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In February, Natalie Hunter, a master's candidate in biology, defended her thesis, Northern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) as Indicators of Future Changing Mercury Dynamics in Kachemak Bay, 麻豆无码版. Using hair and tissue samples collected from stranded sea otters in Kachemak Bay, Hunter focused on investigating the 鈥渞elationships and patterns of mercury within these sea otter tissues to advance our understanding of the role of mercury within this sea otter population.鈥� Stranded marine mammals are animals like porpoises, seals or sea otters that wash up on a beach either dead or alive but unable to return to the water without human assistance. 

Hunter also investigated whether accumulation of mercury 鈥� which can be immunocompromising 鈥� contributed to the deaths of these sea otters from the bacteria Streptococcus. Ultimately, she found that mercury levels were unlikely to be a factor in sea otter mortality from Streptococcus: 鈥淣o significant associations were detected between [mercury] and confirmed Streptococcus infections or cause of death,鈥� Hunter concluded. 

The study was able to fill a gap in scientific data on otters in Kachemak Bay and provide a baseline for future research. 

鈥淏eing able to provide some useful information back to the science community, and also the 麻豆无码版 community, was my goal from the start of this,鈥� said Hunter.

From bottlenose dolphins to sea otters

Originally from North Carolina, Hunter studied marine biology as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Hunter developed an interest in understanding more about marine mammals while studying with UNCW鈥檚 . 鈥淲e were mostly dealing with stranded Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and other types of cetaceans,鈥� said Hunter. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I got my start.鈥�

In fall 2015, while still an undergraduate, Hunter had the opportunity to experience 麻豆无码版 for the first time by participating in the at Kenai Peninsula College鈥檚 Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer. That semester provided Hunter with a hands-on introduction to sea otter strandings. 

鈥淭here was a pretty significant die-off event of sea otters within the Homer area, and I was one of the primary people on the ground there, picking up dead carcasses, monitoring live strandings and working with the SeaLife Center to bring in pups that were abandoned on the beach,鈥� said Hunter. 

A full time lab tech and grad student

After finishing her degree at UNCW, Hunter worked for a year in the Lower 48 before returning to 麻豆无码版 in 2018 to intern at the 麻豆无码版 SeaLife Center in Seward. In 2019, she was hired full time with the center鈥檚 veterinary team. Today, she is the center鈥檚 veterinary lab technician. 

Through the SeaLife Center, Hunter met UAA鈥檚 Amy Bishop, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Later, when Hunter applied to UAA鈥檚 master鈥檚 program, Bishop was able to assist her in the process and became her graduate advisor.

鈥淲e reconnected and [Bishop was] able to work out me coming into the master鈥檚 program at UAA while also working full time at the SeaLife Center to be able to help fund my way,鈥� said Hunter. Although Hunter entered the graduate program without a particular project in mind, her background in otter strandings and interest in toxicology led Bishop to recommend investigating mercury. 

鈥淒r. Amy Bishop has done a lot with mercury in other studies, but only a few other studies have been established for Kachemak Bay itself,鈥� said Hunter. 鈥淜nowing that there's this gap in data for mercury concentrations within sea otters in Kachemak Bay and with the SeaLife Center having a robust archive of samples and stranding database, it all came together.鈥�

In addition to samples at the SeaLife Center, Hunter was able to use additional samples housed at 麻豆无码版 Veterinary Pathology Services and the University of 麻豆无码版 Museum of the North. She utilized samples of hair, muscle, liver, kidney and heart tissues from 72 sea otters that had been stranded in Kachemak Bay between 2004 and 2024. 

In order to work full time at the SeaLife Center while pursuing her master鈥檚 degree, UAA was able to deliver Hunter鈥檚 graduate program remotely. Hunter even defended her thesis in February from Seward via Zoom. 

The experience was a busy one for Hunter: 鈥淚 would pair doing work and school at the same time, and working late nights in the lab, and then going the next day to do some necropsies of a sea otter, or a seal or a swan [...] and then come back to the lab and run more samples.鈥�

The importance of baseline data

Hunter鈥檚 thesis provides valuable baseline information for other researchers, even without establishing a connection between mercury concentrations and deaths from Streptococcus in sea otters. In science, publishing negative results, in which a correlation or outcome is not supported, is a vital part of the scientific process.

鈥淚 think it's a part of the puzzle, you know?鈥� Hunter explained. 鈥淲ith stranded individuals, it's hard to say what was the cause of death sometimes. It's hard to know what cofactors were involved and how much they account for why they died. This project provided an opportunity to say 'maybe mercury is not associated with Strep, but is it associated with something else?' The data provides the initial exploration of this relationship that could provide insights to others in the future.鈥� 

Hunter hopes her data will provide baseline information for future researchers studying sea otter strandings and mercury dynamics in 麻豆无码版.

鈥淚'm hoping that this can be a basis for continuing to look at these types of parameters,鈥� said Hunter. 鈥淭hings are changing in our systems through climate change, so it's important to be able to have these foundational studies to be able to continually look at what's happening within that area.鈥