HostInstitutions

CoastalandMarineSciencesInstituteatUCDavisCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary

GreaterFarallonesAssociationGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary

PointBlueConservationSciencePointReyesNationalSeashore

RombergTiburonCenterforEnvironmentalStudies,SanFranciscoStateUniversity

SanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserveSanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperative

Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium 2016

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

IfyoudidnotreceiveanannouncementoftheworkshopandwishtobeaddedtotheGFNMSresearchmailinglistorifyouhavecommentsonthisourfutureresearchsymposia,pleasesubmitwrittenrequestandsuggestionstoJanRoletto,Jan.Roletto@noaa.gov,GFNMS,991

MarineDr.,ThePresidio,SanFrancisco,CA,94129.

TheProceedingsandPDFsofthepresentationsareavailableonthesymposiumwebsiteat:http://www.sfbaynerr.org/goldengate2016/

Jointhesocialmediaconversation;thesymposiumhashtagis#BGGS16.

ThankyoutoourdonorsforthepostereceptionrefreshmentsLagunitasBrewingCompanyandWholeFoodsMarket,SanFrancisco.

Coverpagephotocreditslefttoright:C.BauderCBNMS,MapsForGood,ACCESS/ONMS/Pt.Blue,SFBayNERR,PointReyesNationalSeashore,andC.Weaver,SFSU-RTC

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

BEYONDTHEGOLDENGATERESEARCHSYMPOSIUM

Asymposiumfocusedontheoceanography,geology,andecologyoftheGulfoftheFarallonesandadjacentwatersbetweenPointArenaandPointAñoNuevo–including

CordellBank,PointReyesandcentralSanFranciscoBay

Tiburon,CA

1December2016

PrefaceCoastalandMarineSciencesInstituteatUCDavis(CMSI),CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary(CBNMS),GreaterFarallonesAssociation(GFA),GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS),PointBlueConservationScience(PointBlue),PointReyesNationalSeashore(PRNS),RombergTiburonCenterforEnvironmentalStudiesatSFStateUniversity(SFSU),SanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserve(SFBNERR),andNOAA’sSanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperative(SFSCC)arepleasedtoconveneamultidisciplinarysymposiumonresearchintheGulfoftheFarallonesandadjacentwatersbetweenPointArenaandPointAñoNuevo–includingCordellBank,PointReyes,andcentralSanFranciscoBay.Afterafiveyearhiatussinceourlastregionalresearchsymposium,weareexcitedtoprovidethisforumforresearcherstocollaborateandexchangeinformationabouttheirprojectswithintheregion.Withinthesymposiumyouwillhearaboutmarineresourcemanagement,includingclimatechangeimpactsandindicators,restorationandmitigationactivities,definingandidentifyingecologicalhotspots,oceanographicpatterns,theintegrationofbiologicalandphysicalobservations,habitatcharacterization,andtheimportanceoflong-termmonitoringofourmarineandestuarinehabitatsandspecies.Ourgoalistoincreaseourunderstandingandprotectionofregionalmarineandestuarineecosystems,becauseitisthisunderstandingthatwillsupportandguidewisemanagementoftheenvironment.Abstractrequestsweresenttothecommunityofresearchersandmarineeducators,privateorganizations,schools,andpublicagenciesknowntobeinvestigatingoreducatingthepublicabouttheecosystemwithintheregion.Thisyearwereceived62abstractsfromabroadrangeofdisciplinesincluding:geographyandmapping,characterizationandecologyofvarioushabitats,oceanographicprocessesandinfluencesonproductivity,geology,sedimenttransport,marinedebris,coastalerosion,predator-preyrelationships,planningforclimatechangeimpacts,populationassessments,andresourcemanagementissues,e.g.restoration,pressures,statusandtrends.Thesymposiumisanopportunityforlocalmanagers,researchers,andeducatorstomeetpeopleworkinginotherdisciplinesandtoincreasecommunicationandcollaborationbetweenresearchers,managers,policymakers,andthepublic.TheabstractsintheseProceedingsincludeprojectsrecentlycompleted,in-progressreports,andprojectsplannedtobegininthenearfuture.Wehopethatyouusethisforumtocritiqueandcontributetoeachother’swork,aswellastodevelopnewcollaborations.SeveralinvestigatorswerenotabletoattendtheworkshopbuttheirabstractsareincludedintheProceedings.Thedataandinformationproducedthroughtheresearchandmonitoringprojectsrepresentedarevitaltothecontinuedwisemanagementofthebay,coastalandpelagicsanctuaries,parks,andreserves.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Theinstitutionssponsoringthissymposiumareleadersinthefieldofmarine,coastal,andestuarineresearchandresourceprotectionandeachcontributestoourregionalcollectiveeffortsthroughresearch,teaching,ormanagement.ThisyearGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuarycelebrates35-yearsofprotectingouroceanwildernessjustbeyondtheGoldenGate.CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuaryexpandedin2015,protecting1,286squaremilesofoceanoffthecoastofPointReyesandismakingstridesinscienceforresourcemanagement.PointReyesNationalSeashoreiscelebratingits55thanniversaryin2017andhasongoingcommitmenttomarinescience,conservation,andeducation.TheyleadtheresearchandrestorationofDrakesEsteroandcontinuelong-termmonitoringofpinniped,seabird,rocky-intertidalandMarineProtectedAreasalongthePRNScoastline.TheRombergTiburonCenterforEnvironmentalStudieswillcelebrateits40thanniversaryin2018andisdedicatedtothescientificstudyoftheseathroughinterdisciplinaryresearchandeducationalprogramsthatilluminatethevitalconnectionsbetweenscience,societyandthesea,providingthefoundationforresilientmarineandcoastalecosystems.SanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserveisoneof28estuarineresearchreservesinthenationandprotectstwoofthemostpristinemarshesinSanFranciscoBay.SanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperativeisoneoffiveNOAASentinelSiteCooperativesinthecountry.TheirgoalistoenhancethecapacityofBayAreacommunitiestoplanforandadapttochangingcoastalfloodconditionsbyunitingpartnersandresources.TherecentestablishmentoftheCoastalMarineSciencesInstituteatUCDavishasbroughttogethermarinescientistsatBodegaMarineLaboratory(BML)andthemaincampus,continuingtostrengthenresearchinterestsandeducationopportunitiesinthisregion,integratingacrossdisciplinesandcombiningdiscoverywithformalthroughdegreeprograms.In2016UCDaviscelebratedthefoundingofBML50yearsago.PointBlueConservationSciencecelebrated50yearsin2015andiscommittedtoadvancingnature-basedsolutionstoclimatechange,habitatloss,andotherenvironmentalthreatsforwildlifeandpeople,throughscience,partnerships,andoutreach.Theprotectionofourocean-basednaturalandculturalresourceswillbediminishedwithouttheresearchrepresentedintheseProceedings.WethankourcolleaguesatCMSI,CBNMS,GFA,GFNMS,PointBlue,PRNS,SFBNERR,SFSCC,andSFSU,aswellasdonationsfromLagunitasBrewingCompanyandWholeFoodsMarketforfundingandin-kindassistancetodeliverthissymposium.BenBecker JaimeJahncke PointReyesNationalSeashore PointBlueConservationScienceJennaJudge JohnLargier SanFranciscoBayandOuter UniversityofCaliforniaDavis, CoastSentinelSiteCooperative CoastalandMarineSciencesInstitute

BodegaMarineLaboratoryDanielleLipski KarinaNielsen CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary RombergTiburonCenterforEnvironmental Studies,SanFranciscoStateUniversityRachelRhodes JanRolettoGreaterFarallonesAssociation GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaryMichaelVaseySanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserve

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Program0800-0900 MorningReceptionandOne-on-OneExchangeofIntroductionsandIdeas0900-0910 WelcomeandIntroductoryRemarks–KarinaNielsenSessionA.PelagicandBenthicEcosystems,Moderator–JohnLargier0910-1040 NorthCentralCaliforniaecosystemstatusupdatefor2014-2015.

JaimeJahncke,MeredithElliott,JanRoletto,andDanielleLipski

DissolvedoxygenvariabilityontheNorth-CentralCaliforniashelf.KateHewett,JohnLargier,andDanielleLipski

BenthicscienceinCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary.DanielleLipski,DanHoward,andKaitlinGraiff

Characterizationoffish-habitatinteractionswithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS).EmilyAikenandJamesLindholmDevelopingmarinefoodwebmodelstoevaluatebluewhale,Cassin'saukletandsalmonresponsestolong-andshort-termchangesinoceanographyintheCaliforniaCurrent.RyanJ.Hartnett,KarinaNielsen,FrancesWilkerson,MeredithElliott,NadavNurandJaimeJahnckePseudo-nitzschiaoccurrenceinthecentralCaliforniaCurrent.MeredithL.Elliott,GreggLanglois,JanRoletto,DanielleLipskiandJaimeJahnckeMarinedebrismonitoringandassessmentprogramatGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary:anoverviewofmethodology,datacollection,andpreliminaryfindings.KateL.Bimrose,SherryLippiatt,KirstenLindquist,andJanRolettoMicroplasticcontaminationinSanFranciscoBay.MegSedlak,RebeccaSutton,CarolynnBox,SherriA.Mason,ShavonneK.Stanek,EllenWillis-Norton,andIanF.WrenFishermen-ledderelictDungenesscrabgearrecoveryinGFNMSin2015-16.JenniferRenzullo,BobMaharry,RichardOgg,AndyGiuliano,andKirstenGilardi

DeployingROVstoassessMarineProtectedAreaeffectiveness.DirkRosenandAndrewLauermann

1040-1110 Break–CoffeeintheSouthBayRoom

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

SessionB.CoastalandEstuarineEcosystems,Moderator–DanielleLipski1110-1240 IntrusionofupwelledwatersintoSanFranciscoBay.

JohnLargierandKateHewett

RestoringFucusdistichusfollowinganoilspillintheSanFranciscoBay.LauraM.Anderson,PeteT.Raimondi,JoaoNeiva,andEsterSerrãoWaterqualityinDrakesEsterobeforeandafteroystermariculture,acomparisonof2010versus2016.FrancesWilkerson,SarahBlaser,MeganWood,AlexEParker,KarinaNielsen,andDickDugdaleIncorporatingtheinvertebrategrazer,Phyllaplysiataylori,intotheeelgrassrestorationframework:physiologicalandecologicalinvestigations.RichelleL.Tanner,WayneP.Sousa,andJonathonH.StillmanImprovinganoceanacidificationobservingsysteminsupportofPacificCoastShellFishGrowers.AricBickel,DavidAnderson,EmilioMayorga,MollyMcCammon,JanNewton,JulieThomasPescaderoLagoonhypoxia.JohnLargierandRobinRoettgerSnapshotCalCoast:MobilizingcommunitymemberstodocumentspeciesrangesalongtheCaliforniacoast.AlisonYoungandRebeccaJohnsonUsingyouth-basedcitizensciencetorevealecologicaltrendsinCaliforniarockyintertidal.MonikaL.KrachandAbbyNickelsReservesinreverseandbackagain:changingaccessstatusofStornettaRanchandtheresultingeffectonredabalonepopulations.KarahAmmann,PeteRaimondi,LauraAnderson,ChristyBell,MelissaDouglas,RaniGaddam,MayaGeorge,NathanielFletcherandDavidLohseThesedimentconnection:shrinkingsuppliesinthefaceofgrowingneeds.DouglasGeorge,JohnLargier,andPatrickBarnard

1240-1340 LunchProvidedintheSouthBayRoomandPosterReviewintheHearth

LoungeandNorthBayRoom

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

SessionC.BiogenicHabitats,BirdPopulations&Management,Moderator–KarinaNielsen1340-1510 Citizensciencemonitoringrevealskelpforestcommunitychangesinnorthern

andcentralCalifornia.JanFreiwald,DanAbbott,andAnnaNeumann

ReefCheckCaliforniacitizenscientistconductfirstscubakelpforestsurveyinMontaraStateMarineReserve.JanFreiwaldandDanAbbott

Thestrengthofkelptissuedependsonage,season,andherbivoreactivity.NicholasP.BurnettandMimiA.R.Koehl

CommonRavendepredationnegativelyaffectsreproductivesuccessofPelagicCormorantsatAñoNuevoStatePark,centralCalifornia.RyanD.Carle,DavidM.Calleri,JessieN.Beck,andMichelleM.HesterPopulationtrendsofCommonMurresandBrandt’sCormorantsintheGulfoftheFarallones,1999-2016.GerardJ.McChesney,PhillipJ.Capitolo,MichaelW.Parker,HarryR.Carter,CassieM.Bednar,PeteM.Warzybok,RussellW.Bradley,andRichardT.GolightlyAircraftdisturbancetocommonmurres(Uriaaalge)atacentralCaliforniabreedingcolony.AllisonFuller,GerryMcChesney,andRickGolightlyRecentdemographicanalysisofAshyStorm-PetrelsontheFarallonNationalWildlifeImpacts:SurvivalandpopulationbenefitsfromreducednumbersofBurrowingOwls.NadavNur,RussellW.Bradley,LeoSalas,andJaimeJahnckeSheddinglightonthewintermovementsofCassin’sauklets.MichaelE.Johns,PeteWarzybok,RussellW.Bradley,JaimeJahncke,MarkLindberg,andGregBreedClaynestmodulesforseabirds:aversatileandsustainablesolutiontodiversethreats.MichelleM.Hester,NathanLynch,RyanD.Carle,JessieN.Beck,andMatthewPassmoreInitialROVcharacterizationofthedeepwaterwreckofUSSIndependence,August2016.JamesDelgado,MichaelBrennan,KaiVetter,ChristopherFigueroa,KelleyElliott,andJanRoletto

1510-1530 Break–CoffeeintheSouthBayRoom

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

SessionD.MarineVertebratePopulations&Management,Moderator–BenBecker1530-1700 StatusofmappingintheareaoftheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarine

Sanctuary.GuyR.Cochrane

Length-basedestimatesofsurvivalofsub-adultandadultwhitesharksinCaliforniausingphotoidmark-recapture.PaulE.Kanive,JayJ.Rotella,SalJ.Jorgensen,TaylorK.Chapple,ScotAnderson,andBarbaraA.BlockMovementsanddivingbehaviorofjuvenileCaliforniasealionsduringthe2015/2016ElNiñoevent.ElizabethA.McHuron,BarbaraBlock,andDanielP.Costa

NorthernelephantsealpopulationdeclineonSouthFarallonIslandsasaresultofhabitatdegradation.RyanBerger,RussBradley,DerekLee,SarahCodde,MelissaCarter,andJaimeJahnckeUpdateonthestatusofhumpbackandbluewhalesalongtheUSWestCoastincludingtheGulfoftheFarallones.JohnCalambokidisInsightsintoblueandhumpbackwhalemovementsanddivingbehaviorfromarchivaltagdeploymentsinrelationtoship-strikeriskintheGulfoftheFarallones.JohnCalambokidis,AngelaSzesciorka,andJamesFahlbuschFirstobservedforagingbyhumpbackwhalesinSanFranciscoBay.WilliamKeener,IsidoreSzczepaniak,MarcA.Webber,S.JonathanStern,andMaryJaneSchramm

CoastalbottlenosedolphinsmovenorthtotheSanFranciscoBayAreaandbeyond.IsidoreSzczepaniak,WilliamKeener,MarcA.Webber,S.JonathanStern,DanielaMaldini,MarkCotter,R.H.Defran,MeganRice,GregoryCampbell,AmandaDebich,AiméeR.Lang,DennisL.Kelly,AlexKesaris,MaddalenaBearzi,KaylaCausey,andDavidW.WellerAppliedsciencesupportingplace-basedresourcemanagement:needsandopportunitieswithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.JanRolettoandMitchelTartt

UsetheSanctuaryIntegratedMonitoringNetwork(SIMoN)tolinkyoursciencetoresourcemanagementinsanctuaries.DanielleLipski

1700-1710 ClosingRemarks–JohnLargier

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

1710-1830 PosterSessionandReceptionintheNorthBayRoomandHearthLoungePlanktonspeciesdiversityandabundancefromtheSanFranciscoBaytotheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.FadwaBouhedda,ViktoriaKuehn,JohnDamascus,andGretchenCoffmanExperienceandcontaminantsinrelationtoincubationbehaviorofwesterngulls(Larusoccidentalis)nestingatFarallonNationalWildlifeRefuge.LindseyJ.Broadus,PeteWarzybok,RussellBradley,JaimeJahncke,andScottA.ShafferUnderstandingharborporpoisetraumacasesinnorthernCaliforniathroughnecropsyanddolphinsightingdata.RachawadeeChantra,ClaireSimeone,PadraigDuginan,WilliamKeener,IsidoreSzczepaniak,MarcA.Webber,S.JonathanStern,andFrancesGullandTagresightsurveyofnorthernelephantseals(Miroungaangustirostris)atPointReyesNationalSeashore.MeganChurch,LuzTorres,SheridanWilnerandDoreenGurrolaThereceptorbindingassayasanalternativeanimal-freemethodforthedetectionandquantitationofparalyticshellfishtoxinsinoysters.ChadCrain,StephanieAbromaitis,ShiyamalieRuberu,JamesChithalen,andWilliamDraperLessonslearnedduringthe2015GuadalupefursealUnusualMortalityEventwithafocusondifferentiatingotariidspeciesamongsimilarsizedpupsandyearlingsstrandinginCalifornia.MoeFlannery,SuePemberton,DeniseGreig,andTenayaNorrisBenthiccommunitycharacterizationoftheupperreefsofCordellBankusingstillimagesandmultiplehabitatvariables.KaitlinGraiff,DanielleLipski,andDanHowardConnectingourcommunitytotheGoldenGateBiosphere.DaphneHatch,KarenReyna,andStephenSkartvedtLongtermtrendsinbaleenwhalesightingsneartheFarallonIslands.KaytlinIngman,EllenHines,RyanBerger,NadavNur,andJaimeJahnckePartneringtomeetthechallengesofsealevelrise:NOAA’sSanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperative.JennaJudge,JimEckman,AdamFullerton,AimeeGood,WendyGoodfriend,SaraHutto,BeckyLunde,LisaSchiavinato,BeckySmyth,andMikeVaseyIncreasesinPacificmolecrababundanceinNorthernCaliforniacorrelatestostrongElNiño.MonikaL.KrachandAbbyNickelsAdvancingtransitionzonerestoration:applicationofsoilamendmentstoincreasevegetationestablishment.NissaKreidler,RachelleCardona,EvaMalis,DylanChapple,DonnaBall

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

BiologicalmortalityanomaliesinthenorthernandcentralCaliforniaecosystem,2014-2015.KirstenLindquist,JanRoletto,TaylorNairn,andDruDevlinListeninginonCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary.DanielleLipski,HolgerKlinck,SamaraHaver,andLeilaHatchChangesinseabirdbreedingpopulationsizesinthenorthcentralcoastregionofCalifornia,1989to2010-2012GerardJ.McChesney,HarryR.Carter,CrystalA.Shore,SandraJ.Rhoades,RussellW.Bradley,PeteM.Warzybok,RichardT.Golightly,andPhillipJ.CapitoloCommunicationandcomplianceinCaliforniaCoastalMPAs.DavidMcGuire,ViktoriaKuehn,andBrianBairdCensusofgraywhalesandothercetaceansofftheSonomaandMendocinocoastsofnorthernCalifornia.ScottMercerandTheresaMercerWherearethefish:identifyingforagefishhotspotswithinCentralCaliforniaNationalMarineSanctuariesusingpredictivemodeling.CorinneRoss,MichaelThayne,JulieHowar,MeredithElliott,NadavNur,andJaimeJahnckeRestorationmonitoringofDrakesEstero:pre-restorationassessmentofeelgrass,marinedebris,andnon-nativespecies.AmeliaRyan,SarahCodde,andBenBeckerFindingtheFish:UsingschooldetectionmodulesandsingletargetalgorithmstoassessforagefishabundanceoffCentralCalifornia.MichaelThayne,BenjaminSaenz,PeteWarzybok,JaimeJahnckeDrakesEsteroEcologicalMonitoringStudy.AndrewWeltzSpatialanalysisofchick-broodingrhinocerosaukletsCerorhincamonoceratabreedingwithinthecentralCaliforniaCurrentSystem.BradleyWilkinson,JaimeJahncke,PeteWarzybok,RussBradley,andScottShafferAbstractsNotPresentedExperimentalpropagationmethodsfortheOroLomaHorizontalLeveeDemonstrationProject.JessieOlson,DonnaBall,JasonWarner,andPeterBayeAnoverviewofrockyintertidalmonitoringfortheNorthCentralCoastMPABaselineProgram.PeteRaimondi,LauraAnderson,KarahAmmann,ChristyBell,MelissaDouglas,RaniGaddam,MayaGeorge,NathanielFletcher,andDavidLohseBiodiversityexplorationanddiscovery–mesophoticanddeep-seacoralandspongediversityintheCordellBankandGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaries.GaryC.Williams

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

AbstractsListedAlphabeticallybyFirstAuthor'sLastName

Characterizationoffish-habitatinteractionswithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS).EmilyAikenandJamesLindholmInstituteforAppliedMarineEcology(IfAME)atCSUMontereyBayCalStateUnivMontereyBay,100CampusCenter,Bldg53,Seaside,CA,93955E-mail:eaiken@csumb.eduandjlindholm@csumb.eduPhone:(831)582-4662

Thesuccessfulapplicationofspatialapproachestomanagementofmarineecosystems(includingNationalMarineSanctuaries)requiresdataonthedistributionofkeyorganismsandthehabitatswithwhichtheyassociate.Themarriageofremotelyoperatedvehicle(ROV)imagerytohigh-resolutiontopographicmapsoftheseafloorcanprovidepreciselythesedatafordemersalfishesandtheirhabitats.Weanalyzed24hoursofROVvideocollectedalongthreesiteswithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary:RittenburgBank,CochraneBank,andtheFarallonEscarpment.Weidentifiedallfishtothelowesttaxonomiclevelpossible(5,558totalfishfrom42species),quantifiedfishabundanceanddensity,andprecisely-georeferencedtheoccurrenceofeachindividualfish.Videographicimagerywasusedtoestablishfine-scalefish-habitatinteractions,whilethegeoreferenceddatawerecombinedwithhigh-resolutiontopographicmapsoftheseafloor(availablefordownloadthroughtheUSGSdatacatalogathttp://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1234/datacatalog.html)todeterminetherelativeinfluenceofbenthiclandscapeattributesonthedistributionofbiologicalcommunities.WeusedbinomiallogisticgenerallinearmodelsfromthemarinegeospatialecologytoolinArcGIStocreateefficienthabitat-derivedpredictivedistributionmodelsforseveralselectedrockfishspecies.ThesehabitatsuitabilitymapsprovideanopportunitytoextrapolatenecessaryinformationbeyondthesurveyedareastosupportspatiallyexplicitmanagementstrategiesthroughouttheSanctuaryandbeyond.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Reservesinreverseandbackagain:ChangingaccessstatusofStornettaRanchandtheresultingeffectonredabalonepopulations.KarahAmmann,PeteRaimondi,LauraAnderson,ChristyBell,MelissaDouglas,RaniGaddam,MayaGeorge,NathanielFletcherandDavidLohseUniversityofCaliforniaatSantaCruz,SantaCruz,CA,USA.E-mails:karah.ammann@ucsc.edu,raimondi@ucsc.edu,bell@ucsc.edu,melissa.douglas@ucsc.edu,gaddam@ucsc.edu,mgeorge@ucsc.edu,nfletche@ucsc.edu,dlohse@ucsc.edu

TheStornettaRanch,justsouthofPointArenainMendocinoCounty,CA,historicallyconsistedof1711acresofprivatepropertyincluding2.5milesofcoastline.Priorto2004,thiscoastlinehadvirtuallynopublicaccessorharvesting,makingita‘defacto’reserve.TheareawasopenedtothepublicinJune,2004andharvestingofredabalone(Haliotisrufescens)immediatelybegan.InMay,2010theStornettaLandswereaddedtotheexistingSeaLionCoveStateMarineConservationAreaandwereonceagainclosedtoabalonefishing.

