. But, occur there, they are proba- sure enough, there it was. bly in deep water — say 200 An absolutely gorgeous to 400 feet,” Allen said. little fish about 6 inches “We also think they or their larvae migrate around the tip long. It was reddish- bronze in color with jet- of Baja joining the popula- black circular spots and Juvenile GSB tions on either side of the huge black fins…From Photo thanks to Phil Garner peninsula, based on anecdo- the likes of this tiny, ele- tal and personal observa- gant fish -- the largest, the Giant sea bass start life tions as well as genetic da- eldest, and most magnificent as brightly colored orange juve- ta.” of our nearshore fish species niles with large black spots, and Very little is known will emerge.” (Western Out- ride the sand riffles in shallow about giant sea bass, but their Outdoors News, 1993) water. According to Allen, the increasing numbers enable bet- He was right. A scien- juveniles gorge on opossum ter research on lifespan, size, tific monitoring program con- shrimp, while the darker adults mating and population diversity. ducted quarterly by SCUBA eat pretty much anything they In recent years, scientists have divers with the Vantuna Re- want including fairly large determined that the Stereolepis search Group (see OceanBights spiny lobsters which they are gigas are not even related to sea Vol. 3 No 1) didn’t report any more than capable of sucking bass. They’re in a completely along Palos Verdes Point from out of their crevices with their different group of fish, the 1974 to 2001. The giants finally large, gaping mouths. As the wreckfish (Polyprionidae) were seen there from 2002– only “megacarnivore” inhabit- 4

OceanBights ______which are very distantly related rings for one individual and ducted. to groupers. provide a verified maximum Sites with the most To estimate age, Allen age, 76 years, for giant sea bass individuals and biomass counted the number of annuli using bomb radiocarbon vali- were Little Harbor, Goat on otoliths from 64 heads, ob- dating techniques. tained from the Santa Barbara Wild, live fish are being Harbor, and the Vee's. At Fish Market between January studied at Catalina. Two of Al- the Vee's they saw an aggrega- 2010 and May 2013. These fish len’s students, JR Clark and tion of 24 individuals in two were incidentally caught by Parker House, received WIES different sampling periods. To fishermen working between the Wrigley Institute Summer accurately size giants underwa- Northern Channel Islands and Graduate Fellowships and spent ter, the students use length- northern Baja Mexico. When he three months diving off Catalina calibrated lasers and a GoPro counts the rings he places a dot Island, first locating the giants’ video camera mounted on top of on each ring to ensure accuracy. aggregations, then trying to de- SeaDoo SeaScooters. Two laser Then he figures out how much termine their size, densities, and beams calibrated four inches bomb radiocarbon it has, and mating behavior. They also apart are pointed directly (90 fits that into the calibration hope to learn what impact their degrees broadside) at an indi- curve of bomb radiocarbon pre- return will have on kelp bed fish vidual fish so that the laser dots sent in the Eastern Pacific. populations. Grants and $6,000 are visible in the video. Stills Bomb radiocarbon was pro- dollars in crowd funding help to are later extracted from video duced from atmospheric nuclear pay for the students’ underwater and then measured using a testing in the 1950s and shows a hydro-acoustic equipment and software program. Using length very distinct pattern in most sea scooters. to weight relationships, biomass oceans, as the atmospheric fall- To find the minimum is determined for different are- out worked its way into the population size around the en- as. bony structures of all fishes and tire island, they chose eight Their calculated average biomass for the eight sites was invertebrates. In 2012 Larry Al- sites: four where they thought 2 len and Allen Andrews were the they’d see giants and four 36.29kg/1000m , which was first to validate annual growth where they thought they higher than expected. House wouldn’t see them, said this was due to the unex- and did the back pected and very large aggrega- side as well as front tion at the Vee's. The most indi- side. Those eight viduals observed were 36 sites were Johnson's counted during the sampling Rocks, Little Gei- period from July 15 to July 23, ger, Empire Land- 2014. The least were seen during, Twin/Goat (being June with only nine individ- tween Goat Harbor uals. The giants ranged from 0.9 and Twin Rocks), to 2.7 meters while the majority Italian Gardens, Ca- was around 1.3 m (4.2 feet) in sino Point, The length. The International Game Vee's, and Little Fish Association all-tackle

Harbor. There were world record for this species is GSB Researchers JR Clark (left) and Par- 4 periods within 563 pounds 8 ounces, caught at ker House. roughly two-week Anacapa Island in 1968. But long windows that the largest one seen this sampling was con- 5

