Pyenson Lab

Media: New sensory organ in rorqual whales, Pyenson et al. 2012

News coverage of our paper in Nature has made the rounds in traditional print media, radio, online and on science blogs over the past week. We've collated most of the original articles in the lab Publications page, but I'd like to highlight some of the best coverage below:

- Bob McDonald from CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks (a show I listened to as a kid in Montreal and then while a postdoc in Vancouver) interviewed me last week, and the episode aired over the weekend. It was a real treat, and the interview explains a lot of what we discovered in clear, plain language. Listen in here (or go to the episode homepage here).

- Kelly Slivka of the New York Times Green Blog provided in-depth coverage about how we figured out that the structure we saw was sensory organ, in an extensively referenced post. Also, Sindya Bhanoo wrote about our paper in the Observatory section of yesterday's New York Times Science Times print edition.

- Keith Seinfeld of KPLU in Seattle covered the story, with a radio segment as well.

- Among science bloggers, I was elated to see detailed pieces by Ed Yong at Not Exactly Rocket Science and and Jerry Coyne at the blog Why Evolution Is True.

- Finally, there were great online stories at the BBC, CBC and International Business Times too.

The cover article in tomorrow's issue of Nature

Check out our paper in tomorrow's issue of the journal Nature -- it is featured on the cover! For more information about our paper, images and a FAQ guide, click to this page.

I will post more links to news coverage in the coming days. (Nature has a nice editorial article about the paper, as a primer).

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 7

And, finally, the conclusion to the sequence from the previous post. The day before our departure we had the plaster jackets and heavy gear all arranged for pickup near the site. On the day of, we had to execute a carefully timed departure:  the tides had to be right for a delicate shore to boat transfer with our remaining gear; and then we had race back to Port Renfrew with enough time to meet the helicopter at the designated dropoff spot. Everything went according to plan, and we even had enough time to catch sight of a resident gray whale feeding along our route -- icing on the cake!

Packing up and heading for the rendezvous with the Michelle Diana. Big thanks to Parks Canada for assisting with the transfer with their Zodiac! (Photo: NDP).

 

Liftoff from the site, fossils loaded, with the Carmanah Lighthouse in the background. Our team was already en-route back to Port Renfrew. (Photo: J. Etzkorn).

A subadult female gray whale spotted en route from the Carmanah Lighthouse to Port Renfrew, aboard the Michelle Diana. What a treat! Especially with Oligocene rocks in the background. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen).

And touchdown! Jim Vallance of Westcoast Helicopters assists NDP in unloading the field jackets. On schedule and in perfect condition! (Photo: NDP).

A happy team heading back from the field, with fossils in tow, inside the Shadwick Lab van. We headed back to Victoria to drop off Liz Nesbitt for her ferry ride back to Seattle, and then for our ferry back to Vancouver, later that day. (Photo: NDP).

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 6

So, how did we get those whale fossils off the rocky intertidal platform?

Step 1: Saw, saw, saw; chisel, hammer, pop; repeat. As you can see from previous posts (here and here), we trenched around the fossils using multiple tools around the skeletons to expose a single block. In some cases it can take exposing several discrete blocks to capture the entire specimen.

Bob and Nick carefully assess the second whale skeleton before cutting with the rock saw. Note the surging tides on this part of the platform, a few dozens of meters away from the first whale skeleton. It all has to be timed right. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)

Step 2: Pedestal the block by undercutting until there's enough of a narrow connection between the block and its supporting column of rock that a few well-placed chisel hits along the bedding plane will dislocate the block, usually with a wonderful pop. Then pose next to the thing of beauty -- what was once seafloor locked in place, now free to return to the museum.

 

NDP holding the intact block of the second whale skeleton. Happy guy. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)

Step 3: Haul the block away from danger -- in this case, oncoming tides. Also, collect any shards or remaining bone fragments that you may have missed.

We brought heavy rope for many reasons, including lashing it a block and then skidding it across the intertidal platform back towards the beach. There are many ways to wrangle a fossil whale. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen and R. E. Shadwick).

 

 All too important to label, document, photograph and archive all field activities. The Smithsonian's Field Book Project is a devoted to chronicling and preserving this fundamental aspect of natural history research. Here, a few shards from the second fossil whale skeleton are organized before being packed back to the lighthouse. (Photo: NDP and J. A. Goldbogen)

Step 4: Wrap the block of fossils in a plaster jacket, labeling everything carefully.

Back up on the beach head, on the West Coast Trail, we jacket the blocks using medical plaster bandages -- same ones for broken arms. (Photos: NDP and J. A. Goldbogen)

Step 5: Then, get it off the beach! In our case, we were so remote and a shore-boat transition with heavy (>200 lb blocks) was too risky, so we called in a chartered helicopter to lift our fossils (and gear) back to the nearest point of civilization (in this case, Port Renfrew). 

While the team was motoring back to Port Renfrew aboard the return trip of the Michelle Diana, Jerry Etzkorn helped coordinate the pickup of the jackets and heavy field equipment from the beach near the site. We originally though the jackets would need to be slinged underneath the helicopter, but we did a good job trimming rock (and thus weight) while digging. Big thanks to Westcoast Helicopters on Vancouver Island. (Photo: J. Etzkorn)

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 5

Just a few more vignettes from our team's days excavating fossil whales on rocky intertidal platforms south of the Carmanah Lighthouse, in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island.

The beastly Polar Bear cart (payload maximum of 450 lbs) proved invaluable in the field, as it hauled gear, forged across knee-deep rivers and could withstand a few bumps while being roped down the many ladders of the West Coast Trail. Here, Liz Nesbitt and Bob Shadwick haul gear down the beach. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen).