Justpriortotheareabeingopenedtothepublicin2004,theMulti-AgencyRockyIntertidalNetwork(MARINe)andPartnershipforInterdisciplinaryStudiesofCoastalOceans(PISCO)workedwiththeCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlife(CDFW)toperformapreliminaryintertidalsurveyofStornetta.Alargepopulationofredabalonewasfoundduringthesurvey.Sincethen,annualmonitoringoftheintertidalabalonepopulationhasoccurredtodetermineboththeeffectsofharvesting,and,after2010,it’ssubsequentresponsetothearea’sclosure.

Toaccomplishthis,in2005anumberofpermanentplotswereestablished.DuetotheinfluenceofSeaLionRocks(essentiallyanoffshoreisland)theplotsdifferedinwaveexposureand,therefore,thecompositionofintertidalalgaeandorganisms.Initiallytheresultssuggestedthattheplotclosesttothecoastalaccesspointwasthemostheavilyimpactedbyharvesting.Specifically,therewasamarkedabsenceofindividualsoflegalsizeintheplotclosesttotheaccesspointcomparedwiththosefartheraway.However,byyear2virtuallynolegalsizedindividualswerefoundinanyoftheplots.Sincetheclosurein2010,therehasbeenanoverallincreaseinthenumberofindividualswhichappearstobeduemostlytoalargeincreaseinnumbersinthemostwaveexposedplots.Thissuggeststhat,inadditiontothelackofharvesting,otherenvironmental/biologicalfactorscaninfluencepopulationsize.

Theseresultssuggestthatchangesinaccessstatuscanhavedramaticconsequencesonredabalonepopulations.AsotherprivatelyownedcoastallandsinCaliforniaarechangedtopublicaccess,monitoringprogramssuchasdescribedheremayprovidetheinsightsneededtoeffectivelymanagetheseareas.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

RestoringFucusdistichusfollowinganoilspillintheSanFranciscoBay.LauraM.Anderson1,PeteT.Raimondi2,JoaoNeiva3,andEsterSerrão41UniveristyofCalifornia,SantaCruz,CA,USA.E-mail:lmanders@ucsc.edu2UniveristyofCalifornia,SantaCruz,CA,USA.E-mail:raimondi@ucsc.edu3UniversidadedoAlgarve,Gambelas,Portugal.E-mail:jmneiva@ualg.pt4UniversidadedoAlgarve,Gambelas,Portugal.E-mail:eserrao@ualg.pt Intertidalrockweedalgaeprovidefoodandsheltertomyriadorganisms;damagingtheseimportantfucoidcommunitiescouldcausecascadingnegativeeffectstorockyintertidalhabitats.OnNov7,2007,theCoscoBusanfreighterhittheSanFrancisco-OaklandBayBridgeandspilled53,569gallonsofIntermediateFuelOil.FucusdistichuspopulationsintheSanFranciscoBaywerefoundtodeclinefollowingthisspill.BecauseFucusplaysanimportantecologicalroleandexhibitslimiteddispersal,restorationwasproposedasanappropriatemeansofmitigation.Oneperplexingissueconcerningrestorationofmarinehabitats,however,ishowtoprovidedonorspeciestoimpactedareaswithoutcompromisingtheecologicalorstructuralintegrityofdonorpatches.Inanattempttoavoiddepletionofdonorpopulations,pilotworkwascarriedout.First,reproductivefrondsofFucuswerecollectednon-lethallyandputinmeshbagsthatwereplacedintheintertidalzonefor“re-seeding”purposes.ThesemeshbagsdidnotresultinsuccessfulrecruitmentofFucusjuveniles.Next,Fucusjuvenilesweresettledontocobblesinthelabandoutplantedintotheintertidalzone;theseoutplantsexhibitedextremelylowsurvival.Finally,translocationofaminimumnumberofadultsfromahealthypopulationtoasitewithveryfewFucus(thatwashotwaterpowerwashedaftertheCoscoBusanOilSpill)wasthencarriedout.TheintentwasfortransplantedadultstoreproduceandforsmallscalerelocationofresultantjuvenilesattherestorationsitetofurtherincreasethespreadandcoverofFucus.Translocationdidnotsignificantlyincreaserecruitmentattherestorationsitein2015,however,watertemperatureswereaboveaveragethatyearwhichcouldhaveaffectedalgalrecruitment.In2016,moreFucuswastransplantedandbaresubstratewasplacedaroundtransplants;therehassincebeenanincreaseinFucusrecruitment.Itisimportanttodevelopsuitablemanipulativerestorationmethodsformarineenvironmentsascoastalanthropogenicdisturbancesarepredictedtoincreaseinthefuture.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

NorthernelephantsealpopulationdeclineonSouthFarallonIslandsasaresultofhabitatdegradation.RyanBerger1,RussBradley1,DerekLee2,SarahCodde3,MelissaCarter4,andJaimeJahncke11PointBlueConservationScience,3820CypressDr.#11Petaluma,CA94954.E-mail:rberger@pointblue.org,rbradley@pointblue.org,jjahncke@pointblue.org2WildNatureInstituteP.O.Box165Hanover,NH03755.Email:1dereklee@gmail.com3InventoryandMonitoringProgram,PointReyesNationalSeashore1BearValleyRd,PointReyesStation,CA94956.Email:sarah_codde@nps.gov4ScrippsInstitutionofOceanography,9500GilmanDr.,Dept0218,LaJolla,CA92037.Email:mlcarter@ucsd.edu

Northernelephantseals(NES,Miroungaangustirostris)recolonizedtheSouthFarallonIslands(SFI),CAin1972.Thenumberofpupsbornincreasedatarateof56%perannumfrom1973-1983,anddeclinedatarateof5.5%perannumfrom1984to2015.ThechangeinpopulationtrajectorycoincidedwiththefirstElNiñoofthetimeseries(1982/83)withmajordeclinesobservedafterthe1998event.ElNiñoeventsaregenerallyassociatedwithsouthernswellthatremovesandydepositsfromSFI.Inthe1980s,ShellBeach(SB)wasthemajorbreedingareacapableofaccommodatingasmanyas250cows.Fromthe1998ElNiñotothe1999breedingseason,theSBcolonydeclined64%from188to67cows.In2016therewasonecowthatweanedonepuponSB.MortalityduetoElNiñoeventsandthedisappearanceofsandyhabitatsareprobablecausesforthedramaticdeclineinnumbersovertheyears.SimilarerosioneffectshavebeendocumentedatotherareasonSFI.Furthermore,evidenceofexpansionattheadjacentPointReyes,CAcolonysuggestshighimmigrationfromSFI.Wemodeledourpopulationdatarelativetoseaswellheightanddirection,windspeedanddirection,SouthernOscillationIndex(SOI)andsealevelrisefrom1972-2016toexaminewhetheranincreaseinstormfrequencyandintensity:ametricrelatedtobeacherosion,iscorrelatedwiththeobservedpopulationdecline.Preliminaryexaminationcomparingdatafrom1972–1997vs1998–2016indicatesthatthefrequencyandintensityofstormsincreasedinthelaterpartofthetimeseriesconsistentwiththeonsetofobserveddecline.Aswecontinuetofacetheeffectsofclimatechange,ourdatawillassistmanagersinmakingdecisionstohelpreducetheimpactsoftheseeffectsonthewildlifeinhabitingSFI.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ImprovinganoceanacidificationobservingsysteminsupportofPacificCoastShellFishGrowers.

AricBickel1,DavidAnderson1,EmilioMayorga2,MollyMcCammon3,JanNewton2,andJulieThomas4

1CentralandNorthernCaliforniaOceanObservingSystem(CeNCOOS).Email:abickel@mbari.org,dmanderson@mbari.org2NorthwestAssociationofNetworkedOceanObservingSystems(NANOOS).Email:mayorga@apl.washington.eduandjanewton@uw.edu3AlaskaOceanObservingSystem(AOOS).Email:mccammon@aoos.org4SouthernCaliforniaCoastalOceanObservingSystem(SCCOOS).Email:jothomas@ucsd.edu

ThePacificcoasthasseenthesignificantimpactsofoceanacidification(OA)onregionalshellfishindustries.RisingatmosphericCO2andaccompanyingchangesinoceanchemistry,includingadecliningcalciumcarbonatesaturationstateintheocean,makeitmoredifficultforcalcifyingorganisms(e.g.,oysters,clams,mussels)toproduceormaintaintheircalciumcarbonateshells.DuetotheseasonalupwellingofacidicwateralongtheWestCoast,shellfishinthisregionarealreadylivinginwaterthatisclosetoharmfulsaturationthresholds,makingthemparticularlyvulnerabletodecreasesinthecalciumcarbonatesaturationstate.In2014,theCentralandNorthernCaliforniaOceanObservingSystem(alongwiththethreeotherIOOSRegionalAssociationsontheWestCoast)successfullyproposedtostrengthentheoceanacidificationobservingprogramsonthewestcoastwithfundingfromtheNOAAOceanAcidificationProgram.Thisthreeyearproject,nowinitssecondyear,seekstoadvancethreemainobjectives:1)SupportBMLtooperateandmaintainaresearchgradepCO2/DICsystemcapableofmonitoringsaturationstateattheHogIslandOysterCompanyinTomalesBay,CA.2)Developlowercostandhigheraccuracy“weathergrade”sensortechnologythatcanmeasurepCO2,temperature(T)andsalinity(S),andultimatelypHanddissolvedO2inavarietyofdeploymentconfigurations(includingsmallcommercialfishingortouristvessels,fieldmooredlocations,andautonomousfree-driftingsystems);thesesystemswillprovidealow-costwaytoexpandmeasurementcapabilitytostakeholdersoperatinginconditionswheretheresearch-gradeequipmentwouldbenotbefunctional,whileprovidingdataofsufficientqualitytoresolvecarbonate-chemistryatactionablelevels.3)Establishdatahandlinganddisseminationmechanismsthatareuser-friendlyanddevelopedincoordinationwithtechnicalexperts,shellfishgrowers,andotherstakeholders.Aswenearthehalfwaypointoftheproject,weseesignificantprogressonallthreeobjectives,includingnewsensorfieldtestingresultsandthereleaseofthepublicly-accessibledataexplorer.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Marine debris monitoring and assessment program at Greater Farallones National MarineSanctuary:anoverviewofmethodology,datacollection,andpreliminaryfindings.KateL.Bimrose1,SherryLippiatt2andKirstenLindquist1,andJanRoletto31GreaterFarallonesAssociation,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Contact:kbimrose@farallones.org,(415)970-5245;Contact:klindquist@farallones.org,(415)530-53582NOAAMarineDebrisProgram,Oakland,CA,USA.Contact:Sherry.Lippiatt@noaa.gov,(510)410-26023GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,USA.Contact:Jan.Roletto@noaa.gov,(415)530-5634

TheMarineDebris-MonitoringandAssessmentProject(MDMAP)wasdevelopedbyNOAA’sMarineDebrisProgramtocollectdataonmarinedebristype,abundance,anddistribution.Dataareusedtocharacterizeandassessthescopeofthemarinedebrisproblem,assistdevelopmentofmitigationtargets,andmeasureeffectivenessofexistingdebrispreventionefforts.InJuly2012,GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS)joinedMDMAPinpartnershipwithGreaterFarallonesAssociationtobegincollectingmonthlybaselinedataondebrisdepositionatsixsitesalongGFNMSandMontereyBayNationalMarineSanctuary(MBNMS)shores.

TheprogramtrainsvolunteerstoexecuteNOAAdesignedprotocolfortwosurveytypes,accumulationsurveysand/orstandingstocksurveys,locatedwithinAñoNuevoStatePark,GoldenGateNationalRecreationArea,andPointReyesNationalSeashore.Thesestateandfederalmanagingagenciesarecriticalpartnersforsecuringsurveysitesandsupportingthisongoingresearch.Inexchange,agencypartnerscanaccessMDMAPdatatoinformresourceconservationissues,suchasbeachcleanupsandhabitatmanagementstrategies,withintheirjurisdiction.WhencoupledwithothershorelinemonitoringprogramssuchasBeachWatchandLiMPETS,datafromthisprogramcanfurtherinformthedevelopmentofprotectionmeasuresforatriskresourcesalongourshores.

GFNMSparticipationinMDMAPalsooffersimportantregionalandnationalapplications.ComparisonoflocaldatawithMDMAPsitesinWashingtonandOregonbroadensunderstandingofthemarinedebrisproblemalongtheWestCoast,developingopportunitiesforregionalcollaborationondebrismitigationandpreventionefforts.Nationally,datafromthesesurveyshelpdetermineandprioritizethemostefficientuseoflimitedfundingforpreventionandmitigationefforts,whicharecriticalfordevelopingsoundnationalpolicyrecommendations.

ThispresentationwilldiscussthenationwideMDMAPprogramaswellasmethodologiesfortheestablishmentandexecutionofstandingstockandaccumulationsurveyswithinGFNMSandMBNMS.Thepresentationwillalsodiscusspreliminaryfindingsondebristype,frequency,anddepositionpatterns,andhowthesefindingsmayinformresourcemanagementissuesanddebrisreductionstrategiesalongsanctuaryshores.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

PlanktonspeciesdiversityandabundancefromtheSanFranciscoBaytotheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.

FadwaBouhedda,ViktoriaKuehn,JohnDamascus,andGretchenCoffmanUniversityofSanFrancisco,HarneyScienceCenter,SanFrancisco,CA94117,Emails:fbouhedda@dons.usfca.edu,vskuehn@dons.usfca.edu,jdamascus@usfca.edu,gccoffman@usfca.edu

AspartoftheUniversityofSanFranciscoCaliforniaEcosystemsundergraduateandgraduateclass,weinvestigatedspeciesdiversityandabundanceofplanktonfromtheSanFranciscoBayestuarytothemarineecosystemsoftheGreaterFarallonsNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS).Wesampledplanktonalonga30miletransectfromtheSanFranciscoBaythroughtheGFNMSinOctober2012,2013,and2015.Inaddition,wemeasuredabioticfactorsoftemperature,salinity,conductivity,waterclarity,pH,dissolvedoxygen,airtemperature,andwindspeedatthesamesitesplanktonweresampled.Theobjectivesofourresearchweretotrainstudentshowtosamplemarineandestuarineecosystemsandunderstandmarineupwellingandmanagement.Resultsofourtwo-wayANOVAshowedthattherewasasignificantlyhigherabundanceofplanktonintheopenOceancomparedtotheSanFranciscoBay[F(2,156)=6.138;P=0.014]andthatzooplanktonweresignificantlymoreabundantthanphytoplankton[F(2,156)=45.846;P<0.001].Copepodswerethemostabundantphytoplanktonspeciesatallsites.Furthermore,planktonspeciesdiversitywashighestaroundtheFarallonIslands27milesoffshore,significantlylowerintheSanFranciscoBayandevenlowerofftheContinentalshelf.AsalinitygradientwasobservedfromhighestintheopenOcean(34.5ppt)tolowestintheSanFranciscoBay(32.1ppt).Also,higherdissolvedoxygenlevelsandpHlevelswereassociatedwithhighplanktonabundance.DatacollectionbyUSFEnvironmentalScienceandManagementstudentsoverthenext20yearswillhelpelucidatebasicrelationshipsbetweenplanktonandphysicalfactorsfromtheSanFranciscoBaythroughtheGFNMS.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Experienceandcontaminantsinrelationtoincubationbehaviorofwesterngulls(Larusoccidentalis)nestingatFarallonNationalWildlifeRefuge.LindseyJ.Broadus1,PeteWarzybok2,RussellBradley2,JaimeJahncke2,andScottA.Shaffer1

1SanJoseStateUniversity,DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,SanJose,CA,USA.E-mail:lindsey.broadus@sjsu.eduandScott.shaffer@sjsu.edu2PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,CA,USA.E-mail:pwarzybok@pointblue.org,rbradley@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org

Mostavianspeciesturntheireggsduringincubation,whichisnecessaryfortheproperprogressionofembryonicgrowth.Inmonogamousspecies,parentstradeoffeggturningresponsibilitiesinordertoallowoneanothertoforage.Muchisknownabouteggturninginthepoultryindustry,asbeingabletopredicthatchingsuccessincreasesproductnumbers.However,littleisknownabouteggturninginwildbirdspecies.Westerngullsareexcellentcandidatespeciestostudyeggturningbehaviorduetotheirmulti-eggclutchesandannualbreedingattempts.Ageandexperiencearefactorsthatmayinfluencethisincubationbehavior.Anotherelementthatmaybeaffectingeggturningisleadcontaminationingullsfromtheingestionofpaintchips.Theobjectiveofthisstudyistodetermineifageandleadcontaminationcanindependentlyhaveadverseeffectsonnormaleggturningbehavior.Havingplacedartificialeggscontainingeggloggersintowesterngullclutchesforpartofthebreedingseason,wearenowexaminingretrieveddataoneggtemperatureandturningpatternconsistencies,andcomparingthedatatoeggleadlevels,alongwithknownagesandbreedingexperienceofpairsofnestinggullsonSoutheastFarallonIsland.Thedatacollectedmayemphasizeaneedforfurtherapplicationofeggloggerstoaddressavarietyofavianbreedingbehaviorsinfluencedbyexperienceandenvironmentalfactors.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Thestrengthofkelptissuedependsonage,season,andherbivoreactivity.NicholasP.BurnettandMimiA.R.KoehlUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,CA,USA.Email:burnettnp@berkeley.eduandcnidaria@berkeley.edu

Kelpinwave-sweptcoastalareascanbedamagedordislodgedifthemechanicalhydrodynamicforcestheyexperienceexceedthestrengthoftheirtissues.Althoughwaveactionandherbivoreactivitychangewiththeseasons,littleisknownabouthowthestrength,extensibility(howfaritstretchesbeforebreaking),andstiffnessofkelptissuesareaffectedbytheirage,herbivoredamage,orseason.WeusedfrondsofEgregiamenziesii,alargeandabundantintertidalkelpalongthecoastofwesternNorthAmerica,toexaminehowthemechanicalpropertiesofkelptissueareaffectedbythesefactors.Frondtissuebecamestifferandstrongerasitagedbutdidnotchangeextensibility.Althoughmechanicalpropertiesoftheyoungesttissueonafronddidnotchangethroughouttheyear,olderfrondtissuewasweakestinthesummerandstrongestinthewinter.Shiftsinfrondstrengthwereproportionaltoseasonalincreasesinwaveaction,andinverselyproportiontothefrond'sgrowthrates.Mechanicalpropertiesofthekelptissuesdidnotchangeinresponsetoherbivoredamage,althoughasdamagedtissueaged,theybecamestrongeratthesamerateasundamagedtissuesectionsoffrond.Inthesummer,whenwavesaresmallandherbivoresareprevalent,thefastgrowthratesandweakermechanicalpropertiespermitthekelptogrowtoalargesize.Inthelatefall,growthratesslowandfrondstendtobreak.Thekelp’ssmallersize,slowergrowthratesandstrongermechanicalpropertiesinwinterallowthekelptobettersurvivethelargehydrodynamicforcesofwinterstorms.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

UpdateonthestatusofhumpbackandbluewhalesalongtheUSWestCoastincludingtheGulfoftheFarallones.JohnCalambokidisCascadiaResearchCollective,Olympia,WA,USA.Email:calambokidis@cascadiaresearch.org

Longtermphoto-identificationresearchonhumpbackandbluewhalesalongtheUSWestCoastincludingtheGulfoftheFaralloneshasbeenconductedannuallysince1986continuingthrough2016.Forbothspecies,thecatalogofidentifiedindividualsmaintainedbyCascadiaResearchnownumbersabout3,000.ThesearebasedonbothdedicatedandopportunisticeffortsincludingarecentpartnershipwithHappywhaleasawaytopromotecitizen-sciencecontribution.Currentestimatesofabundancebasedonmark-recapturearenowabout2,000forbothspecies(smallerthanthecatalogsizesincenotallanimalswerealiveatthesametime)thoughthetrendshavebeenverydifferentbetweenthetwospecies.Bluewhaleabundancehasbeenrelativelystablepossiblyduetotheiralreadyhavingrecoveredfromwhaling.Humpbackabundanceincreasedsteadilyatabout7-8%peryearthroughthe1990sand2000sfromabout500tonowcloserto2,000asitrecoveredfromwhalingthatcontinuedthrough1966offCalifornia.Thisincreasehasleveledoverthelastfewyearsorevenreversedpossiblyindicatingthepopulationhasreachedcarryingcapacity.ThisincreaseinhumpbackwhalesandhasalsobeenaccompaniedbyanexpandedoccurrenceofanimalsintoregionswheretheyhavenotbeencommonincludingseveralcoastalareasoffWashington,SanFranciscoBay,andexpandedareasinthesouthernportionoftheCaliforniaBight.

Inarelateddevelopment,entanglementsofhumpbackwhalesdramaticallyincreasedalongtheUSWestCoastin2014-2016andmostdramaticallyoffCaliforniawheretheywentfrom0-8/yearpriorto2014to>15inboth2014and2015.Whileincreasedabundanceofhumpbackwhaleswouldcertainlycreatemoreopportunitiesforentanglements,moreimportantly,expandingareasandseasonsofusealsoaddtothispotentialoverlapwiththefishery.Additionally,humpbackwhalescanswitchbetweenfeedingonfishorkrillbasedonpreyabundance:whenfishfeedingtheyappeartousemuchmorenear-shoreareascomparedtofeedingfartheroffshorealongthecontinentalshelfedgewhentargetingkrill.Therecentincreaseinhumpbackwhaleentanglementisatleastpartlytheresultofanincreasingwhaleabundanceexpandingintomoreareasandashiftinconsumptiontonear-shorefishpreyinsomeofthesameareasthattheDungenesscrabfisheryoperates.

