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Collecting DNA samples from grizzly bear saliva, SAY WHAT?

February 20, 2015 by John L. Dengler

Sometimes I get pretty odd looks from friends and family when I tell them the places I’m traveling to, or the things I’m going to photograph. The following fits into that category. Roughly, this is how my phone call from Alaska to Carol back home in Missouri went.

ME: (excited) “Remember Rachel Wheat, the ecologist PhD. candidate from the University of California Santa Cruz who I photographed trapping bald eagles to study movement patterns based on salmon availability?”

CAROL: “Sure, I remember her project and the photos you took. Really interesting work, catching the eagles and then tracking where they went with the GPS transmitters.”

ME: “Well, I just found out that as part of her dissertation, she is also collecting DNA from grizzly bears by sampling their saliva.”

CAROL: (a moment of silence, then) “Say what!?”

ME: (still excited) Yeah, it’s really cool. She’s going to let me document her as she goes about sampling. She samples the saliva left on salmon carcasses that bears have fed on. The technique is pretty much like they do on TV crime shows using cotton swabs. I’ve already been working on a different project on the same creek where she’ll be working. There are carcasses everywhere! The place must be a hornet’s nest of bears based on the fish remains I’ve seen.

CAROL: “Ah, (hesitantly) You be careful. All the dead fish sounds stinky.”

And so I was off once again to document Wheat and her work.

The search for bear drool

My interest in the work of scientists goes back to my time as a photojournalist at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Among my favorite assignments were feature stories on research being conducted by biologists, botanists, ecologists, geologists, foresters and conservationists. These assignments invariably led to learning about interesting work in interesting places.

Photo Gallery

Capturing bald eagles for research on the Chilkat River, Alaska

This has been the case with my documenting Wheat’s work near Haines, Alaska the past two years. As mentioned earlier, I have already photographed Wheat working on one of the cornerstones of her dissertation project, the capturing and tracking bald eagles from the Chilkat River. This past summer she finished the field work for the other two parts of her project. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen.

Finding salmon carcasses was relatively easy for Wheat. It was the middle of September during the fall chum salmon run. Once the salmon spawn, they die. They make for easy pickings for the wildlife that feeds on them.

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, searches for salmon carcasses on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

A chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) powers its way up the special spawning channel of Herman Creek to spawn during the fall chum salmon run. The nonprofit Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association, Inc. (NSRAA) built the channel to collect wild broodstock by harvesting spawning female and male salmon for their eggs and milt. The chum salmon is returning to freshwater Herman Creek near Haines, Alaska after three to five years in the saltwater ocean. Spawning only once, chum salmon die approximately two weeks after they spawn. Both sexes of adult chum salmon change colors and appearance upon returning to freshwater. Unlike male sockeye salmon which turn bright red for spawning, male chum salmon change color to an olive green with purple and green vertical stripes. These vertical stripes are not as noticeable in females, who also have a dark horizontal band. Both male and female chum salmon develop hooked snout (type) and large canine teeth. These features in female salmon are less pronounced. Herman Creek is a tributary of the Klehini River and is only 10 miles downstream of the area currently being explored as a potential site of a copper and zinc mine. The exploration is being conducted by Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia along with investment partner Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. of Japan. Some local residents and environmental groups are concerned that a mine might threaten the area’s salmon. Of particular concern is copper and other heavy metals, found in mine waste, leaching into the Klehini River and the Chilkat River further downstream. Copper and heavy metals are toxic to salmon and bald eagles. Chilkat River and Klehini River chum salmon are the primary food source for one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. Each fall, bald eagles congregate in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, located only three miles downriver from the area of current exploration. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

The spawning chum salmon were frantically rushing up the small creek where Wheat was sampling. I couldn’t help but think that the noise of their flapping tails in the shallow water had to be have been heard by the bears in the woods. The night before I met Wheat at the creek an Alaska State Trooper reported seeing seven bears in the area. Luckily, there were no chance encounters with bears but Wheat was prepared for one with an air horn and bear spray within quick reach on her backpack should they become necessary to use.

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, searches for salmon carcasses on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

It had been raining and Wheat was concerned about how the rain might affect the quality of today’s samples. Many of the salmon carcasses revealed that the brains of the fish, a tasty favorite of the bears, had been surgically removed and eaten.

Bears aren’t the only ones dining on the salmon remains. So are the eagles. That’s not surprising since the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve includes the creek area where Wheat was sampling. During late fall, bald eagles congregate in the Chilkat Valley to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles is believed to be among the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. It is also part of the reason why Wheat chose the Chilkat River eagles to see how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement.

