• Sarah Gutzweiler

    Sarah Gutzweiler
    Univ. of Ohio
    Studied the breeding behavior of territorial male California sea lions.

    This summer I worked with scientists from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's National Marine Mammal Laboratory on San Miguel Island through the NOAA Hollings Scholarship Program. San Miguel Island is part of the Channel Islands National Park off of California and is uninhabited except for a ranger station and a research station. The research station where I stayed consisted of a kitchen, a bunk house, and an outhouse. There was no running water or any internet, and unreliable cell phone service. It was certainly the most remote field research site at which I have had the opportunity to work.

    During the six weeks I spent on San Miguel Island, my research project focused on describing the breeding behavior of territorial male California sea lions. Each day, I spent 4-8 hours in an observation blind, recording the activities and interactions of the males. I also participated in night surveys during which I used night-vision goggles to observe the males.

    Working with this project taught me a great deal about study design, the scientific process, data analysis, and what it's truly like to be a field researcher. Along with this project I was able to participate in other ongoing studies around the island, including demography studies of California sea lions and northern fur seals.

  • California sea lion pups.


    Some of the tools that I learned included; brand resighting and fur seal tag reading for survival and reproduction studies, pup mortality surveys for population assessment, and necropsies to investigate cause of death in pups.

    The island is also home to many other animals. I saw blue whales, harbor seals, elephant seals, cormorants, gulls, peregrine falcons, pelicans, ravens, oystercatchers, and island foxes.

    After my time on San Miguel, I was able to present my research at a symposium in Silver Spring, MD and in Seattle, WA. I also spent three weeks in Seattle further analyzing data and writing a report.

    This internship was a wonderful experience that showed me the diversity of research that is being done within NOAA. This research is vital to understanding and protecting the life within the ocean.

  • Breeding group of California sea lions.


    San Miguel Island coastline.