Hubbs Sea World Research Institute

HUBBS-SEAWORLD RESEARCH INSTITUTE (THE INSTITUTE) WAS ORGANIZED PURSUANT TO THE GENERAL NONPROFIT CORPORATION LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE INSTITUTE WAS FORMED IS TO CONDUCT BIOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND OTHER GENERAL SCIENTIFIC STUDIES, AND TO ENGAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGIES WHICH WILL ENHANCE PUBLIC AWARENESS AND MANKINDS DEDICATION TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE RESPONSIBILITY IN BOTH THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR.

SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD CONDUCTED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON 20 SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD PROJECTS, FEEDING A HUNGRY WORLD AND RESTORING DEPLETED FISH POPULATIONS. AQUACULTURE IS A PRACTICAL SOLUTION TO RENEWING REGIONAL FISH STOCKS, PRODUCING DOMESTIC SUPPLIES OF SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD, AND REDUCING THE NEED FOR FRESH WATER TO PRODUCE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL PROTEIN AS A FOOD SOURCE.THE WHITE SEABASS HATCHERY PROGRAM (OREHP) WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE FIRST RESULTS TO COME OUT OF A FOUR-YEAR COLLABORATIVE STUDY BETWEEN HSWRI AND THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (SCDNR). AFTER GENOTYPING NEARLY 500 SEABASS BROOD FISH DATING BACK TO 1996, WHEN THE CARLSBAD HATCHERY FIRST STARTED OPERATIONS, SCDNR WAS ABLE TO USE A GENETIC MARKER TO SUPPLEMENT CODED WIRE TAGGING (CWT) DATA. USING THE GENETIC MARKER, WE FOUND THE HATCHERY CONTRIBUTION RATE IN THE WILD WAS SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER THAN CWT RETURN RATES. THIS RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED BY THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON GRADUATE STUDENT, ELLEN REIBER, WHO DEFENDED HER THESIS IN JULY OF 2022. HSWRI IS CONTINUING THIS RESEARCH WITH SCDNR INTO THE FUTURE USING PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS. IN ADDITION TO THIS GENETICS STUDY, THE OREHP ESTABLISHED A NEW SCIENCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AS REQUIRED BY AB 1949 (THE NEWEST OREHP LEGISLATION), WHICH SHOULD BENEFIT THE PROGRAM GREATLY.RESEARCH ON YELLOWTAIL AND HALIBUT CONTINUED THIS YEAR, SUPPORTED BY VARIOUS GRANTS AND PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS. YELLOWTAIL RESEARCH CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON LARVAL NUTRITION, SWIM BLADDER INFLATION, AND DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE FEED FORMULATIONS. HALIBUT RESEARCH IS CURRENTLY FOCUSED ON THE EFFECTS OF STRESSORS, LIKE WATER TEMPERATURE, ON SEX DETERMINATION IN YOUNG HALIBUT. HSWRIS RESEARCH ON INTEGRATED MULTI-TROPHIC AQUACULTURE (IMTA) CONTINUED THIS YEAR AND SUCCESSFULLY INCORPORATED INVERTEBRATES INTO A DUAL MODULE IMTA RECIRCULATING SYSTEM AT MISSION BAY. THE INVERTEBRATES USED WERE MUSSELS AND SEA CUCUMBERS, WHICH EFFECTIVELY CONSUMED SOLIDS GENERATED BY THE YELLOWTAIL IN THE SYSTEM. DURING THE YEAR, PROJECT LEADERS ALSO DEVELOPED A FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN TO GUIDE RESEARCH INTO THE FUTURE.

