A brief overview of Alejandro Acevedo's Lab
We are interested in scientific inquiry and scientific education.
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Through the Department of Biology we study the role of marine mammals in their environment.
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Through the Science, Mathematics and Technology Program we attempt to improve the teaching of science at all levels.
Current Biological Research
We attempt to describe the abundance, movements and foraging habits of harbor seals in the San Juan Islands to assess their potential impact on rockfish populations. To accomplish this, in conjunction with our collaborators, we count seals from the air, collect seal poop to see what they eat, put tags on seals to follow their movements via satellite, and count rockfish underwater. Our collaborators are:
- Steve Jeffries and Monique Lance from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,
- Phil Levin and his team from National Marine Fisheries Service,
- Peter Olesiuk from Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Funded by the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, WWU and National Science Foundation (Award #0550443).
Learn more about this project in the research page.
Why it is important
Many rockfish populations in the San Juan Islands have declined in the past decades. One management approach has been to create marine protected areas to allow the recovery of these species. However, to understand the effectiveness of current and future protected areas, we need to evaluate the potential impact of marine predators on recovering rockfish species inside protected areas.