DR. DAVID GASKIN. 1939-1998

We were shocked and saddened on September 13, 1998 by the sudden death of our Executive Director, Dr. David Gaskin. He is survived by his wife Maureen, two sons, their wives and a granddaughter. Friends and colleagues celebrated his life at a memorial service at the University of Guelph Arboretum on September 18.

David received an undergraduate degree in Zoology at the University of Bristol in 1961.  In 1962 he took a position as whale biologist for the government of New Zealand.  He completed his Ph.D. at Massey University in New Zealand in 1965 and then served as a biologist for the FAO, studying sei whales on Japanese whaling vessels in the Antarctic.  In 1968, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the Department of Zoology, University of Guelph.  David received full Profes-sorship and remained at the University of Guelph for the remainder of his career, where he conducted research and taught courses on marine ecology.

His research interests were extremely varied, ranging from the feeding ecology of whales to the systematics of crambid moths.  In 1969, David began a long-term field program studying the ecology of marine mammals and seabirds in the Bay of Fundy.  This program, which continues today, led to significant advances in our under-standing of the ecology of upper trophic level predators in coastal systems, and particularly of the harbour porpoise.  David wrote several monographs on whales, dolphins, porpoises and moths, including The Ecology of Whales and Dolphins, published in 1982.  He served on many committees and working groups, including the Canadian Committee on Whales and Whaling, and the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. David was also a fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London.

In 1981, David founded the GMWSRS, which gained charitable status in 1983.  The GMWSRS allowed David to supplement research grants with charitable donations.  Research was centred on both Grand Manan and Deer Island.  David and his students worked for many years on Deer Island initially from rented locations and later from a summer home and shore building he purchased.  On Grand Manan students worked from our present location beginning in 1982.  In 1986 a public space was opened in the Grand Manan house for visitors to learn about our activities.  The museum has grown over the years to include many aspects of marine natural history of the Bay of Fundy and a gift shop.  A memorial display to David will be added for the upcoming summer season.  With the passing of David, the activities on Deer Island will largely end, although his wife, Maureen has invited us to use the facility at any time.

David was also instrumental in developing the whale watching company "Ocean Search" which began operation in 1981, in conjunction with two Grand Manan residents, Jim Leslie from the Marathon Inn and Ivan Green.  It was the first dedicated whale watch company in the Bay of Fundy, specializing in endangered right whales, and combined watching whales with education - "eco-tourism" before it had a name. David imparted his vast knowledge and experience during whale watch trips and in evening slide and lecture series.  His ability to spot whales was humbling.  Although Ocean Search as a company no longer exists, his public education efforts are continued by our managing director and her whale watching connections.

David's marine mammal library has been graciously donated to the GMWSRS by his wife Maureen.  Most of the collection is on loan to Dr. Andy Read at the Duke Marine lab where it will be used by colleagues and students.  Andy also has all the data files and other literature related to research conducted over the years by David and his students.  David's New Brunswick moth collection has been donated to the New Brunswick Museum.  The remainder of his extensive worldwide lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) collection will be going to the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa and perhaps the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.  His lepidoptera books will be going to the University of Guelph library, and reprints to the New Brunswick Museum.

In honour of David's contribution to the teaching program at the University of Guelph, the Department of Zoology will offer annually to an outstanding undergraduate student the Gaskin Medal in Marine and Freshwater Biology. A $500 cash award will accompany the medal. Those interested in contributing to this award should send contributions, made payable to the University of Guelph, to Dr. Paul Hebert c/o Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1.

Donations to continue his work in the Bay of Fundy can also be made to The David Gaskin Memorial Fund c/o Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station Inc. 24 Route 776, Grand Manan, NB, E0G 2M0. These funds will be kept in an endowment for scholarship/internship programs for students who wish to study marine biology.  Preference will be for local students who show a keen interest in marine biology and conservation, wish to continue their education and require financial assistance.

