Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute

White seabass populations have been exploited for more than 130 years resulting in precipitous declines in their fishery landings. HSWRI has been breeding and rearing white seabass to enhance their wild populations since the 1980s. Using wild-caught broodstock to ensure genetic variability, the captive breeding program adheres to the highest environmental standards. Young seabass are raised in indoor tanks to ensure a stable growing environment, then moved to outdoor racewa...ys and eventually into ocean net pens to allow them to experience the natural environmental fluctuations that they will encounter in the wild. Once they reach 8-10 inches in length, they are released into nearshore ocean waters off southern California to help bolster wild white seabass populations. To date, the program has released over 2.6 million white seabass into southern California waters and more than 2000 of them have been recovered; some as healthy adults by local fishermen 15-20 years later! #sustainable #seafood #wildlife #conservation See more

Sign up for our new text message updates! Periodically, HSWRI will send your provided phone number text messages with updates right from our science and researc...h staff. This is a great chance to catch a glimpse behind the scenes of HSWRI research and work done at our laboratories and in the field. Sign up today. Send us a message or head over to hswri.org/contact-us and enter your email, phone number, state and what research areas you are interested in. You can also text HUBBS to 269-89. See more

Will you help us reach our goal? We have TWO DAYS left to fund our River Otter ecology project hosted by Experiment .com. If we secure these funds, we will be eligible for a MATCH from the Wildlife Health and Disease Challenge Grant. As part of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute's Wildlife Population research, we study otters in Brevard County, Florida, particularly otters living in and around the Indian River Lagoon. A healthy otter population is a signal that the lagoon is d...oing well and supporting animals that rely on healthy fish and invertebrate animals. North American river otters are playful, inquisitive animals that live along the shore of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Otters’ well being can signal if there are environmental changes that could hurt wildlife and humans’ quality of life. Pleas consider supporting, any amount helps! https://experiment.com//otter-human-conflict-the-influence

Population levels of California halibut (Paralichthys californicus) in southern California have declined more than 85% from their pristine, unfished, levels. HSWRI scientists are working to restore fish populations through releases of cultured juveniles into coastal waters; this includes California halibut, a highly-prized yet depleted species. Prior to releasing cultured halibut, HSWRI researchers undertake fishery-independent surveys using a variety of gear types (e.g. se...ine and trawl nets) to identify areas of suitable release habitat and understand local population characteristics, such as wild juvenile abundance and size composition. The cultured halibut are tagged prior to release so that they can be distinguished from wild halibut. With this approach, similar survey techniques after release events allow us to examine survival and movement patterns of cultured juvenile halibut in the wild. This information helps ensure that rearing and release practices for California halibut are optimized, and ultimately that our fisheries replenishment efforts provide maximum benefit to fish populations in the ocean. #sustainable #seafood #wildlife #conservation #research See more

Hubbs Spotlight! Agatha Fabry has been a longtime volunteer at HSWRI with our Marine Mammal Stranding Team in Florida and now joins our staff as a Research Assistant. Agatha's work falls under HSWRI's Wildlife Population studies. She was an essential staff member in HSWRI's recent project Utilizing mark-recapture methodology to estimate the abundance and distribution of bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the Indian River Lagoon estuarine stock, where she acted as a photographe...r, boat driver, and observer for the first and most comprehensive dolphin mark-recapture surveys. She has been a volunteer for the FWC Manatee Research team in Melbourne, Florida retrieving manatee carcasses, performing necropsies, and assisting with the rescue and release of manatees from rehabilitation. Likewise, she has been an active participant in the Human and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) dolphin project which involves the capture, sampling, marking, and releasing wild dolphins. Agatha has been an HSWRI volunteer for more than five years, was an Institute intern for two years, completed an undergraduate research project with the Institute, and has gained extensive experience in photo-identification surveys and analyses, whale and dolphin stranding response, necropsy, and rescue, and broad research and field experience. Agatha holds a French Scientific Baccalaureate, a Marine Biology Bachelor, SKEMA Business School, France, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Florida Institute of Technology. Her certifications include PADI open water diver certification and a Florida Boaters License. Please join us in welcoming Agatha to the team!

