HUBBS-SEA WORLD RESEARCH INSTITUTE
2595 INGRAHAM STREET, SAN DIEGO, CA 92109 www.hswri.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: HSWRI scientists apply innovative and objective science to complex challenges facing our rapidly changing planet in order to improve ocean health. Last year our expert staff conducted scientific research and promote public awareness on 48 global projects in the core areas of wildlife populations, ocean health, animal behavior, sustainable seafood, and education and outreach. For over 50 years, HSWRI has promoted science, conservation, and education programs to return to the sea some measure of the benefits derived from it.

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute provides innovative and objective scientific solutions to challenges facing ocean health and marine life in our rapidly changing world.

SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD Conducted scientific research on 18 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.Marine finfish production at HSWRI was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in mid-March. Production of new fish was paused in order to minimize the number of personnel required on site for fish care, and permission was obtained from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to release thousands of hatchery-reared white seabass to coastal California waters sooner than planned. Research on white seabass, California halibut and California yellowtail was put on hold for several months while HSWRI staff focused on essential activities such as caring for and preserving valuable broodstock. Although production has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, spawning operations began slowly ramping up in early summer 2020 to provide larval and juvenile fish for research this fall, as well as juvenile white seabass and California halibut for replenishment programs. One paused project involves finfish nutrition research in collaboration with Oregon State University, with scientists at both institutions pivoting to analysis and reporting of data previously collected. A new project on Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture began in 2019, growing macroalgae in seawater downstream from the HSWRI white seabass hatchery. Postponed for several months due to the pandemic, the study is resuming this fall. A new bill signed into law on October 1 2020 will strengthen and expand Californias Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program conducted by HSWRI in collaboration with the State of California and the recreational fishing community. The bill provides the opportunity for enhancement research on additional species of marine finfish of economic and ecological importance in California state waters. In early September 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a letter of intent in the Federal Register regarding the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed development of a commercial-scale finfish aquaculture facility to be located in Federal waters off the coast of southern California. The farm would be established and operated by Pacific Ocean AquaFarms, a collaboration between HSWRI (via its for-profit subsidiary, Pacific Ocean Fresh) and Pacific6, an investment and development firm based in Long Beach, California.

OCEAN HEALTH Conducted scientific research on 11 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. Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute completed a two-year study in 2020 evaluating the health of the Indian River Lagoon estuary system through monitoring two sentinel species, bottlenose dolphins and river otters. Trauma and infectious diseases (including potential zoonoses) are important causes of morbidity and mortality in dolphins, and the team also recorded some of the highest levels of mercury ever detected in dolphins in the southeastern US. HSWRI will work with federal scientists in the coming months to identify the source of the mercury and evaluate its impact on human and wildlife health. Stable isotope analysis showed decreases in nitrogen levels in dolphins, which may reflect the beneficial effect of years of wastewater remediation programs in coastal Florida. The project also found that there are two ecotypes of river otters (marine and freshwater) in the region. HSWRI is the only organization studying the population health of river otters in Florida, and future research will evaluate differences in health and habitat use of the two ecotypes. Despite the pandemic, HSWRI continued to provide 24/7 first response to stranded whales and dolphins in Florida. 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 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. On the west coast of the US, HSWRI scientists are evaluating the prevalence of exposure to several disease-causing organisms in seals and sea lions in southern California. Although data collection at the Channel Islands has paused due to the pandemic, HSWRI is collaborating with members of the California marine mammal stranding network to test samples collected from stranded pinnipeds. Pathogen surveillance has included bacteria and viruses that can occur in both humans and marine mammals, and will expand to include testing for exposure to coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2) in 2020. Public health restrictions on the number of personnel at HSWRI facilities resulted in some changes in fish health assessments and research. Experiments were paused, and exams and case reviews were batched to minimize the number of personnel on site on any one day.

WILDLIFE POPULATIONS Conducted scientific research on 6 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. The Wildlife Populations program has been the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic due to constraints on field operations and travel: California Channel Islands. HSWRI scientists attached archival dive recorders to northern elephant seal females in June 2019 at San Nicolas Island as part of the Institutes long-term ecological research on pinnipeds at the California Channel Islands. The study was designed to compare data on the seals foraging behavior to comparable data collected in past decades when environmental conditions in the Southern California Bight were quite different. A number of dive recorders were lost due to several canceled field trips in the spring and summer of 2020. The instruments were shed when the seals molted in February-May. Due to pandemic travel restrictions from mid-March to July, HSWRI scientists were unable to recover most of the instruments before they stopped transmitting their locations. Indian River Lagoon, Florida. Vessel surveys and photo-identification studies of bottlenose dolphins were paused in March 2020 due to travel and personnel restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic. All HSWRI projects involving volunteers, students, interns and visiting scientists were paused or dramatically scaled back due to public health restrictions, interrupting research on coastal dolphin populations that dates back to the late 1970s. Mexico. Whale shark expeditions in the Gulf of California were canceled in spring and summer 2020, postponing the deployment of 14 satellite-linked radio transmitters on sharks off La Paz, Mexico. Antarctica. Fieldwork on Antarctic penguins at South Georgia and several sites along the Antarctic Peninsula continued in 2019-20, with four trips completed from October 2019 to March 2020. Since then, all international fieldwork has been canceled or postponed, including upcoming expeditions to the Antarctic and subAntarctic in the fall of 2020. The loss of this field season will interrupt a long-term study of Antarctic penguin and seal population biology and behavior that began in 2014.

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