• MAIN OBJECTIVES IN 1998
• HARBOUR PORPOISE RELEASE PROGRAM
• CRITICAL HABITAT
• FORAGING BEHAVIOUR
• STRESS STUDY
• PINGERS AND PORPOISES
• MARICULTURE AND PORPOISES
• DISSECTIONS

RIGHT WHALES:

Right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, began arriving in early June and by mid June the numbers were 30-50 in the Bay each day.  Numbers remained high until mid August when the distribution became more erratic and the whales were much harder to find.  Instead of feeding near the bottom during the day they were often filter feeding near the surface and not lifting their tails to dive making them much harder to find.  Over 100 have been identified so far in the Bay of Fundy from last summer.  The last right whales were seen in early November. Data and photographs are collected annually by Laurie while acting as a whale watch naturalist with Grand Manan SeaLand Adventures. The trips also allow Laurie to maintain an opportunistic data base of other marine mammal, seabirds, basking sharks, etc.

Only six calves were born in Florida/ Georgia waters; one was found dead.  All of the mothers were ones that do not use the Bay of Fundy in the summer as a nursery but take their calves elsewhere.  It seemed very strange not to see a calf last summer.  There were however, several calves from 1997 which came back to the Bay.

An additional death occurred in October 1998 on the Virginia - North Carolina Border.  An adult male died of unknown causes although vertebrae and the rostrum were broken. In April a female named "Staccato" was stuck and killed off Cape Cod.  This is a untimely death since she is a known mother of at least six calves.  In Canada, Fundy Traffic Control has been warning ships of the presence of right whales in the Bay of Fundy and a Right Whale Conservation Zone has been designated for the Bay of Fundy and a portion of the Scotian Shelf - off  Nova Scotia.

In 1999 only three mother/calf pairs have been sighted causing much concern.  This is the lowest number of calves ever recorded.  It is hoped that more calves will be found during the summer.  To increase the concern a recent paper by scientists from Massachusetts suggests that since 1994, as indicated by photoidentification, right whale numbers are declining. Under current conditions right whales in the North Atlantic are doomed to extinction; an upper bound on the expected time to extinction is 191 years. It is essential to the viability of this population to protect their critical habitat and reduce deaths caused by fishery entanglements and collisions with vessel. (Caswell, H., M. Fujiwara, and S. Brault.  1999.  Declin-ing survival probability threatens the North Atlantic right whale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96:3308-3313.)

Right Whale Recovery Team:
Our managing director, Laurie, is one of twelve of the team, co-chaired by Fisheries and Oceans and World Wildlife Fund.  The team has specific mandates to develop a strategy and appropriate recommendations for promoting the recovery of right whales in the western North Atlantic, to a point at which the population is no longer endangered.  The Team has endeavoured to:

• Evaluate the current status of the right whale population in the eastern North Atlantic
• Identify known and potential threats and limiting factors impeding population recover
• Find ways of reducing or eliminating those threats that are related to human activities

Code of Ethics Meeting:
A meeting was held at the Grand Manan Museum in May for local operators to be updated on whale watch issues and resign the Code of Ethics for the Bay of Fundy developed two years ago. Most operators in the Bay of Fundy are signatories. The Code was developed primarily for the protection of right whales but all species benefit.  The Code supplements the DFO whale watch guidelines. For a copy of the Code, contact Laurie or refer to our web site.

In March of this year, another meeting was held in Saint John to talk about future development of the whale watching industry.  Over 40 people from attended representing whale watch operators, conservation groups, government agencies and the media.  It was decided to hold a workshop in Digby, NS, in October 1999 to discuss potential changes in Code of Ethics, DFO whale watch guidelines, Transport Canada regulations and approaches to public education.