OceanBights ______mask when males when they are in large aggrega- are in the spawning tions. season. We have The students use the seen some color sounds giant sea bass make to change, from a distinguish one fish from anoth- light to dark color er and also to measure the den- type change. This sity of giants in a specific area. has been previous- Clark uses a DSG-Ocean ly described as a Acoustic Datalogger, which is spawning type ac- an omnidirectional hydrophone tivity in giant sea (underwater microphone) that bass.” can record data over many days. Another He distinguishes giant sea bass Largest GSB measured: 9 ft long! way to identify sounds from other fish by look- Courtesy of Parker H. House spawning and ing at the decibel range and courting behaviors sound frequency they produce summer was 2.7 meters or is by their sound. and comparing them with giant The students had just gotten sea bass sounds recorded in an 8.9 feet and weighed at down to one of their sites when aquarium. This enables him to least 325 kilograms or 800 they heard a BOOM -- the analyze mating strategies and lbs, and is the largest ever sound of a very loud bass drum. describe spawning behavior of measured. “The first time I heard it I giant sea bass in detail. “Al- “It was relatively easy to thought something was wrong though there may be some count the individuals as many with my tank,” House said. “So echoing in the sounds produced stayed in a general area,” House I checked my pressure gauge to in the aquarium it will allow me said. “Many of them have dif- see if it had dropped, but it to ground truth sounds and get a ferent characteristics; some had wasn’t us. We looked around general decibel range to work many parasites on their face, or and a giant sea bass was coming with,” he said. scars on their fins or sides, or straight to us, and then he Whatever the giants blotches so you can more easily checked us out and took off. We spawning behavior is, their ge- identify one fish from another, think the sound could be either netic diversity is small. Allen although they do change color. a call to try and get us away be- and Andrews used mitochondri- Some would be near us and cause they were courting in that al and nuclear microsatellite would show a certain color pat- area, or to see if we were poten- techniques to determine genetic tern, but once they moved tial mates.” diversity. They found all the away, you would see these pat- Spawning in giant sea giant sea bass, those in the terns change. We think the bass has only been seen in an northern Gulf of California, as changing of color pattern may aquarium where there are just well as off Southern California be a signal for mating as well as two individuals. Because of and Baja, were closely related. communication to the other in- their size and the enormous They’re basically one dividuals.” amount of eggs the females car- panmictic group — a panmictic “Many fishes change ry -- up to 60 million -- GSB are population is one where all in- color when they are ready to thought to be group spawners, dividuals are potential partners. mate,” Clark added. “A good but Clark believes that they are “Our estimate is 152 example is the kelp bass, which pair spawners because they are breeding females, with maybe presents a yellow or orangey frequently seen in pairs, even an upper limit of 500 and a range of 84 to 539,” Allen said. 6

OceanBights ______“So we’re dealing with a fish that’s not genetically diverse anymore; relatives are breeding with another, and we don’t know what that says to the ultimate sustaina- bility of these populations. Sobering.” However, the king of the kelp forest has returned. Recently a Next year's giant sea Dirk Burcham, Paul Dimeo, Giant Sea Bass Count was or- bass count will probably be in David Tsao, Jonathan Davies, ganized by researchers at the early August, but check and Shawn Broes, Jim Updike and University of California, Santa “like” the Facebook page, The Craig Gelpi. Jim serves as pres- Barbara and California State Giant Sea Bass Collective, at ident, Karen as secretary and University, Northridge. Recrea- https://www.facebook.com/gian Craig as the financial officer. tional divers could report any tseabass, to get updates.  We also are expanding sightings around Southern Cali- our outreaching activities with fornia during the first week of Society News two projects. A video, nar- August. Giant Sea Bass sight- rated by Jon Davies, and ings numbered 23. Their results The Catalina Marine produced by Shawn can be seen at: Society has expanded its Board http://www.seasketch.org/#proj Broes, describes servicing of Directors. Board members ecthomep- our CMS Thermograph are Karen Norris, Mike Doran, age/53dbacf69743984a77bd896d. Array via boat. It can be viewed from YouTube: http://youtu.be/0XWThEaDL90 The other project is a fish identification class spear- headed (pun intended) by Mike Doran and CMS member Ger- ald Winkel (also of REEF). Although still in its development stages regarding dates, the venue will be the Aquarium of the Pacific. Finally, our annual meeting also will be held in April at the Aquarium of the Pacific. If you are interested in the ID lectures or the annual Hydrophone and GSB meeting, please contact us via Courtesy of Parker H. House [email protected] and we’ll get you on the mailing list.

