7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
Wildlife secrets revealed
with advanced tracking tools
Hard-to-study
animals easier
to spy on now
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
Chris Park/AP Photo
Four killer whales leap out of the water while perform-
ing during SeaWorld’s Shamu show in San Diego in
2006. SeaWorld is acknowledging that it sent a work-
er to infiltrate animal rights groups who opposed the
theme park. SeaWorld Entertainment CEO Joel Manby
said Thursday that the company will no longer use the
practice to spy on opponents.
SeaWorld says it
planted worker in
animal rights group
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Sea-
World acknowledged that it
Vent itV own workerV to in¿l-
trate an animal rights group
which opposed the practices
of the theme park.
The development comes
months after People for the
Ethical Treatment of Ani-
mals accused a SeaWorld
employee of trying to incite
violence while posing as a
fellow animal rights activist.
SeaWorld Entertainment
CEO Joel Manby vowed
Thursday to end the prac-
tice, but said that it had sent
its employees to protect the
safety of its employees and
customers.
“We recognize the need
to ensure that all of our secu-
rity and other activities align
with our core values and eth-
ical standards,” Manby said.
However, the com-
pany refused to say who
had authorized the in¿ltra-
tion, how long it had been
going on, or how many
workers were used to in¿l-
trate animal rights groups or
other opponents. SeaWorld
spokeswoman Aimee Jean-
sonne %ecka cited the con¿-
dential nature of its security
practices.
The employee at the cen-
ter of the accusations by
PETA, Paul McComb, is
still employed by SeaWorld
but working in another
department, the company
said Thursday.
PETA said last sum-
mer that its own investiga-
tion revealed that McComb,
a human resource worker,
attempted to incite protest-
ers and had posted incen-
diary comments on social
media while masquerading
as an animal-rights activist
since 2012.
PETA of¿cials said
Thursday that SeaWor-
ld¶s refusal to ¿re McComb
shows that it condones cor-
porate spying. The group
has been especially vocal
in its criticism of SeaWorld
since the 2013 documentary,
“%lack¿sh,” suggested the
treatment of captive orcas
provokes violent behavior.
Park attendance dropped
after the release of the doc-
umentary, which chronicled
events at the park leading up
to the death of a SeaWorld
trainer in 2010.
“The tawdry orca side-
shows and despicable spy-
ing tactics are sinking Sea-
World’s ship,” said Tracy
Reiman, PETA’s executive
vice president.
SeaWorld could face
civil, and even criminal, legal
exposure depending on the
information it obtained from
McComb about PETA and
what the company did with
the information, said Sharon
Sandeen, a law professor at
Mitchell Hamline School of
Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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BOISE,
Idaho
—
Solar-powered trackers on
wings have recorded Califor-
nia condors soaring to 15,000
feet, while locators attached
to humpback whales have
revealed 1,000-foot dives to
underwater mountains. And
GPS collars on Yellowstone
grizzly bears are giving new
insights into one of the most
studied large carnivore popu-
lations in the world.
Technological advances
in recent years have allowed
what could be the most
inquisitive Earth dweller of
them all, humans, to invent
ever more ingenious tracking
devices to ¿nd out what their
fellow inhabitants are up to.
“It’s a large ¿eld that’s
developing very fast,” said
Alex Zerbini, a research biol-
ogist with the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration’s National Marine
Mammal Laboratory in Seat-
tle. “There are many types of
tags being developed for many
species of marine animals.”
Scientists say the trove of
information thanks to ever
smaller, tougher and more
powerful tracking devices is
leading to discoveries that
could be used to make better
wildlife and habitat manage-
ment decisions.
The devices are also
revealing the secret lives of
hard-to-study animals.
For example, Zerbini said,
scientists recently discov-
ered humpback whales div-
ing to underwater moun-
tains on a regular basis, and
also making the dives during
migrations.