Entrapped Right Whales.
We were especially concerned in July about the entrapment of two North Atlantic right whales in a herring weir because of the whales highly endangered status.  Several members of the research team worked very closely with the weir fishermen for three days to ensure that both of these whales were released unharmed.  Both individuals were subsequently identified from the New England Aquarium’s photo-identification catalogue as NEA 1209, a mature female that was first sighted in 1980, and NEA 1901, a nine-year old female.  This entrapment generated considerable media interest in both Canada and the United States and several interviews were given by team members during this time describing the situation.  After several unsuccessful attempts to coax the whales out through a small hole that was made by dropping a portion of the weir net, the weir was partially dismantled providing a large opening through which the whales could exit.  After this larger opening was made, both whales immediately left the weir.  Both whales were re-sighted later in August by the New England Aquarium’s research group and appeared to be behaving normally.  It is still unclear why these whales entered the weir; presumably they were moving very close to shore when they encount-ered the weir fence and this directed them into the weir itself.  The entrap-ment of right whales is very rare on Grand Manan but we demonstrated clearly that if the correct procedure is followed it is possible to successfully release these large animals unharmed.

Disentanglement Meeting:
In September, approximately 35 people from Nova Scotia, Deer Island, Grand Manan, Maine and Massachusetts gathered at the Fundy Marine Service Centre on Grand Manan to introduce the concept of a disentanglement team and discuss the possible formation for the Bay.  In January, DFO announced that they were contributing $100,000 to the purchase of equipment caches for Grand Manan and Westport, NS.  Disentangling large whales is not an easy task; training will be essential for the success of the program.

Fortunately, there were no reported entanglements of right whales in fishing gear in the Bay this summer except, for the two entrapped in the herring weir in July. Two right whales were disentangled off Cape Cod.  One was a six year old male that has had five entanglements in its short life, two of these in the span of a month.  The whale was partially disen-tangled by the Center for Coastal Studies team.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
AN AGING FLEET:
The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation and the T.R. Meighen Foundation generously donated money toward the purchase of boat and motor but unfortunately we could only replace the motor and upgrade or replace some of our vessel safety equipment. We still need a substantial sum before we can purchase a vessel and trailer which will replace an aging speed boat used to check herring weirs daily for the Harbour Porpoise Release Program, and as a second seine boat when we are needed at more than one herring weir or when there are numerous porpoises in one weir.

UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS:
Basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus, a large filter feeding shark reaching lengths of 12m (40') were frequently sighted last summer.  On one day 51 were seen on a whale watch trip and 90 were seen on an aerial survey by East Coast Ecosystems. The sharks were seen filter feeding at the surface, swimming slowly with their mouths open, often with right whales.  Care needed to be taken to avoid running into these large sharks.

Sei whales, Balaenoptera borealis, were again seen in the Bay last summer,  now regular annual visitors. An ocean sunfish was also spotted.

STRANDING:
On May 30 a small minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata,  live stranded on Hay Island, south of Grand Manan.  A local family spotted the whale as the tide was ebbing but were unable to assist. A stranding of a live cetacean is an unusual occurrence here and may have been caused by the whale being trapped in shallow water as the tide began to ebb preventing it from getting back to deeper water.

BIRD NEWS
SEABIRDS & BIRD REHABILITATION:
Our managing director continued to collect seabird census data during whale watching cruises.  Laurie sent tern and puffin positions to Dr. Tony Diamond, University of New Brunswick and ACWERN.  Laurie as-sisted a student of Dr. Diamond, Falk Huettmann, conduct seabird surveys this winter.  As part of his Ph.D. studies, he is interested in many species including alcids and gulls.  Most bird watchers do not realize that Grand Manan is a wonderful spot to watch alcids in the winter.  We can have up to 10,000 razorbills and common murres in January and February feeding off our shores.

We have included on our website a list of "water" birds that can be seen around the Grand Manan archipelago.  A complete list of birds for the area is included on the Grand Manan Tourism / Chamber site http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/gmtouris

FUNDY BIRD OBSERVATORY (FBO):
With little funding in 1998, bird banding operations were minimal.  GMWSRS has offered to take over the GMBO to give the organization charitable status - useful when applying for funding, and also lend the GMBO our research and fund raising reputation.  The name of the observatory is changing to the Fundy Bird Observatory , and will be part of the GMWSRS.  If you wish to make a donation directed to the FBO activities please check the appropriate box on the remittance form (Fundy Bird Observatory). Activities are scheduled to begin mid-March to monitor spring migration and again during mid-summer for fall migration.  We will be catching and banding small land birds caught in mist nets from the grounds of the vacant lightkeeper's house at the northern end of Grand Manan, locally known as the Whistle.  Counts of migrating seabird will also be undertaken.  Check out our web site for more information.