OceanBights ______The Turtles are Coming They DO live in metro LA. By believe I saw in an hour. the way, the danger is real and Talking with long-time CMS Staff due to the adjacent well-used cyclists on the bike path of bike path and the non-zero death she heard that turtles have We have seen many probability of being pegged by been seen in the river for 25 warm-water-preferring species a fast cyclist. years. The Aquarium maintains in Southern California with the These are the same spe- a video with lectures from ex- onset of the extremely warm cies of turtles that are common- perts and the citizen scientists temperatures this year. Trigger ly seen in Hawaii. In fact, on a who observe the turtles. It can fish, basking sharks, sperm recent trip there we saw several be obtained from whales, cardinal fish, slender turtles on our diving and snor- http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ molas, and more. But there is keling outings multime- one warm-water animal that ap- on the South Shore. dia/player/lecture_archive_dr._lan parently has taken permanent What makes this local ce_adams_dan_lawson_hugh_pam _ryono residence in Northern Orange sighting special is that all sea and it presents the history of County/Long Beach area: green turtle species are endan- turtle sightings in the area and sea turtles, Chelonia mydas. We gered. This unfortunate state other interesting data. have long read reports about makes the San Gab turtles the green turtles in San Diego Bay, In the San Gab subject of intense study by citi- there are thought to be a and within the last decade, we zen scientists, especially ones saw a picture of a sea turtle off associated with a consortium dozen resident small Santa Catalina. But a non- including the AoP and other (young) turtles forming a non- breeding colony was recently groups. We communicated with breeding, feeding colony. Green found to exist in the San Gabriel one of the volunteers, Pam Ry- sea turtles can grow to 3 to 4 ft River between its mouth and the ono, who has been observing in length and weigh up to 550 upriver power generation plants. the turtles since 2008. On one lbs, so they are big animals (a Now, truth be told, the prolific day in 2011 she and her very large one, named Wrinkle- first time we searched for turtles husband saw 26 different tur- butt, producing the upper there we found none. But we tles. Observing on another day weight limit is known to live in had heard enough reports, and near when I went, they observed San Diego Bay). seen enough images of turtles 5 or 6, in line with the number I  see Turtles on page 13 with a background that we rec- ognize, to believe they are there. But before we could find one, Aquarium of the Pacific (AoP) divers Jason Aurand, Lindy Yow, Jerry Vertigan and Amazon supports CMS! Andrew Solomon, deploying sensors for our Continental The Amazon Smile program donates a portion of its Thermograph Array, reported sales to the qualified charities of its customers. Des- seeing one at Cress Street and shot a video as proof. Then, on ignate CMS as your charity through the Amazon link a dangerous turtle hunting ex- on our website www.catalinamarinesociety.org pedition, I had 3 sightings in the Or google Amazon Smile. Tell other CMS supporters. San Gabriel River. (Perhaps, I saw the same turtle 3 times but I did see at least one large turtle.) 8

OceanBights ______Reducing Loss of Ma- ken, or simply tossed over- ter when it harvested too great a board. This ‘ghost gear’ com- load, taking 9000 pounds of de- rine Fauna: Ocean De- mits other marine life to injury ployed net down with it, and in fenders Alliance or, in many instances, death. doing so committed scores of When we combine overfishing unsuspecting marine animals to Cassandra Heredia and ghost gear with pollution an early demise. When the Infi- from causes like pesticide run del sank, the netting wrapped Humans have been fish- and twisted around the vessel ing the deep seas for over and rigging, and to date still 40,000 years. Our oceans have traps animals like sea lions that supplied what seemed like lim- become entangled and cannot itless bounties that fed our fami- escape. This continues despite lies and in the process led us to thousands of pounds of the net- unfamiliar lands with exotic ting having been painstakingly peoples, opening our eyes to cut and hauled away from Infi- wonderful and exciting discov- del by ODA and other con- eries. The oceans also make our cerned divers over the years. As lovely blue planet habitable, so disturbing as this is, Infidel is the very health of the waters only a small indicator of the and the creatures within it di- much larger problem. Netting, rectly relate to the quality of life as well as other items such as we can expect here on Earth. lines and traps lost or left be- However, while we appreciate Cassandra Heredia hind by commercial, traditional what the oceans have to give us and recreational fishing practic- on the surface, we are usual- es used in our oceans are rely unaware about what is off, plastic trash and oil spills, sponsible for the deaths of happening just beneath obviously the health of our roughly 360,000 cetaceans and oceans and the creatures within turtles, as well as other animals, us. it are in jeopardy, and have every year. To date, ODA has With its bottomless waters and been for at least a generation. removed over 20,000 pounds of ostensibly unending supply of As individuals, we abandoned net, hundreds of resources, civilizations must sometimes find difficult to be- traps and tens of thousands of have thought the bounties lieve that one person can make feet in lines in our SoCal wa- would never run out. Unfortu- a difference against any of the ters. nately, in the past 50 years we threats compromising the health Kurt understood the ef- have proven to do what no one of our oceans and therefore our fects our actions have on the thought possible: we have over- planet. But individuals can oceans from the first time he fished our oceans to the point of make a difference. And if a per- freed a lobster stuck in what extinction for most big fish son is dedicated, others will was obviously an abandoned populations. We have become support him. One such dedicat- trap. Moving to Southern Cali- so super-effective at commer- ed individual is Kurt Lieber, fornia in 1979 to pursue diving, cial fishing that we have peri- founder of Ocean Defenders he became aware early on of lously changed the ecological Alliance (ODA). what was happening on the balance. In 2009 ODA began ocean floor. During the El Nino Gear that has made fish- tackling the Infidel off Catalina event of 1982, 90% of the kelp ing more effective litters the Island. Infidel was a trawler that died and recovered very slowly ocean floors as it gets lost, bro- sank in 2006 in 150 feet of wa- after the event. As he began in- 9

