|
|
 International
Accolades for Open Ocean Research Project
 Upon
passing by the sleepy Reed Point marina near Vancouver, the unsuspecting
boater might be alarmed to see a Steller sea lion enthusiastically launch
itself into the open water from the front door of a float house.
Far from being an unorthodox family pet, however, the sea lion in question
is actually contributing to the conservation of its own species. For the
first time ever, these challenging animals are being successfully trained
in open water — a significant achievement that hints at their critical
role in an important research project.
It is safe to say the work of the Steller Sea Lion Open Ocean Research
Project is making waves. Recently, a poster on the project’s work
with trained sea lions in an open-ocean setting received top prize at
the International Marine Animal Training Association (IMATA) conference
in Kolmarden, Sweden. The award underscored the unique nature of this
project — it was the only open-ocean research project presented
at the conference — and the speed with which the animals had been
trained to consistently perform complex behaviours.
 Naturally,
measuring responses to different dietary and exercise regimes is far more
easily done on trained sea lions in an Aquarium setting than on untrained
ones in the wild. But the types of experiments that can be done within
an Aquarium are limited by its physical facilities. In order to ensure
consistent results from sea lions in a wild setting, Consortium researchers
from UBC set up the ‘Open Ocean’ project to use trained sea
lions supervised by experts from the Vancouver Aquarium.
Part of the Open Ocean project’s work is to examine the energetic
cost of foraging, or how wild sea lions expend energy while they are diving
and searching for food. For this study, two sea lions (Sitka and Bonilla)
participate in daily training and diving sessions, 2-3 times a day. Some
sessions are used for research purposes, while some simply serve to reinforce
trained behaviours in the animals.
 The
studies at the Open Water Research Station have not been without significant
challenges, and the trainers who care for the sea lions frequently rely
on their own ingenuity to overcome training obstacles. The animals are
required to complete various tasks while out of sight of training staff
and researchers for prolonged periods, which means that trainers and sea
lions must trust each other. The animals were raised at the Vancouver
Aquarium, and have also had to learn to be comfortable around boats and
with the unfamiliar sights and sounds of their open-water surroundings.
It may seem like a lot of work is being done for the sake of a few numbers,
but those numbers are invaluable for obtaining important new knowledge
about a previously unknown aspect of Steller sea lion biology and behavior.
And the better we understand these trained animals, the better our chances
of being able to conserve the dwindling populations of their wild counterparts
in Alaska.
See Open
water section of website for more information on this project.
9 November 2004
|
