the BREAKWATER 
A newsletter from the Prince William Sound Science Center
October 2019
NEW CAMPUS

Cordova's local newspaper recently published an article about our big upgrade to a new campus!

You will find the latest on why we need a new facility, what the new campus will offer, and when the project is estimated to be complete in the latest edition of The Cordova Times.

Read the full article online  here ! 

NEW SOCKEYE SALMON RESEARCH MOTIVATED BY POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE
One of 200 radio tagged sockeye salmon. Photo: Pete Rand

Could climate change be affecting the ability of Copper River sockeye salmon to successfully spawn? A new research project aims to find out.

During the summer of 2015, the commercial fishing community in Cordova, Alaska was abuzz with rumors about why the fisherman were not catching fish, even though the escapement monitored by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) was showing plenty of sockeye returning to the river system. Because of unusually warm waters, some people suspected that fish were moving deeper to colder water and going under their nets. Ecological researcher Dr. Kristen Gorman discussed this with one fisherman, but he disagreed. According to him, the fish weren't going under the nets, they were going through them. The fish were coming back small, and those fishermen who weren't catching, were using the wrong gear size.

Read the full story about the research project that resulted here! 

MARINE TEMPERATURE ANAMOLIES DOUBLE PREVIOUS RECORDS
Temperature anomalies in central PWS this summer. Image: Rob Campbell

A mild winter followed by an abnormally calm and sunny summer this year resulted in marine water temperatures that doubled the previous marine heatwave record in Prince William Sound. Science Center oceanographer Dr. Rob Campbell observed that monthly average temperatures at the surface during the months of July and August were seven degrees Fahrenheit above the seasonal average with one observation of nine degrees above average. 

The effects can be seen working their way up the food web, starting at the spring plankton bloom in central Prince William Sound. 

Read the full article here. 



DISCOVERY ROOM
  Franken-bird?
Photo: Nicole Webster

The education team recently visited the third grade class at Mt. Eccles Elementary. As part of the Discovery Room series, students learned "what makes a bird a bird." By looking at different bird species native to the Cordova area, they identified commonalities in bird anatomy and life history. Students then used this information to create their own birds from assorted felt beaks, bodies, heads, feet, and wings.  The education team loved hearing the creative descriptions that the students came up with to present their birds. 

Next month's third grade Discovery Room will continue with the bird theme, focusing on adaptations and feeding strategies.
SEA SQUIRTS
Sea Squirts
Kitchen Chemistry magic potions. Photo: Lauren Bein
 
Each month, PWSSC hosts Sea Squirts, hands-on activities to engage Cordova's youngest scientists. This month the theme was Kitchen Chemistry. 

After reading The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra, kids visited three stations where they made play dough, magic potions, and elephant toothpaste! The excited and curious looks on the youngster's faces are a reminder that you are never too young to learn about science.

Check our Facebook page for our next Sea Squirts event!
IN MEMORY OF NEIL DURCO
Neil Durco. Photo by Emily Love

We mourn the loss and honor the memory of our colleague and friend, Neil Durco. Having been raised in Pennsylvania, Neil came to Alaska about a decade ago with a degree in Biology and an appetite for seeking adventure and creating joy. He moved to Cordova to join our hatchery-wild field crew as a research technician and crew leader in 2015 and worked for us off and on over the past four years, also exploring various aspects of the commercial fishing industry in that time. His life ended prematurely in a backcountry accident this October. Neil is cherished, missed, and will not be forgotten.

--Katrina Hoffman, President & CEO
The Science Center is committed to understanding how one place on earth can maintain a reliable economy and natural environment for the long term. 
 
We invite you-- donors, researchers, partners, funders, elected officials, citizens--to join us in better understanding one of the world's last, great natural regions, home of the world's richest waters.

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