What's that on the beach? Designing a Protocol for the Identification and Reporting of Stranded Marine Fish, Squid, and Turtles Using the Oregon Coast as a Proof-of-Concept

It is not unusual to see stranded or washed-up marine animals and birds along any coastline. Various networks nationwide exist to report marine mammals and sea birds, yet, we have been unable to find a network in Oregon or nationally to report other stranded marine animals, namely fish, cephalopods, and reptiles. Existing networks for sea turtles, an endangered species, are incomplete. When a stranded fish, squid or turtle is found in Oregon, calls are frequently placed to a variety of locations because there is not a single publicized location or person to contact. Additionally, the specifics of the information provided by the public are generally unreliable. This paper will describe the creation of a citizen scientist opportunity for tourist or resident beachcombers to participate in an ongoing and necessary marine research project. A protocol was designed and evaluated, in both English and Spanish, that enables “citizen scientists” to identify washed-up or stranded marine reptiles, fish, and cephalopods along the coast. This protocol created a central location in which users can access information to identify species, know what information to record, and where to report it. The Oregon Coast was used as a proof-of-concept of the efficacy, usability and adaptability of the protocol. A This document will further discuss the myriad benefits this protocol provides to the areas of marine research, endangered species protection, researcher cooperation and collaboration, and community involvement in marine science, as well as long-term plans and possibilities for the future

Under the Sea: An evaluation of the establishment and continued effectiveness of the Galápagos National Park and Marine Reserve in Ecuador

Conservation of natural resources has become a new watchword of the scientific community. While many terrestrial ecosystems are well protected, marine ecosystems have only recently come to the forefront. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been introduced as a means of protecting biodiversity, commercial stocks, and ecosystem services. There are many social, ecological, and economic considerations to be addressed for a marine reserve to be effective from a biological and social perspective. In 1998 the Special Law of the Galápagos created the Galápagos Marine Reserve, and instituted a participatory management scheme for local and governmental cooperation in management. The foundations of the Special Law are strong, however many problems plague the islands, including rapid growth of the population and the tourism industry, and a great deal of non-compliance with reserve regulations in the form of violent protests and illegal fisheries. Feelings of legitimacy must be fostered among the local populations through significant improvements in education to enhance stakeholder participation, and increased funding to the National Park to allow for effective enforcement of the regulations. Increasing visitor fees is a potential source of new income to be used for park management and improving local resources, especially education

An evaluation of the establishment and continued effectiveness of the Galápagos National Park and Marine Reserve in Ecuador

Conservation of natural resources has become a new watchword of the scientific community. While many terrestrial ecosystems are well protected, marine ecosystems have only recently come to the forefront. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been introduced as a means of protecting biodiversity, commercial stocks, and ecosystem services. There are many social, ecological, and economic considerations to be addressed for a marine reserve to be effective from a biological and social perspective. In 1998 the Special Law of the Galápagos created the Galápagos Marine Reserve, and instituted a participatory management scheme for local and governmental cooperation in management. The foundations of the Special Law are strong, however many problems plague the islands, including rapid growth of the population and the tourism industry, and a great deal of non-compliance with reserve regulations in the form of violent protests and illegal fisheries. Feelings of legitimacy must be fostered among the local populations through significant improvements in education to enhance stakeholder participation, and increased funding to the National Park to allow for effective enforcement of the regulations. Increasing visitor fees is a potential source of new income to be used for park management and improving local resources, especially education

No evidence that the introduced parasite Orthione griffenis markham, 2004 causes sex change or differential mortality in the native mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis (Dana, 1852)

Dramatic, rapid, population declines of the native North American burrowing shrimp Upogebia pugettensis (Dana, 1852) are associated with intense infestations by the introduced Asian bopyrid isopod parasite, Orthione griffenis Markham, 2004. However, expected host weight losses with increasing parasite weights do not occur, even among apparently castrated females. The prevailing assumption that energetic losses cause host castration have thus remained open to question, and the mechanism(s) resulting in castration and consequent population declines of U. pugettensis have remained unclear. Proposed alternative explanations for these declines, which have been based on a dramatically greater prevalence of O. griffenis among U. pugettensis females, include parasite induced sex change, increased male mortality, and differential tidal exposure of sexes to settling O. griffenis larvae. We examined 508 O. griffenis infestations from 2,014 shrimp collected from 26 stations in 5 Oregon estuaries to test these alternative hypotheses. We expected greater infestation frequencies among females than among males and a close association of O. griffenis infestations with intersex shrimp in the overall population if feminization occurs. We also expected covariation in sex ratio with tide exposure if O. griffenis settlement is sex linked. Instead, we found an overall 1:1.07 sex ratio, a lack of association of intersex U. pugettensis with O. griffenis infestations, and an unchanging sex ratio with tidal exposure, precluding parasite induced sex change, male mortality, or tidal immersion effects on infestations. The most likely mechanism driving U. pugettensis declines thus remains castration due to host energetic losses. This energetic interaction is likely to be resolved quantitatively through controlled experiments and increasingly detailed field surveys over time

Population structures of the mud shrimp Upogebia pugettensis and its introduced parasitic isopod Orthione griffenis within and among Oregon estuaries

Keywords: population; mud shrimp; Upogebia pugettensis; parasite; isopod; Orthione griffenis; estuary; Yaquina Bay, Oregon; Alsea Bay, Oregon; Tillamook Bay, Oregon; distribution; siz