MUSEUM UPDATES

• VISITORS: We had a huge increase in the number of visitors - 9857 -from June to the first week of Oct-ober, 2205 more visitors than in 1997 or an increase of 22%. Our sales were 16% higher than sales in 1997 and 11% higher than in 1996.  These figures could not have been realized without the assistance of our two full time museum attend-ants, Kit and Jennifer, who kept our doors open 28% more hours than in 1997.  We were able to open from 9 to 5 daily. If the number of visitors keep increasing we will have to consider the possibility of ex-panding our facility.
• DISPLAYS:  Our museum remains free to the public, although many guests give a small donation.  Door donations were 23% higher in 1998 than in 1997 (consistent with increased visitors). New track lighting was added and minor repairs and updating of the museum displays were made in the spring  when the museum was put back together after renovating the electrical wiring. A new addition is a river otter, Lutra canadensis, pre-pared by Bear Brook Taxidermy.  The otter (in pristine con-dition) was found dead a few years ago in Dark Harbour on the western side of the island.  The otter still needs a stand and case which hopefully will be built this winter. We also have a new geology display of island rock specimens, photographs and drawings, created by Dr. John Westgate, University of Toronto.  The interpretation of rock formations such as Seven Days Work has been received warmly by our visitors. New in 1999 from a private donor is a new born harp seal pup, Phoca groenlandica, found dead along the coast of Labrador 18 years ago.
• HOUSEHOLD REPAIRS: With proceeds from our gift shop we were able to completely redo the walls and ceiling of our kitchen, give the cupboards a fresh coat of paint and install a new countertop.  Other than the museum it is the most used room in our modest house.  This followed the removal of the kitchen and museum ceilings to allow completion of electrical repairs to the upstairs of the house.  We also now have one room with heat where we can store specimens and samples over the winter.
• COMPUTER/PRINTING SYSTEM: In our last newsletter we put a laser printer on our wish list. In August we were delighted to receive one donated by Mary Lou Campbell (Toronto, ON). In January funds from the Whale Conservation Fund let us purchase a used photocopier to produce and publish most of our newsletters, pamphlets, data sheets, etc.  We will also be developing and printing educational material about the conservation of whales in the Bay of Fundy.

• Ken Ingersoll continued his role as liaison to Grand Manan fishermen, begun in 1982, and helping with house renovations.
• Rob Ronconi, U. of Alberta, Harbour Porpoise Release Program.
• Jeremy Rusin, Davidson College, Michigan, assisted Tara Cox with her studies.
• Sarah Wong, McGill University, Montreal, QUE, Harbour Porpoise Release Program.

• Dr. Per Berggren, University of Stockhom, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Julia Carlström, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Bill McLellan, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC.
• Aleksija Nemanis, University of Guelph Veterinary College. (see Stress Study)
• Dr. Ann Pabst, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC
• Krystal Tolley, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

• Dave Johnston, International Marine Mammal Association, Guelph, ON along with Sheryl Fink, collaborated in an investigation of underwater sound and harbour porpoise behav-iour. Dr. David Lavigne, head of the International Marine Mammal Association, visited in May. (see Mariculture and Porpoises)
• Doug Nowacek and Mark Johnson Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA

• Dr. Ken Eckstrom, MIT, Cambridge, MA, recorded acoustics of right whales.
• Dr. Jeff Goodyear and team tried following right whales using acoustic tags but unfortunately few whales were found. He continued his work in Cape Cod Bay working with humpback whales.  His research would attempt to characterize what right whales hear to help with the problem of vessel collisions with whales.
• Richard McLanaghan, International Fund for Animal Welfare, coordinated an acoustic study of right whales and ship noise while sailing aboard the "Song of the Whale".  He was assisted by Carole Carlson, Anna Moscrop, Nicolletta Biasoni, Steve Brown, Russell Leaper, Heather Clyne, Dana Wright (intern), Arturo Serrano (intern),. Their research may help explain the right whale/ship collision problem.