As mentioned in the Ocean Portal blog post, we used a 16-inch diamond bladed rock saw, one of the largest hand-held models on the market. Tanked full, it is fairly heavy, and requires a lot of forethought (and safety protection). When working with mudstones, it makes many days of chiseling go by in minutes, which was important when working in between tides. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen).

Tired hands, dirty faces, but a lot of enjoyment out of a job well done. Using the rock saw for a few hours takes a toll. J. A. Goldbogen and NDP share a laugh after racing off the platform as incoming tide spells the end of another work day. (Photo: J. A. G. and R. E. Shadwick)

Did we mention that we're working in a National Park? This is a fairly typical part of our 3 km walk in between the field site and the lighthouse (where we stayed), although it does mean several hundred feet of ladder usually with heavy bags and gear. Some of the spruce and fir trees in this part of the island are among the oldest in North America, easily tallying at over 500 years old. 25 million year old whale fossils is one thing, but 500 year old trees is really mind-blowing. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 4

Busy days on the far side of Vancouver Island. Here are shots from our excavation, which we completed this weekend. The sequence below shows a series of snaps from excavating the first whale skeleton, using both rock saw and traditional hammer and chisel techniques. Tides wait for no man; the platform never quite drained during that day, as you can see from the water in the trench.

(All photos by NDP)

Follow along on the Ocean Portal

I'm posting live from our expedition on Vancouver Island -- follow along at the Ocean Portal. More posts soon to come!

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 3

Yesterday morning we left Port Renfrew early in the morning, on a charter aboard Brian Gisborne's Michelle Diana. During the height of the summer hiking season along the famed West Coast Trail, Brian is busy running a shuttle service between Port Renfrew and Bamfield (the south and north ends of the ~80 km trail).

 

We loaded all of gear down the 10-foot-drop on the Jacob's ladder into the Michelle Diana. And then hopped on board for the ride out to the Carmanah Lighthouse. (Photo: NDP)

Inside the Michelle Diana, looking out the stern. Note the pile of equipment and bags. Weather turned to classic BC drizzle during the trip. (Photo: NDP)

On shore finally, after the dropoff. Each one of those objects made the treacherous boat-boat-shore transition. Here we are organizing equipment into two groups: those that need to go 3 km south, and the others than need to go 200 ft uphill by trail and ladders. (Photo: J.A . Goldbogen)

Negotiating a crossing of Carmanah Creek. Here the entire group helps deliver the crucial field equipment to the excavation site. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen).

NDP crosses Carmanah Creek. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)

NDP,  two Parks Canada rangers, and Jerry Etzkorn (the keeper of the Carmanah lighthouse) discuss the prep for excavating. (Photo J. A. Goldbogen)

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 2

Some scenes from yesterday, on our travel day. As the crow flies, it wasn't remarkably far, but Vancouver Island is only accessible by plane or boat. So we departed in the morning, leaving Vancouver in the Shadwick Lab van (a classic vehicle ca. NDP postdoc and JAG grad school days), with an extra trailer hitched on. Total luggage included around 14 large bags, including 100 lbs of food.

We took the ferry from Tsawassen to Swartz Bay, crossing the Georgia Straight in about 2 hours. 

Bob and Nick chat about the  conference semi-final round of the NHL playoffs while waiting for sightings of Phocoena phocoena. (Photo: JA Goldbogen).

Then we picked up team member Liz Nesbitt, who took a different passenger ferry from downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria, the capital on B.C., on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. We then collected some other key field items (bread, milk, beer), and drove north past Sooke, Sombrio and to the end of the road at Port Renfrew. Truly the end of the road, and the western edge of civilization for North America. Port Renfrew was our departure point this morning, via chartered boat on the Michelle Diana, which runs the Juan de Fuca Express route up and down the western side of the island.

Relaxing after a long day of logistics and driving at the Trailhead Motel, while discussing the Oligocene, lunge feeding, and enjoying the amazing peace and quiet of BC's west coast. (Photo: J.A. Goldbogen)

Carmanah 2012 Expedition: Dispatch 1

The morning didn't start off so well when the Shadwick Lab van didn't start. But after a quick jump, we were off to the races...to try out the rock saw, go to the hardware store and grocery store, and to celebrate some news with colleagues. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)

It's the night before we leave for our trip to the Vancouver Island (hereafter, "the island"). We've spent most of the day packing, organizing, and making last minute shopping runs. We double-checked our equipment list, did some final dry runs with key hardware, and reviewed logistics.

So what are we doing? In 2009, I made a preliminary reconnaissance trip to the Oligocene rocks of Vancouver Island to look for fossils of marine mammals. The Oligocene (~23-32 million years ago) is one of the great frontiers in marine mammal paleontology because we know so little: by comparison to other time periods, fossils are far more rare, and they tend to be important because they provide us with a window into what surely was a time of rapid diversification that presaged many modern lineages, but also completely extinct ones too. In general, the Pacific Northwest of the US and Canada ranks among the premier places to look for fossil marine mammals, and there is a rich history of important specimens found in the marine rock units of Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia. As a postdoc at the University of British Columbia, my main goal was to work on the biomechanics of lunge-feeding, but I knew that Vancouver Island was an outstanding enigma in my mind.

While prospecting with frequent friends of the lab, we found several exciting fossils, including the skull, jaws and postcranial skeleton of what is likely an aetiocetid -- a "toothed" baleen whale, about the size of pilot whale. The problem was that we didn't have the proper equipment, time, logistics, collection permits or stratigraphic knowledge to retrieve the fossil. Fast forward 3 years, and now we've remedied all of those problems, and we're set to go collect it. So stay tuned.

We will be posting updates to the Ocean Portal, so stay tuned.

Every expedition needs a staging area -- in this case, Bob's house. NDP and RES, trying field looks in RES's basement. Gotta have a field look. (Photo: J. A. Goldbogen)