Sampling the salmon for bear saliva is straight out of the tv show, CSI: Las Vegas. Rachel gloves up with latex gloves to avoid contamination, then uses a swab to wipe across areas of a carcass where an animal is likely to have left their drool. Teeth holes are are also poked into with a swab.

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, takes a bear saliva DNA sample from a partially consumed salmon on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, takes a bear saliva DNA sample from a partially consumed salmon on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, takes a bear saliva DNA sample from a partially consumed salmon on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, places a vial containing a sample of bear saliva on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. A partially consumed chum salmon lies on the banks of the spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, enters the notes for a DNA sample she has taken onto her box of bear saliva samples she has collected from salmon on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, records information onto a vial containing a bear saliva swab sample she collected from a salmon on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, uses a GPS to record the location a salmon carcass from which she has taken a bear saliva DNA sample from on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Rachel Wheat, a graduate student at the University of California Santa Cruz, photographs a salmon carcass from which she has taken a bear saliva DNA sample from on the banks of the man-made spawning channel of Herman Creek, near Haines, Alaska. Wheat is collecting DNA samples of bears from bear saliva left on salmon carcasses as part of research for her doctoral dissertation. She hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individuals. She also looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence. The bear DNA collection is part of her dissertation which looks at how the availability of salmon affects eagle movement, bear activity, and subsistence fishermen. EDITORS NOTE: Images of Wheat capturing bald eagles for the bald eagle portion of her study are available here: http://denglerimages.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bald-eagle-research-Chilkat-River-eagle-migration-study/G0000GTyPvah7eiQ/ During late fall, bald eagles congregate along the Chilkat River to feed on salmon. This gathering of bald eagles in the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in the world. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Wheat then snaps off the long wooden stick portion of the sampling stick and places the cotton swab portion in a small vial of sterile solution. She gives the sample a number and records the type of fish. She then takes a photo of the salmon carcass and records its location using a GPS. It’s all typical field work procedures for an ecologist like Wheat.

Photojournalist John L. Dengler poses with a chum salmon carcass along the Herman Creek man-made spawning channel near Haines, Alaska. Dengler was photographing ecologist Rachel Wheat working on her research project. Wheat was collecting DNA samples from the saliva of bears who had partially eaten the salmon as part of her Ph.D. dissertation. (© John L. Dengler/Dengler Images)

Photo by Rachel Wheat/EcologyAlaska.com

Many of the salmon were pretty disgusting. Some seemed alive with flies and maggots busily working on the remains. With one of the salmon I was asked to help flip the fish so Wheat could sample. It was hard to imagine that what was left was once a salmon.

The smell wasn’t too bad because there was a slight breeze, but you definitely knew you were around rotting fish. Unfortunately I made the mistake of setting my pack on what I thought was a clean spot on the ground. I didn’t make that mistake again as my pack picked up the eau de cologne of rotting salmon. The fact that my pack picked up the fish odor reminded me that salmon don’t just feed bears, eagles and people, but their decaying bodies also add nutrients to the forest floor. As testament to that, salmon DNA can often be found in the trees of Southeast Alaska. What an interesting role that salmon play in the circle of life.

What Wheat hopes to learn from the saliva samples

With the 460 saliva samples collected, Wheat will be collaborating on the DNA analysis with Dr. Taal Levi at Oregon State University. Wheat hopes to determine if partially-consumed salmon carcasses can serve as a viable source for bear DNA to genotype individual bears. She also is looking to determine a minimum population estimate for the number of bears using the Chilkoot Valley and the ratio of males to females, particularly in light of increase human presence.

Balancing economic gain with ecosystem processes

I asked Wheat about why she feels her research is important to understand the ecological connections between salmon, eagles, bears, and fishermen.

She thoughtfully responded, “Salmon are a critically important component of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems; they are a keystone species and the foundation of local and regional economies, and have immense social, political, and ecological value. But there is still a lot we don’t know about the importance of salmon to their ecological communities.”

Wheat elaborated, “Currently, most salmon populations are managed to maximize commercial yield, but that isn’t necessarily the best thing for the long-term viability and stability of the population, or the non-human and non-commercial communities that salmon support. My research, as a whole, looks to address this shortcoming. Salmon support a multimillion dollar industry, but they are also important to subsistence fishermen and wildlife, and my research will hopefully lend support to the argument that salmon management should look toward balancing economic gain with other uses, including ecosystem processes.”

As I have found out this past year on my own personal quest to learn more about salmon, this keystone species truly does play an important link to all forms of life in Southeast Alaska. Wheat’s search for determining this balance seems to be worthy of her hard-work. Like so many things about life on this planet, balance can at times be hard to recognize, and even harder to achieve.

LINK

  • ECOLOGY ALASKA – Learn more about Rachel Wheat’s research in Haines, Alaska

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