In2016,NOAArecognizedtheexistenceofDistinctPopulationSegmentsforhumpbackwhalesworldwideincludefourDPSunitsbasedonbreedingareasintheNorthPacific.TheseDPS’weregivendifferentstatus’undertheUSEndangeredSpeciesActwithhumpbackwhalesbreedingofCentralAmericaandintheWesternNorthPacifickeptasEndangered,thosebreedingoffMexicodown-listedtoThreatened,andthosefromthelargestbreedingareaaroundHawaiidelistedcompletely.Whilethismoreacknowledgesthetruepopulationstructureandtheirstatus,italsocreateschallengesinareaslikeUSWestCoastwhichservesasafeedingareaforanimalscomingfromCentralAmerica,Mexico,andtoalimiteddegreeHawaii,allofwhichnowhaveadifferentESAstatus.Thishasmadesomeofthepopulationstructureinformationfromphoto-IDandgeneticsallthemoreimportant.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Insightsintoblueandhumpbackwhalemovementsanddivingbehaviorfromarchivaltagdeploymentsinrelationtoship-strikeriskintheGulfoftheFarallones.JohnCalambokidis1,AngelaSzesciorka1,2,andJamesFahlbusch11CascadiaResearchCollective,Olympia,WA,USA.Email:calambokidis@cascadiaresearch.org,angela@szesciorka.com,andjamesfahlbusch@gmail.com2ScrippsInstitutionofOceanography,LaJolla,CA,USA.Email:angela@szesciorka.com

Thedevelopmentofnewtagdesignsandtechnologieshaveemergedinrecentyearsthathavedramaticallyincreasedthecapabilitiesandusesoftheseinstrumentsinwhaleresearch.Archivaltagsthatrecordinformationonboardthetaghavebecomeincreasinglymorecapableintermsoftypesofsensors,samplingrates,andamountofdatatheycanstore.Thesehighcapacitymulti-sensortagshavenotonlyallowedamuchbetterunderstandingofunderwaterbehaviorofwhalesbutnowserveasidealtoolsforexaminingtheimpactsandresponsetoanthropogenicactivities.WereportonresultsfromdeploymentsofarchivaltagsintheGulfoftheFarallonesareaprimarilysince2013withthemainobjectiveofexaminingdivingbehaviorandmovementstoexamineriskofshipstrikesandresponsetoshipnoiseandshipcloseapproaches.Whilearchivaltagshaveoftenbeenattachedforshortdurationswithsuctioncups,newattachmentmethodshavealsoopenedupthepotentialforlongerdurationattachmentsthathavedramaticallyincreasedtheircapabilitiesbutcanalsorequireconsiderableefforttorecover.Previouslylongerdurationmonitoringwasonlypossiblewithimplantsatellitetagswherethesmallbandwidthavailabletotransmitdatahaslimitedtheamountofinformationthatcanbetransmitted.Withseveralnewgeneralmedium-durationarchivaltagsweachievedhighresolutionmulti-sensordataforuptothreeweeksonbluewhalesanddurationsofafewdaystoaweekonhumpbackwhales.Deploymentsin2016werethefirstsuccessfuldeploymentsonwhalesofalongerdurationacoustictagthatalsorecordeddigitalsound.OneofthesedeploymentsonabluewhaleintheGulfoftheFarallonesdemonstratedthefrequencyofsomeoftheshipcloseapproachessomeoftheseanimalsareexposedtowiththisonewhalespendingtimeinallthreeshippinglanesinandoutofSanFrancisco(basedonGPSqualityposition)andonatleast11occasionsexperiencingaverycloseshippassagebasedontheclearacousticsignatureofashiponthetag.Theselongerdeploymentsalsodemonstratedtheimportanthabitatanddivingdifferencesbetweenhumpbackwhaleswhentheyareintwodifferentmodes,near-shoreshallowfishfeedingversusmoreoffshoredeeperkrillfeeding.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

CommonRavendepredationnegativelyaffectsreproductivesuccessofPelagicCormorantsatAñoNuevoStatePark,centralCalifornia.RyanD.Carle,DavidM.Calleri,JessieN.Beck,andMichelleM.HesterOikonosEcosystemKnowledge,180BenitoAve,SantaCruz,USA.Email:ryan@oikonos.org,dcalleri@scshop.com,jessie@oikonos.org,michelle@oikonos.org

Populationsofmanyspeciesofcorvids(familyCorvidae)haveincreasedworldwideinresponsetoanthropogenicsubsidies.WestudiedeggdepredationbyCommonRavens(raven,Corvuscorax)onnestingPelagicCormorants(Phalocrocoraxpelagicus)atAñoNuevoStatePark(ANSP),California,during2014.WemonitoredaPelagicCormorantbreedingsub-colonyontheANSPmainland(ANM)withanautomatedcamerafromApril28th-August7th,2014toassesstheextentofnestdepredationbyravens.WecomparedreproductivesuccessofaPelagicCormorantcolonywithhighdepredationrates(ANM)withacolonyatAñoNuevoIsland(ANI;~1kmdistant)wherenoeggdepredationwasobserved.WealsomonitoredpopulationandbreedingsuccessofPelagicCormorantsatANSPfrom1999-2014andusedthistime-seriestoinformconclusionsaboutimpactsofravendepredationonPelagicCormorants.In2014,ravensvisitedthecamera-monitoredANMsub-colony165times,averaging1.6±2.5SDvisitsperday(N=101days).Ravensinteractedwitheachnest15.5±8.5times,flushedincubatingcormorantsfromeachnest6.8±5.5times,andremovedatleast3.3±2.2eggsfromeachnest(N=13nests).NoravenswereobservedinteractingwithPelagicCormorantnestsonANIduring2014.PelagicCormorantproductivityin2014atANIwas2.45±0.2SEchicksfledgedperpair(n=29nests)comparedwith0.48±0.2SEchicksperpaironANM(n=27nests).From1999-2014,annualPelagicCormorantproductivityonANIdidnotdiffersignificantlyfromANMproductivity.However,PelagicCormorantsatANIweremorelikelytofledgeatleastonechickthanthoseonANMduringsixyearsofthe16-yeartime-series,including2014(P=<0.0001).In2013and2014,yearsinwhicheggdepredationwasobservedatANM,alsohadstronglysignificantdifferencesinhatchingsuccessbetweencolonies(P=<0.0001).OverallpopulationofPelagicCormorantsatANSPincreasedsignificantlyfrom1999-2014(R2=0.33,P=0.02,β=4.33).WespeculatethateggdepredationatANMwascarriedoutbyonebreedingpairofravenswithspecializedpredatorybehavior.Ourstudyillustratestheimportanceofbaselinemonitoringforunlistedspecies,sothatwell-informedmanagementdecisionscanbemadewhennovelthreatsoccur.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

UnderstandingharborporpoisetraumacasesinnorthernCaliforniathroughnecropsyanddolphinsightingdata.RachawadeeChantra1,2,ClaireSimeone1,PadraigDuginan1,WilliamKeener3,IsidoreSzczepaniak3,MarcA.Webber3,S.JonathanStern3,4,andFrancesGulland11TheMarineMammalCenter,Sausalito,CA,USA2MarineEndangeredSpeciesUnit,PhuketMarineBiologicalCenter,Phuket,Thailand3GoldenGateCetaceanResearch,CorteMadera,CA,USAE-mail:4SanFranciscoStateUniversity,SanFrancisco,CA,USARachawadeeChantra:beegrowingup@gmail.comClaireSimeone:Claire.Simeone@noaa.govPadraigDuignan:Duignanp@TMMC.orgWilliamKeener:bill.keener@comcast.net,(415)297-6139IsidoreSzczepaniak:izzyszczepaniak@gmail.comMarcA.Webber:marcwebber@sbcglobal.netS.JonathanStern:jonney@sfsu.eduFrancesGulland:Gullandf@TMMC.org

HarborporpoisearecommonlyobservedalongtheSanFranciscoBayAreacoast,andthenon-migratorySanFrancisco-RussianRiverstockisestimatedtohaveastablepopulationofapproximately10,000animals.Thecoastalstockofbottlenosedolphins,withapopulationestimatedatapproximately500statewide,hasbeenexpandingitsrangenorthfromsouthernandcentralCalifornia,andwasfirstphotographedinSanFranciscoBayin2007.Casesof‘porpicide,’inwhichbottlenosedolphinsphysicallyattackporpoises,havebeenrecordedwithsuspectedincreasingfrequencysincethattime.WhilepreviousdatafromnorthernCaliforniahaslinkedsomestrandingswithtrauma,abetterunderstandingofstrandingdemographics,alongwithdolphinsightingdata,mayprovideadditionalinsightintowhatisoccurringinthesecases.HarborporpoisenecropsiesconductedbyTheMarineMammalCenterwereanalyzed.Of240cases,56indicatedtrauma(eitherbonefractures,toothrakemarks,hemorrhagiclesionsoracombinationofthesefindings)consistentwithlethalinjuriescausedbybottlenosedolphinattacks.Porpicidevictimsanalyzedbysexandageclassrevealedtheywere50%maleand50%female,and48%adultsand52%juveniles/calves.LocaldolphinsightingscompiledbyGoldenGateCetaceanResearchwereanalyzed,andharborporpoisestrandingsshowedacorrelationwiththeoccurrenceofbottlenosedolphins.Of38porpicidecasesintheSanFranciscoBayArea,12occurredwithin4daysofadolphinsightings,and31occurredwithin3weeks.From2008-2016,thehighestfrequencyofporpicidestrandingsoccurredinthemonthsofAugustandSeptember,whichcoincidedwithperiodsoffrequentdolphinsightings.ApeakinporpicidesoccurredinSeptember2013when5strandedwithina2-weekperiod,justbeforealargegroupof30-35bottlenosedolphinsthatcontained6knownporpoiseaggressorswasdocumentedon28SeptemberontheSanFranciscocoast.ThecloseassociationintimeofporpicidecaseswithbottlenosedolphinsightingsintheSanFranciscoBayAreasupportsthepremisethatthedolphinsaretheperpetratorsoflethalattacksonharborporpoises.IfthisbehaviorcontinuesasthecoastalbottlenosedolphinstockextendsitsrangefarthernorthinCalifornia,directmortalityandhabitatexclusioncouldnegativelyimpactharborporpoisepopulations.Futureworkincludesthedevelopmentofastandardizedprotocolformeasuringexternalandinternalwoundsinstrandedharborporpoises,andthecreationofaphotocatalogoftraumaticfindingsatnecropsyforthisspecies.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Tagresightsurveyofnorthernelephantseals(Miroungaangustirostris)atPointReyesNationalSeashore.MeganChurch,LuzTorres,SheridanWilnerandDoreenGurrolaDominicanUniversityofCalifornia,SanRafael,CA,USA.E-mail:megan.church@students.dominican.edu,luz.torresaltamirano@students.dominican.edu,sheridan.wilner@students.dominican.edu,anddoreen.gurrola@dominican.edu

Duringthe2016-2017breedingseason,ourteamfromDominicanUniversityofCalifornia(DUC)willbeobservingthenorthernelephantseal(Miroungaangustirostris)coloniesatPointReyesNationalSeashore(PRNS).SealswerefirstseenatPRNSinthe1970’safterbeinghunteddowntoabout1,000inthe1800’s.Bythe1980’s,thecolonywasre-established.PRNSresearchershavebeencollectingdatasincethistime.SealshauloutyearroundatseveralsitesneartheChimneyRockHeadlandincludingDrakesBeach,ChimneyRock,MainColony,andSouthBeach.OurresearchwillfocusduringthebreedingseasonofDecemberthroughMarch.WewillbeworkingunderPRNSpermits.Throughweeklyobservations,datawillbecollectedontotalnumberofsealsateachhauloutsite,genderandageratios,pupmortality,tagresights,andweatherconditions.Therookerieswillinclude:DrakesBeach,FishDocks,Gus’sCove,ChimneyRockCoveandSouthBeach.Theobjectiveofthisstudyistodeterminesitefidelityamongelephantsealsthroughtagresights.UsingpreviousdatafromPRNS,wewillbeabletocompareourresultstopreviousobservations.ThiscollaborativeresearchbetweenDUCandPRNSwillcontinueinfuturebreedingseasons.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

StatusofmappingintheareaoftheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.GuyR.Cochrane,USGS,PacificScienceCenter,2885MissionStreet,SantaCruz,CA95060;gcochrane@usgs.gov

Recentmultibeamechosounder(MBES)mappingintheareaoftheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS)byOceanExplorationTrust(OET)significantlyincreasedtheareaontheoutershelfandupperslopethathasbeenmappedwithmodernMBESdataintheregion.PreviousmappingbyNOAAontheOkeanosExplorerandbytheUSGSusingtheR/VSnavelymapped1029km2ontheFarallonEscarpment,RittenbergBank,andaroundBodegaCanyon.ThemostrecentmappingbyOETadds1600km2ofdatacollectedatthedeeperportionsofArenaCanyon,FarallonEscarpmentandPioneerCanyon.Inaddition,theCaliforniaSeafloorMappingProgram(https://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/mapping/csmp),acollaborationoftheUSGS,theCaliforniaOceanProtectionCouncil,NOAA,CSUMBandotherFederalandStateagencieshasmappedalltheStateWaters(outtothreenauticalmiles).

InterpretationofthedatainStatewatersincludesafullsuiteofgeologicandgeo-habitatmapproductsavailableonlineasPDFmapsorgeo-referenceddatafiles.TheMBES,videoandphotodatafilesarealsoavailableonthesamewebsite.ThedataoutsideStateWatersarenotasorganizedandhavenotbeenpublishedforthemostpart.SeafloorCharacterrastershavebeenproducedbyUSGSthatshowthedistributionofbasicsubstratetypes:rugoserockyreefareas,sandandmudflatarea,andhard-flatcoarsesedimentandbedrockareas.ThesesubstratecharacterizationshavebeenusedtoplanROVoperationstolocateandsampledeepwatercoralsandverifythehabitatandgeologicmapping.SeafloorcharacterandMBESdatafortheUSGSareahasbeenpublishedonline(http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1234/).

AcursoryevaluationofallthedataintheregionshowsthattheinnershelfareaisrichinrockyreefhabitatrelativetoareasnorthofMendocinoandinsouthernCalifornia.Transformmarginstrike-slipfaulting(TMSSF)locatedclosetothecoastlineistheprimarycauseofthisdifferenceinrockoutcroparea.NorthofMendocinotheplateboundaryisconvergentandlocatedatthebaseoftheslope.InSouthernCaliforniatheplateboundaryisTMSSFbutthefaultislocatedinlandofthecoast.Strike-slipfaultinginthecoastalwatersproduceslocalizedupliftofbedrockrelatedtosmallrestrainingbendsinthefault.Wherethefaultbendsbackinareleasingbendagrabenforms,whichactsasasedimentarybasin.Sedimentsupplyandwaveenergyalsoimpacttheareaofrockyreef;therearenomajorriverssupplyingsedimentdirectlyontotheshelfasisseeninNorthernCaliforniaandwaveenergyintheregionishigherthaninSouthernCalifornia.TheGFNMSsitsastridetheplateboundary;rockyhabitatontheoutershelfandslopeareprimarilyrelatedtoerosionresistantrockfromthesouthernSierraregionmovingnorthwestontheoceanicplate.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Thereceptorbindingassayasanalternativeanimal-freemethodforthedetectionandquantitationofparalyticshellfishtoxinsinoysters.ChadCrain1,StephanieAbromaitis2,ShiyamalieRuberu1,JamesChithalen1,andWilliamDraper11CaliforniaDepartmentofPublicHealth,Richmond,CA.DrinkingWaterandRadiationLaboratoryBranch.E-mail:chad.crain@cdph.ca.gov(Tel:510-326-6182),Shiyamalie.Ruberu@cdph.ca.gov,James.Chithalen@cdph.ca.gov,andWilliam.Draper@cdph.ca.gov2MicrobialDiseaseLaboratoryBranch.Email:Stephanie.Abromaitis@cdph.ca.gov

Marinebiotoxins,suchasparalyticshellfishpoisoning(PSP)toxinsincludingsaxitoxinandits

analogs,poseasignificantrisktopublichealththroughingestionofcontaminatedcommerciallysoldandrecreationallyharvestedshellfish.MonitoringoftheCaliforniacoastforchangesinPSPtoxinlevelsismanagedbytheCaliforniaDepartmentofPublicHealth(CDPH).ThecurrentmethodforquantifyingPSPtoxinsinshellfishistheAOACmousebioassay(MBA).Thereceptorbindingassay(RBA)isanappealingalternativetotheMBAwhichoffers1)greatersensitivity,2)higherthroughput,and3)usesnoliveanimals.TheRBAmethodiscurrentlyapprovedbytheInterstateShellfishandSanitationConference(ISSC)foruseinmusseltissues.ThisinvestigationexpandstheuseoftheRBAtooystertissues,andinvestigatessubstitutionofratbraintissuewithcommerciallyavailableporcinebraintissue.OurfindingsestablishthattheRBAdeterminesPSPtoxinsinSTXspikedoystertissueaswellnaturally-incurredPSPtoxinsinoystersfromCaliforniagrowingareas.TheRBAprovidedslightlyhigherestimatesoftoxinconcentrationthantheMBAforaconcentrationrangebetween±100%ofthealertlevel(i.e.80µgSTXeq./100gtissue),consistentwithotheranalyticalmethodsforSTXquantitation,whichaffordsagreaterlevelofpublichealthprotection.Moreover,thelowerlimitofdetectionoftheRBA(6.4µgSTXeq./100g),comparedtotheMBA(37ugSTXeq./100g),highlightstheexpandedutilityoftheRBAformonitoringfluctuationsofPSPtoxinsduringlowseasonalperiodsthatarelesspredictable.CommerciallyavailablesynaptosomespreparedfromporcinebraintissueexhibitedcomparableRBAassayperformancetotheratmembranepreparationsacrossthelinearrangeoftheassay(i.e.IC30-IC70),ascorrelatedtotheinternalassaystandardcurve.Thecomparativestudieswereconductedbydifferentanalystswithbothmembranepreparationsanddifferentmaterialreagentlots.Thefinaldatacomparisonsagreedacrossexperiments,exhibitingstrongrepeatabilityandrobustness.InadditiontoshowingsimilarbehaviortotheratmembraneintheRBA,thecommercialmembraneisanattractivesubstituteasitisderivedfromtheby-productofmeatproduction.Further,theresultsfromthisstudydemonstratedsimilarbehaviorintheRBAasmusseltissues.AmatrixextensiontoexpandtheuseoftheRBAtomonitorPSTlevelsinoystersandinclusionoftheporcinemembranewouldincreasetheuniversalityoftheRBAtobeusedfornotonlyregulatingcommercialshellfishoperations,butalsotomonitorthegeneralhealthofmarineenvironments.ApplicationoftheRBAtooystersisparticularlyimportantforcommercialgrowersasthisspeciesrepresentsthevastmajorityoftheCaliforniashellfishgrownforinterstatecommerce.TheimplementationoftheRBAasafullyapprovedmethodformeasuringPSTconcentrationsinshellfishandothermatriceswouldprovideanimproved,costeffective,animalmodel-independentreplacementfortheMBA.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

InitialROVcharacterizationofthedeepwaterwreckofUSSIndependence,August2016.JamesDelgado1,MichaelBrennan2,KaiVetter3,ChristopherFigueroa3,KelleyElliott4,andJanRoletto5

1NOAA’sOfficeofNationalMarineSanctuaries,SilverSpring,MD.Email:james.delgado@noaa.gov2OceanExplorationTrust,UniversityofRhodeIsland,RI.Email:Michael.Brennan@URI.EDU3UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,DepartmentofNuclearEngineeringandLawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratory,Berkeley,CA.Email:kvetter@berkeley.eduandchristopher.figueroa@berkeley.edu4NOAA’sOfficeofOceanExplorationandResearch,SilverSpring,MD.Email:Kelley.Elliott@noaa.gov5GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CA.Email:Jan.Roletto@noaa.gov TheWorldWarIIaircraftcarrierUSSIndependence(CVL22)wasusedasatargetvesselinOperationCrossroads,the1946atomicbombtestsatBikiniAtoll.Damagedandirradiated,thevesselwastowedtoSanFranciscoforstudyandtoserveasaplatformforexperimentationandtrainingofnavalpersonnelinradiologicaldecontamination.InJanuary1951,thecarrierwasscuttledwithexplosivechargesoffSanFranciscoindeepwaterwithanunspecifiedamountof“nuclearwaste.”Thoughttoberediscoveredin1990byasidescansonarsurveyperformedbyUSGS,thewreckwassubsequentlysonarmappedbyNOAA’sofficeofOceanExplorationandResearchin2009inthewatersofMontereyBayNMS,andagainin2015.InAugust2016,adetailedmissionworkingfromtheE/VNautilus,operatedbytheOceanExplorationTrust,inpartnershipwithNOAA,undertookaseriesofdiveswiththeremotelyoperatedvehiclesArgusandHercules.Wecollectedapproximately40-hoursofdetailedsurveyvideoandstillphotographicdocumentationtoassesstheconditionofthewreck,atomicandpost-blastdamageandmodifications,thepresenceofBikinitestmaterialsandpost-test“waste,”andanyresidualradiologicalcontamination.

UndertheguidanceofProfessorKaiVetter,studentsoftheUCBerkeleyRadWatchteamcollectedeightspongesamplesfromthehullofIndependenceandtwofromPioneerCanyonasacontrol,tomeasureforradiation.Thespongesweredriedandexaminedwithahighpuritygermanium(HPGe)detectorfor24hours.ThemeasurementsdidnotfindanyCs-137orCo-60thatcouldbeattributedtoOperationCrossroadsornuclearwaste.Onlytraceamountsofnaturally-occurringradioisotopesinconcentrationscomparablewithsamplesfromtheCaliforniamainlandweremeasured.Sample Location Type Mass

(g)Cs-137(Bq/kg-dry)

Co-60(Bq/kg-dry)

K-40(Bq/kg-dry)

Bi-214(Bq/kg-dry)

Tl-208(Bq/kg-dry)

NA077-012/13(Avg.)