WILDLIFE POPULATIONS CONDUCTED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON 9 PROJECTS ON WILDLIFE POPULATION ECOLOGY, EXAMINING THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF MARINE LIFE AND HABITATS. OUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON WILD MARINE ANIMAL POPULATIONS, SEEKING TO PREDICT AND PREVENT IMPACTS FROM HUMAN DISTURBANCE, HABITAT LOSS AND POLLUTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. OUR TEAM OF SCIENTISTS RESUMED FIELD WORK FOLLOWING THE PANDEMIC RELATED CONSTRAINTS FROM THE PRIOR YEAR. CALIFORNIA CHANNEL ISLANDS. SEVERAL SHORT TRIPS BY A SINGLE HSWRI SCIENTIST TO CONDUCT BASIC SURVEYS OF BREEDING SEALS AND SEA LIONS WERE ALLOWED BY THE U.S. NAVY (SAN NICOLAS ISLAND) AND THE U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (SAN MIGUEL ISLAND). INDIAN RIVER LAGOON AND HALIFAX RIVER, FLORIDA. VESSEL-BASED SURVEYS AND PHOTO-IDENTIFICATION STUDIES OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS WERE CONDUCTED. THE ONTOGENY OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN SOCIAL NETWORKS WAS INVESTIGATED UTILIZING DATA FROM OUR LONG-TERM EFFORTS. OUR TEAM ALSO BEGAN UTILIZING NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE HEALTH OF DOLPHINS INHABITING ESTUARINE WATERS INCLUDING UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS FLIGHTS AND THE COLLECTION OF RESPIRATORY VAPOR FROM DOLPHIN BLOWHOLES.ANTARCTICA. ALL FIELDWORK ON PENGUINS AND PINNIPEDS AT SOUTH GEORGIA AND SEVERAL SITES ALONG THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA WAS CANCELED AGAIN THIS YEAR, INCLUDING EXPEDITIONS TO THE ANTARCTIC AND SUB-ANTARCTIC IN THE FALL OF 2021 AND WINTER OF 2021-22. THIS COMPRISES A LOSS OF THREE CONSECUTIVE FIELD SEASONS, INTERRUPTING A LONG-TERM STUDY OF ANTARCTIC PENGUIN AND SEAL POPULATION BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR THAT BEGAN IN 2014.

OCEAN HEALTH CONDUCTED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON 6 PROJECTS ON OCEAN HEALTH, PROMOTING A HEALTHIER PLANET WHERE HUMANS AND MARINE LIFE THRIVE TOGETHER. TO ADVANCE OCEAN HEALTH WE STUDY WAYS TO PREVENT DISEASE TRANSMISSION, PROMOTE ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND RESILIENCE, AND PROVIDE RAPID FIRST RESPONSE TO MARINE LIFE STRANDINGS. HSWRI PROVIDED 24/7 FIRST RESPONSE TO STRANDED WHALES AND DOLPHINS IN FLORIDA FOR 40 EVENTS, INCLUDING 10 LIVE STRANDINGS. HSWRI IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STRANDING RESPONSE AND COORDINATION FOR 222 KM OF THE NORTH AND CENTRAL EAST COAST OF FLORIDA (~40% OF FLORIDAS EAST COAST), AS WELL AS RESPONSE WITHIN ~1800 KM2 OF ESTUARINE WATERS. THIS PORTION OF FLORIDA AVERAGES 67 STRANDINGS A YEAR AND IS ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE AREAS FOR STRANDINGS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S., RECEIVING BOTH LIVE AND DEAD CETACEANS INCLUDING LARGE WHALES, MASS STRANDINGS AND UNUSUAL SPECIES SUCH AS BEAKED WHALES AND MELON-HEADED WHALES. HSWRIS RESPONSE AREA COVERS THREE COASTAL COUNTIES, INCLUDING THE FEDERAL LANDS WITHIN AND SURROUNDING KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, AND HSWRI RESPONDS TO MORE STRANDINGS THAN ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION IN FLORIDA. UTILIZING OUR LONG-TERM DATASETS, OUR SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATED CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN BOTH INDIAN RIVER LAGOON DOLPHINS AND IN ELUSIVE PYGMY AND DWARF SPERM WHALES. WE ALSO UNDERTOOK SEVERAL COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS AIMED AT BETTER UNDERSTANDING WHALE AND DOLPHIN HEALTH INCLUDING INVESTIGATING THE PRESENCE OF MICRO-PLASTICS IN THESE ANIMALS. ON THE WEST COAST OF THE U.S., HSWRI SCIENTISTS CONTINUED TO EVALUATE THE PREVALENCE OF EXPOSURE TO SEVERAL DISEASE-CAUSING ORGANISMS IN SEALS AND SEA LIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. ALTHOUGH MOST DATA COLLECTION AT THE CHANNEL ISLANDS WAS PAUSED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, HSWRI COLLABORATED WITH MEMBERS OF THE CALIFORNIA MARINE MAMMAL STRANDING NETWORK TO TEST SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM STRANDED PINNIPEDS. PATHOGEN SURVEILLANCE IN 2021 INCLUDED TESTING FOR EXPOSURE TO CORONAVIRUSES (INCLUDING SARS-COV-2, THE COVID-19 VIRUS).