In Yellowstone National
Park and the surrounding area,
more sophisticated tracking
devices on grizzly bears are
providing information, nota-
bly on their ability to ¿nd
food, that could be a factor in
whether Endangered Species
Act protections are lifted.
Scientists say whitebark
pine, a key grizzly bear food
source, has been diminish-
ing due to insect infestation,
possibly due to global warm-
Joseph Brandt/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Condor No. 255 wears a GPS transmitter while perched near
her nest in the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge
near Fillmore, Calif. Solar-powered trackers on wings re-
cording California condors soaring to 15,000 feet, locators
attached to humpback whales that reveal 1,000-foot dives
to underwater mountains, and GPS collars on Yellowstone
ecosystem grizzly bears give new insights into one of the
most-studied large carnivore populations in the world.
NOAA Fisheries/Instituto Aqualie/Brazil
A tiny GPS transmitter on the back of a humpback whale
during a tagging expedition off the coast of Brazil.
ing. A recent study aimed at
¿nding out if grizzlies are
¿nding a replacement food
source used more advanced
GPS collars that could tell
if a grizzly spending a long
time in a speci¿c area was
guarding a dead carcass or
napping.
“We were actually able to
determine differences in the
patterns between those types
of activities,” said Frank van
Manen, leader of the Inter-
agency Grizzly Bear Study
Team.
The results, he said, sug-
gest grizzlies are relying
more on carcasses and less
on whitebark pine in the fall
when the tree produces edi-
ble, high calorie seeds just as
the bears are trying to pack
on weight before hibernation.
New information is also
revealing the nuances of
how wildlife interact with
the environment. California
LISTINGS
condors soar high and land
to feed on dead animals. But
why do they climb to nearly 3
miles above the Earth?
Tracking data shows that
once the condors attain a
high altitude, they take a long
downhill glide, sloping in a
speci¿c direction toward a
dead animal they’ve already
fed on or to an area they
have found dead animals in
the past. One condor made a
0-mile Àight, traveling 210
miles in a single day.
Joseph Brandt, a wildlife
biologist with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service at the
Hopper Mountain National
Wildlife Refuge in Califor-
nia, said wing Àapping is
inef¿cient for the birds that
can weigh 25 pounds and
have wingspans of 10 feet.
Instead, they use rising cur-
rents of heated air called
thermals to gain altitude.
Tracking the birds sug-
gests that Àying conditions
might be the primary factor
dictating where condors live.
“Maybe they’re ¿nding
food where the Àying condi-
tions are best,” Brandt said.
He said the new track-
ing information, along with
meteorological data, is being
used to create maps of areas
with weather conditions suit-
able for condors as part of
Fish and Wildlife’s plan to
continue recovery efforts of
the federally protected bird.
“We really see how the
birds are using the topogra-
phy,” Brandt said. “We com-
pare wind conditions to see
how the bird is reacting in
that kind of 3-D world.”
Similar analysis involves
how the behavior of Steller
sea lions off Alaska is linked
to ocean cycles. Many species
of birds around the world are
also being tracked, including
long-billed curlews, and sage
grouse in Idaho.
The ¿ndings have led to
more questions. For exam-
ple, after learning that hump-
backs dive to underwater
mountains, scientists wanted
to know why, Zerbini said.
Are they feeding? Are they
socializing?
“It’s always like that in
science,” he said. “The more
you know, the more ques-
tions you have. Which is
good. Then you can develop
the technology speci¿cally to
address your new questions.”
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CALDWELL’S LUCE-LAYTON
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COAST CREMATORY
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OFFICE HOURS: 9AM-5PM MONDAY-FRIDAY
SATURDAY & SUNDAY BY APPOINTMENT
CALDWELL’S FUNERAL
& CREMATION
ARRANGEMENT CENTER
113 N. Holladay. • Seaside
GALE
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JAMIESON
CALDWELL
Licensed Funeral
Owner & Licensed Licensed Funeral Director,
Director & Embalmer Funeral Director
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U.S. Marine Corps Verteran
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