• Kit Greenlaw, North Head, Grand Manan, NB
• Jennifer Sewell, Castalia, Grand Manan, NB

• Rick Rosenthal (Morgan Productions) & Dave, BBC & National Geographic film crew
• Mark (Tango Films), German TV nature program

• Dr. Doug Ricketts, Duluth, MN
• Cathy Merriman, World Wildlife Fund Canada
• Arnold & Anne Koopman, Campbellville, ON
• The Neimanis Family (Ivea, John, Pella), Hamilton, ON
• Dr. Rodney & Joyce Faye Cox, Troy AL
• Melanie & Dan Fish, Austin, TX
• Derek Haley, Guelph, ON
• The Ronconi Family

• Adams, A.M., E.P. Hoberg, D.F. McAlpine & S.L. Clayden. 1998. Occurrence and morphological comparisons of Campula oblonga (Digenea: Campulidae), including a report from an atypical host, the thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus. Journal of Parasitology. 84(2):435-438.
• Johnston, D.W. and Woodley. T.H. 1998. A survey of acoustic harassment device (AHD) use in the Bay of Fundy, NB, Canada. Aquatic Mammals 24(1):51-61.
• Koopman, H.N. 1998. Topographical distribution of the blubber of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Journal of Mammalogy 79:260-270.
• Koopman, H. N., Westgate, A. J., and Read, A. J.  1999. Hematology values of wild harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Marine Mammal Science 15: 52-64.
• Westgate, A.J. and A.J. Read. 1998. Applications of new technology to the conservation of porpoises. Marine Technology Society Journal.
• Westgate, A.J., A.J. Read, T.M. Cox, T.D. Schofield, B.R. Whitaker and K.E. Anderson. 1998. Monitoring a rehabilitated harbor porpoise using satellite telemetry. Marine Mammal Science. 14(3):599-604.
• Westgate, A.J. and Tolley, K.A. 1999. Geographical differences in organochlorine contaminants in harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena from the western North Atlantic.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 177: 255-268.

• Gaskin, D.E. 1998. Publications by scientific staff and collaborators of the Whale & Seabird Research Station, New Brunswick. Whale & Seabird Research Station Bulletin No. 2, 32 pp.

• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (funds to run the Harbour Porpoise Release Program)
• World Wildlife Fund Canada under the Endangered Species Recovery Fund, co-sponsored by the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada for Harbour Porpoise Habitat Utilisation study.
• U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
• T.R. Meighen Foundation, St. Andrews, NB
• George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation, Toronto, ON
• Human Resources Development Canada for  one summer student

• Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
• World Wildlife Fund Canada (Endangered Species Recovery Fund, co-sponsored by the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada).
• U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
• Human Resources Development Canada for  one summer student

Fundy Community Foundation

Harbour Porpoise Release Program Fund
Our longest running program, it is largely financed by grants although we always appreciate donations.

Whale Conservation Fund
Donations support programs such as right whale identification, whale watch Code of Ethics, Right Whale Recovery Plan contributions and the development and distribution of educational material about whale conservation in the Bay of Fundy.

Fundy Bird Observatory Fund
A new fund to support bird research including a banding project during spring and fall bird migration.

David Gaskin Memorial Fund
An endowment fund to support a scholarship/ internship program for students wishing to pursue an education in marine biology.

Friends of the GMWSRS

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1998 FRIENDS OF THE RESEARCH STATION

 

(previous newsletters: 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 )

GMWSRS Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station Inc. 24 Route 776, Grand Manan, NB, Canada, E5G 1A1 www.gmwsrs.org E-Mail info@gmwsrs.org © 2003 Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station Inc. This page designed by revised October 17th 2006