Story and photos by Ellen Cedergreen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The Duwamish Longhouse was the site of a “killer” talk last night as part of a series of presentations hosted by West Seattle-based The Whale Trail to share more information about our region’s resident orcas, officially known as Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) – and in this case, how dogs can help them.

Donna Sandstrom (above), executive director for The Whale Trail, introduced keynote speaker Katherine Ayres, of the UW-based Center for Conservation Biology (below):

Sandstrom noted that Katherine’s work, using scat-detection dogs, has helped pioneer research for the whales. She also greatly emphasized the importance of both volunteer support, and the successful collaboration with organizations such as NOAA Fisheries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, People for Puget Sound, The Seattle Aquarium, The Whale Museum, and Coast Watch Society. Ayres later reiterated the importance of inter-agency collaboration, as she outlined the importance of sharing and comparing data.

Her talk centered around groundbreaking research practices where dogs are being used to detect killer whale scat (feces), to learn information that could help protect the threatened species. Dr. Sam Wasser pioneered the practice in 1997 when he founded the Center for Conservation Biology.

Since then, dogs have been used to detect the scat of a wide variety of endangered species including: elephants, northern spotted owls, Pacific fishers, grizzly bears, and Brazilian cerrado. Other studies by the center have focused on ascertaining the impact of oil exploration in Canada on local populations of caribou, moose, and wolves.

In addition to our orcas, there have been two other studies focused on marine mammals: The first marine mammal study featured the North Atlantic Right whale, one of the most endangered whales in the world; The second centered on sharply decreasing Steller sea lion populations in its range throughout Alaska. The samples collected are invaluable to scientists who are trying to pinpoint the reasons for population declines.

(Photo courtesy of Jon, published on WSB 2/22/11 as orcas passed Southworth)
For our resident orcas, Ayers highlighted three main possibilities for some big losses in recent years:

-Disturbance from private and commercial whale-watching vessels
-Decline in the whales’ primary prey, chinook salmon
-Exposure to high levels of toxins (e.g. PCB, PBDE and DDT), which are stored in the whales’ fat.

The Center’s preliminary studies indicate that a decline in the whales’ primary prey, chinook salmon, currently poses the greatest risk to the whales. Hormone levels point to a too-low winter run and a summer run that is not sufficient enough to deal with the depletion caused by the winter deficit. But the relationship to nutrient depletion and stress levels are also related to toxicity levels which is outlined in greater detail here:

So just how is it possible for dogs to detect whale scat and where do they find these dogs anyway?

In a hilarious demonstration, Katherine picked up a tennis ball and laid out the most important quality in a potential research animal: Ball drive. Above all else, scat detection dogs must have ball drive. The reason? Ball play is used as a reward and the dog will do virtually anything to get that reward; “The paycheck has to be large enough,” said Katherine. Scat detection dogs can come from a variety of backgrounds: Dogs are found at shelters, some are suggested for inclusion by their owners, and others come in as rejected drug-sniffing dogs. All prospects are tested on how extreme their ball fixation is through a series of exercises, with each stage progressing to a new stage. Handlers will walk through the aisles at shelters bouncing a tennis ball. They are looking for the dogs that become “locked and loaded on the ball.”

Those dogs are then let out and they must remain focused on the ball, even with other stimuli presented — such as another person calling the dog. If the dog passes that stage, it is then given a ball to carry and once the dog has attended to its elimination concerns, it must immediately return to pick up the ball. Katherine relayed a funny story regarding a dog owner who insisted their dog would be perfect for the program. The team was skeptical until they heard the owner’s story: After playing ball one night, the owner placed the dog’s ball on top of the refrigerator. The next morning, upon arriving in the kitchen, the owner discovered the dog still stationed in front of the refrigerator, never having left. “That is a dog,” said Katherine, “with ball drive.”

The Center for Conservation Biology currently has ten dogs in its care but it can handle 30 at capacity. When not out in the field, the dogs are cared for at their expansive training facility in Eatonville. The facility also has permanent quarters for handlers, and a 200-person capacity training center. “It takes longer to train a handler than a dog,” Katherine reported, to appreciative laughter from the audience. Dogs become suitable for scat-detection work when they pass puppyhood, at about 2 1/2 years of age. And when they have retired, people usually line up to adopt them. Tucker, who was not in attendance tonight because he was out on assignment, has already been spoken for. The center’s founder, Dr. Sam Wasser, has decided to adopt him. But there may be other dogs in the future who are adoptable, so long as prospective owners are willing to play some ball.

Training for the dogs can just take a matter of days, said Katherine, due in large part to their ball drive. Once the dogs learn what they need to do, they will do anything to get ball time. But because Tucker does his work on a boat, fetch is not an option. They play a lot of tug-of-war, Katherine reports, and small bounces with the ball can happen on board the vessel too.

(Configuration aboard a dog-equipped research vessel)
Detecting whale scat from a boat is a little trickier than detecting animal scat on land. Wind direction is the biggest factor but the research boat has to also be mindful of its proximity to the whales. According to Washington state law, it is illegal to get closer than 100 meters to a killer whale. Researchers are technically allowed to operate outside of this parameter but they choose not to whenever possible. Scat-detection dogs, such as Tucker, actually enable researchers to give the whales more space than usual because they can detect scat up to a nautical mile away. But getting to the samples can be tricky, due to wind and the concentration of the odor. Tucker can smell a sample within a sizable vicinity, and he can even signal whether or not the sample is receding, from his perspective.

Katherine showed a video of Tucker at work and it portrayed a very intricate web of his ‘gestures’, her interpretation, and then her subsequent hand gestures directing the boat’s driver. Once the samples are collected, Tucker receives his reward: The ball.

The amount of samples collected during a day on average is around 3, but Katherine reported finding up to ten once during a single day’s work. Once the samples are collected, scientists can test for a variety of factors, with testing being done out of their research facility in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Factors such as hormone levels, DNA, pathogens, immunoglobulins, diet, and toxins all contribute to the fact finding which will ultimately enable researchers to learn how to protect our struggling SRKW population. And being able to find a multitude of viable samples, with the help of Tucker, is proving to be key in the effort because the information can grow exponentially, and with little-to-no disturbance to the whales, year after year.

For more information about Tucker and Conservation Canines, Katherine encouraged fans to keep up with the group on Facebook (where you will find a video about this research, among other things). And to keep track of our local whales and to find out about future lectures in the series, visit thewhaletrail.org. Other local whale advocates/experts were on hand last night too, including Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales:

That’s Jeff, his son, and a skull that Jeff often includes in presentations. His organization also is based in West Seattle (more info here).