Oregon Coast Mammal Stranding Network Speaks in Tillamook This Weekend

Published 04/25/2011

Stranded sea lion, photo Seaside Aquarium

(Tillamook, Oregon) - The living things you find on Oregon beaches - particularly marine mammals - will be the subject of a talk given by members of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network in Tillamook on April 30.

The event takes place at Tillamook Bay Community College at 1:30 p.m.

This workshop is free and is presented by the CoastWatch group, designed especially for those interested in volunteering to keep watch over stranded marine mammals. Those who are simply interested in natural history and the science of marine wildlife of the Oregon coast will find it interesting as well.

Jim Rice

In the spotlight will be Jim Rice, coordinator for the network, Debbie Duffield from PSU, and Kim Raum-Suryan from the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

Rice will describe the state’s marine mammal populations and explain how volunteers can work through the network to keep watch over those that are stranded alive while helping scientists count and study those that wash up dead.

Duffield, a professor of biology at Portland State University, will discuss the health of marine mammal populations and problems raised by the interactions between marine mammals and humans. Dr. Duffield also studies the genetics and diving physiology of marine mammals, and she co-coordinates the Northern Oregon/Southern Washington Marine Mammal Stranding Program. Her portion of the presentation will focus on marine mammal strandings in this region.

Kim Raum-Suryan

Kim Raum-Suryan is a researcher at the Hatfield in Newport (and also a member of CoastWatch). She present her research in both Alaska and Oregon on the entanglement of Steller sea lions by marine debris, and additional work in Oregon on entanglement of California sea lions. Her talk will also focus on the types of marine debris that threaten marine mammals, and more generally about the latest information about the marine debris problem worldwide. She recently attended the 5th International Marine Debris Conference in Hawaii, and will discuss what she learned there.

Dr. Debbie Duffield

The talk and workshop happens in Rooms 214/215 at the college (4301 Third St. in Tillamook), and will go from 1:30 to about 4 p.m.  It is open to all members of the public and free of charge. For more information about the workshop, contact Jim Rice, (541) 867-0446, jim.rice@oregonstate.edu.

Phillip Johnson, director of CoastWatch, will speak briefly on the program, which organizes volunteers to keep watch over the shoreline and is seeking new “mile adopters” to cover stretches of shoreline on the north coast.  CoastWatch is a project of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition. Johnson can be reached at (503) 754-9303, orshores@teleport.com.

Photos of creatures attended to by Marine Mammal Stranding Network members (photos courtesy Seaside Aquarium)

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