Independence Goiter 50.8 <0.30 <72 383(3) 6.5(6) 1.0(1)

NA077-014 Independence Barrel 65.1 <0.27 <37 397(2) 10.5(5) 4.7(3)NA077-015 Independence Barrel 31.0 <0.52 <54 141(3) 4.2(1.0) <0.68NA077-016 Independence Barrel 13.1 <1.2 <155 238(7) 18(2) <1.6NA077-017 Independence Barrel 25.9 <0.63 <149 113(4) 8(1) 2.4(8)NA077-018 Independence Barrel 17.9 <0.89 <89 169(5) <1.6 8.6(1.2)NA077-019 Independence Barrel 19.8 <0.80 <212 218(5) 4.8(1.5) <1.1NA0777-024

PioneerCanyon

Goiter 21.9 <0.74 <153 184(4) 11.1(1.4) 6.0(1.0)

NA077-033 PioneerCanyon

Barrel 5.9 <2.7 <606 222(15) <4.9 <3.6

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Pseudo-nitzschiaoccurrenceinthecentralCaliforniaCurrent.MeredithL.Elliott1,GreggLanglois2,JanRoletto3,DanielleLipski4,andJaimeJahncke11PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,CA,USA.Phone:(707)781-2555,x304(Meredith)andx353(Jaime).Email:melliott@pointblue.org,jjahncke@pointblue.org2CaliforniaDepartmentofPublicHealth,Richmond,CA,USA.3GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Phone:(415)561-6622x207.Email:jan.roletto@noaa.gov4CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,PointReyesStation,CA,USA.Phone:(415)464-5264.Email:danielle.lipski@noaa.gov

DatapertainingtotheoccurrenceandrelativeabundanceofphytoplanktonspeciesareavailableforthecentralCaliforniaCurrentregionforyears2010-2015aspartoftheACCESS(AppliedCaliforniaCurrentEcosystemStudies;www.accessoceans.org)programandtheCaliforniaDepartmentofPublicHealth’sBiotoxinMonitoringProgram.ACCESSconductsat-seasurveysintheGreaterFarallones,CordellBank,andnorthernportionofMontereyBayNationalMarineSanctuaries,incollaborationwithPointBlueConservationScience.Phytoplanktonsamplesarecollected3-5timesayearat20-30visitedstationsintheupper9mofthewatercolumnusingahand-held25cmdiameternetwitha20µmmesh.PhytoplanktonsamplesareanalyzedbytheBiotoxinMonitoringProgramforrelativeabundancesofdifferentspeciesofphytoplankton,providingaqualitativemeasureofphytoplanktonspecies.Concurrentwithphytoplanktoncollectionswereconductivity-temperature-depth(CTD)casts,surfacenutrientssamples,andwatercolor.Wealsomaintaindataseriesonbasin-scale,regional,andlocalclimateandoceanindices.OfparticularinterestarespeciesbelongingtothePseudo-nitzschia:seriatacomplex,asthesediatomsareresponsiblefordomoicacidproductioninourregion.Preliminaryfindingssuggestthesetoxin-producingspeciesarefoundincold,nutrient-depletedsurfacewaters.AdditionalresultsshowedthatspeciesinthePseudo-nitzschia:seriatacomplexhadincreasedabundancesinwarm,lowoceanproductivityperiodswhichwerepreceded(byonetotwomonths)bycold,highoceanproductivityperiods.Moreanalysisisneededtounderstandtheconditionsunderwhichthesespeciesproducetoxins.OurresultsmayfurtherourknowledgeofharmfulalgalbloomsnearthehighlyurbanizedSanFranciscoBayarea,aswellaswhatwemayexpectinfutureyearswithclimatechange.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Lessonslearnedduringthe2015GuadalupefursealUnusualMortalityEventwithafocusondifferentiatingotariidspeciesamongsimilarsizedpupsandyearlingsstrandinginCalifornia.MoeFlannery1,SuePemberton1,DeniseGreig1,andTenayaNorris21CaliforniaAcademyofSciences,SanFrancisco,California,USA.Email:mflannery@calacademy.org;spemberton@calacademy.org;dgreig@calacademy.org2TheMarineMammalCenter,Sausalito,California,USA.Email:norrist@tmmc.org

In2015,thecentralandsoutherncoastsofCaliforniaexperiencedtwoUnusualMortalityEvents(UME).Thefirstbeganin2013withhighnumbersofCaliforniasealion(Zalophuscalifornianus)pupsstrandingalongthecoast.BetweenJanuaryandJuly2015,thesameareaofcoastlineobserved12timestheaveragenumberofstrandedGuadalupefurseals(Arctocephalustownsendi),athreatenedspeciesundertheUSEndangeredSpeciesAct.AtypicalstrandingyearinCalifornia,between2005and2014,averagedeight(±4SD)strandedGuadalupefursealsofallageclasses(range:1-14peryear).In2015,Californiastrandingorganizationsrespondedto97strandedGuadalupefurseals(43live,54dead).Themajorityofthestrandedfurseals(n=93)wereagedaspupsoryearlingswithonlyfourindividualsconsideredadults.DuringtheseUMEs,theoverlappingstrandingseasons,thehighnumbersofindividuals,andthesmallerthanusualbodysize,madeitchallengingtoidentifypupandyearlingcarcassestospecies.Wepresentkeycharacteristicsusedtoidentifyallfourotariidspecies:Californiasealion,Stellersealion(Eumetopiasjubatus),northernfurseal(Callorhinusursinus),andGuadalupefurseal.Additionally,priortothisUME,verylittlewasknownaboutthedispersalofGuadalupefurseals.Thepost-releasemovementsof11rehabilitatedindividualsweretrackedusingsatellitetransmitters.Theestimatedlocationsoftheseanimals,fromoffshoreofnorthernCaliforniatonorthofVancouverIsland,Canada,providedvaluableinformationaboutaspecieswhosebehaviorandoccurrencewasnotwellknown.Duetothesignificantrangeoverlapamongspeciessupportedbysatellitetelemetry,theuseofakeytodifferentiatespeciesacrossthewestcoastofNorthAmericawillbeimportantastheseUMEscontinueintosubsequentyears.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ReefCheckCaliforniacitizenscientistconductfirstscubakelpforestsurveyinMontaraStateMarineReserve.JanFreiwald1,2andDanAbbott1

1ReefCheckFoundation,MarinadelRey,CA,USA.E-mail:jfreiwald@reefcheck.organddabbott@reefcheck.org2UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,CA,USA

ReefCheckCalifornia(RCCA)isacitizensciencekelpforestmonitoringprogramthathasconductedmarineprotectedarea(MPA)monitoringsince2007.TheprogrambeganmonitoringreefspriortotheestablishmentofMPAsalongtheCaliforniacentralcoast.However,mostsubtidalscubamonitoringofMPAsinthecentralcoastisrestrictedtosouthofSantaCruz,California.HerewereporttheearlyresultsofthefirstscubakelpforestsurveyoftheMontaraStateMarineReservelocatednearHalfMoonBay,California.OnNovember3rd,2016,RCCAdiversconductedasurveyofthefish,invertebrateandalgalcommunityoftherockyreefsinthisMPA.ThissurveywasmotivatedbyastronginterestinthelocalcommunityofoceanuserstosurveythisMPAinordertobetterunderstandthespeciesassemblageinthisarea.RCCAiscollaboratingwithlocaldiversandboatownerstosurveythisMPAasithadnotbeenpartofitsstate-wideMPAmonitoringprograminpastyears.LocalinitiativeslikethiscancapitalizeonRCCA’slargenetworkofdiversanditsstate-wideprogramaddingsubstantialvaluetotheongoinglong-termMPAmonitoringprogram.Inthefuture,wehopetouselocalinitiativeslikethis,incollaborationwiththeMPACollaborativeNetwork,tobuildonongoinglong-termMPAmonitoringandtostudyMPAsthatotherwisemightnotbeincludedinastatewideprogramfocusedintheMPAnetworkasawhole.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

CitizensciencemonitoringrevealskelpforestcommunitychangesinnorthernandcentralCalifornia.JanFreiwald1,2,DanAbbott1,andAnnaNeumann1

1ReefCheckFoundation,MarinadelRey,CA,USA.E-mail:jfreiwald@reefcheck.org,dabbott@reefcheck.org,andaneumann@reefcheck.org2UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,CA,USA

ReefCheckCalifornia(RCCA),acitizensciencekelpforestmonitoringprogram,hasconductedmarineprotectedarea(MPA)monitoringsince2007asMPAswereestablishedinconsecutiveregionsinCalifornia.Throughthisprogram,citizenscientistshaveestablishedoneofthegeographicallylargestandtemporallylongestnear-shorereefdatasetsinCalifornia.Inrecentyearswehavedocumenteddramaticchangesintherockyreefcommunities.AlongnorthernCalifornia’sSonomacountycoastkelpforeststhatwerehistoricallydominatedbyNereocystisluetkeanahaveturnedintourchinbarrenswithurchindensitiesincreasingahundred-foldinmanyplaces.SimilardynamicshaverecentlybeendocumentedinMacrocystispyriferaforestincentralCaliforniabutthephenomenonisnotaswidespreadandlocalkelpforestseemtovaryintheirresponsestoincreasingurchindensities.Thesetypesofcommunitychangescannotbedetectedbyshortbaselinemonitoringprogramsthatprovideasnapshotofecologicalcommunities.Nevertheless,theselong-termdynamicsareessentialtounderstandingcommunitychangesinsideandoutofMPAs.OnlyifwecanputtrendsinsideMPAsintocontextwithlong-termtrendsandtheirdrivers–naturaloranthropogenic–canweevaluateifMPAsareachievingtheirgoals.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

AircraftdisturbancetoCommonMurres(Uriaaalge)atacentralCaliforniabreedingcolony.AllisonFuller1,GerryMcChesney2,andRickGolightly11HumboldtStateUniversityDepartmentofWildlife,Arcata,CA,USA.Emails:Allison.fuller@ascentenvironmental.comandrtg1@humboldt.edu2U.S.FishandWildlifeService,SanFranciscoBayNationalWildlifeRefugeComplex,Fremont,CA,USA.Email:Gerry_mcchesney@fws.gov

ACommonMurre(Uriaaalge)breedingcolonyatDevil'sSlideRock(DSR),thatwasextirpatedinthemid-1980s,wasrecentlyrestoredafterseveralyearsofrestorationefforts.Despitetheseefforts,thecolonystillfacesthreats,includinghumandisturbance.Oneofthemainhumanthreatsisfromaircraftdisturbance,whichisrelativelyfrequentbecauseofthecolony’sproximitytoSanFranciscoBayandtheHalfMoonBayairport.Aspartofthecolonyrestorationandmonitoringproject,aircraftdisturbancetothecolonyhasbeenrecordedduringthebreedingseasonforseveralyears.Toassesstheeffectoftimingandaircraftattributes,weconstructedandrankedseveralmultinomiallog-linearmodelsthatincludeddatafrom2008to2014.Ourtopmodelincludedsevenvariables:year,reproductivetiming,starttime,aircrafttype,aircraftcategory,altitude,anddistance;aswellastheinteractionsbetweenaircrafttypeandaircraftcategory,andbetweenaltitudeanddistance.Therelativeriskofdisturbancevariedfromyeartoyear,with2010,2011,2013,and2014exhibitingagreaterriskofdisturbancethan2008.Disturbancewasmorelikelyduringthepre-egglayperiodandpost-chickhatchperiodthanduringincubation.Helicoptersweremorelikelytocausedisturbancethanfixed-wingaircraft.Flushingwasmorelikelytooccuratlowaltitudesandclosedistances.Ourresultswillhelptosupportoutreach,education,andothereffortstoreduceaircraftdisturbancetothecolony.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Thesedimentconnection:shrinkingsuppliesinthefaceofgrowingneeds.DouglasGeorge1,JohnLargier1,andPatrickBarnard21BodegaMarineLaboratory,UCDavis,BodegaBay,CAemail:dgeorge@ucdavis.eduandjlargier@ucdavis.edu2PacificMarineScienceCenter,USGeologicalSurvey,SantaCruz,CAemail:pbarnard@usgs.gov

ThetidalflushingthroughtheGoldenGateconnectsthesediment-ladenestuarinewatersofSanFranciscoBaytothelowersedimentconcentrationsofthecoastalregionnorthandsouthofthebaymouth.Sedimenttransportprocessesarewell-studiedbutnotlargelyunderstood.OneexampleistheconundrumofcoastalerosionalongOceanBeachwhileanotheristhechallengeofbeneficialreuseofdredgedmaterials.Thisgapbecomesmoreofachallengeasclimatechangeimpactsbegintobecomeapparentandsedimentemergesasavaluableresourcetocombatcoastalerosion,highersealevels,andsubsidingcoastalwetlands.Thistalkwillpresentontheprimarysedimentsourcestothecoastalocean(theSierraNevadaandthecoastalbluffs),alterationstothosesourcesduetohumanactivities,andtheimpactstocoastalenvironments.ExampleswillincludesandmininginsideSanFranciscoBay,dredgingthemainshippingchannelthroughtheebb-tidedelta,erosionatOceanBeach,andmudmanagementinBolinasLagoon.Anewstate-fundedefforttodesignasedimentmanagementplanforthecoastsofMarinandSonomacountieswillbedescribedasacomplementtorecentlycompletedcompanionstudiesalongtheoutercoastofSanFranciscoandSanMateocountiesandinsidethebay.Together,thesestudiesdetailtheconnectivityofsedimentpathwaysfrominlandandnorthernsourcesandrecommendhowbesttoutilizesedimentinaneraofmoreunpredictableneeds.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

BenthiccommunitycharacterizationoftheupperreefsofCordellBankusingstillimagesandmultiplehabitatvariables.KaitlinGraiff,DanielleLipskiandDanHoward

CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,PointReyesStation,CA,USA.Email:Kaitlin.Graiff@noaa.gov,Danielle.Lipski@noaa.gov,Dan.Howard@noaa.gov

CordellBank,thecenterpieceofCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary(CBNMS),isanoffshoreunderwatergraniticformationlocatedonthecontinentalshelfapproximately20nauticalmileswestofPointReyes,northernCalifornia.Thebank,about7kmby15km,comestowithin35moftheoceansurfaceandprovideshabitatforathrivingcommunityofinvertebrates,algaeandfishes.InAugust2014,stafffromCBNMSusedtheirPhantomHD2RemotelyOperatedVehicle(ROV)toconductquantitativetransectsovertheupperreefareasonCordellBankindepthslessthan70m.Themainobjectivewastoperformafinescalesurveyofinvertebrateandalgalspeciesabundanceanddistributiontoinformaquantitativeassessmentofbiotaontheupperbank.ThisROVsurveyusedanalysismethodsnewtoCBNMSbyestimatingpercentcoverofinvertebratesandalgaefromdownfacingstillimagesusingCoralPointCountwithExcelextensions(CPCe4.1).TheCPCesoftwarewasdevelopedbytheNationalCoralReefInstitutetoassessspeciescoverageinwarm-watercoralreefecosystemsandweadaptedtheprogram’sspeciesandhabitatcodestothosecharacteristicofCordellBank.CPCeoverlaysaspecifiednumberofrandompointsontotheimageandthefeaturesunderlyingthepointsareuser-identified.ThesoftwarethencalculatescoveragestatisticsanddisplaystheminExcelspreadsheetsfordatastorageandsubsequentanalysis.Fifteentransects,eachabout1kminlength,weresurveyedbytheROVcapturingatotalof1,932stillimages.Asubsampleof538imageswasanalyzedforspeciespercentcoverandgeoreferencedtotheROVtrackingdatatobeassociatedwithmultiplehabitatvariablesextractedfromadigitalelevationmodel(DEM)producedfrommultibeamandbackscatterdata.Inaddition,individualsofconspicuousspeciesofinterestwerecounted:Stylasterspp.,redgorgoniancorals,twospongespecies,urchins,andseastars.Imageanalysisrevealedspeciesfromtenphyla.Thegreatestpercentcoverobservedamongtransectswasmadeupofanunidentifiedbrownbiologicalmaterial(average34%).Porifera(19%),Cnidaria(16%),habitat(rockorsand,13%),andRhodophyta(11%)werealsosignificantcontributorsofaveragepercentcoverforalltransects.CoralcountdatawasusedtovalidateapredictivehabitatmodelandconfirmedthatStylasterspp.andredgorgoniansoccupydifferentnichesandspatialdistributionacrossthebankasaresultoftheirrespectivepreferencesforspecifichabitatvariables.AveragepercentcoverofthemostabundantspeciesofPorifera,CnidariaandRhodophytaandunknownorganismswererelatedtodepth,slope,aspectdirection,andtopographicpositionindex(TPI)variablesderivedfromtheDEMandallowedustolookathowhabitatinfluencedspeciesdistribution.ThisdetailedcharacterizationofCordellBank’sbenthiccommunityprovidesabaselineforfuturecomparativestudiesandwillallowsanctuaryresearchersandmanagerstodetectlargechangesinspeciesabundanceandcompositiondrivenbynaturaloranthropogeniccauses.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Developingmarinefoodwebmodelstoevaluatebluewhale,Cassin'saukletandsalmonresponsestolong-andshort-termchangesinoceanographyintheCaliforniaCurrent.RyanJ.Hartnett1,2,KarinaNielsen2,FrancesWilkerson2,MeredithElliott1,NadavNur1,andJaimeJahncke11PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,CA,USA.E-mail:rhartnet@mail.sfsu.edu,melliott@pointblue.org,nnur@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org2RombergTiburonCenterforEnvironmentalStudies,SanFranciscoStateUniversity,Tiburon,CA,USA.E-mail:rhartnet@mail.sfsu.edu,knielsen@sfsu.edu,fwilkers@sfsu.edu,

Upwellingofdeepwaterdeliversnutrientstothesurfacethatresultsinrecurringbloomsofphytoplankton,abundantzooplankton,andadiversityofpelagicpredatorsintheGulfoftheFarallones(GOF),intheCaliforniaCurrent.Anomalousoceanconditionsarelinkedtofluctuationsinpredatorpopulations.Nutrientspresumablyplayakeyroleindrivingabundancesofpredatorsbuthasnotbeendirectlyexamined.Usingtheten-yearmultivariateACCESSdatasetfromtheGOF,weinvestigatemid-andhigh-trophiclevelresponsestoPacific-basinscaleclimate,regionalandlocaloceanconditions.Usingpathanalysisweexaminehowenvironmentaldriversaffectnutrientsanddeterminespatialandtemporalpatternsindistributionandabundanceoflipid-richcopepodsandkrill.Similarlyweanalyzehowdriversaffecttemporalabundanceofbluewhale,Cassin’sauklet,andsalmon.WefindthatkrillandcopepodabundanceassociateswithstrongupwellingneartheshelfbreakduringMay-June,withdirectandindirectclimateinfluence.Cassin’saukletdensitiesassociatedwithenvironmentalfactorsthatregulatekrillavailabilitynearthesurfacewheretheyfeed.Bluewhaleabundancereflectsoverallkrillbiomass,drivenbyphytoplanktonstockandoceantemperature.Salmonabundanceisinfluencedbykrillandclimateduringsmoltingconditions.Wefindthatzooplanktonandtoppredatorsdonotresponduniformlytoconditionsandchangingresourcesduetothecomplexityofthefoodweb,howtheyutilizetheecosystem,andthetraitsofthevariousorganismsinvolved.Thiscomplexityneedstobeincludedinanyattemptstomodeltoppredators’responsestochangingoceanconditions.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ConnectingourcommunitytotheGoldenGateBiosphere.DaphneHatch1,KarenReyna2,StephenSkartvedt11GoldenGateNationalRecreationArea,NationalParkService,Sausalito,CA,USA.Email:daphne_hatch@nps.gov2GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Email:karen.reyna@noaa.gov

SituatedinNorth-CentralCaliforniawithlandsandwatersinSonoma,Marin,SanFrancisco,andSanMateocounties,theGoldenGateBiosphererepresentsahighlydiversecomplexofterrestrial,coastal,andmarineenvironments,complementedbyarichculturalhistory,andthenaturalandintellectualresourcesoftheSanFranciscoBayArea.Sinceitsdesignationin1988,anetworkoffederal,state,andlocalgovernmentalentities,NGOs,universities,andpublicpartnershaveworkedintandemtopromotecollaborationinscientificresearch,education,conservation,andsustainabledevelopmentwithinthisdiverseanduniqueregion.

ThemissionoftheGoldenGateBiosphereistoprotectthenaturalandculturalresourcesofthedynamicNorth-CentralCaliforniacoastalbioregionandtoenhancetheiradaptivecapacitythroughconservation,education,researchandmonitoring,andsustainabledevelopment.Thefoundationisbuiltupondedicatedpartnershipswithcommunitiesadjacenttoandwithintheboundaries,withtheunderstandingthatlocalengagementandinitiativearekeytolong-termsuccess.OurprimaryobjectiveistocatalyzethecommunicationandcooperationnecessarytostrengthenthecommunitycustodialinterestsinthekeyenvironmentalservicesandissuesoftheGoldenGateBiosphereregion.Combiningtheexpertiseandresourcesof16diverseprotectedareasincludingnationalandstateparks,nationalmarinesanctuaries,municipalwateragencies,universityresearchreserves,conservationNGOs,andanationalwildliferefuge,theGoldenGateBiosphereenablesasynthesisofourcommunity’scollectiveconservation,scientific,educational,andculturalvaluesthatsurpassesthecapacitiesofeachindividualentity.Inkeepingwiththisphilosophy,theGoldenGateBiosphere’sstatusasoneof669siteswithinUNESCO’sWorldNetworkofBiosphereReserves,whichspans120countries,expandsthereachofourlearning,research,andcollaborationtoaglobalscale.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Claynestmodulesforseabirds:aversatileandsustainablesolutiontodiversethreats.MichelleM.Hester1,NathanLynch2,RyanD.Carle1,JessieN.Beck1,MatthewPassmore31OikonosEcosystemKnowledge,180BenitoAve,SantaCruz,USA,Email:michelle@oikonos.organdryan@oikonos.org2CaliforniaCollegeoftheArts,5212Broadway,Oakland,USA,Email:nlynch@cca.edu3MoreLab,166120thStreet,Suite3,Oakland,USA,Email:matt@morelab.com

Burrow-nestingseabirdsfacediversethreats,includingburrowtramplingbyhumansoranimals,soilerosion,habitatloss,andpredators.Researchershaveusedartificialnests,mostoftenmadeofwoodandplastic,tomonitorseabirdsandtoaddresssomeconservationneeds(e.g.providingmorenestingsitesorprotectionfromerosion),butcommonshortcomingsincludetheneedforfrequentmaintenanceandreplacement,problemswithtemperatureregulation,flooding,andcrushingbymarinemammals.Inacollaborativeeffortbetweenamasterceramicist,designers,scientists,andwildlifemanagers,wecreatednewartificialnestdesignsforseabirds,called“nestmodules,”outofdurableclay.TodatewehavedeployedclaynestmodulesonthreeCaliforniaislandsbenefitingfourseabirdspecies.Theseclaynestmodulessimultaneouslyprovideresearchaccess,resolveproblemswithpreviouswoodandplasticdesigns,andaddresssite-specificthreats.Madeof100%clay,thesenestsrequirevirtuallynomaintenance,areexpectedtolast50-100yearswithoutreplacement,andreducetheamountoftrashabandoned/createdbyresearchactivities.Importantly,clayprovidesgreatflexibilityforadaptingdesignstospecies-andsite-specificneedswhendesigned/fabricatedbyexperiencedceramicists.In2010,weinstalled90claymodulesdesignedforRhinocerosAuklets(Cerorhincamonocerata)atAñoNuevoIsland(ANI),California.RhinocerosAukletmodulesaddressedthemainthreatsonANIofburrowtramplingbysealionsandsoilerosion.Inadditiontothetargetspecies,Cassin’sAuklet(Ptychoramphusaleuticus)andPigeonGuillemots(Cepphuscolumba)havealsonestedinthesemodulesonANI.AtOrizabaRockandBatCave,ChannelIslandsNationalPark(CINP),wecreatedadesignforcave-nestingAshyStorm-petrels(Oceanodromahomochroa),toaddressproblemswithCommonRaven(Corvuscorax)predation.Toproducethenecessaryweighttopreventravensfromflipping/draggingthemodulesandthestabilitytowithstandextremesurgeconditionsinthecaves,wecreatedheavytriplexeswitheachmodulehavingthreeseparatenestingentrancesandchambers.In2014-15,withCINPandothercollaborators,atotalof45nestswereinstalledattwocavesites.Since2015wehaveprototypednestmodulesdesignedspecificallytoprotectCassin’sAukletsfromextremetemperatureeventsandgulldisturbances.Atallsites,Oikonosandpartnersaredocumentingtheoccupancyandbreedingperformanceofpairsinclaynestmodulesandnaturalsites.Inaddition,currentlywearetestingthetemperatureperformanceofthemodulesdesignedforCassin’sAukletstoallowinstallationsonthesurface.Theseflexible,strongandsustainableclaydesignshavepotentialtobeadaptedandappliedforburrow-nestingseabirdconservationworld-wide.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

