Daniel Palacios, Ph.D. left one ocean for another to assume his new role as director of the Center for Coastal Studies Right Whale Ecology Program. For Dr. Palacios, former associate professor at Oregon State University, it’s a return to his primary scientific interest – understanding how entire ecosystems allow a species to “make a living.”
“In Oregon we focused on studying whale movements and migrations using satellite tracking. Now I’m shifting gears to my first love, oceanography and marine ecology,” he explained.
While in Oregon, Palacios studied four whale species: blue, fin, humpback, and gray, with an emphasis on using tags to chart their migration patterns throughout the North Pacific. But the new director said he likes being able to focus on a single species and a single ecosystem.
“It’s interesting, but you’re barely scratching the surface when you’re studying multiple species and the Pacific is a big ocean. You just get a hint that there’s something really cool going on but you don’t have the opportunity to dig deeper.”
Here in Cape Cod Bay, scientists literally probe the depths to understand how the environment affects whale distribution and behavior. To learn why Cape Cod Bay is such a popular location for North Atlantic right whales, CCS researchers have been examining factors such as ocean currents, temperature, and food supply for decades.
Dr. Palacios Succeeds Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo
Dr. Palacios, who is originally from Colombia, received his B.Sc. in Marine Biology from the University of Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano, and his Ph.D. in Oceanography from Oregon State. He is a member of both the Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals for the US Marine Mammal Commission and of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission.
Taking over from the Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, former director of the Right Whale Ecology Program and co-founder of the Center (and now Scientist Emeritus), Palacios acknowledged that he had big shoes to fill, and credits Mayo for the research accomplishments and massive data sets that have been collected.
“Stormy’s vision, ecological mind and unbounded curiosity have been the pillars of this incredibly successful program. Compared to other research centers, the Center for Coastal Studies has been able to amass a large data set on right whale habitat and their habitat in Cape Cod Bay that is unique. Few organizations have devoted themselves to long-term, systematic sampling as the Center has,” he observed.
The data set includes zooplankton samples collected at the same nine stations over decades, as well as measurements of temperature, salinity, and phytoplankton density in the water column. These data hold clues to further the understanding of right whale behavior, health, and the influence of climate.
“We still know very little about how they make a living and why they go where they go.”
The Center for Coastal Studies conducts two types of right whale field efforts. One focuses on locating and identifying individual whales, by either airplanes and boats, and the other focuses on studying whale habitat from boats.
Center researchers study the food web, or foraging ecology, of the Cape Cod Bay to better understand the causes of zooplankton behavior. Right whales are very specialized feeders, with a preference for copepods. Certain densities of copepod swarms are required for right whales to obtain the nutrition they need.
While the food supply attracts North Atlantic right whales to Cape Cod Bay in numbers not seen elsewhere, Palacios noted that we still know very little about their foraging ecology. “We don’t know if they are getting the nutrition they need.”
The Future of New Technology
For now, Palacios plans to continue with the same successful research strategies that the Center has followed for years. But the Center will also begin to investigate new evolving technologies, such as aerial drones, underwater drones (called gliders), underwater sensors, and tagging.
He explained that some of the new technology he employed in the Pacific can be used to expand right whale research in Cape Cod Bay. But, due to the complexity and cost, as well as ongoing research programs, his approach is “baby steps.”
“My primary responsibility is to continue what we have been doing so well, while retrospectively analyzing our existing samples and data sets to increase our understanding of right whale ecology in Cape Cod Bay,” he said.
Currently, the Center conducts regular surveillance from fixed-wing piloted aircraft, with aerial observers aboard. Such a method is still the “gold standard” for conducting population surveys in large areas, said Palacios. But as it becomes more affordable, drone technology may be the future. High altitude drones may eventually be able to do what the Center’s aerial observers do now, following the same sampling protocol.
High-altitude drone technology would require advanced computer technology to image the ocean’s surface at high resolution and accurately count and identify individual whales.
In addition to aerial drones, Palacios sees a future for autonomous underwater vehicles, or gliders, that could measure key environmental parameters throughout Cape Cod Bay and that might eventually augment or replace the use of boats for habitat sampling.
Tagging
In the Pacific, Palacios and his team used implantable tags to chart whale movements via satellite. Such tags, which stay on for months, would allow researchers to know where right whales go after they leave Cape Cod Bay. But many scientists are concerned about tagging a whale population that is under stress, as implanted tags could have health and reproductive impacts that are not well understood. At the same time, there is growing pressure to find out where right whales go. Such information could help inform management strategies seeking to prevent ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.
In the early 1990s and 2000s, researchers from Oregon used satellite tags to track right whales in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. “Maybe we need to bring the technology back,” said Dr. Palacios, who suggested that it might be possible to place tags on certain, low-risk individuals like juvenile males. “It’s a tool that has undergone refinement and that has some promise in answering pressing questions. We know a lot about their local behavior, but very little about their movements outside Cape Cod Bay, especially in recent times” he said.
Additionally, less intrusive suction-cup tags, which stay on a whale for several hours, could also provide high-resolution measurement of whales’ movements in three dimensions, and could greatly increase our understanding of whales’ foraging behavior in Cape Cod Bay.
Leveraging Vast Data Archives
Back in the lab, Palacios brings fresh ideas regarding the Center’s vast right whale data archives. He hopes to introduce new software technology that would save time in the storing and accessing of data, and ensure that the data is accessible years into the future.
Such software would also allow for data visualization, and improve accessibility and collaboration with other institutions.
“I’m hoping to obtain funding for a database architect to deploy a system that works for us,” he said.
Although focused on right whales, Palacios said he looks forward to collaborating with other areas of study at the Center, noting that right whales don’t exist in a vacuum. Insights into the right whale ecosystem apply to other species as well. Such a cross-disciplinary approach, he said, “makes the whole bigger than the sum of its parts.”
Despite the ongoing threats faced by the North Atlantic right whale, Palacios said he is optimistic.
“I’m hopeful that the species will survive if we can overcome pressing issues. The Center has a critical role to play in this by generating new scientific information about the whales and their habitat. As long as these whales are around, we shouldn’t give up hope. It’s an exciting time for the Center, and I’m very happy to join a team that is well set up to accomplish what we’re tasked to do.”