OceanBights ______vestigating why, he noticed the hopeful signs that we are be- Mr. Bob Barker, whom Kurt degradation of the ocean envi- coming more aware and con- had met during his time volun- ronment. In addition to the cerned with restoring the health teering early on with Sea Shep- ghost gear that inadvertently of our oceans and the creatures herd, another charitable organi- traps many marine animals, that make the sea their home. zation. Mr. Barker, well known ‘dead zones’ are also proliferat- In 2002 Kurt officially for his generous spirit, awarded ing. A ‘dead zone’ is an area started ODA, ODA $150,000 so that Kurt where all oxygen is depleted http://www.oceandefenders.org, as could purchase a new vessel from the water. Though it is a nonprofit organization and worthy of the extended trips he sometimes caused by natural funded it entirely on his own, believes are necessary to make events it is often produced by but over the past twelve years more headway in the fight manmade, nutrient-rich runoff, ODA has gradually seen sup- against the debris that litters the which promotes growth that port build. In 2006, the same oceans. Mr. Barker’s LegaSea consumes the available oxygen year Infidel sank, donations of is quite a step-up from the pre- and consequentially suffocates money and time started to come vious ODA vessel, the Clear- any living creature in the area in to help the cause. Finally in water. Having been on the that needs oxygen to survive – 2012 there was enough funding Clearwater almost three years including the creatures that help so that Kurt could start paying ago, I can say she served her keep the oceans’ ecosystems himself and commit full time to purpose as best as she could, but she is not a comfortable boat and limited the type and distance of trips that could be made to retrieve gear. The Mr. Barker’s LegaSea, a 55’ Chris Craft with a full galley that sleeps 6 plus the skipper, has been outfitted to make outings for divers as comfortable as possible, including a custom dive ladder that was generously built and donated by ROC Industries, Kurt Lieber Inc. Granted, the Mr. Barker’s Le- gaSea also gets 2 functioning as we remember. In his passion of guiding ODA’s gallons to the mile (not a mis- 1975 only one ‘dead zone’ was mission. In 2014, Kurt and two print), so significant funding is recorded; as of 2014 there are dedicated members drafted and required even to cover fuel over 500 worldwide. Still, there presented a grant proposal to costs, but it’s an incredible step 10

OceanBights ______up from where ODA started 12 Bluefin presented from Mexico, the environmental legal organi- years ago. but it would be voluntary. zation Earthjustice, is an indica- One of the ways that American eel, Chilean seabass tor that we are becoming aware Kurt is hoping to gain ground (really toothfish), Atlantic cod, of the impact of under-regulated on the fight against ghost gear is and certain sharks (due to fin- commercial fishing. But our to foster working relationships ning, recently banned in Cali- response may be too late to save with the local fishermen. He fornia) can all be added to the the fish. For example, the sup- knows that outreach with list of big fish that are at an apply of Atlantic cod once seemed the fishermen is crucial to palling 10% or less of their his- endless; now the supply seems torical populations. hopeless. Canada banned the mitigate the amount of The measure to limit the Atlantic cod catch almost 20 ghost gear into our oceans. Bluefin take for 2015-2016, ad- years ago, hoping to see a re- He hopes to build a rapport so vocated by the National Ocean- covery in the cod population. that when gear is lost, broken, ic and Atmospheric Administra- Research shows that the results or needs to be discarded fisher- tion (NOAA) and applauded by of the ban have been disap- men will contact ODA first and Kurt can get to it before it goes down or, at the very least, get to it before it does damage. Ac- cording to Kurt, Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino has offered to arrange a meeting among the pertinent parties. While these encouraging steps are being made locally, positive steps on a global scale are also gaining headway, but not without challenges. On November 17, Japan, the United States and Mexico voted to adopt a 43% decrease in fishing of Bluefin tuna; 96% of the Bluefin population is gone and most of those that remain are juveniles that if caught will not be allowed to mature and grow to revive the population. A year ago a 489 pound Bluefin tuna fetched $1.7 million; at one time this was an average size Bluefin but this size has now become rare. Because Mexico does not always adhere to regulated fishing policies due to Removing ghost trap. economic motivators, the Japa- Credit: Walter Marti nese government may suggest to its importers not to purchase 11

