熊猫在线视频

鈥淲e are fortunate to know a lot about sea otter behavior, but there鈥檚 also a lot that we don鈥檛 know,鈥� said Ana Velasquez, a master鈥檚 candidate in biological sciences at UAA and an 熊猫在线视频 Sea Grant State Fellow for the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of 熊猫在线视频.

Velasquez defended her master鈥檚 thesis, 鈥�Short-term Effects of Tag Implantation in Sea Otters,鈥� on Oct. 28. While attaching collars or internal tags to animals is a common method in wildlife biology for gathering data on the location and behaviors of wild animals, Velasquez sought to understand how the act of tagging itself can affect that behavior and health of sea otters.

Otters present a special challenge for tagging efforts. 鈥淭ags are placed externally either by attachments like collars or backpacks or adhesives [on other animals],鈥� said Velasquez. 鈥淯nfortunately, these methods pose a challenge for sea otters.鈥� Previous studies found that external tags weren鈥檛 a viable option for sea otters long-term, and scientists turned to surgically implanted devices to monitor the species. However, scientists have been cautiously aware this procedure likely has some effects on the otters鈥� health and behavior.

鈥淲e know that there is a knowledge gap regarding the short- and long-term impacts of implantation [on otters],鈥� Velasquez explained. 鈥淭here has been increasing awareness of the necessity of such studies to ensure animal well-being and data integrity for researchers tasked with downstream analysis.鈥�

New methods for old data

While Velasquez has studied marine mammals in the field with the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she made use of an existing data set for her thesis project. Originally collected on a group of sea otters from Prince William Sound in 2003 and 2004, the dataset recorded both the otters鈥� dive behavior and their body temperature. 

After analyzing the data, Velasquez found that several otters experienced fevers within three days of having tags implanted, likely as a result of 鈥渁n acute-phase response or inflammatory reaction鈥� from the surgery. She also determined from the data that the otters were diving less following the surgery, 鈥渟howcasing a change in their ability to acquire food which would have been energetically costly given their high metabolism.鈥�

The scale of the datasets Velasquez worked with required specialized techniques for analysis. 鈥淭he dive data was collected every two seconds for 19 sea otters for a year or more. Body temperature data was collected every two minutes for every sea otter for a year or more,鈥� said Velasquez. 鈥淪o when you think about it, that's thousands of data points, so it's really hard to look at with just a spreadsheet.鈥�

In order to make sense of all the information, Velasquez processed the numbers using the R programming language, which is often used for statistics and data analysis. Velasquez credits her advisor, UAA鈥檚 Amy Bishop, Ph.D., for introducing her to R and advanced statistical analysis. 鈥淭here's no way around it for marine biologists to get away from stats and coding. Coding is definitely not easy, but is a straightforward and streamlined and reproducible way to do [statistics]. And R is an open access platform, so it's a super great resource for researchers to use and learn on.鈥�

An ethical and pragmatic approach

While Velasquez鈥檚 thesis research involved heavy number crunching, otters are more than numbers on a spreadsheet to her. A concern for the well-being of animals is fundamental to her research interests. 

鈥淚 grew up with this narrative of 鈥榊ou should protect where you play. You should protect what you love.鈥� I've always had a fascination with animals, and to some extent, ethics as well,鈥� Velasquez said. 

By making use of existing data sets for her thesis project, Velasquez did not need to conduct further capture studies on otters. 鈥淎s scientists, we have a role to not do more harm than what is the greater benefit of the scientific process, and to increase our understanding,鈥� she explained. 鈥淎nd while we鈥檙e trying to always learn more about the system, we don't want it to be at a detriment. There's not a need to go back and re-influence the system by capturing [animals] again if we already have the data available.鈥� 

In addition to animal ethics, analyzing existing data also has pragmatic benefits. 鈥淭hese kind of capture studies are incredibly expensive. You need a specific dive team that has the rebreather certifications and all the gear for that. You need boat time, you need personnel time, you need the drugs to sedate the otters, you need the tags to get the data. There's just tons of cost associated with this kind of study,鈥� Velasquez explained. 鈥淭here's something to be said of reusing data when you can to answer questions so that you're not duplicating efforts.鈥�

Having completed her thesis defense, Velasquez is currently focusing her efforts on her role with the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of 熊猫在线视频. 鈥淚 was hired on to support mariculture work,鈥� said Velasquez, who aims at 鈥渋ncreasing the participation of tribal citizens and tribes within the mariculture sector鈥� while working with the Indigenous Stewardship Program team on holistic ecosystem stewardship.