DissolvedoxygenvariabilityontheNorth-CentralCaliforniashelf.KateHewett1,JohnLargier1andDanielleLipski21UCDavisBodegaMarineLaboratory,BodegaBay,California,USA.E-mails:kmhewett@ucdavis.edu;jlargier@ucdavis.edu2NOAACordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,PointReyesStation,CA,USA.E-mail:danielle.lipski@noaa.gov

ThefiveWestCoastNationalMarineSanctuariesarelinkedbytheCaliforniaCurrentSystem(CCS).Wind-drivencoastalupwellingplaysanimportantroleformarineresourcesineachsanctuary,althoughtheeffectsinvaryacrosssites.DeepwatersupwelledontotheshelfaretypicallyenrichedwithnutrientsthatfuelproductivityalongtheCCS,butthesewatersarealsolowindissolvedoxygen(DO)concentrationandcanbemorecorrosivethansurfacewaters(lowpHandsaturationstate).Yet,littleisknownaboutDOvariabilityanditsresponsetomechanisms(e.g.,winddrivenadvectionandrespiration)overtheNorth-CentralCaliforniashelf.Herewereportcontinuousbottommeasurementsoftemperature,salinity,andDOcollectedatsitesintheGulfoftheFarallones(30mand54m)andonCordellBank(114mand84m).WerelateT,SandDOvariabilitytoforcingmechanismstoidentifytheimportanceofphysicalandbiologicaldriversofDO.Thisisanimportantstepinunderstandingpastandpredictingfuturelow-DOeventsonourshelf.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

LongtermtrendsinbaleenwhalesightingsneartheFarallonIslands.KaytlinIngman1,EllenHines1,RyanBerger2,NadavNur2andJaimeJahncke21DepartmentofGeography,SanFranciscoStateUniversity,SanFrancisco,California,UnitedStatesofAmerica.Email:kingman@mail.sfsu.edu2PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,California,UnitedStatesofAmerica.Email:rberger@pointblue.org,nnur@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org

Weexaminedtemporaltrendsinarrivaltime,peakabundance,durationofpresence,and

departuretimeofblue(Balaenopteramusculus)andhumpbackwhales(Megapteranovaeangliae)neartheFarallonIslands,CentralCalifornia.WeuseddailycountsofwhalescollectedfromSoutheastFarallonIsland(SEFI;37°34’N,123°00’W)from1987to2016,anddetaileddatacollectedusingtheSpotterProappfrom2013to2016.Wehypothesizedthatthetimingofwhalemigrationrespondstobasinscaleoceanographicchanges.PreliminaryanalysisofthedatashowsthatblueandhumpbackwhalesaremostcommonlyseenneartheFarallonesduringthefallandsummermonths.HumpbacksweremostcommonlyobservedfromJulytoNovemberuntiltheearly2000s.Inthelast5to7yearshumpbackshavebeenobservedinhighnumbersasearlyasApril,andwerepresentyearroundin2014-2015.BluewhalesshowedasimilarpatterninwhichtheyweremostcommonlyobservedfromAugusttoOctober,buthavebeenobservedasearlyasJanuaryin2014.ThisworkisimportantforofficialsthatmanagetheMarineSanctuariesandcommercialshippingvesselsthatfrequenttheshippinglanesneartheFarallones.Ifwhalesareutilizingtheareaatdifferenttimesoftheyear,thenseasonalmanagementpracticesmustbeadjustedaswelltoaccommodatethenewmigrationtimes.ThisanalysiswillbeimportantforthefutureconservationofbothblueandhumpbackwhalesthatvisitandinhabitthewatersneartheFarallonIslands.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

North-centralCaliforniaecosystemstatusupdatefor2014-2015.JaimeJahncke1,MeredithElliott1,JanRoletto2,andDanielleLipski31PointBlueConservationScience,3820CypressDr,#11,Petaluma,CA94954.Email:melliott@pointblue.org,jjahncke@pointblue.orgmailto:jjahncke@pointblue.org2GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,991MarineDrive,ThePresidio,SanFrancisco,CA94129.Email:jan.roletto@noaa.govmailto:jan.roletto@noaa.gov3CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,1BearValleyRd.,PointReyesStation,CA94956.Email:danielle.lipski@noaa.gov

TheAppliedCaliforniaCurrentEcosystemStudies(ACCESS)programisacollaborativepartnershipofPointBlueConservationScience,CordellBankandGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaries,anditprovidesecosysteminformationformanagement.ACCESShasbeeninvestigatingthespatialandtemporalrelationshipsbetweenoceanographicprocesses,phytoplankton,zooplankton,andmarinebirdsandmammalsinthenorthcentralCaliforniaregionsince2004.Alongshorewindsresponsibleforupwellingintheregionwerestronginearly2014,thenrelaxedmid-yearandremainedweakfortheremainderoftheyearandmostof2015.Onalocalscale,seasurfacetemperaturemeasuredbytheNOAAbuoy(46013)nearBodegaBayshowedwarmtemperaturesformostmonthsin2014and2015.Zooplanktoncommunitycompositionresultsarenotyetavailablefor2014-2015;however,largevolumesofdoliolidsalpsdominatedsamplescollectedintheupper50mofthewatercolumnfromJuly2014andlargelydecreasedinabundancebySeptember2015.AdultkrilldominatedTuckertrawlsamplesinJune2014,buttheremainingcruisesofthe2014andmostof2015caughtmostlysmaller,youngerstagesofkrill.Relativelyhighabundancesofadultkrillwerecaughtinperiodsofcoldwaterconditionsandstrongupwelling(e.g.2007-08,late2010,earlycruisesofmostyears).TheCassin’sauklet,azooplanktivorousseabird,mainlyateeuphausiids(krill)inmostyears,including2014and2015.Mysidswerethedominantpreyin2005-06(pooroceanconditionyears),andtheCassin’saukletexperiencedunprecedentedbreedingfailure.IncreasedamountsofkrillinthedietsincethoseyearshascoincidedwithimprovedproductivityontheFarallonIslands.Acousticmeasurementsofkrillintheupper30mofthewatercolumnanddownto200mhaveshownlowabundancesoverallfrom2004through2008,anincreaseinkrillbiomassthrough2011,followedbyadeclineobservedin2012-14.Thebluewhale,amainkrillpredator,followsverysimilarpatternstothekrillabundance.Yearsoflowerkrillabundance(2004-08)havecorrespondedtolowabundanceofbluewhalesintheregion.Signsofincreasingbluewhaleabundancebeganinlate2009,andalmostfivetimesasmanywhalesweresightedinthesummerandfallof2010comparedtothefirstfouryearsofthestudy.Thisriseinwhaleabundancecoincidedwiththegreatkrillbiomassobservedin2010;sincethen,bluewhaleabundanceshavebeendecliningalongwiththeirpreyintheregion.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

SheddinglightonthewintermovementsofCassin’sauklets.MichaelE.Johns1,PeteWarzybok2,RussellW.Bradley2,JaimeJahncke2,MarkLindberg1,andGregBreed11UniversityofAlaskaFairbanks,Fairbanks,AK99775.Email:mejohns3@alaska.edu,mslindberg@alaska.edu,andgabreed@alaska.edu2PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,CA94954.Email:pwarzybok@pointblue.org,rbradley@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org

Formanyseabirdpopulations,conditionsexperiencedduringthenon-breedingwinterseasonaremostlimiting.Understandingthedistributionandhabitatneedsofindividualsoncetheydepartthebreedingcolonyisthereforeessentialforeffectivemanagement.Cassin’saukletsbreedingonSoutheastFarallonIsland(SEFI),partoftheFarallonNationalWildlifeRefuge,exhibitastrongreproductiveresponsetolocalenvironmentalvariability,yetlittleattentionhasbeenpaidtotheconditionsthatshapetheirnon-breedingdistribution.Tobegintoquantifythewinterrangeandhabitatuseofthispopulation,26adultsbreedinginnestboxesonSEFIwereoutfittedwithminiaturearchivalgloballightsensingdevices,orgeolocators,inthesummerof2015;16ofwhichwererecoveredduringthe2016season.Anadditional33geolocatorsweredeployedin2016,withrecoveryplannedforthesummerof2017.TwilighteventsfromrawlightleveldatawereidentifiedinRwiththepackageGeoLight,andpositionestimateswerecalculatedusingahiddenMarkovchainmodelinthepackageFlightR.Preliminaryresultsindicatethesebirdsspendthemajorityofthenon-breedingseasonintheproductiveCaliforniaCurrentSystemoffthecontinentalshelfofCalifornia,withsomemovementnorthofCapeMendocinoandsouthofPointConception.Tocharacterizewinterhabitatuse,remotelysensedoceanographicvariablesincludingseasurfacetemperatureandchlorophyllaconcentrationswereoverlaidwithpositionestimatesinR.ThesefindingswillhelptobetterunderstandthestressorsCassin’saukletsfacewhileatsea,informationthatisparticularlyrelevantforapopulationutilizingresourceswithinanincreasinglyunstablemarinesystem.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Partneringtomeetthechallengesofsealevelrise:NOAA’sSanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperative.JennaJudge1,JimEckman2,AdamFullerton3,AimeeGood4,WendyGoodfriend3,SaraHutto5,BeckyLunde6,LisaSchiavinato2,BeckySmyth6,andMikeVasey41NOAASentinelSiteCooperative,Oakland,CA,USA.Email:jenna.judge@noaa.gov2CaliforniaSeaGrant,LaJolla,CA,USA.Emails:jeckman@ucsd.eduandlschiavinato@ucsd.edu3SanFranciscoBayConservationandDevelopmentCommission,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Emails:adam.fullerton@bcdc.ca.govandwendy.goodfriend@bcdc.ca.gov4SanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserve,Tiburon,CA,USA.Emails:mvasey@sfsu.eduandaimee@sfsu.edu5GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Email:sara.hutto@noaa.gov6NOAA’sOfficeforCoastalManagement,Oakland,CA,USA.Emails:rebecca.lunde@noaa.govandrebecca.smyth@noaa.gov

Toenhancesealevelriseadaptation,NOAA’sSanFranciscoBayAreaSentinelSiteCooperativefocusesonbridgingnaturalandbuiltadaptationplanning,supportingdevelopmentofaregionalnetworkforearlydetectionandforecastingofmarshecosystemchanges,andfosteringresilienceeffortsthatincorporateconnectionsbetweentheoceanandbay.TheSanFranciscoBayandOuterCoastSentinelSiteCooperativeisoneoffiveNOAASentinelSiteCooperatives.TheCooperativeManagementTeamismadeupofrepresentativesfromtheSanFranciscoBayConservationandDevelopmentCommission(BCDC),NOAA’sOfficeforCoastalManagement,NOAA’sGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS),theSanFranciscoBayNationalEstuarineResearchReserve(SFBayNERR),andCaliforniaSeaGrant.TheoverarchinggoaloftheCooperativeistoenhancethecapacityofBayAreacommunitiestoplanforandadapttochangingcoastalfloodconditions.Wefosterpartnershipsandfacilitatecollaborationtoleveragethewealthofknowledge,programs,andresourcesthatalreadyexistinourregion,andlinkthesewithnationalNOAAresources.

WepresentongoingeffortsrelatedtotheCooperative’sthreefocusareas:1. Bridgingnaturalandbuiltadaptationplanning2. Supportingdevelopmentofaregionalnetworkforearlydetectionandforecastingof

marshecosystemchanges3. Fosteringresilienceeffortsthatincorporateconnectionsbetweentheoceanandbay

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Length-basedestimatesofsurvivalofsub-adultandadultwhitesharksinCaliforniausingphotoidmark-recapture.PaulE.Kanive1,2,JayJ.Rotella2,SalJ.Jorgensen1,TaylorK.Chapple3,ScotAnderson1,andBarbaraA.Block31MontereyBayAquarium,Monterey,CA,USA.E-mail:paulkanive@gmail.com,sjorgensen@mbayaq.org,andsharkman1137@earthlink.net2MontanaStateUniversity,Bozeman,MT.Email:paulkanive@gmail.com,rotella@montana.edu3HopkinsMarineStation,PacificGrove,CA.Email:tchapple@stanford.eduandbblock@stanford.edu

Thoughunderstandingspecies’vitalratesisimperativefordevelopingreasonableconservationstrategies,unbiasedestimationoftheseratescanbechallenging,especiallywithmarinespeciessuchasthewhiteshark(Carcharodoncarcharias).Furthermore,inherentcharacteristicssuchassex,lengthoragecanhaveconsiderableinfluencesontheserates.Ourgoalwastodetermineifsurvivalofsub-adultandadultwhitesharksoffCaliforniaisaffectedbylengthand/orsexdifferences.Weusedtheuniquefinmorphologyofthedorsalfinto‘mark’individualsharksovera9-yearperiod.Sexassignmentwasnotalwaysachievedwhensharkswere‘marked’.However,thesoftwareprogramLOLASURVIVhasbeendevelopedtoaccommodateimperfectsexassignment.Inthisframeworkweusemodelsthatallowlengthasacovariatetocreateunbiasedestimatesforsurvival,detectionprobabilityandthesexratioforthesampledpopulation.Wefoundalengtheffectonsurvival,withsubstantiallylowersurvivalinsmallersizeclasses,andnoevidentdifferencebetweensexes.Wealsofoundalowerdetectionprobabilityforfemaleswithasexratioheavilyweightedtowardsmales.ThisisanimportantsteptowardsassessingthestatusofthepopulationofwhitesharksoffcentralCalifornia.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

FirstobservedforagingbyhumpbackwhalesinSanFranciscoBayWilliamKeener1,IsidoreSzczepaniak1,MarcA.Webber1,S.JonathanStern1,2,andMaryJaneSchramm3

1GoldenGateCetaceanResearch,CorteMadera,CAUSA.E-mail:bill.keener@comcast.net,(415)297-6139,izzyszczepaniak@gmail.com,marcwebber@sbcglobal.net,jonney@sfsu.edu2SanFranciscoStateUniversity,SanFrancisco,CAUSA.Email:jonney@sfsu.edu3NOAAGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CAUSA.Email:MaryJane.Schramm@noaa.gov

Inthespring/summerof2016,weobservedanunprecedentedinfluxofhumpbackwhales(Megapteranovaeangliae)intoSanFranciscoBay(SFBay).IncontrasttoprevioussightingsofafewhumpbackwhalesinthebayeastoftheGoldenGateBridge,includingdisorientedindividuals,in2016multiplehumpbackwhalesenteredthebaytofeed,apparentlyonalargebiomassofnorthernanchovy(Engraulismordax).WhaleswerefirstsightedinSFBayon28Aprilandwerelastsightedon24August,andrecordedbyseveralobserverseitherinthebayorentrancetothebayon44days.Thewhaleswerenotresidentinthebayduringthisfour-monthtimespan,rathertheytransitedtoandfromthecoastinatidally-dependentpattern,usuallyenteringthebayonthefloodandleavingontheebb.Ofthe32sightingsinthecentralbaywithreliabletimes,21occurredduringaflood/hightide,13atebb/low.Peaknumberswere24sightedintheentrancewestofthebridgetoPt.Bonita(10July)and15insidethebayeastoftheGoldenGateBridge(12July).Preliminarycomparisonsofflukephoto-IDimagesfromSanFranciscoBaywiththeNorthPacificcatalogmatchedatleast4individuals.Photosalsoshowedthesameindividualwhalesusingthebayinsuccessivemonths.Feedingbehaviorwasnotedon7daysfrom7Mayuntil30July,includinglungefeeding,andechelonsofupto3whalesfeedingatdepth.ThecessationofhumpbackwhaleactivityinSFBayinAugustcoincidedwithanincreaseintheirnumbersonthecontinentalshelf/FarallonIslandsareawheretheyhadaccesstokrill.Shouldthewhalesreturnannually,intensively-feedinghumpbackwhalesmayplayasignificantroleinthebayecosystem.Conservationimplicationsincludethepotentialforhumaninteractions.AsthewhalesenterthenarrowcongestedGoldenGateStrait,theriskofshipstrikesincrease,aswellasdisturbancebyrecreationalusers,includingwindsurfersandkiteboarderswhowereseenonseveraloccasionsmakingcloseapproachestowhalesinthebay.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

IncreasesinPacificmolecrababundanceinNorthernCaliforniacorrelatestostrongElNiño.MonikaL.KrachandAbbyNickelsGreaterFarallonesAssociation,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Email:mkrach@farallones.org,anickels@farallones.org ThePacificmolecrab,Emeritaanaloga,isadenizenofsandybeachecosystems.WewillexaminethepopulationofthePacificmolecrabatOceanBeachinSanFranciscowherehighschoolstudentshavecollectedabundanceandsize-frequencydataoverthepast15years.LiMPETS(Long-termMonitoringProgramandExperientialTrainingforStudents)isacitizenscienceprograminwhichstudentsmonitorecologicalchangesalongthecoastandparticipateinahands-on,scientificendeavorthatincreasestheirknowledgeofthemarineenvironment. Pacificmolecrabpopulationsarehighlyinfluencedbyoceanographicconditions,ascrabsspendthefirst4-5monthsasplanktoniclarvae.Onlyasmallproportionofthelarvaesurviveandsettleonabeach.Sorteetal.(2001)revealedthatfluctuatingmolecrabpopulationsofftheOregoncoastwaslinkedtothepresenceofElNiño.MolecrabpopulationsinOregonarereplenishedbylarvaedriftingnorthfromCalifornia,andbecauseanElNiñoperiodresultsinanincreasednorthwardtransportofwater,larvalpopulationsinOregonarehigherduringElNiño. AfterstrongElNiñoperiods,LiMPETSobservedsharpincreaseinthemolecrabpopulationatOceanBeachandotherNorthernCaliforniabeaches.Thepopulationincreasewasduetohighamountsofyoungoftheyearcrabs.Inthisposter,wewillshowthecorrelationbetweentheintensityofElNiñoandmolecrababundancefrom2001to2016.Reference:Sorte,C.J.,Peterson,W.T.,Morgan,C.A.,&Emmett,R.L.(2001).Larvaldynamicsofthesandcrab,Emeritaanaloga,offthecentralOregoncoastduringastrongElNiñoperiod.JournalofPlanktonResearch,23(9),939-944.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Usingyouth-basedcitizensciencetorevealecologicaltrendsinCaliforniarockyintertidal.MonikaL.Krach1andAbbyNickels11GreaterFarallonesAssociation,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Email:mkrach@farallones.org,anickels@farallones.org LiMPETS(Long-termMonitoringProgramandExperientialTrainingforStudents)isacitizenscienceprograminwhichstudents,educatorsandvolunteergroupsmonitorecologicalchangesalongthecoastofCalifornia’sNationalMarineSanctuaries.Throughthisstatewideprogram,over6,000citizensannuallyparticipateinahands-on,scientificendeavorthatincreasestheirknowledgeofthemarineenvironment,creatinganewgenerationofinformedandengagedoceanstewards. Beyondtheeducationalvalueoftheprogram,thepowerofLiMPETSliesinthelargequantityofdatacollectedalongrockyintertidalareasoftheGreaterFarallonesandMontereyBayNationalMarineSanctuaries.Byconsistentandfrequentmonitoring,LiMPETShasestablishedabaselinefromwhichwecanbetteraddresscurrentandfutureenvironmentalimpacts. LiMPETScollectsabundancedataon27rockyintertidaltaxa.Datafromthepast10yearsrevealregularseasonalfluctuationsinalgalabundances,massivedeclinesinochreseastars,expansionsofmusselbeds,boomandbustpatternsofstorm-sensitivealgae.Likemostmonitoringprograms,thevalueoftheLiMPETSrockyintertidaldatasetwillgrowovertime.LiMPETShasthepowertorevealshiftingzonationpatternswithsea-levelrise,geographicexpansionofspeciesnorthwardduetowarmingsea-surfacetemperatures,intenseanimalandalgalabundancefluctuationswithincreasedstorminess,andpatternsofdiseaselikeseastarwastingsyndrome.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Advancingtransitionzonerestoration:applicationofsoilamendmentstoincreasevegetationestablishment.NissaKreidler¹,RachelleCardona¹,EvaMalis²,DylanChapple²,DonnaBall¹¹SaveTheBay.Email:nkreidler@savesfbay.org²UCBerkeley

TransitionzonesbetweenbrackishmarshanduplandareasofSanFranciscoBayarecriticalhabitatforhundredsofspecies,someofwhicharethreatenedorendangered.Thishabitatisintegralforwildlifeseekinghightiderefugiaaswellasfloodprotectionduringstorms.TheBaylandsGoalsUpdateprioritizestheneedtocreate,restore,andprotectthishabitat,particularlyinanticipationofsealevelrise.However,therestorationandcreationoflargetransitionzones(10-30acres)isarelativelynewendeavorandrestorationpractitionersarejustbeginningtoconsiderhowtoimplementtheseprojects.Thereisanurgentneedforpilotprojectstodevelopmethodstocost-effectivelyrevegetateandrestoretheseareasatalargescale.

ThisstudyfocusesonthechallengesofrestoringtransitionzonevegetationonaleveeadjacenttomarshesinthePaloAltoBaylands.Thesiteiscomprisedofheavilydisturbed,low-nutrientsoilsfromavarietyofsources.Standardrestorationpracticesofremovinginvasivespeciesandplantingnativeplantsdemonstratedlowsurvivorshipafterplantingin2011.Subsequently,in2012asoilamendmentexperimentwasconductedtoexplorealternativemethods.Thisongoingexperimentassessestheefficacyof(1)soiltilling,(2)compostaddition,and(3)acombinationofbothtoinimprovevegetationestablishmentatasitewithlowqualitysoils.