OceanBights ______pointing. In Newfoundland, the Blue Ocean Film Festival, work is slow as the Infidel lies conventional fishermen and the http://www.blueoceanfilmfestiv in 150 feet of water, at a depth villages built around this honor- al.org/, where Dr. Earle’s re- that requires technical diving able tradition have become cently released documentary, expertise. ghost towns while the Canadian also named ‘Mission Blue’ The ocean floor around government (taxpayers) sup- (available on Netflix), would be Catalina has more than Infidel ports residents with subsidies to a finalist in the competition. littering the environment and the tune of $4 billion. Even with The documentary brings to light since owners are not usually this example NOAA seriously the frightening impacts of im- held accountable to haul up ves- overestimated the cod popula- properly regulated commercial sels if they sink, so the vessels tion more than two years ago overfishing as well as disasters stay. What also stays the same and now current reports are that such as the BP oil spill on our are that dive trips take resources NOAA is initiating emergency oceans and ecosystems. – divers volunteering their time, action, severely limiting this While some things are fuel, air to fill the tanks, dona- season’s catch in the Gulf of changing for the better, other tions of special skills like car- Maine, impacting fishermen things stay the same. The Infidel pentry, electrical work, welding, who expected to keep their live- is still in the waters off Catali- first aid/EMS, coordinating ed- lihood and take care of their families without subsidies. This year Kurt will be presented with the Ocean Hero award for both his commitment to restore our oceans and his steadfast work in removing ghost gear. He will receive the award from ocean awareness champion, Dr. Sylvia Earle and her organization, Mission Blue (http://mission- blue.org/about/). Dr. Earle is a living legend in the ocean and dive communities and was Time magazine’s first ‘Hero for the Planet’. Among her accom- plishments are setting the record for the deepest dive without a ODA divers removing net. tether in a JIM (atmospheric Credit: Jeff Larson diving) suit in 1979 and spend- ing an historic two weeks in an underwater pod for the Tektite na. And though ODA made four ucational events for kids, and project in the Indian Ocean, trips from 2009 to 2011 to re- anything else that makes the https://www.facebook.com/sylv move debris and enlisted the ODA run. Funding issues are ia.a.earle. As the interview for help of the trawler Captain Jack still the most difficult since this OceanBights article was being to haul it away, and with other ODA is the only organization conducted, Kurt was preparing divers also working to clean it that does this type of work to travel to St. Petersburg for up, there is much to do. The without funding from NOAA. 12

OceanBights ______Kurt is the skipper but the volunteer crew and donations make it happen. When asked what has changed for the better, Kurt says awareness of the problems that plastics pose to the environment has been a paramount step. That this issue finally en- tered the public consciousness proves that public education and awareness does make a difference. (Reports on plastic in the environment have been published in previous issues of OceanBights: Vol 2, No 2 and Vol 4, No 2). Kurt hopes that the problem of ghost gear can also reach that consciousness. When asked if he’s ever thought about quitting, without missing a beat he says, “not one day; this isn’t a job, this is my life.” So, the one good thing that will stay the same is Kurt’s commitment to helping our oceans recover.

 Turtles from page 8 Pam Ryono looking for turtles, and one that was spotted. Green turtles are perhaps the Credit: Hugh Ryono largest of the hardshelled turtles (softshell leatherbacks, Dermo- could lay 7000 eggs in her life- writes that genetic studies on chelys coriacea, are larger). In- time. That’s a lot of calcium. our local turtles find that they deed, Pam has seen two greens Green turtles are known are related to the Mexican which she has estimated to be to travel large distances be- population of green turtles. The the size equivalent of a 500 lb tween their feeding grounds and San Gabriel turtles are likely to turtle housed in Sea World San their breeding grounds. For ex- breed in Baja California, per- Diego. ample, almost all Hawaiian haps Magdalena Bay. The dis- Our turtles will be sex- green turtles breed on French tance between Los Angeles and ually mature when they are be- Frigate Shoals (where a French Magdalena Bay is 750 miles, so tween 20 and 50 years old. frigate shoaled), roughly 700 our turtles may be making a mi- They can live up to 100 years miles from the Big Island. Dan gration similar to that which the and may breed every 2 to 4 Lawson of the National Oceanic Hawaiian turtles make to lay years, laying 100 to 200 eggs and Atmospheric Administra- their eggs in the sand. These per clutch. So a single female tion (NOAA) in Long Beach, eggs are a vestige of their ter-

OceanBights ______restrial past. In fact, the devel- the ocean or get eaten by about Now, I must admit, I opment of the egg was an ad- anything with a gut. Once in the was never a fan of turtles except vancement that permitted ani- water they are out to sea to hide in soup (with sherry). But mals to leave the sea but that where they must be carnivorous that’s only because I haven’t now anchors them to land. as there is not much flora to eat thought much. They are fasci- In the continental Unit- besides phytoplankton. When nating animals. Evolutionary speaking, their ancestors de- veloped on land, but their ancestor’s ancestors ultimate- ly came from the sea. So the naïve question is: why did they leave the ocean original- ly if they found it feasible to return. Of course, this is just evolution taking its unguided walk through time, exercis- ing environmental and ecological opportunities as they develop and are presented to the physiological and genetic adaptability of the species. One would think that the number of terrestrial-type animals that evolve back to live in the marine environment would be small. How- Turtle power plant on San Gabriel River as seen from the 2nd St ever, surprisingly to me, bridge. Outflow is in center of image. there are many types of terrestrial animals who feed and ed States, they are known to larger, green turtles come to live, to varying degrees, in breed in Florida on the central coastal areas to benthic feed, the sea. These include animals and southeast coasts where per- eating exclusively sea grasses that feed only there, e.g., vari- haps up to 1,000 turtles nest. and algae off the bottom. Hence ous birds from eagles to pen- Worldwide, the two largest they must stick close to shore as guins; to those that may live nesting populations are found at green plants can only live in the their entire life, birth to death, Tortuguero National Park on the sunlit shallows. in the ocean. (In my mind, a Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, They apparently prefer real marine animal sleeps in the where on average, 22,500 fe- warmer temperatures as their ocean.) males nest per season; and, distribution includes the tropics Raine Island, on the Great Bar- and subtropics worldwide, o o Do you want to rier Reef in Australia, where roughly between 30 N and 30 write an article 18,000 females nest per season. S, though they do live in the Turtles hatch in the sand Mediterranean, where they are for OceanBights? We nest, dig their way up and out, critically endangered, and have want you to. and in a made-for-TV moment been seen as far north as Alas- Contact us! which we have all seen, race to ka.

