I attended one session of the Salish Sea Conference yesterday and thought I’d share the link to recorded presentations! Some of them look super interesting. The Education, Community, and Social Science track could be a fun training resource for any of us looking for extra hours. 

 

Here’s one takeaway from the Trophic Energy Flow presentation: 

 

Data indicate that female harbor porpoises might be more likely to catch and consume large fish, because larger fish means that they get more energy, or more bang for their buck, from the meal. The female porpoises might need more energy because they spend most of their lives in pregnancy cycles. One potential impact is that preying on larger fish increases the likelihood of choking, so female porpoises are potentially engaging in riskier behavior in a gamble to get more energy. 

 

Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena vomerina) Catching and Handling Large Fish on the U.S. West CoastKatrina MacIver1, Cindy Elliser1, Sanne Hessing2, Katrina MacIver1, Marc Webber3 and William Keener3, (1)Pacific Mammal Research, Anacortes, WA, (2)CetaScience, Houten, Netherlands, (3)The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, CA

I decided to draw some of my favorite elements that I typically find in my favorite ecosystem ( southwest desert environments). With that I also wrote lyrics, quotes from my favorite artists that describe the southwest. 

I strongly believe that by spending more time outdoors you begin to get a sense of your physical and emotional health. It allows you to slow down, breath, and get away from the fast pace life of cities and towns. I also believe that by spending time outdoors you can experience a greater connection with land by increasing the amount of time you spend observing areas. Using your sense to connect you to the area around you allows you to experience more and ultimately connect on a deeper level with the land around. 

It's interesting to learn kind of the hierarchy of these three terms. Now I know that products with a "best by" date can often be consumed after this date, as this only indicates when the product is literally best by in terms of flavor and consistency, etc. "Sell by" seems almost useless to the consumer, and I think it should be paired with a best by or use by date. I also now know that "use by" is basically equivalent to and expiration date, and it should be to the consumer's discretion to consume food past that date.

Think small - eating smaller fish helps avoid buildup of mercury through bioacumulation. Buy American - the US has worked to change fisheries policies to avoid over-fishing and to re-build populations. Diversity - Americans usually eat the same five types of fish; shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia, and pollock. This creates extra demand for those types of fish, but we can minimize our impact by switching up the type of fish we're buying. Buy local- cummunity supported fisheries programs help customers regularly support local fishers. Visit localcatch.org to find a CSF in your area. Be vigilant - ask businesses and restaurants where fish came from and how it was caught. 

It helps bring the power over food back to people. In the documentary I watched about a tribe in Minnesota, they said something along the lines of "it's about people producing food instead of corporations." I think it's a really powerful message, and it definitely got me thinking more about the processed foods and non-organic produce I put into my body.

I talked to my friend Dennise after she went for a run. 

Pollinators help the environment by helping plants grow. It's important to plant native species and species that attract pollinators to encourage biodiversity!