Ourresultsshowthehighestnativeplantcoverinthecomposttreatmentplot(57.1%),followedbythetillandcomposttreatmentplot(34.1%).Boththetilled-onlytreatmentandcontrolshowedlowerpercentcover(3.8%and23.9%,respectively).Whiletheexperimentisongoing,theseresultsinfluenceourworkinadjacenttransitionzonerestorationprojects.LookingforwardtothefutureoftransitionzonerestorationintheSanFranciscoBay,continuedmonitoringatthissiteandtheseresultscaninformsimilarprojectstomaximizerestorationefforts.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

IntrusionofupwelledwatersintoSanFranciscoBay.JohnLargierandKateHewettUCDavisBodegaMarineLaboratory,BodegaBay,California,USA.E-mails:kmhewett@ucdavis.edu;jlargier@ucdavis.edu

Giventhevalueoffreshwater,studiesofSanFranciscoBayhaveemphasizedtheroleofriverinflowandthemajorityofattentionhasbeenoninnerestuaryregions.Inupwellingareastheoceancandelivermajornutrientorplanktonsubsidiestoestuaries,whichhavelargelybeenoverlookedinSanFranciscoBay.Specifically,therearefewdataoncurrentsandwaterpropertiesatdepth.Inrecentcollaborativework,wehavecollatedandcollecteddatatoaddresstheintrusionofupwelledwatersintotheBayatdepth.Thecoldest,densestwaterrepresentsasignificantfluxofnitrate–andwithacidificationanddeoxygenationofoceanwaters,theseintrusionsmayalsoexposebayenvironmentstohypoxicandlow-saturation-statewater.Preliminaryresultsindicatetheimportantinterplayofwindsthatdriveupwelling,tidesthatdriveexchange,andfreshwaterthatmodulatesstratificationintheouterestuary.ThemultipledimensionsofthisproblemofferdiversefuturescenariosforchangesinSanFranciscoBayduetoshiftingoceaninfluencesunderclimatechange.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

PescaderoLagoonhypoxia.JohnLargierandRobinRoettgerUCDavisBodegaMarineLaboratory,BodegaBay,California,USA.E-mails:jlargier@ucdavis.edu,rroettger@ucdavis.edu

ThePescaderoLagoonisabar-builtestuarythatprovidescriticalhabitatforfederallythreatenedsteelhead(Oncorhynchusmykiss)andseveralotherfishspecies.Closedlagoonconditionsdevelopwhenasandbarbuildsacrossthemouthoftheestuary,mosttypicallyinlatesummer.Aftersandbarclosure,thewaterlevelslowlyrisesinPescaderoLagoonandintimelower-layerhypoxiadevelops.Nevertheless,rapidgrowthofsteelheadisobserved,consistentwithotherlagoonsintheregion–supportingthevaluegiventoPescaderoLagoonasimportantnurseryhabitatforO.mykiss.Attheendoftheclosureseason,however,whenthemouthbreachesandthelagoonconnectsagaintotheocean,fishmortalityeventshaveoccurredalmosteveryyearsincethemid-1990s.Wereportonnewmonitoringofhydrologyandwaterqualityinthelagoon,withaviewidentifyingthecontrolsonextremeoxygenlevelsthatoccurfollowing(andimmediatelybefore)breachevents–andlinkstothealteredhydrologyofButanoCreekandmarsh-channelexchanges.FollowinganotherlargefishkillinNovember2016,thereisnewfoundurgencyindevelopingsciencequicklytosupportsolutions.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

BiologicalmortalityanomaliesinthenorthernandcentralCaliforniaecosystem,2014-2015.KirstenLindquist1,JanRoletto2,TaylorNairn1,andDruDevlin11FarallonesMarineSanctuaryAssociation,SanFrancisco,CA,USA;E-mail:klindquist@farallones.org,taylor.nairn@noaa.gov,andddevlin@farallones.org2GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,SanFrancisco,CA,USA94129.Email:jan.roletto@noaa.gov

BeachWatchecosystemmonitoringprojectisapartnershipofGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaryandFarallonesMarineSanctuaryAssociation.Establishedin1993,BeachWatch(BW)engagescitizenscientistsinbi-monthlysurveysforliveandbeachcastbirdsandmammalsonsanctuarybeachesfromAñoNuevoStateReserve,SanMateoCountytoBodegaBay,SonomaCounty.InNovember2014additionalsurveyswereaddedtotheproject,extendingnorthtoManchesterBeach,MendocinoCounty.Currently,over1300surveysareperformedannually,spanning280kmofcoastline.TheBeachWatchprojectprovidesover22yearsofstatusandtrenddataforover300speciesofcoastalwildlife.ThemostabundantbeachcastspeciesareCommonMurres(Uriaaalge),NorthernFulmar(Fulmarusglacialis),WesternGull(Larusoccidentalis),Brandt'sCormorants(Phalacrocoraxpenicillatus)andCaliforniaSeaLions(Zalophuscalifornianus).Allbeachcastbirdsandmammalsaredocumentedwithmeasurementsandphotographs.Speciesidentification,age,andsexarereviewedandconfirmedbyseabirdandmarinemammalexpertsonstaff.

In2014and2015BWsurveysdocumentedunusualmortalityeventsintwoseabirdspecies,Cassin’sAuklets(Ptychoramphusaleuticus)andCommonMurresandonepinnipedspecies,thethreatenedGuadalupeFurSeal(Arctocephalustownsendi).Cassin’sAukletsarezooplanktivoresfeedingnearlyexclusivelyonkrill.MurresandFurSealsarepiscavores.BWcollectedspecimensofeachspeciesfornecropsytodeterminecauseofdeath.

Cassin’sAuklets,apelagicspecies,arehistoricallyrareonbeachedbirdsurveysinnorthcentralCAtypicallyfoundatarateof0.017birds/kmsurveyed.InJuly2014throughFebruary2015emaciatedCassin’swashedashoreinaboveaveragenumbers.DuringNovemberandDecemberCassin’swereobservedatarateof2.82birds/kmanincreaseofover166timesbaselinerates.GuadalupeFurSealsareuncommoninthenorthcentralcoastofCAandrarelyfoundonbeachsurveystypicallyfoundatarateof0.0002mammals/km.InMarchthroughJuly2015GuadalupeFurSealsweredocumentedatarateof0.025mammals/km,anincrease124timesbaseline.CommonMurresarethemostcommonspeciesofbeachcastbirddocumentedonBWsurveystypicallyatarateof0.28birds/km.InSeptemberthroughNovemberof2015CommonMurresweredocumentedatarateof5.95birds/km,anincreaseofover20timesbaseline.

BWdataclearlyshowthreeanomalousmortalityeventsin2014-2015includingmultipletrophiclevels.Necropsies,performedbymultipleagencies,suggestemaciationasthecauseofdeathforallthreespecies.Duringthesemortalityevents,aprolongedperiodofunusuallyhighseasurfacetemperatureoccurred,includingthe“WarmWaterBlob”andElNiño.Theseenvironmentalconditionsappeartohaveaffectedpreyavailability.WecontinuetoinvestigatethewarmwaterimpactsonseabirdsandmarinemammalsincentralandnorthernCA.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

UsetheSanctuaryIntegratedMonitoringNetwork(SIMoN)tolinkyoursciencetoresourcemanagementinsanctuaries.DanielleLipskiCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,PointReyesStation,CA.Email:danielle.lipski@noaa.gov

TheSanctuaryIntegratedMonitoringNetwork(SIMoN)isanintegrated,long-termprogramthattakesanecosystemapproachtoidentifyandunderstandchangeswithinsanctuariesmanagedbytheOfficeofNationalMarineSanctuaries.SIMoNprovidesinformationtoresourcemanagersforeffectivedecision-makingandprovidesanintroductoryunderstandingofthecomplexanduniquemarineprocesseswithintheCaliforniaCurrentecosystem.Bygatheringsummarymetadatafromon-going,recentlycompletedandhistoricmonitoringandresearchprojectswithinsanctuaries,SIMoNfacilitatesthecriticalbutoftenoverlookedcommunicationbetweenresearchers,resourcemanagers,educatorsandthepublic.

SIMoN,andinparticulartheSIMoNwebsite,wasdesignedasapowerfultoolforsanctuarystafftoquicklyaccesssummaryinformationonhundredsofmonitoringandresearchprograms.Sanctuarystaffalsoseekstoincreasetheeffectiveuseofscientificresearchbyintegratingexistingprogramsandidentifyinggapsininformation.Toavoidduplicatingprogramsandleverageavailableresources,managersandtheirstaffmustfirstknowwhathasbeendoneinthepastandwhichprogramscontinuetocollectdata.Withthisknowledge,managerscanmoreeffectivelytargettheirlimitedresourcesonsurveyingandcharacterizingunder-studiedhabitats,assessingtheimpactofnaturalprocessesorhumanactivitiesonspecificresources,andimplementrelevant,long-termmonitoringprograms.

TheSIMoNwebsitealsooffersavarietyoftoolstoaccessbasicandadvanceddatacharacterizingthewestcoastsanctuariesandthenaturalresourcesandprocessesprotectedbysanctuaries.AmongthemorepopulartoolsarethePhotoLibrary,withover5000digitalimagesofmarineorganisms,habitats,andactivities;theSpeciesDatabase,withnaturalhistoryinformationon172speciescommonlyoccurringwithinthewestcoastsanctuaries;andInteractiveMapsthatallowuserstomanipulateaGooglemapinterfacetobettervisualizewhereresearchandmonitoringprojectsaretakingplaceinsanctuaries.

Finally,SIMoNnotonlyprovidesinformationtomanagers,decisionmakers,theresearchcommunity,butalsotothegeneralpublic.SIMoNservesasahubforinitiatingandintegratingdatacollectingeffortsanddisseminatinginformation.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

BenthicscienceinCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary.DanielleLipski1,DanHoward1,andKaitlinGraiff11CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,Olema,CA,USA,Danielle.lipski@noaa.gov,Dan.Howard@noaa.gov,Kaitlin.Graiff@noaa.gov

CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary(CBNMS)protectsabout1286squaremilesofoceanoffthecoastofPointReyes,Californiaandincludesbenthichabitatonthecontinentalshelf,continentalslope,BodegaCanyon,andCordellBank.ThegoaloftheCBNMSbenthicscienceprogramistoensurethatbenthiccommunitiesinthesanctuaryarewellcharacterizedandmonitoredsothatchangescanbedetectedandinformationisavailabletomakerecommendationstosupportmanagement.Managementconcernsforthishabitatincludeclimatechange,oceanacidification,invasivespecies,disease,andfishingimpacts.ModernexplorationandcharacterizationofCBNMSdatesbacktothelate1970’sandhasincludedsurveysusingscuba,remotelyoperatedvehicles(ROV),autonomousunderwatervehicles(AUV),mannedsubmersibles,dropcameras,andcamerasleds.Ourcurrentbenthicscienceprioritiesare:conductROVsurveys,developalongtermsamplingplan,andbuildcollaborationsforresearchprojects.

Ourmostrecentsurveyswereconductedusingthesanctuary-ownedPhantomHD2ROVin2014.OnesurveywasconductedonshallowareasofCordellBankwithinthe70meterisobathstodevelopafine-scalecharacterizationofbenthiccommunitiesinareasofhighpercentcover(seeGraiffetal.poster).AnothersurveyinpartnershipwithGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,NationalCenterforCoastalOceanSciences,andCaliforniaAcademyofSciencesexploredareasneartheheadofBodegaCanyoncharacterizingthemudandrockhabitatsandassociatedfishandinvertebratecommunity.OurnextplannedROVsurveysaretargetedforsummer2017andwillfocuson1)intermediatedepthsonCordellBankand2)potentialsurveysindeepareasofthecontinentalslopeandBodegaCanyoninpartnershipwithNOAA’sOfficeofExplorationandResearchandOceanExplorationTrust.

Buildingonhistoricandrecentefforts,CBNMSisdevelopingalongtermsamplingstrategytosystematicallycharacterizeandmonitorbenthichabitatsinthesanctuary.In2016weheldaworkshopwithexpertstoprovideadviceonsamplingstrategiesinthevarietyofhabitatsinthesanctuarywhichresultedinaworkshopreport.Alongtermsamplingstrategyisindevelopment,targetedforcompletionin2017,andwillincludecharacterizationandmonitoringforbiologicalcommunities,physicalparameters,andeducationandoutreachgoals.

Inadditiontocharacterizationandmonitoring,wehavetargetedresearchquestionsaboutchangesinspeciesabundanceanddistributionsincefishingclosureswereimplemented,comparisonsofsurveyresultsusingdifferenttechnologiescoralhabitatmodelvalidation,andeffectsofclimatechangeandoceanacidificationonbenthicbiota.Weinvitecollaborationontheseandotherquestions,inanefforttobetterunderstand,characterize,andultimatelymanagebenthichabitatsinCBNMS.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ListeninginonCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary.DanielleLipski1,HolgerKlinck2,3,SamaraHaver2,andLeilaHatch41CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary,Olema,CA,USA,Danielle.Lipski@noaa.gov2CooperativeInstituteforMarineResourcesStudies,OregonStateUniversityandNOAAPacificMarineEnvironmentalLaboratory,HatfieldMarineScienceCenter,Newport,OR,USA,Holger.Klinck@noaa.gov,Samara.Haver@noaa.gov3BioacousticResearchProgram,CornellLabofOrnithology,CornellUniversity,Ithaca,NY,USA.Holger.Klinck@noaa.gov4StellwagenBankNationalMarineSanctuary,Scituate,MA,USA,Leila.Hatch@noaa.gov

Underwateroceannoisehasincreaseddramaticallyoverthepastseveraldecadesandcanreducehabitatqualityandinterferewithmarineanimalcommunication,foraging,andlocomotivebehavior.CordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary(CBNMS)protects1286squaremilesofoceanoffthecoastofPointReyes,CaliforniaandishometovocalizingmarinemammalsandshippinglanesforcommercialshiptraffictoandfromtheportsofSanFrancisco.Thelackofinformationaboutthetypeandmagnitudeofanthropogenicsoundlimitsourabilitytounderstandtheimpactstosanctuaryresources.CBNMSandNOAA’sPacificMarineEnvironmentalLabpartneredtodeployapassiveacoustichydrophonemooringaspartofNOAA’sOceanNoiseReferenceStation(NRS)Networktocharacterizethesanctuarysoundscape.TheNRSnetworknowincludeselevenbuoysdeployedinUSwaters.Thehydrophonesarestandardizedandcalibratedsodatacanbecomparedamonglocationsandovertime.TheCBNMSbuoywasdeployedinOctober2015andisrecordingsoundinthe15-2200Hzrange,whichincludestherangevocalizingwhalesandships.ThebuoywillberecoveredinSeptember2017andanalysiswillincludeidentifyingsoundlevelsandsourcestodescribethesoundscapeofthesanctuary.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

PopulationtrendsofCommonMurresandBrandt’sCormorantsintheGulfoftheFarallones,1999-2016.GerardJ.McChesney1,PhillipJ.Capitolo2,MichaelW.Parker1,HarryR.Carter3,CassieM.Bednar3,PeteM.Warzybok4,RussellW.Bradley4,andRichardT.Golightly31U.S.FishandWildlifeService,SanFranciscoBayNationalWildlifeRefugeComplex,Fremont,California94555USA.Email:gerry_mcchesney@fws.gov,mike_parker@ciesresearch.org2InstituteofMarineSciences,UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,California95060USA.Email:phil.capitolo@gmail.com3HumboldtStateUniversity,Dept.ofWildlife,Arcata,California95521USA.Email:carterhr@shaw.ca,cassie.bednar@humboldt.edu,richard.golightly@humboldt.edu4PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,California94954USA.Email:rbradley@pointblue.org,pwarzybok@pointblue.org

TheCommonMurre(Uriaaalge)andBrandt’sCormorant(Phalacrocoraxpenicillatus)aretwoofthemostabundantbreedingseabirdsintheGulfoftheFarallones,withgloballyimportantpopulations.Bothspeciescanbesensitivetobothnaturalandhumanfactors.Inthisregion,CommonMurresdeclineddramaticallyfollowinganextensivecommercialeggingindustryinthelatterhalfofthe19thcentury.Followingpartialrecoveryinthemid-20thcentury,thispopulationagaindeclinedrapidlyinthemid-1980sasaresultofgill-netandoilspillmortality.TheBrandt’sCormorantcanbeespeciallysensitivetochangesinprey.Theregionalpopulationdeclinedfollowingthestrong1982-83ElNiñoandtookseveralyearstobeginrecovering.WeexaminedtrendsinGulfoftheFarallonesbreedingpopulationsofCommonMurresandBrandt’sCormorantsfortheperiod1999-2016,theyearsfollowingthestrong1997-98ElNiñoeventandbeginningwiththeoceanographicregimeshiftof1999.DatausedwerefromannualaerialphotographicsurveysofmostbreedingcoloniesandothersurveysattheSouthFarallonIslands.

CommonMurreannualbreedingpopulationsizesrangedfromabout128,000toabout415,000birds.Significantpopulationincreasesranging4.0%-19%perannumwerefoundatallbutoneofsevencolonies,while the overall population increased at a rate of nearly 6%per annum. Increases can beattributed to greatly reduced fishery-related and oil spill mortality as well as relatively highsurvivorshipand recruitment resulting fromproductive forage conditions.Numbers showedsignsofstabilizingatthelatterendofthetimeseries.

Brandt’sCormorantannualbreedingpopulationsizesrangedfromabout2,600toabout40,000breeding birds. Although no significant trends were found for the whole period, nearly all coloniesshowedaconsistentpatternofstrongincreasebetween1999and2007followedbyanabruptdecline.After2010,numbersbeganrecoveringatmostcoloniestolevelsrecordedintheearlierpartofthetimeseries. However at the South Farallon Islands, which formerly hosted the world’s largest Brandt’sCormorant colony, numbers are still fairly depleted. The increase and rapid decline of the region’sBrandt’sCormorantshasbeen linkedtochanges innorthernanchovy(Engraulismordax)abundance.Sinceacrashintheanchovypopulationthatbeganin2008,cormorantshaveswitchedlargelytootherpreyitems.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ChangesinseabirdbreedingpopulationsizesinthenorthcentralcoastregionofCalifornia,1989to2010-2012GerardJ.McChesney1,HarryR.Carter2,CrystalA.Shore3,SandraJ.Rhoades3,RussellW.Bradley4,PeteM.Warzybok4,RichardT.Golightly3,andPhillipJ.Capitolo51U.S.FishandWildlifeService,SanFranciscoBayNationalWildlifeRefugeComplex,1MarshlandsRd.,Fremont,California94555USA.Email:gerry_mcchesney@fws.gov2CarterBiologicalConsulting,1015HampshireRd.,Victoria,BritishColumbiaV8S4S8Canada.carterhr@shaw.ca3HumboldtStateUniversity,Dept.ofWildlife,1HarpstSt.,Arcata,California95521USA.Email:c.bechaver@gmail.com,sandra.rhoades@gmail.com,richard.golightly@humboldt.edu4PointBlueConservationScience,3820CypressDr.#11,Petaluma,California94954USA.Email:rbradley@pointblue.org,pwarzybok@pointblue.org5InstituteofMarineSciences,UniversityofCalifornia,100ShafferRd.,SantaCruz,California95060USA.Email:phil.capitolo@gmail.com

SeabirdbreedingcolonysurveyswereconductedintheNorthCentralCoastregionofCaliforniabetweenPointArenaandPigeonPointin2010-2012toupdatepopulationsizesandprovidebaselinedataformonitoringnewlyestablishedstatemarineprotectedareas.Numbersofbreedingbirdswereestimatedfromcountsofnests(orbirdsforcertainspecies)fromboats,mainlandorislandvantagepoints,oraerialphotographs;insomecases,recentliteraturewassubstituted.In2010-2012,over500,000breedingbirdsof13specieswerefoundat68activecolonies.ByfarthelargestbreedingcolonywasattheSouthFarallonIslandswithintheFarallonNationalWildlifeRefuge,withabout328,500breedingbirds(over80%oftheregionaltotal),includingall13species.ThemostabundantspecieswastheCommonMurre(Uriaaalge),withnearly440,000breedingbirds.Sincethelastregion-widesurveyin1989,regionalpopulationsoffivespeciesincreased(Double-crestedCormorant[Phalacrocoraxauritus],BlackOystercatcher[Haematopusbachmani],CommonMurre,PigeonGuillemot[Cepphuscolumba],andRhinocerosAuklet[Cerorhincamonocerata]),onenewbreedingspecieswasaddedtotheregion(CaliforniaGull[Laruscalifornicus]),fourspeciesdeclined(Leach’sStorm-Petrel[Oceanodromaleucorhoa],PelagicCormorant[P.pelagicus],Cassin’sAuklet[Ptychoramphusaleuticus]andTuftedPuffin[Fraterculacirrhata]),andthreespeciesfluctuatedorremainedrelativelystable(AshyStorm-Petrel[O.homochroa],Brandt’sCormorant[P.penicillatus],andWesternGull[L.occidentalis]).

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

CommunicationandcomplianceinCaliforniaCoastalMPAs.DavidMcGuire1,ViktoriaKuehn2andBrianBaird31SharkStewards,Co-ChairGoldenGateMPACollaborativeEmail:David@sharkstewards.org2UniversityofSanFranciscoEmail:vskuehn@dons.usfca.edu3TheBayInstitute,Co-ChairGoldenGateMPACollaborativeEmail:brian@bay.org

In2012,Californiaimplementedaworldclasssystemof124marineprotectedareascreatedthroughacomprehensivestakeholder-ledpublicprocesswiththeDepartmentofFishandWildlifeandtheOceanprotectionCouncil.Facilitatingtheevolutionoflocalcollaborativesisaneffective,transparent,grassrootsmethodofstewardshipofCalifornia’smarineprotectedareas.Collaborativesprovidealocalized,comprehensiveapproachtooceanresourcemanagementbybringingtogetherlocalexpertsandauthoritiesintheareasofOutreach&Education,Enforcement&Compliance,andResearch&Monitoring.ThenorthcentralCaliforniamarineprotectedareas(MPAs),fromAlderCreek(nearPointArena)toPigeonPoint,areonecomponentofastatewideMPAnetwork.The25protectedareasinthisregion(22MPAsandthreemarinerecreationalmanagementareas)coverapproximately154squaremiles,orabout20percentofnorthcentralCaliforniastatewaters.Sixspecialclosuresarealsomanagedaspartoftheregion’scomplementofMPAs.