OceanBights ______There are only 7 species approximately 40 active volun- – near a power plant outfall. of marine turtles contrasted to teers observing the turtles along However, the San Diego colony 300 species of fresh-water tur- the San Gabriel River. More has been there since the mid tles, which I think indicative of information on this program can 1800’s, prior to power plants. the evolutionary path taken. For be obtained by this link she Of course, shallow San Diego comparison with other species provided: Bay, especially in the southern whose clade made the round http://www.aquariumofpacific.o part, would be much warmer trip to the ocean, there are 78 rg/news/story/citizen_science_p than the surrounding Pacific species of whales, dolphins and roject_seeks_volunteers. Ocean, and may be attractive to porpoises; 62 species of sea What brings the turtles heat-seeking reptiles. snakes; 33 species of pinnipeds; to San Gabriel River? The I wondered whether the 4 species of dugongs and mana- one(s) I saw were in the outfall turtles are drawn to SoCal be- tees; and, a few species of sea of a power plant, where warm cause of an improving environ- or marine otters. Of these, only water is discharged, as can be ment or are diffusing outward the cetaceans, dugongs, some seen in the accompanying im- from an increasing population species of sea snakes and otters ages. They were not near the in Mexico. Dan said that scien- can spend their entire lives, outfall stream, they were in the tists do not know. And Lance birth to sleep to death, in the stream. Cold-blooded reptiles Adams, veterinarian at AoP ocean. These species manage to need warm surroundings to be who works with locally strand- bypass the land-anchoring ex- active and others have suggest- ed turtles, has the opinion that ternal egg, giving birth to live ed that the sea turtles seek the they may not be expanding their young at sea. Unfortunately, warmth of the outfall water. range because there are histori- many of these species are also This idea is bolstered by the fact cal records that indicate turtles on the endangered list. that another, similar, though have always been in the area. For this reason there is larger, colony is located in the But to me, any of these scenari- much local research on sea tur- southern end of San Diego Bay os represents good news. tles. As reported in an earlier issue of OceanBights this research is related to understanding their natural history, a requirement to craft tools and legislation that will better protect these threat- ened species. Our turtles are amenable to study by interested, though perhaps not technical, volunteers. Observing the numbers and locations of turtles is important to understanding their life history, stresses and population developments. Kim Thompson helps organize the citizen-science effort, a collabo- rative project between the Aquarium of the Pacific, Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, Be careful what you catch. Tidal Influence, and NOAA From H. Ryono. Fisheries. She says there are 15

OceanBights ______With warming ocean Whither the Sea Stars? curiously shaped animals and temperatures and established epitomize the ocean environ- feeding colonies found, I pre- Perhaps you have heard ment to children. They are dis- dict green sea turtle sightings about our recent mussel- tributed worldwide (children will become more frequent in gathering expeditions and you and sea stars, with 1 species of the immediate future. Perhaps can read about one in the last the former and about 1,500 of we will see them moving farther OceanBights. Unfortunately, the the latter). However, they are along the coast, maybe to the last two trips are also notable getting pretty thin on the West LA/Long Beach Harbor com- for what we didn’t see: sea Coast (sea stars, not children, plex or to the warmer-water is- stars. The ochre sea star who are actually getting fat). lands such as San Clemente (Pisaster ochraceus) is a well- Apparently, there is a virus- where we will see them on known predator of mussels and transmitted disease, termed sea- SCUBA. My hope is that their seeing them harmlessly strand- star wasting disease, which kills numbers will improve suffi- ed during extremely low tide most species of sea stars. When ciently so we can move them provides amusement and a view they contract the disease, le- off the endangered list though from the beach into their natural sions develop on their outer sur- perhaps not quite to the menu. history. Sea stars (formerly star- faces, then their arms fall off fish if you are an old geezer) are (what a way to go ) and they

Result of Sea Star Wasting Disease: urchins munch the remains of a wasted sea star. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey Department of the Interior/USGS U.S. Geological Survey/photo by Kevin Lafferty

