Poop-Sniffing Dogs Helping Save Whales All Over the World—Text Version By Jeff Burnside

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

News Anchor 1: "You're about to meet Tucker, a dog with a talent for tracking, and what he tracks is quite unusual. It's helping to save animals, including whales, all over the world."

News Anchor 2: "Komo First's Jeff Burnside shows us how University of Washington scientists are working with Tucker to protect wildlife across the globe."

Jeff Burnside: "Meet Tucker. He's all excited, because he is trained to smell feces, or scat, from orca up to a mile away. Even though orca in our region are perhaps the most-studied marine mammals in the world, their teetering fate lies in unlocking their mysteries."

Sam Wasser, UW Center for Conservation Biology: "Researchers that have been studying these whales for 25 years said 'You're crazy, we could count on one hand the number of times we've found killer whale scat.' We have a single dog that gets 150 samples."

Jeff Burnside: "Sam Wasser's team at the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington has rewritten the book on extracting information from animal feces, from all these animals and more. [Images of elk, wolf, anteater, owl, mouse, tiger]. Get this: they get DNA identifying individual animals, gender, its population, eating habits, important stress levels, pregnancy data, all the major chemical toxins from oil products, flame retardants, pesticides, and industrial pollution, and more!"

Sam Wasser: "All in the poop. All in the poop. [laughs and opens a freezer] So here's tiger…"

Jeff Burnside: "If you haven't noticed, this is a story about…well, it's about poop. In fact, their whole refrigerator is full of poop from around the world. The important thing here is this: it's not just about orca, or even Tucker the dog. There are now scores of dogs trained just like Tucker, around the world, finding enormous amounts of really important information about wildlife that's helping humanity better protect that wildlife."

Sam Wasser: "The stuff that we are revealing is really unprecedented. So, it's exciting."

Jeff Burnside: "Making a difference."

Sam Wasser: "You bet."

Jeff Burnside: "And thanks to Tucker, the orca scat helped settle an argument over what's most harming orca. Tourist boats, lack of salmon, or industrial toxins. Wasser found it was by far the lack of salmon, specifically Chinook salmon. Lots of fish also suppresses those toxins already in orca blubber. So, conservationists know which protections can help save one of the most beloved sea creatures in the world. In Seattle, Jeff Burnside, Komo Four News."

Anchor 2: "Tucker was trained by Wasser's nonprofit, Conservation Canines. The next project may have to do with our state's controversial wolf population. We have much more about this story on our website."

PS Thanks to Tucker and the amazing amount of information gathered by studying the whale scat, researchers were able to determine that the lack of Chinook salmon was harming the orca population.

Humans are inextricably linked with the ecosystems around us, and even our actions on land or on non-living things can have dramatic effects on marine food webs and ecosystems.

Human activities on land and at sea constantly affect marine ecosystems around the world. We have a responsibility to protect the ocean and its resources—not only for the life in the ocean, but for our own lives as well. A functioning, thriving ocean is a crucial part of survival on Earth.

Human Impact on Marine Life Lab Report Instructions: In the Human Impact on Marine Life Lab, you will help rehabilitate a rescued sea lion by making sure she is eating enough food to sustain her energy levels. Record your observations in the lab report below. You will submit your completed report.

(30 points possible)

Name and Title (1 point)

Include your name, teacher’s name, date, and name of lab.

Objective(s) (2 points)

In your own words, what was the purpose of this lab?

Hypothesis (2 points)

State your hypothesis: To get her back to her goal weight, Snappy should eat ____ percent of her body weight per day.

Procedure Snappy is a rescued sea lion who was found tangled in some fishing nets. She was brought to Marine Sanctuary Inc., and needs to heal and gain weight before being released back into the ocean. In this lab, you will help her recover by determining how much food she should eat and collecting data on her weight and length each week.

Data (10 points)

Note: You may have between 5 and 7 weeks of data, depending on Snappy’s speed of recovery.

Week Daily Diet (kg) Snappy's Length (m) Snappy's Weight (kg)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Conclusion (15 points)

Your conclusion will include a summary of the lab results and an interpretation of the results. Please answer in complete sentences.

1. What is Snappy’s trophic level on the food web? What does that mean in terms of her eating habits?

2. By the time energy from the sun has reached Snappy and the food she eats, how much of that original energy is still available to her?

3. What impact did human actions have on Snappy, both in the wild and in the rehabilitation center?

4. How did you determine how much food to feed Snappy each week? Using the information from your data table, describe how did the amount of food Snappy was fed each week impacted her weight gain.

5. What are some actions you can do to reduce the human impact on animals like Snappy?