IntheSanFranciscoBayregion,theGoldenGateMPACollaborative,comprisedoffishermen,NGOS,MuseumsandAquaria,Universitiesandthegeneralpublicareworkingtoeducateboaters,tide-poolersandshorefishersatMPAsbetweenBodegaBayandPillarPoint,includingtheFarallonIslands.TheGoldenGateMPACollaborativehassuccessfullybroughttogetherenvironmentalNGOs,agencies,fishermen,scientists,aquariaandvesselcaptainsinterestedinraisingawarenessofmarineprotectedareasinMarinandSanFranciscocounties,includingtheFarallonIslands.CollaborativemembersareengagingboatcaptainsanddocentsinanambassadorprogramtargetingvisitorstoPointReyesandtheFarallones.Workingwiththeseambassadors,thecollaborativehasdevelopedamap-basedbrochurethatwillbeusedasanoutreachtool,withthegoalofincreasingawarenessandcomplianceoflocalmarineprotectedareas.AseriesofpubliceventswithBay.orgcalledtheCoastandOceansisreachingandrecruitinghundredsofpublicvolunteers.InaseparatevesselambassadorprogramwearetakingthepublicandstudentsfromtheUniversityofSanFranciscototheseremotemarineprotectedareasobservingwildlifeandhumaninteractions,samplingplankton,dissolvedoxygenandsalinityaswellascontributingtobaselinemonitoringinacitizenscienceprogram.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

MovementsanddivingbehaviorofjuvenileCaliforniasealionsduringthe2015/2016ElNiñoevent.ElizabethA.McHuron1,BarbaraBlock2,andDanielP.Costa1

1UniversityofCaliforniaSantaCruz,SantaCruz,CA,USA.Email:emchuron@ucsc.eduandcosta@ucsc.edu2HopkinsMarineStation,StanfordUniversity,PacificGrove,CA,USA.Email:bblock@stanford.edu

Californiasealions(Zalophuscalifornianus)areanabundantpredatorintheCaliforniaCurrentEcosystemwhosemovementsanddietareknowntovaryinresponsetofluctuationsinpreyavailabilityatmultipletemporalscales.Despitetheirabundance,verylittleisknownaboutthehabitatuseanddivingbehaviorofjuvenilesealions,ademographicgroupthatmaybeparticularlysusceptibletoreducedforagingsuccessandhighmortalityduringperiodsofreducedpreyavailability,suchasElNiñoevents.TheobjectivesofthisstudyweretoprovideapreliminaryinvestigationofthemovementsanddivingbehaviorofjuvenilesealionsatAñoNuevoIsland,animportantcentralCaliforniahaul-outsitethatalsosupportsasmallbreedingpopulation.Bio-logginginstrumentsweredeployedonsevenjuvenilesealions(1-3years)inOctober2015,whichcoincidedwiththestrongElNiñoeventof2014-2015.SealionsinstrumentedatAñoNuevoIslandrangedfromsoutherntonorthernCalifornia,butthehomerange(90%UD)andcoreareas(50%UD)weregenerallyconcentratedtoamuchsmallerareaincentralCaliforniabetweentheFarallonIslandsandMontereyBay.Movementswerelargelyrestrictedtothecontinentalshelfandthemajorityofdiveswerefrom10-50mand<2.5min,whichisgenerallyconsistentwiththebehaviorofadultsealionsduringnon-ElNiñoconditions.Adultsealionshaveagreaterdependenceondeepdivesinoffshoreareasduringperiodsofincreasedseasurfacetemperatures,suggestingthatjuvenilesandadultsmaydifferintheirresponsetoenvironmentalvariation.Althoughjuvenilesdidexhibitdivesthatweregenerallydeeperandlongerthanaverageadultdivebehavior,theirmaximumdivedepthsanddurationswerestillonlyapproximately70%ofadultmaximumvalues.Thisindicatesthatjuvenilesmayexperiencephysiologicallimitationsassociatedwithincompletedevelopmentoftotaloxygenstoresandasmallerbodysize,restrictingforagingtoonorjustoffthecontinentalshelfandlimitingtheirbehavioralresponsesduringperiodsofreducedpreyavailabilitylargelytonorth-southmovements.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

RecentdemographicanalysisofAshyStorm-PetrelsontheFarallonNationalWildlifeImpacts:SurvivalandpopulationbenefitsfromreducednumbersofBurrowingOwls.NadavNur,RussellW.Bradley,LeoSalas,andJaimeJahnckePointBlueConservationScience,3820CypressDrive#11,Petaluma,CA94954707-781-2555nnur@pointblue.org;rbradley@pointblue.org;lsalas@pointblue.org;jjahncke@pointblue.org

WeanalyzedsurvivalofFarallonashystorm-petrelinrecentyearsandestimatedpopulation

trends.BurrowingowloccurrenceandactivityattheFarallonNationalWildlifeRefugereachedapeakin2010/2011.Duringthatsameyear,ashystorm-petrelsurvivalreacheditslowestlevelinthelastdecade,havingshownamulti-yeardecline;populationsizewasalsodecliningduringthissameperiodthatshowasteepincreaseinburrowingowlattendance,2007to2011.Thus,theevidenceclearlypointstotheincreasedabundanceandactivityofburrowingowlleadingtopredationofashystorm-petrels,thusdecreasingsurvivalandcontributingtotheobservedpopulationdecline.However,since2011,fall/winterburrowingowlnumbershavebeen40%lowerinrecentyears(2011/2012to2014/2015)comparedtotheprevious2years(2009/2010and2010/2011).Averagestorm-petrelsurvivalforthefourmostrecentyearperiod(2011/2012to2014/2015)wasgreaterthantheestimateofsurvivalfor2010/2011by6.0%.However,survivalofashystorm-petrelsfor2014/2015,theyearofmarkedlylowburrowingowlattendance,wasindistinguishablefromsurvivalobservedintheprevious3years,whenburrowingowlattendancewasonaverage68%higherthanitwasin2014/2015Wefoundthatashystormpetrelpopulationtrendinrecentyearshasindeedevidencedachange,concomitantwiththereductioninburrowingowlattendance.Lookingatalongertimeseries,from2001to2007,thepopulationdisplayedastrongincreaseinpopulationsize(increasingat17.5%peryear,P<0.015),confirmingresultsfromourearlieranalysis.However,from2007to2012thepopulationdecreasedby7.0%peryear(P<0.1),thisdecreasecoincidingwiththeperiodofincreaseinburrowingowloverwinterattendance.However,from2012to2015thepopulationshowedstability:theestimatedchangeinsizeislessthan0.1%peryear.Thus,thetimeseriesindicatesthat,after2011(theyearofpeakburrowingowlattendance),thepopulationtrendchangedfromdeclinetostability,justasthelevelofburrowingowlchangedfromhightomoderate.Thischangeintrendwasconsistentwiththeobservedpatternofsurvivalforthestormpetrelsoverthistimeperiod.Itisimportanttonotethatresultsofthestatisticalanalysisprovidedlowconfidenceintheestimatesforanysingleyear.Thepoweroftheresultsofourstatisticalanalysisliesinestimatesbasedonmultipleyearsofdata,ratherthanbasingcomparisononanysingleyear.TheseresultsprovidesupportforproceedingwitheffortstoreduceburrowingowlnumbersontheFarallonNationalWildlifeRefugeasameanstoaidaspeciesofconservationconcernandfacilitaterecoveryinthefuture.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

ExperimentalpropagationmethodsfortheOroLomaHorizontalLeveeDemonstrationProject.JessieOlson1,DonnaBall1,JasonWarner2,andPeterBaye3

1SavetheBay,Oakland,CA.Email:jolson@savesfbay.org2OroLomaSanitaryDistrict,SanLorenzo,CA.Email:jwarner@oroloma.org3CoastalEcologist,PhD,Annapolis,CA.Email:baye@earthlink.net

TheOroLomaHorizontalLeveeDemonstrationProjectisconstructinganecotoneslopeattheOroLomaSanitaryDistrictfacilitiesinSanLorenzo.Theecotoneslopeisdesignedtoserveasabuffertoimpendingsealevelrise,testnutrientremovalfromwastewaterdischarge,andrestoreuplandhabitat.Theplantpalettefortheprojectwaschosentomimichistoricmoistgrassland/baylandecotonehabitatthathasbeenlargelyeradicatedfromthebay.

Thenativeplantpropagationmethodsfortheprojectaredesignedtoreducethecostofgrowinglargenumbersofplantsinanurserysetting.Approximately70,000plantsweregrowntovegetatetheecotoneslopeutilizingvariousmethodsincludingbarerootdivisionpropagationofrhizomatousspeciesandannualseedincrease,aswellasnurserycontainerplants.Propagulesweresourcedlocallyfromremnantplantcommunities,well-adaptedtotheclimateandsealevelfluctuationsoftheEastBay.Themajorityofplantsweregrowninalargescaleandlow-maintenancemethodatadivisionbednurseryconstructedattheprojectsite.Thisapproachutilizedthesespeciesabilitytopropagaterhizomatously,therebyreducingthelaborandcostnecessaryforcontainerplantmaintenanceinanurseryenvironment.Theentiretyofthepropagation,includingseedcollection,wascompletedinacompressedtimelineofroughlyoneyear,reducingwhatisgenerallyatwotothreeyearprocessofplanningandcollection.

Expectedoutcomesfortheplantpropagationcomponentofthedemonstrationprojectincludehealthy,rootedstockthatisabletothriveandcompetewhenoutplantedintothenewlyconstructedslope.Nativeannualseedmixwilldevelopacovercrop,excludingannualinvasivespeciesastherhizomatousspeciesestablish.TheOroLomahorizontalleveedemonstrationprojectdemonstratesalow-costandlower-intensivelabormethodforlarge-scaleplantpropagationandcaninformpropagationmethodsforfutureecotone/transitionzonerestorationprojects.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

AnoverviewofrockyintertidalmonitoringfortheNorthCentralCoastMPABaselineProgram.PeteRaimondi,LauraAnderson,KarahAmmann,ChristyBell,MelissaDouglas,RaniGaddam,MayaGeorge,NathanielFletcher,andDavidLohseUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz.E-mails:raimondi@ucsc.edu,karah.ammann@ucsc.edu,bell@ucsc.edu,melissa.douglas@ucsc.edu,gaddam@ucsc.edu,mgeorge@ucsc.edu,nfletche@ucsc.edu,dlohse@ucsc.

TheMulti-AgencyRockyIntertidalNetwork(MARINe)monitorsover200intertidalsitesalongthewestcoastofNorthAmericafromAlaskatoMexico.Twosurveytypesareimplemented:Long-TermMonitoring(LTM)andBiodiversity.Long-TermMonitoringSurveysusefixedplotstodocumentchangesinpercentcover,orabundanceoftargetedspeciesorspeciesassemblages.Thisfixed-plotapproachallowsthedynamicsofrockyintertidalspeciestobemonitoredwithreasonablesamplingeffortandprovidessufficientstatisticalpowertodetectchangesoverspaceortime.TheBiodiversitySurveysprovidedetailedinformationaboutbiodiversityandcommunitystructure.ThesesurveysweredesignedtomeasurediversityandabundanceofalgaeandinvertebratesfoundwithinrockyintertidalcommunitiesonthewesterncoastoftemperateNorthAmerica.ThesemonitoringdatahavebeenusedinmanycapacitiesincludingassessingAreasofSpecialBiologicalSignificance,NaturalResourceDamageAssessment,andMarineProtectedAreaMonitoring.

TheMarineLifeProtectionActmandatedtheestablishmentofanetworkofMarineProtectedAreas(MPAs)alongtheCaliforniacoast.OurmonitoringgroupatUCSantaCruzhasbeeninvolvedinmonitoringthroughoutthenetwork,includingtheNorthCentralCoastStudyRegion(NCCSR).Thisregionincludes25MPAsspanningthenorthcentralcoastfromPointArenatoPigeonPoint.Thecollectionofbaselinedatawasanimportantpartofevaluatingtheireffectivenessandinformingadaptivemanagement.ThesedatawerecollectedbytheNorthCentralCoastMPABaselineProgram,acollaborationof11monitoringgroupsworkingindiversemarinehabitatsandonsocioeconomicissues.Therockyintertidalwasamongthesediversehabitatsassessedandisarguablythemostsensitiveareatoland-basedandhumanactivities.PriortotheestablishmentoftheMPAs,fourLong-TermMonitoringsiteshavebeenmonitoredannuallyfor10+yearsandnineBiodiversitysitesexistedwithintheNCCSR.Inadditiontotheseexistingmonitoringsites,10newintertidalmonitoringsiteswereestablishedandsampledin2010withintheNCCSR.ResamplingofsomeoftheNCCSRintertidalsitesisslatedtooccurin2017,inadditiontothefourLTMsitessampledyearly.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Fishermen-ledderelictDungenesscrabgearrecoveryinGFNMSin2015-16.JenniferRenzullo1,BobMaharry2,RichardOgg2,AndyGiuliano2,andKirstenGilardi1

1KarenC.DrayerWildlifeHealthCenter,UniversityofCalifornia,Davis,CA,USA.Email:jrrenzullo@ucdavis.eduandkvgilardi@ucdavis.edu.2CommercialFishingAssociationofBodegaBay,CA,USA.Email:mohay1954@aol.com,dickandlaurieogg@sbcglobal.netandandygu@sbcglobal.net TheCaliforniaLostFishingGearRecoveryProject,startedbytheSeaDocSocietyattheUCDavisSchoolofVeterinaryMedicine,hasbeenconductinglostandabandonedfishinggearrecoveryinCaliforniacoastalwaterssince2006.In2013,theProjectpartneredwithcommercialDungenesscrabfishermenontheNorthCoasttoaddresstheproblemoflostandabandonedgearthatlitteredlegalfishinggroundsandpresentedanentanglementhazardtovesselsandmarinewildlife.PartneringwiththeHumboldtFishermen’sMarketingAssociation(HFMA;Eureka,CA)tobuildfinancialsustainabilityintoderelictgearrecovery,threeHFMAmemberscollected665lostandabandonedDungenesstrapsfromtheDelNorte,HumboldtandMendocinoCountycoastsinjust20daysofon-waterwork.TheHFMAusedProjectfundstopaythesefishermenforthederelictgeartheycollected,andthen“sold”thatgearbacktooriginalowners,placingthe“profit”inanescrowaccountforfuturegearrecovery.NewsofHFMA’ssuccessspreaddownthecoast;startinginfall2015andwithfundingfromtheNOAAMarineDebrisProgram,theProjectcontinuedtoconductlostcrabgearrecoveryworkontheNorthCoast(310trapsrecoveredin9days),andalsoengagedthreenewfishermen(membersoftheCrabBoatOwner’sAssociationofSanFranciscoandtheCommercialFishingAssociationofBodegaBay)toconductDungenessgearrecoveryinGulfoftheFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaryandsurroundingwaters.Morethan260crabtrapsandlineshavebeenrecoveredin2015-16injustninedaysofgearrecoverywork.Concurrently,theDungenessCrabTaskForceinitiatedthedraftingofnewlegislationtoestablishapermanentprogramforderelictDungenesscrabgearrecovery(SB1287,McGuire),signedbyGovernorBrownonSeptember23,2016.Thisnewprogram,adirectresultoftheProject’ssuccessestodateinfacilitatingcommercialDungenesscrabfishermeninderelictgearrecovery,willcreateafundingmechanismforgearrecoveryworkbyimposingafeetopermittedfishermenwhosetrapsarerecoveredfromtheoceanafterthecloseoftheseason.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Appliedsciencesupportingplace-basedresourcemanagement:needsandopportunitieswithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.JanRoletto1andMitchelTartt21GFNMS,991MarineDr.,ThePresidio,SanFrancisco,CA94129,Jan.Roletto@noaa.gov2OfficeofNationalMarineSanctuaries,1305EastWestHwy,SSMC4,SilverSpring,MD20910-3278,Mitchell.Tartt@noaa.gov

In2015,GreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary(GFNMS,formerlynamedGulfoftheFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary)expandednorthtoPointArenainMendocinoCounty,whichnowencompasses3,295squaremilesandhasanewnametoreflectournorthernconstituents.Anewmanagementplanwasdevelopedtoincludenewhabitats,suchaskelpforest,andidentifiedcurrent,ongoingandnewmanagementissuesassociatedwiththeentiresanctuary(http://farallones.noaa.gov/manage/management_plan.html).Aspartoftheexpansionprocess,wehaveidentifiedadditionalscienceinformationneedstoaidinresourceprotection,educationandoutreachefforts,andtoidentifyimpactsfromclimatechange.

ScienceneedsdocumentsprovidetargetedinformationonthesciencerequirementsofthesanctuarybasedontheprioritymanagementissuesdefinedintheGFNMSManagementPlan,ConditionReport,thestaff’sprojectworkplans,andreportsidentifyingexistingandemergingissuesinoceanconservation.GFNMSstaffalsoadministersthenorthernportionofMontereyBayNationalMarineSanctuary;thereforeallofourscience,education,outreach,andresourceprotectionprogramsincludeneedsforMBNMSfromRockyPointinMarinCountysouthtotheSanMateo-SantaCruzCountyborders.Scienceneedsdocumentsareisdesignedtoidentifymanagementinformationneedsandtocommunicatetheseinformationneedstopotentialpartnersandinterestedorganizations,suchasprofessorsandtheirstudents,federalandstateagencyresearchers,andresearchinstitutions.

Theinformationpresentedineachscienceneedsassessmentprovidesanoverviewofthemanagementissueandtherelatedscientificrequirements.Sufficientinformationisprovidedtoeducatepotentialpartnersandinterestedpartiesandfacilitateinitialdiscussionsonhowtherequirementsmightbestbeaddressed.Theinformationinthesedocumentsisnotintendedtobedetailedenoughtodevelopprojectplansordefinespecificrolesandresponsibilitiesofpartneringorganizations,butaredesignedtopromotenewandvitalresearchandmonitoringefforts.Detaileddiscussionswithsanctuarystaffwillbenecessarytodevelop,designandimplementaresearchneed,aswellasidentifypotentialfundingsourcestoimplementstudiesandanalyses.

GFNMSscienceneedsdocumentsarepostedonourOfficeofNationalMarineSanctuarieswebsiteat:http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/assessment/gfnms.html.Mostofourscienceneedspertaintosciencestudiesoranalysesthatwearenotcurrentlyormayonlypartiallybeimplementing.Projectstofulfillourscienceneedsencompassresearch,monitoring,modeling,mapping,characterization,and/orinventorydisciplines:

1) CharacterizationofEsteroAmericanoandEsterodeSanAntonio;2) Climatechangethreatstorockyintertidalandkelpforests;3) Mappingandquantificationofinvasivespeciesthroughoutthesanctuary;4) Identifying,mappingandquantificationofsensitiveseafloorcommunitiesandthreatsto

thesecommunities;5) Shipstrikesandvulnerabilitytobaleenwhales;6) Threatsofoilpollutionandbaselineinformationforimproveddamageassessmentofsandy

beachhabitat,benthicepifauna,watercolumnimpacts,anddriftalgaeasabiogenichabitat;and

7) HumanDimensionsandSocioeconomics

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

DeployingROVstoassessMarineProtectedAreaeffectiveness.DirkRosenandAndrewLauermannMarineAppliedResearch,andExploration(MARE),Richmond,CAUSAdirk@maregroup.org,(510)232-1541;andy@maregroup.org,(707)269-0801

TheNorthCentralCoastMarineProtectedAreas(MPAs)wereimplementedin2010,fromAlderCreek(nearPointArena)toPigeonPoint.Historically,thesemarinehabitatswerewellsurveyedbyscubadiverstodepthsof20meters,butthedeeperwatersremainedpoorlystudied.Together,CalStateMontereyBayandMarineAppliedResearchandExploration(MARE)performedthebaselineRemotelyOperatedVehicle(ROV)surveysofthisregion.Subsequently,MAREperformedfurthersurveysforthePointReyesNationalSeashoreandtheCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlife(CDFW)employingDepartmentdevelopedsurveydesignandprotocols,aswellasdatapostprocessingandanalysistechniques,toevaluatehowmarinepopulationsrespondtotheestablishmentofanetworkofMPAsovertime.

TocapturetheecologicalconditionofNorthCentralCoastMPAs,theROVwasconfiguredtorecordbothfishandinvertebratedataconcurrently.TheROVwasequippedwithbothforwardanddownwardfacingvideocamerasandadigitalstillcamera.Rangingsonarsalignedwithbothvideocameraswereusedtocalculatevideotransectwidthandanultra-longbaselinetrackingsystemwasusedtocalculatetransectlength.Thisallowedustogeo-referencefloraandfauna,andcalculatespeciesdensitiesandrelativeabundance.

ROVsurveyswereconductedbetween2010-2015atsitesidentifiedandselectedfromacousticbottommaps.Morethanthirtyreserveandfishedreferencesiteswereevaluated.Forthemajorityofthelocations,inside-outsidesitepairswereselectedforsurveybaseduponsimilarityinthetypesandamountsofhabitatpresent,proximitytooneanother,anddepth. Morethan65%ofCalifornia’sMPAprotectionfallswithinwaterdepthsexceeding20meters.UnderstandinghowthesedeepseaecosystemsrespondtoanetworkapproachofprotectioniscriticalinevaluatingnotonlytheeffectivenessofCalifornia’sMPAs,butalsoforunderstandingthespatialandtemporalscaleatwhichthesenetworksrespond.FuturecomparisonsofspeciesabundanceoftheNorthCoastwillassistinevaluatingtheeffectnetworkedMPAshaveonlocalpopulations,andhowtheseareasworkcooperativelytorebuildandprotectcriticalmarinepopulations.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Wherearethefish:identifyingforagefishhotspotswithinCentralCaliforniaNationalMarineSanctuariesusingpredictivemodeling.CorinneRoss,MichaelThayne,JulieHowar,MeredithElliott,NadavNur,andJaimeJahnckePointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,California,USA.E-mail:corinne.e.ross@gmail.com,m_thayne@me.com,jhowar@pointblue.org,melliott@pointblue.org,nnur@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org

Weusedacousticabundancedataonanchovyandyoung-of-year(YOY)rockfishtoidentifypredictableandpersistentlocationsofthesespeciesinCentralCalifornia’sNationalMarineSanctuaries.ThedatawascollectedfromMay2004toSeptember2015duringACCESS(AppliedCaliforniaCurrentEcosystemStudies;www.accessoceans.org)cruises.ACCESSisacollaborationbetweenPointBlueConservationScience,theGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary,andCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuary.WehypothesizethatanchovyandYOYrockfishcongregateinpredictablelocationsasdeterminedbybathymetricandoceanographicfeatures.Totestthishypothesis,weaggregatedtheacousticfishdataandassociatedenvironmentalcovariatedataintothreekilometerbinsandusedgenerallinearmodelsforanalysis.WeusednegativebinomialregressiontoidentifyimportantenvironmentalvariablesandusedthesevariablestodeveloppredictivemodelsofanchovyandYOYrockfish.WeusedArcGIStomappredictivemodeloutputsofanchovyandYOYrockfishabundance,andtoidentifyhighuseareas.Wefoundthatanchovyassociatedwithcoldertemperaturesneartheedgeofthecontinentalshelf.YOYrockfishassociatedwithstratifiedwaters(asindicatedbytemperature,salinity,andfluorescence)outsideoftheinfluenceofthenewly-upwelledwatersofthePointReyesPlume.OurstudycontributestoabetterunderstandingofecologicaldriversandhabitatofkeystonespecieswithinCentralCalifornia’snationalmarinesanctuaries.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

RestorationmonitoringofDrakesEstero:pre-restorationassessmentofeelgrass,marinedebris,andnon-nativespecies.AmeliaRyan,SarahCodde,andBenBeckerPointReyesNationalSeashore,PointReyesStation,CA94956USA.E-mail:amelia_ryan@nps.gov,sarah_codde@nps.gov,andben_becker@nps.gov

TheNationalParkServiceiscurrentlyremovingapproximately500tonsofwoodenracksanddebrisfromDrakesEstero,aFederallydesignatedWildernessandStateMarineConservationAreawithinPointReyesNationalSeashore.TheseracksanddebrisareunnaturalsubstratesthatgenerallyprecludeeelgrassgrowthandsupportfoulinginvasivespeciessuchasthecolonialtunicateDidemnumvexillum.Weestablishedabefore-aftercontrol-impactstudytoassesspreandpost-restorationcommunitycomposition.Duringthepre-restorationmonitoringweassessedpercentcoverof564estuaryfloorquadratswithin55transects(treatmentsandcontrols)forspeciescommunityassemblage,substrate,andmarinedebris.Non-metricMulti-DimensionalScalingshowedthattheestuaryfloorbeneathwoodenrackswithlittledebrisunderneathweredominatedbysediment,whileracksassociatedwithextensivewood,shellandplasticdebrisontheestuaryfloorclusteredwithanon-nativefoulingorganismsandalgaecommunity.Eelgrasscoverwas40±28%(x±sd)belowrackswithoutdebrisand5±4%belowrackswithextensivedebris,comparedto72±20%incontrolareas.Post-restorationmonitoringwillcontinueinthespringandsummerof2017,withannualsurveysuntilrestoredareasconvergetonaturalcommunitycomposition.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

MicroplasticcontaminationinSanFranciscoBay.MegSedlak1,RebeccaSutton,1CarolynnBox4,SherriA.Mason,2ShavonneK.Stanek,1EllenWillis-Norton,5,andIanF.Wren,31SanFranciscoEstuaryInstitute,4911CentralAvenue,Richmond,CA94804.Email:meg@sfei.org,rsutton@sfei.org,Shavonne.Stanek@oberlin.edu2StateUniversityofNewYorkatFredonia,280CentralAvenue,ScienceComplex340,Fredonia,NY14063.Email:mason@fredonia.edu3SanFranciscoBaykeeper,1736FranklinStreet,Suite800,Oakland,CA94612.Email:ian@baykeeper.org)45GyresInstitute,3131OlympicBlvd,Suite302,SantaMonica,CA90404.Email:carolynn@5gyres.org5UniversityofCaliforniaatSantaCruz,SantaCruz,CA.Email:ewillisn@ucsc.edu