OceanBights ______die. The die off apparently be- quantities in stars that exhibit series we know of. The gan in SoCal in the summer of wasting-disease symptoms. CMS has made great use of 2013 and has propagated Densoviruses, composed of sin- CCD long-term data, deriving northward to Alaska. Dr. Bill gle-stranded DNA, infect inver- insight from them into oceanic Bushing has provided a running tebrates including crustaceans processes that affect Southern commentary on the results of the disease Adopt-A-Thermograph Program at the Avalon Dive Park. It The CMS is seeking donors and site managers for its Adopt-A- appears on his Thermograph program. These sponsors will extend and complete blog. Ocean the Continental Thermograph Array that is currently under devel- epidemiology opment. Adopt-A-Thermograph is directed by David Tsao. For fascinates me, more details, contact David at [email protected] or as I know that merely count- Craig at [email protected]. ing underwater fauna is a challenge (see the article on sea and insects. California. And, CMS volun- urchins, this issue). Viruses are  see Stars, page 21 teers have formatted, organized small, less than 0.2 microns in and continue to maintain an ar- size, and by controlling the size Crowd-sourcing and chive of recently-collected CCD of particles that have access to CCD Urchin Counts temperature data sets. sea stars, say by filtering out Unfortunately, the CCD larger particles (e.g., bacteria), a CMS Staff recently dissolved. This event virus can be implicated when triggered a reflection on this the stars get the disease, espe- Crowd-sourcing is a rel- crowd-sourced organization’s cially if the filtered fluid came atively new expression that de- formation, workings and ac- from stars with the disease. The scribes the process of obtaining complishments. Although much disease was also transmitted support from a large group of has been written about CCD when ocean water was used in people. Volunteer-based organ- temperature-monitoring work aquaria housing healthy sea izations like the Catalina Ma- (and variants of it continues stars, but was not transmitted rine Society are a perfect exam- with the CMS Continental when the ocean water was treat- ple of pure crowd-sourcing. Thermograph Array and work at ed to destroy viruses. Individual Another example is the Catalina the Channel Islands National virus types may be difficult to Conservancy Divers (CCD). Park), its marine-life census ac- identify if they cannot be ampli- These divers and their support- tivities are not as well known. fied (grown to large popula- ers have produced a remarkable The CCD was begun in tions) to the stage where they set of data, which includes over 1992 by a group of ardent di- are amenable to laboratory two decades of species and vers who wanted to replenish study. However, megagenomic temperature measurements ob- the declining abalone popula- studies that look at the genetic tained around Santa Catalina tion at Catalina. They coordi- potential of a sample containing Island using only volunteers. nated with Dr. Bob Given, the many types of viruses show that This data collection is one initial director of the Wrigley genetic material associated with Institute of Environmental Stud- densovirus occurs in greater of the longest local time 17

OceanBights ______ies (WIES) and then a board and organized. Making use- tive Fisheries Investigation member of the Catalina Con- ful species counts re- (CalCOFI) has conducted ship- servancy. Given put the infant quires protocols and based data collections to inves- CCD in contact with the then- tigate initially the collapse of director of WIES, William training. Diver logs must be the sardine fishery and later the MacFarland, and his wife Flor- deciphered and the results tabu- state of the California ocean ence McAlary, then a professor lated. The cost is high simply since the late 1940’s. This rela- at USC. These contacts sparked in terms of time, not to mention tively expensive collection is the CCD legacy, and the organ- the actual dollar expense of the funded by the state of Califor- ization became a support group equipment, training and trans- nia. The Vantuna Research of the Catalina Island Conserv- portation. Much of this effort is Group (OceanBights Vol 3, No 1) ancy with scientific direction undertaken by volunteers has been making measurements from WIES. Although the aba- with the time, training since 1966. They too rely on lone project did not materialize, (SCUBA certification and government and college funding marine-life-census work did. plenty of diving experi- as well as student serfs to main- (Abalone planting has recently ence) and resources that tain operations. taken place on the backside as The Channel Islands Na- described in the first issue of make them a rather select tional Park has performed kelp OceanBights, Vol 1, No 1.) group. monitoring in the northern Few scientists will com- Finally, to be useful, the Channel Islands since 1982 (al- plain about having too much data must be analyzed and so OceanBights Vol 3 No 1), data. The problem is more like- placed within context if any- again, of course, government ly a scarcity of data. Some thing is to be learned. And, the funded. questions cannot be answered results must be distributed if Non-government/college with a short-term dataset. Con- they are to make an impact. The organizations such as Reef En- sider climate and if it is warm- latter considerations led to the vironmental Education Founda- ing. If temperatures from just a formation of the CMS. tion (REEF) and ReefCheck few years are used to address There are a number of rely on armies of volunteers and the question of whether the cli- well-known long-term marine- are national and international in mate is warming, the answer related datasets for Southern scope. REEF started conducting may not be correct. A single California, both government fish surveys in 1993 and has summer may be warmer or and grant funded as well as vol- collected an amazing 188,000 cooler than the summer before. unteer based. Scripps has been surveys worldwide with over However the overall trend, measuring ocean temperature 15,000 volunteers. In California measured over a long period of off its pier since 1916. They and the Pacific Northwest, over time is what is important. The take advantage of cheap labor in 1000 surveyors have collected same issues apply to marine the form of graduate students, a over 30,000 surveys. Just 25 fauna and flora, whose popula- convenient location, and univer- surveyors collected a third of tions may vary enormously over sity funding. the data. the short term, thereby obscur- The California Coopera- ing long-term trends. However, the collection CMS to give lecture on Ocean Acidification of long-term datasets is difficult. Instruments need to be ac- Sharkbait Dive Club, Tuesday Feb 10, 2015 quired, maintained, deployed, http://www.sharkbaitdiveclub.org and collected. Measured data need to be downloaded, stored, 18