What are Neurotoxins? How does this affect animals and humans living near the Indian River Lagoon in Florida? Why is it important we monitor and study samples from local dolphin populations? "A potent neurotoxin that has long been associated with mass die-offs of marine mammals during harmful algae blooms has been detected in bottlenose dolphins from the Indian River Lagoon estuary." Our Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute staff collaborated with Florida Institute of Technology... and analyzed liver samples from 119 deceased-stranded bottlenose dolphins collected from 2002 to 2011. "They were looking for saxitoxin, which is produced by Pyrodinium bahamense, a species of harmful algae that is abundant in the Indian River Lagoon. (These algae are bioluminescent and a popular attraction for kayak tours.) As expected, the researchers found saxitoxin in dolphins when there were Pyrodinium blooms happening, but they also found it in dolphins when there were no blooms. The study is also valuable because it establishes what background levels of saxitoxin exposure are in the lagoon, so should a future dolphin mortality event be caused by Pyrodinium, investigators will have a point of reference to compare toxin values and the severity of injury. Fire said researchers have only known about Pyrodinium bahamense’s toxicity in the IRL since the early 2000s. The species naturally produces the toxin, but as the lagoon gains excess nutrients via runoff from land, the algae have the potential to bloom more often and severely, leading to more saxitoxins being introduced into the food web. Fire and colleagues from FAU HBOI also recently completed a separate three-year study of the major prey species for this particular dolphin, which revealed approximately 25 percent of the fish examined in the Indian River Lagoon contain saxitoxin." View full article here: https://buff.ly/3nbbpgn Article by Ryan Randall of F.I.T Video from WFTV Channel 9 Melonie Holt WFTV

What is dolphin photo-ID? How does it relate to wildlife population research? At HSWRI, we study estuarine bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the Indian River Lagoon and the surrounding water bodies. We do this by monitoring the population using boat-based surveys, which also gives us the opportunity to keep eyes on any animals that may be sick, distressed or entangled. Our research staff along with dedicated volunteers collect data and photographs during every dolphin sighting....Continue reading

Want to #HelpSeaChange? You can make a BIG impact with your small change. Now available at HSWRI, you can donate your virtual spare change. With every credit or debit card transaction, the app will round up the total to the next dollar. Your extra change will help sustain Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. You can set a monthly limit and help make an impact on marine mammal health, science and research while you are on the go! Make your gift here: https://hswri.org/DONATE

Wildlife Population research at HSWRI. This week, we will be focused on sharing with you why and how we survey animal populations, why the samples we take from these animals are important, and how this vital research also affects humans. The HSWRI Wildlife Populations program examines the interconnectedness of marine life and habitats towards ensuring healthy ocean ecosystems. We strive to understand why a particular species occurs in some places and not others, why a populat...ion is growing or shrinking, how marine animals interact with the other elements within an ecosystem and how they respond to human interaction. Our scientists consider the biological and physical factors that affect marine animals to understand and explain why a particular species occurs in some places and not others, what determines its abundance, and what influences its relationships with other components of the ecosystem. Our scientists conduct singular and comparative studies of marine and estuarine mammals, fish, sharks, sea turtles and seabirds in tropical, temperate and polar aquatic environments around the world. Catastrophic events such as oil spills and growing concerns about the impacts of climate change highlight the importance of HSWRI’s long-term ecological studies at the California Channel Islands and the Indian River Lagoon system in Florida. Research focuses on predicting and, when possible, preventing negative impacts to vulnerable marine life from pressures such as increasing human activity (fisheries, coastal development, eco-tourism) and climate change. Traditional techniques like boat surveys, photo-identification and tagging are combined with newer tools such as autonomous aerial and underwater vehicles, integrated population modeling, molecular genetics and stable isotope analysis, to advance ocean and coastal conservation. Learn more about this research here: https://hswri.org/research/wildlifepopulations/#rescue

We are excited to launch a new way to share our research with you; which you can share with your family and friends as well. Each month, HSWRI will provide an in-depth look at one of our 4 core research areas. Each week we will dive deeper with science chats, in the field posts, education materials and more on the topic for the month. Sign up to stay updated via email or text at https://buff.ly/3cJMYSh

Thank you for advocating and support of this vital program. Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath ! The Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP) is a hatchery program investigating the feasibility of using cultured marine finfish to successfully enhance wild fish populations White Seabass are spawned and reared at a hatchery in Carlsbad, which is owned and operated by Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. You can read more about the OREHP program on Californias DFW page https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/ABMP/OREHP #conservation #replenishment #sustanability HUGE THANKS Gavin Newsom California Department of Fish and Wildlife Coastal Conservation Association of California AFTCO

Governor Gavin Newsom signed my Carlsbad hatchery bill! #AB1949 will strengthen and expand our state’s one-of-a-kind marine enhancement hatchery program, which ...is based in Carlsbad. As the longest-running program of its kind in the country, the Ocean Resources Enhancement & Hatchery Program (OREHP) has taught us a lot about how to raise hatchery fish to replenish marine populations. This new law begins a brand new chapter in the history of this unique program. Special thanks to the Coastal Conservation Association of California for sponsoring this bill and everyone in the fishing community who has contributed to making this happen. I’m looking forward to everything that this new and improved program will accomplish! #SustainableFishing