Project Pitches

This week the interns are hard at work fine-tuning their studies, collecting data, and planning their analyses. They each wrote a pitch to help them contextualize their study and summarize the main question they are trying to answer – read them below!

Trends in observed harbor porpoise in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Laney Keyes

My project will be focused on how observed harbor porpoise numbers have changed throughout the years. Research suggests that their populations have declined since the early 21^st century in many regions. I will be studying data taken in the Strait of Juan de Fuca to see if those trends hold true to this part of the North Pacific. I predict that observed harbor porpoises on the Strait will be similar to those in other observed regions as well, such as British Columbia and Vancouver, Canada. Compared to other marine mammals and fish populations, there isn’t as much research on the porpoises.

The best bait to use with the traditional halibut hook (čibu·d)

Kaeden Butterfield

I chose to study the traditional halibut hook (čibu·d) because I want to know the best bait for a halibut hook. Also I think it is a really fun project to be able to go fishing for halibut on a traditional halibut hook. The way that I am going to be answering these questions is that I will be going out to the closest halibut fishing spot and will be doing sets to collect data to see which bait is best: herring, squid, octopus, or rockfish. To see which one’s the best bait we put out four poles, each one with different bait, and whichever one that the fish got caught on first is which bait is going to be recorded for catching a halibut.

Habitat characteristics of Western Spotted Skunk trapping locations on the Makah Reservation

Toby Croy

The skunk project is happening because there is a study going on about how are the eastern spotted skunks are genetically different or similar to the western spotted skunks. In order to collect the data for the western spotted skunks we put out traps on the Makah Reservation in Neah Bay, WA. My study is about the habitat characterizations on where the traps are placed. Based on my knowledge so far I think that we’ll find skunks within two miles of a water source and inside of burrows, hollowed logs, or an old animal den. 

Effect of eelgrass presence on species richness and diversity

Angelina Woods

My project is on eelgrass and how it affects diversity. This is important for a multitude of different reasons. For example the nutrients in the eelgrass can affect the diversity found in that area, so our data could help us possibly see any changes and maybe link it to the nutrients in the eelgrass beds compared to other eelgrass beds. Another example is that habitat disturbance from anchor damage and harvesting activities can affect the diversity of an area, and has shown to influence predator-prey dynamics, so if we were to look at an area with disturbance to an eelgrass bed we would possibly see more predators in that area or less diversity, and eelgrass habitat disturbance can influence the species survival, abundance, and community composition. My question is how does the diversity change in an area with no eelgrass and an area with eelgrass? This project can help us know what is happening in that ecosystem, and why it’s important. So I hypothesize that there will be more abundance in an area with eelgrass compared to an area without eelgrass.