Christina - 1 April

Things have been pretty quiet around the office this week. Trish has been away at a conference/meetings and I have been manning the fort, so to speak.

Part of this week was dedicated to the organization and inventory of the marine species at risk observer program resources. We want to know how many of each chart, information package, etc. we have, as we will soon be putting together some new marine species at risk observer program kits in preparation for the fishing season.

I have also been searching for a somewhat elusive material called “gelva”. As it turns out, it can be rather difficult to identify mammal hairs directly with a microscope. The identification book that we received discusses making imprints of the hair in gelva, and then looking at the impressions of the scale pattern from the hair cuticle in the gelva for identification purposes. Hair cuticle patterns vary between species.

Later in the week, Francois Guillet and Candace Cochrane from QLF came by the office to visit, and to take some pictures. It was nice to finally put faces to some of the names I have been hearing and to the voices I have heard in some conference calls!

More recently, I have been putting together a poster about the ivory gull. These birds nest in the Arctic on nunataks – mountain peaks that protrude from glaciers. They are largely scavengers, feeding on the remains of polar bear kills, and the placenta and feces of marine mammals, although they will also eat crustaceans and fish found at the ice edge, where much of their time is spent. In fact, the scientific name for these birds is Pagophila eburnea, which literally means “ice loving”. Although these birds, which are unique in appearance due to their striking black legs and pure white plumage as adults, nest in remote locations far from human habitation, they are still being affected by human activities. It is difficult to conduct research on the ivory gull because they choose to live in such isolated and un-reachable environments – large amounts of time, money and equipment are required for research. Because the ivory gull spends much of its time by the ice edge and depends on ice to survive, it is quite vulnerable to climate change and the disappearance of arctic ice. Through information gained from locals in the Arctic, and through the research that has been done, it appears that the number of ivory gulls in Canada has plummeted by about 80% since the 1980’s. Residents of Southern Labrador have seen ivory gulls when they are sealing, or on other occasions. By putting up posters about the ivory gull, we are hoping to learn of more ivory gull sightings in the area and to gather more data on this little studied species. The ivory gull is designated as endangered and is included in the Marine Species at Risk Program. Through this program QLF works with residents in coastal communities to aid in the recovery of sixteen species considered “at risk” in Canada.

I’m off to Chevery on Monday to attend a social development meeting and am very excited to see another new landscape.