Microplasticisatermusedtodescribefragmentsofplastic5mmorsmaller.Sourcesofaquaticmicroplasticpollutionincludemicrobeadsusedinpersonalcareproductssuchasfacialscrubsandtoothpastes,pelletsusedasprecursorsforindustrialproducts,plasticfibersderivedfromwashingclothesmadewithsyntheticmaterials,andfragmentsoflargerplasticitems.Motivatedbyrecentstateandfederaleffortstobanmicrobeadsinpersonalcareproducts,theRegionalMonitoringProgramforWaterQualityinSanFranciscoBay(RMP)characterizedambientBaysurfacewatersandwastewatertreatmentplant(WWTP)effluentsformicroplasticcontaminants.NineCentralandSouthBaysurfacewatersampleswerecollectedusingamantatrawl.Two-hoursievedsamplesofeffluentwerecollectedfromeightWWTPsdischargingtotheBay.Particlesinsampleswerecharacterizedbysize,type,andabundance.Withanaverageabundanceof700,000particles/km2,BaysurfacewaterappearstohavehighermicroplasticlevelsthanotherurbanwaterbodiessampledinNorthAmericasuchasCheaspeakeBayandtheGreatLakes.ThemajorityofparticlesintheBaysurfacewaterwereclassifiedasfragments;interestingly,themajorityofmicroparticlesdetectedinwastewaterwerefibers.Secondarypolymerconfirmationusingspectroscopywasnotconductedonthesesamples,soitispossiblethatnotalloftheparticlesvisuallyidentifiedareplastic.Nevertheless,thedifferentratiosofparticletypesbetweentheeffluentandtheBaysuggestthattheremaybemultiplesourcesofmicroplasticstotheSanFranciscoBay.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

CoastalbottlenosedolphinsmovenorthtotheSanFranciscoBayAreaandbeyond.IsidoreSzczepaniak1,WilliamKeener1,MarcA.Webber1,S.JonathanStern1,2,DanielaMaldini3,MarkCotter3,R.H.Defran4,MeganRice5,GregoryCampbell6,AmandaDebich6,AiméeR.Lang7,DennisL.Kelly8,AlexKesaris9,MaddalenaBearzi10,KaylaCausey11,andDavidW.Weller7

1GoldenGateCetaceanResearch,CorteMadera,CAUSA.E-mail:izzyszczepaniak@gmail.com,(650-296-5898),bill.keener@comcast.net,marcwebber@sbcglobal.net,andjonney@sfsu.edu2SanFranciscoStateUniversity,SanFrancisco,CAUSA.E-mail:jonney@sfsu.edu3Okeanis.E-mail:okeanis.maldini@gmail.comandmarkpcotter@hotmail.com4CetaceanBehaviorLaboratory,SanDiegoStateUniversity.E-mail:rh.defran@gmail.com5CaliforniaStateUniversitySanMarcos.E-mail:megan1rice@yahoo.com6ScrippsInstitutionofOceanography,UniversityofCaliforniaSanDiego.E-mail:tursiops44@tamu.eduandadebich@ucsd.edu7SouthwestFisheriesScienceCenter,NOAA.E-mail:aimee.lang@noaa.govanddave.weller@noaa.gov8OrangeCoastCollege.E-mail:dkatantarctic@yahoo.com9SustenantConsultingServices.E-mail:agkesaris@att.net10OceanConservationSociety.E-mail:mbearzi@earthlink.net11CaliforniaStateUniversityFullerton.E-mail:kcausey@Exchange.FULLERTON.EDU

AlthoughbottlenosedolphinskullshavebeendredgedfromSanFranciscoBay(SFBay),andtheirbonesdiscoveredinbaysoremiddens,thisspecieshasnotbeenpartofthenorthernCaliforniamarinefaunainrecenthistory.ThepresumednorthernrangelimitofPt.ConceptionwassurpassedbyarangeextensionintoCentralCalifornia,includinganorthernmostsightingoffPescaderoPoint,SanMateoCounty(37o14’N),coincidentwiththe1982-83ElNiñoevent.BottlenosedolphinshavecontinuedtomovenorthalongthecoasttoSFBay(37o49’N),wheretheynowoccurregularly,andwehavecompiledapproximately400sightingsnorthofPescaderoPoint.Since2010,ourshore-basedresearcheffortsinSFBayandnearbycoastalwatersresultedinphoto-identificationof90uniquelymarkedindividuals.Thesedolphins,togetherwiththeportionofunmarkedindividualsobserved,compriseabout18%oftheestimatedcoastalstock.Ofthe66SFBaydolphinsofknownorpresumedsex,35werefemalesand31weremales.Usingasubsetof71SFBaydolphins,comparisonswithphoto-identificationcatalogsfromMontereyBayandotherlocationsintheSouthernCaliforniaBightfrom1981-2013showthat93%(n=66)ofthesedolphinshavebeenmatchedtootherstudyareas,includingMontereyBay,SantaBarbara,SantaMonicaBay,OrangeCounty,SanDiego,andEnsenada,BajaCaliforniaMexico.TheoldestsightingrecordforaknownSFBaydolphinwas1981inSanDiego.Thelongesttraveldistanceobservedwasby“Smootch,”adolphinseenoffEnsenadain2000andinBodegaBay,California(85kmnorthofSFBay)in2012.Thisrepresentsanewlongshoremovementrecordofapproximately1000km,andconfirmspreviousresearchsuggestinghighmobilityofthestock.ItsnorthernmostpointalongthecoastwasreachedatLittleRiver,MendocinoCounty,inApril2016duringthemostrecentElNiñoevent.Ecologicaleffectsofthenorthwardrangeextensionincludere-occupationoftheOregonMarineBiogeographicalProvincethatbringsaccesstonewresources.Forexample,inSFBaywewitnessedpredationonchinooksalmon,previouslyunreportedaspreyforcoastalbottlenosedolphins.Therangeextensionalsoincreasesthelikelihoodofconflictswithharborporpoises.On4June2016,offtheSanFranciscocoast,wedocumentedthefirstinstanceofporpicidebyadolphinknowntobeporpoiseaggressorinMontereyBay.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Incorporatingtheinvertebrategrazer,Phyllaplysiataylori,intotheeelgrassrestorationframework:physiologicalandecologicalinvestigations.RichelleL.Tanner1,2,WayneP.Sousa1,andJonathonH.Stillman1,21UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley,Berkeley,CA,USA.Email:rtanner@berkeley.edu,wpsousa@berkeley.edu,andstillmaj@sfsu.edu2RombergTiburonCenterForEnvironmentalStudies,SanFranciscoStateUniversity,Tiburon,CA,USA.Email:stillmaj@sfsu.edu

NearshoreeelgrasshabitatsalongthePacificcoastofNorthAmericaplayanimportantroleinerosioncontrol,fishandinvertebratedevelopment,andlocalbiogeochemicalprocesses.AkeygrazerintheseecosystemsisPhyllaplysiataylori,aseaharelivingontheZosteramarinaeelgrassbladesthatfeedsonepiphyticalgae,diatoms,andbryozoans,keepingbladescleanforincreasedphotosynthesisandgrowth.InSanFranciscoBay,eelgrassrestorationareashavenotseenrecruitmentofthissignificantgrazer,mostlikelyduetolimiteddispersalpotentialdictatedbydirectdevelopment.Throughecologicalmonitoringofeelgrassbedswithandwithoutthisorganism,weseethatepiphytecoveragedecreasesdramaticallywithP.tayloripresence,however,highvarianceinothermetricsofeelgrasshealthcloudsthesignalofP.tayloripresence.ThisshouldnotdownplaytheimportanceofP.taylori,asresultsshowthateffectsmaybelargelyseasonal.P.taylorihavetwogenerationsperyearthatdifferinsizeandlifespan,usuallycorrelatedwithtimesofhigheelgrassgrowth.Shiftsintheirphenologybasedonlocalenvironmentalstressorssuchastemperatureandsalinityhaveprofoundimplicationsfortheecosystemservicesthattheyprovidetotheirhostplant.Theeffectsofacuteandchronictemperatureexposureonembryodevelopmentarelargelybasedonparentalorigin;currentstudiesareinvestigatinghowparentalandembryotemperatureexposurescaninfluencehatchingsuccessintimesofacutethermalstress.Therefore,transplantingZ.marinaandP.taylorithathavecomplementaryphenologybasedonmicroclimateswithinthebayisoftheupmostimportancewhenconsideringsuccessfuleelgrasshabitatrestoration.MultipleP.tayloripopulationsonthelatitudinalandlocalscaledisplayarangeofthermaltolerancelimitsandvaryintheplasticityofthistraitvaryaswidelywithinSanFranciscoBayastheydowithin750milesofcoastline.Thisisstrongevidenceforlocaladaptation,whichcaninformrestorationeffortsanddirectP.tayloripopulationinclusionforeelgrasstransplantingbasedonlocalenvironmentalconditions.Thisworkaimstoinformhowassociatedfaunacanbestbeincorporatedintotheeelgrassrestorationframeworkunderoceanwarming.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

FindingtheFish:UsingschooldetectionmodulesandsingletargetalgorithmstoassessforagefishabundanceoffCentralCalifornia.MichaelThayne1,2,BenjaminSaenz3,PeteWarzybok1,andJaimeJahncke11PointBlueConservationScience,3820CypressDrive,#11,Petaluma,CA,94954,USA.Email:m_thayne@me.com,pwarzybok@pointblue.org,andjjahncke@pointblue.org2UniversityofAkureyri,Norðurslóð2,600Akureyri,Iceland.Email:m_thayne@me.com3ResourceManagementAssociates,Inc.,1756PicassoAve,Davis,CA95618.Email:blsaenz@gmail.com

Foragefishareacruciallinkbetweenprimaryproducersandthesuccessofmanytopmarinepredatorsinpelagicecosystemsaroundtheworld.InupwellingsystemssuchastheCaliforniaCurrentEcosystem(CCE),foragefishavailabilitycanbethecentraldeterminingfactorinthesurvivalandreproductivesuccessofuppertrophiclevelspecies.Northernanchovy(Engraulismordax)andjuvenilerockfish(Sebastesspp.)serveasacriticalconduitforthetransferofenergytotopmarinepredatorsintheCCE.Traditionaldetectionandquantificationofforagefishbytrawlingistimeconsumingandexpensive,andmaynotprovidetheresolutionneededtoexamineecologicalrelationshipsinfast-changingmarineenvironments.Inanefforttoaccuratelysampleforagefishwithlessexpenseandhigherresolution,thisstudyusedacousticdescriptorstoidentifyandquantifyanchovyschoolsandjuvenilerockfishinhydroacousticdatacollectedfrom2004to2015intheGreaterFarallonesandCordellBankNationalMarineSanctuaries,locatedincentralCalifornia.Anchovy-likeschoolsweredetectedusingavolumebackscatteringstrength(Sv)rangeof-42.9to-47.6dB.Juvenilerockfish-likesingletargetsweredetectedusingatargetstrength(TS)rangebetween-52.8to-50.9dB,calculatedfromaTSmodelusinglengthsofjuvenilerockfishconsumedlocallybythreepiscivorousseabirds.Theresultsoftheacousticanalysiswereusedtoderivetimeseriesofacousticabundanceindicesofbothforagefishspecies.Toverifytheacousticmethods,theacousticindiceswerecomparedtotrawldataandthepreyabundancedatacollectedfromlocalpiscivorousseabirdsthecommonmurre(Uriaaalge),rhinocerosauklet(Cerorhincamonocerata),andBrandt‘scormorant(Phalacrocoraxpenicillatus).Theresultsindicatethatacousticmethodologiescanbeusedtoaccuratelytrackchangesindistributionsandabundanceoftheseforagefishspecies.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

DrakesEsteroEcologicalMonitoringStudy.AndrewWeltzCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlife,SantaRosa,CA,USA,Email:Andrew.Weltz@wildlife.ca.gov

TheCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlife’s(CDFW)AquacultureandBayManagementProject(ABMP),incollaborationwithCDFW’sstatewideMarineProtectedArea(MPA)ManagementProject,isconductingatwo-yearecologicalmonitoringstudyinDrakesEstero,MarinCounty,California.GiventhelonghistoryofmarineaquacultureactivityinDrakesEstero,therecentabandonmentoftheoperationspresentsauniqueopportunityforABMPtostudythepotentiallong-termimpactsofshellfishaquacultureontheestuarineecosystem.Additionally,theMPAProject’sinvolvementwilltakeadvantageoftheopportunityinherentinthisstudytocharacterizebaselineconditionsinthetwoMPAsthathavebeenestablishedwithinDrakesEsteroinaccordancewithCalifornia’sMarineLifeProtectionAct.Here,wepresentpreliminarydatafromtwoseasonsofsampling.Staffscientistssurveyed16permanent30mtransects(eightatcurrentoysterracksitesandeightadjacentcontroltransects)insummerandfall2015viaSCUBA.Bothecologicalassemblagesandanthropogenicphysicaldebris(includingoystershellfromtheabandonedmaricultureoperation)wereinventoriedbydivers.Asthisisanongoingstudy,formalanalysisispending.Preliminarydata,however,allowcharacterizationofrackvs.controlsitespriortotheNationalParksService’splannedrestorationoftheestuary.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

WaterqualityinDrakesEsterobeforeandafteroystermariculture,acomparisonof2010versus2016.FrancesWilkerson1,SarahBlaser1,MeganWood1,AlexEParker1,2,KarinaNielsen1andDickDugdale11RombergTiburonCenter,SanFranciscoStateUniversity,Tiburon,CA,USA.E-mail:fwilkers@sfsu.edu.2CSUMaritimeAcademy,Vallejo,CA,USA

OystermaricultureiswellestablishedinestuariesalongtheU.S.WestCoast,supportedbyhighprimaryproductionfueledbycoastalupwellednutrients.Itisoftenidentifiedasapromoterofecosystemhealthbecauseofthehighsuspensionfeedingcapacityofoystersthatenhancewaterquality,atraitthatsupportsthemasecosystemengineers.However,theecosystemlevelconsequencesofoysterintroductionsorremovalsarenotwellunderstood.Therecentremovalofthe80-yearoldoystermaricultureinDrakesEstero,CA(inthePointReyesNationalSeashore),mandatedtomeetawildernessdesignation,providesanunprecedentedopportunitytostudysuchimpactsinoneofCalifornia’slowinflowestuaries.

TherearelimitedpublishedstudiesthatdescribetheecologyoftheDrakesEsterotoprovideabaselineconditionforunderstandingtheimpactofoysterremoval.FundedbyCASeaGrant,wehavebeguntomeasurewaterquality(nutrientandchlorophyllconcentrations)andphytoplanktonproductivitymonthlyinDrakesEsteroforcomparisonwithbaselinedatacollectedin2010priortoremovaloftheculturedshellfish.Withremovalofoystergrazing,upwellednutrientswillcontinuetobesuppliedandwehypothesizethatphytoplanktonwillgrowandaccumulatebiomass,intheabsenceofanycompensatoryeffectsbyothersuspensionfeeders.Aninterestingresultwashighchlorophyllconcentration(i.e.phytoplanktonbiomass)intheEsteroinOctober2016reaching35µg/L–higherthananyvaluesmeasuredduring2010.AnotherunknownishowthesedimentbiogeochemistryoftheEsterowasalteredbyalltheyearsofmaricultureandpresenceofoystersandifanychemicalequilibriumwillbecomeunbalancedsincetheirremoval.Itislikelythatlossofoysterswilldecreasesedimentdenitrificationratesandincreasetheconcentrationofnitrate.Additionalbasin-scaleobservationsoftheEsteroarebeingmadebyothersthatincludemonitoringofharborsealsbytheNationalParkService;assessmentofeelgrass,marinedebris,andnon-nativesbyCaliforniaDepartmentofFishandWildlifeandMarineProtectedAreamonitoringbytheState.Thus,thescopeofourstudy,thatincludeswaterquality,nutrientsandprimaryproducers,representsapowerfulsynergywiththeseotherstateandfederallyfundedprojects.OurresearchprojectwillbedescribedandpreliminarydatacollectedsinceJune2016willbepresented.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Spatialanalysisofchick-broodingrhinocerosaukletsCerorhincamonoceratabreedingwithinthecentralCaliforniaCurrentSystem.BradleyWilkinson1,JaimeJahncke2,PeteWarzybok2,RussBradley2,andScottShaffer11SanJoseStateUniversity,SanJose,CA,USA.Email:bradley.wilkinson@sjsu.eduandscott.shaffer@sjsu.edu2PointBlueConservationScience,Petaluma,CA,USAEmail:jjahncke@pointblue.org,pwarzybok@pointblue.org,andrbradley@pointblue.org

Understandinghoworganismsinteractwiththeirenvironmentisessentialtomakingsound

conservationandmanagerialdecisions.Ofparticularimportanceisassessingwhereandhowspeciesacquirecriticalfoodresources.Incomplexanddynamicmarineecosystems,obtainingthisinformationcanbeespeciallychallenging.Emergingtechnologieshaverecentlyfacilitatedtheremotesensingofanimalmovement,includingminiaturizedGPSdataloggingdevices,whichwereattachedtochick-broodingrhinocerosauklets(Cerorhincamonocerata)(n=16)breedingonSoutheastFarallonIslandduringthe2015and2016reproductiveseasons.Eachtrackedbirdundertookanaverageof2.9foragingtrips(n=47)lasting17.7hours(3.5-27h),atmaximaldistancesof19.8km(3-41km).Threelarge-scalepatternswereobservedinforagingbehavior.Thefirstandleastcommoninvolvedmakingshort-distance(<8km)tripstoareasalongthecontinentalshelfcharacterizedbyshallow(<200m)bathymetry,typicallytothenorthandwest.Thesecondandmostcommonpatterninvolvedlonger-distance(9-20km)tripswesttothesouthernFarallonEscarpment,generallycharacterizedbystrongupwelling,steepbathymetricgradients,anddecreasingSSTscomparedtoshelfwaters.Ofparticularinterestwasthewidespreaduseofsubmarinecanyonfeatures,apossibleartifactoffurtherincreasedadvectionandmixingprocessesleadingtolocalforagehyper-abundance.Thefinalpatterninvolvedlong-distance(21-41km)tripstothesouth,targetingwatersaroundtheGumdropandPioneerSeamounts,aswellasthemouthofPioneerCanyon.Theseresultsunderscorethevariabilityinforagingstrategiesundertakenbybreedingseabirds,andtheneedtomaintaincurrentMPAstatusfortheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuary.

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

Biodiversityexplorationanddiscovery–mesophoticanddeep-seacoralandspongediversityintheCordellBankandGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaries.GaryC.WilliamsCaliforniaAcademyofSciences,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.E-mail:gwilliams@calacademy.org

ExplorationofbenthicenvironmentsintheCordellBankandGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuarieshasrecentlytakenplaceduringthreeresearchandbottomsurveycruisesusingRemotelyOperatedVehicles(ROVs).Theimmediategoalsoftheongoingfieldstudyaretosurveythedeep-waterbenthictopography,geology,andbioticcommunitiesoftheoffshoreregion,toaccumulatestillandvideoimageryoftheremotelyaccessibleregion,andtoandcollectsamplesoflivingmaterial–corals,sponges,andassociatedmarinefauna–forpreservation,identification,andpermanentcurationattheCaliforniaAcademyofSciencesaswellastheHarvardMuseumofComparativeZoology.Thelong-termoverallobjectivesaretoassesstheextentofnaturalresourcesandbioticdiversityregardingfisheriesandbenthichabitatsofthesefederallyprotectedoffshoreregionsofcentralCalifornia.SuccessfulexploratorycruisestookplaceonboardtheNationalMarineSanctuariesResearchVessel(R/VFulmar)inOctober2012andSeptember2014,andtheOceanExplorationTrustExplorationVessel(E/VNautilus)inAugust2016.Thebottomdepthssurveyedvariedfrom79-432min2012,97-282min2014,and286-1868min2016.Overall,thesesurveyscoveredawidebathymetricrangebetween79and1868m(259to6127feet).ThecollectionsmadebyroboticarmontheROVshaveyieldedapproximately45-50speciesofspongesandcoralsandotherinvertebrates.SomeofthenoteworthytaxonomicdiscoveriesmadetodateincludedesignationofanewgenusfortheseafancoralChromophytonmarki(formerlyEuplexauamarki);anewspeciesofseawhipoctocoralSwiftiafarallonesica;fouroctocoralspeciesnotpreviouslyknownfromthesanctuaries–adeep-seaprimnoidgorgonianParastenellaramosaandthreespeciesofseapens(pennatulaceans)Halipteriscalifornica,Acanthoptilumcf.gracile,andUmbellulasp.;freshmaterialofthelittleknownandrecentlydescribedblackcoralAntipathesdenrochristos;andseveralpreviouslyunidentifiedandpoorlyknownspeciesofglasssponges(Porifera:Hexactinellida).

2016 Beyond the Golden Gate Research Symposium

SnapshotCalCoast:MobilizingcommunitymemberstodocumentspeciesrangesalongtheCaliforniacoast.AlisonYoungandRebeccaJohnsonCaliforniaAcademyofSciences,SanFrancisco,CA,USA.Email:ayoung@calacademy.organdrjohnson@calacademy.org

Inearly2016,thecitizenscienceteamattheCaliforniaAcademyofSciences(CAS)workedwiththeCaliforniaMarineProtectedArea(MPA)CollaborativeNetworktocoordinateSnapshotCalCoast,aseriesofcommunity-ledbioblitzesalongCalifornia’scoast.ThisinitiativewasthefirstNetwork-wideprojectandanunprecedentedefforttolinkaseriesofbioblitzeventsacrossoneregiontoscalecollectiveimpactandtheabilitycollectspeciesrangedata.Eachofthe14communitycollaborativesismadeupofscientists,educators,managers,nonprofits,stateandfederalagencies,fishermen,tribalrepresentatives,andotherMPAusersworkingtogethertopromoteandfurtherunderstandingofCalifornia’sStateMPAs.Abioblitzbringspeopletogethertodocumentbiodiversityinoneplaceatonetime,recordingobservationsofplantsandanimalsusingsmartphonesordigitalcamerasanduploadingresultstotheiNaturalistplatform.TogetherCASandtheMPACollaborativeNetworktrained,supported,andmobilizedvolunteersandstaffindocumentingintertidalbiodiversityalongourcoastfromJune1st-12th,2016.Workingwiththenetworkandpartners,wemobilized385peoplefromDelNortetoSanDiegowhomade7101observationsof943species,withmorethan3000ofthoseobservationsbeingmadewithintheGreaterFarallonesNationalMarineSanctuaryanditsadministrativejurisdictionalarea.SnapshotCalCoastparticipantsalsodocumenteddozensofspeciesthathadnotpreviouslybeenrecordedoniNaturalistfromtheCaliforniacoast.Wewilldiscussresults,interestingfindings,andlessonslearned.WearenowplanningforSnapshotCalCoast2017andwelcomeyourinputandparticipation.