{"id":5604,"date":"2017-12-06T12:30:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T12:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/ccb\/?p=5604"},"modified":"2021-06-09T19:59:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T19:59:16","slug":"studying-a-cryptic-marine-mammal-species-by-edna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birds.cornell.edu\/ccb\/studying-a-cryptic-marine-mammal-species-by-edna\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying a cryptic marine mammal species by eDNA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"R\/V<\/a>
The R\/V Reuben Lasker in port at Ford Island, Honolulu<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the words of The Who, I am reminded of a catchy tune: \u201cWho are you? Who, who, who, who?\u201d As we search for the identity of a mysterious beaked whale, I just can\u2019t help but find this to be the most fitting theme song for my expedition to the central Pacific Ocean. In mid-October, I had the exciting opportunity to participate in the Hawaiian Islands Cetacean Assessment and Ecosystem Survey (HICEAS)<\/a> aboard NOAA’s R\/V Reuben Lasker. This was a special opportunity, not only because it was my first pelagic research cruise, but I also had the chance to participate in a study using environmental DNA (eDNA) to learn more about a cryptic marine mammal species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent a total of 25 days at sea, but the entire HICEAS effort will span a total of 187 days aboard two NOAA ships: the R\/V Oscar Elton Sette<\/a> and the R\/V Reuben Lasker<\/a>. The HICEAS expedition was a huge collaborative effort to study whales, dolphins, seabirds, and the ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean around the Main and Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Both ships made multiple trips, or \u2018legs\u2019 to cover the entire Island territory; my involvement was on leg 3 of 4 on the R\/V Reuben Lasker. We departed from Oahu and traveled west along different transect lines on the north side of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands out to Midway Island. We circumnavigated Midway, and then returned to Oahu by way of the south side of the Island chain. Plans to cross the International Date Line were thwarted by rough seas, which you can see in the photo. In general, HICEAS (oops, I mean high seas) were a common theme for the trip; we averaged 6-10 foot seas and 25 knot winds for the entire leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n