At 5 o'clock on a cool, sunny morning in early April, a skiff and an inflatable boat carries researchers and volunteers, nets and pet carriers and a few duck decoys from Port Moody up Indian Arm. You would think the assembled crew was heading out for an early picnic to catch a rare pink sunrise and maybe do a bit of bird-watching.
But these determined individuals had a more serious task. They were heading toward Best Point, across from the Buntzen Powerhouse in Anmore, where a flock of Barrow's goldeneye ducks was expected to be feeding on herring spawn, mussels and other sea creatures.
It wasn't going to be easy to fulfill their task, and a week of early morning trips was planned to capture several dozen of these plentiful ducks for important research being conducted by SFU researchers.
IMPORTANT RESEARCH
For the assembled crew, the effort would be worth it because the researchers will be filling in some important blanks in the habits of these sea ducks with their distinctive golden eye, helping us to better understand the impact of development and pollution on the quality of life of sensitive aquatic wildlife.
Below: researchers capture Barrow's goldeneye in Indian Arm for research into their habits and sensitivity to hydrocarbons. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Two research studies are being undertaken through this work: One is to learn the migratory patterns and breeding habits of the goldeneye by implanting transmitters and following their pathways. The other is to measure the hydrocarbon levels in each by looking for an enzyme called cytrochrome PD450 in their livers.
Both projects will provide baseline research in the event of oil spills or other contamination on the West Coast, according to Rod MacVicar, a member of the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society and the Pacific Wildlife Foundation who is assisting with the work. MacVicar says this research is critical for understanding the environment and changes wrought by humans.
But to do the studies, the researchers and volunteers first had to do the hard work of capturing the ducks. They then anesthetized them and inserted a small transmitter into their coelomic cavity before letting them rest for an hour and finally sending them on their way.
Armed with mechanical decoy ducks, the researchers lured the golden-eyed creatures toward their mist net, a fine-meshed net strung between two poles. Once the delicate sea duck flew into the net's baggy pocket, a volunteer would gingerly disentangle them and place them in a pet carrier for the drive back to Reed Point Marina, where veterinarian Malcolm McAdie awaited them.
SURGERY GOES SMOOTHLY
"They look so vulnerable but it's amazing how tough these birds are," said Sean Boyd, one of the principle researchers in the BAGO project.
Below: Dr. Malcom McAdie surgically implants sa atellite transmitter into a Barrow's goldeneye so scientists can follow their tracks. DIANE STRANDBERG/TRICITYNEWS PHOTO
He carried one of the ducks into the Pacific Wildlife office at Reed Point, where McAdie was ready with his surgical equipment and a gentle manner. A couple of tables had been placed together for a surgical suite and Boyd and other researchers were nearby to record important information about the birds.
Gingerly stretching out the duck, McAdie inserted a tube to administer the anesthetic Isoflurane. Monitoring the duck's vitals was Boyd's job while McAdie carefully made the incisions necessary to install a transmitter. He also removed a portion of the duck's liver that would be used for Megan Willie's study on hydrocarbons.
The whole process took less than 25 minutes and, an hour later, the duck had recovered and was released along with another similarly changed partner off the side of Reed Point Marina.
In a few weeks, the ducks would be on a 200- to 600-km trip to the Interior for breeding, and then, while the females nested with their eggs, many of the males would retreat to Cardinal Lake, Alta., for molting and general male bonding.
It's a lifecycle that no one would know about if it wasn't for this BAGO study, Boyd said.
"Usually, you count birds in one place and see the declines," he said, noting that with tracking, more research can be compiled.
"Unless you know the connectivity, where they are actually wintering (and where else they go), you don't know anything about it."
Meanwhile, Willie was attentive to her hydrocarbon research. On this day, an alert had gone out about an oil spill: Thousands of litres of bunker fuel had seeped out from the grain carrier Marathassa and was reaching Vancouver beaches, soiling rocks, plants and sand and 20 or 30 birds.
OIL SPILL CREATES CONCERNS
What impact would this have on her project?
"This is just a weird coincidence but it's something I have to consider," said Willie, a Port Moody resident. She said it's important that she collect ducks in areas as far away from the spill as possible. Fortunately, Indian Arm was well out of the path of the creeping fuel slick.
In the second year of her research project, the SFU student didn't want to do anything to compromise her efforts to date.
"We want to create a baseline of what do we know of these sea ducks so if ever there was a change, we would know hydrocarbon levels. In a spill, for example, you would have a measure of what to remediate back to."
In all that week, as many as 40 to 45 goldeneye were caught for Willie's liver biopsies and 23 birds were equipped with satellite transmitters. Now, all the researchers can do is wait and watch what the ducks will do. Fortunately, they are hardy creatures and the surgery, which has been done successfully on hundreds of other ducks, is not likely to harm them.
"It's a lot of work," Willie said, but it will help researchers here understand more about the habits of the Barrow's goldeneye and what needs to be done to protect B.C.'s pristine coastal waters.