OceanBights ______ReefCheck began its just 40 divers completed a total The resulting data from surveys in the tropics in 1997 of 34 urchin surveys and 73 these collections have been used and in California in 2007. They kelp surveys. Ari Requicha was in a couple of peer-reviewed have trained more than 1200 one of the original volunteers articles by McAlary. The first divers in California, resulting in and was one of the last volun- paper concentrated on kelp 650 surveys collected at 97 sites in the last 9 years. About 70 sites are surveyed annually; some sites are surveyed less frequently and some sites more. Hence, the CCD is the oldest of the surveying volunteer groups, and, until recently, had the longest-running monitoring program in the region. The CCD at times had a couple of hun- dred members. CCD divers constructing quadrant Species identifi- CCD historical photo. cation classes were taught and divers were test- ed in the field and certified. teers! He completed 15 urchin growth rates during the 1992- Many of the divers went on to surveys. Also noteworthy is 1993 El Nino. The second arti- become American Academy of Jukka Pylkkamen (“JP”) who cle correlated bottom water Underwater Sciences (AAUS) completed 34 kelp surveys. temperatures (hourly tempera- certified and could dive at These two volunteers were re- ture measurements at a variety WIES. However the number of sponsible for nearly half of the of Catalina sites collected by active divers at any time was total surveys over a 22-year the CCD since 1992!), kelp just a few dozen. In the first span. That’s dedication! (There densities and growth rates, and couple of years, a group of a are multiple divers per survey.) urchin distributions for a seven- dozen divers conducted quarter- Other heavy surveyors year period including two El ly urchin and kelp surveys. In are Mike Doran and Dirk Ninos (1992-1993 and 1997- the next few years the number Burcham, both of whom cur- 1998). The El Ninos are of active volunteer divers ex- rently serve on the CMS board noted for much warmer panded to just over 30. Over the of directors. water. The warmer water lifetime of the CCD (22 years), 19

OceanBights ______tends to be nutrient poor, which depth for the 22 year period. crowned urchins. All three leads to a severe decline in the The peak in urchin densities species show a long-term kelp forests. This, in turn, leads followed by the steep decline decline in densities at 5-meter to dramatic decreases in urchin associated with the 1992 and depth. The second chart (page populations. McAlary thought 1997 El Ninos and noted in the 23) shows the total density (the that the observed increase in the McAlary paper is obvious. The sum of all the species counts) of black (crowned, Centrostepha- benefit to the much longer dura- urchins for the three depths that nus coronatus ) urchin population of monitoring is clear: later the CCD monitored. The long- tions may have been a response El Ninos do not have associated term decrease in urchin densi- to ocean warming. However peaks and subsequent drops in ties occurs at all three depths. with such a short collection pe- urchin densities, even for the riod bookended by El Ninos, she was unable to definitely address that question. The CCD recently concluded its urchin and kelp surveys. The run of 22 years of data spans multiple El Ninos: the strong 1992-93 and 1997-98 observed in the first period of CCD monitoring, and the weaker 2002-03, 2004- 05, and the 2009-10. For each urchin survey, the number of 3 species of urchins (purple, (Stron- gylocentrotus purpu- ratus), red (Strongylo- centrotus franciscanus), and crowned) are counted within a 2-meter by 60-meter transect at 3 depths (5, 10, and 20 meters). There was no time limit on the dura- tion of the survey, so the area was searched care- fully for all sizes of urchins. The first chart CCD conducting census (page 22) shows the CCD historical photo. density of each species of urchin at the 5-meter 20

OceanBights ______There have been a number of long-term local, marine data collections. Several of these efforts are either explicit government projects, or are funded indirectly through government grants to universities and colleges. Another two Goli- ath efforts, REEF and Reef- Check are powered by crowds of volunteers. The CCD’s work was a true “David” effort – a small group of dedicated divers who maintained focus over two decades and success- fully collected many surveys around an island at great personal expense in both time and money. And their data are the only data for Santa Catalina Island and will likely be the baseline to which future studies decades hence will be com- CCD measuring the Kelp forest pared. CCD historical photo

Stars, from page 17 Scientists are not sure your group, please contact us. what triggered the current out- break. Densovirus has been New CMS Lecture around a long time as it is known to exist in old museum We are developing a Upcoming Meetings specimens of sea stars. Specula- new presentation on ocean tion is that the warm water tem- acidification that will de- Southern California Acad- peratures may be conducive to scribe what is meant by the emy of Sciences 2015 An- the operation of the virus, or term and expectations for its nual Meeting, Loyola that it may have recently mutat- effect on the ocean. The work Marymount University, ed into a more deadly strain. that the CMS is doing to meas- May 15-16. Perhaps colder temperatures in ure pH off Catalina will be the future will abate the die off placed in a global context. It or the remaining stars will de- will be appropriate to yacht Ocean Sciences 2016, New velop immunity to the effects of clubs, dive clubs and other Orleans, February 21-26, the virus. We miss the stars. ocean-related/ocean-loving or- 2016.

ganizations. If you are interested in having CMS present to 21

OceanBights ______

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