Northwest Indian College (Xwlemi Elh>Tal>Nexw Squl) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Bellingham, Washington. It was established by the Lummi Nation and is the only accredited tribal college or university serving reservation communities of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Wing-propelled diving birds flap their wings to move through air and water, yet the wing morphology and kinematics that enable this behavior remain poorly understood because of the difficulty of collecting in situ data. The impact of flapping frequency, wing size, and stiffness on locomotion in-and transition between-the two media are still unknown. We compared data from diving birds against experiments using a flapping-wing robot capable of flying, swimming, plunge diving, and exiting the water. We show that frequency adaptation, flexible wings, and powerful actuation enable seamless transitions without folding wings or legs, that large wings enhance flight without substantially reducing underwater efficiency, and that tail-body distance and egress angle affect water exit. These results clarify how birds (and robots) balance multifluid locomotion constraints.
As animals move through the world, images of surfaces and edges in the environment move across the retina, a visual signal known as optic flow.1 Optic flow is beneficial for several processes, perhaps most notably navigation,2 but it poses a conundrum. When faced with optic flow, the optomotor body, head, and eye movements reflexively minimize optic flow to maintain a stable retinal image.3 This retinal image stabilization is essential for normal visual function.4,5 How then can an animal move through the world yet maintain a stable retinal image? Birds are known for their remarkable head stability and also exhibit a variety of eye movements, including rapid and stabilizing vestibular and optokinetic eye movements.6,7 However, it remains unknown if they move their eyes during flight.8,9 We developed an onboard camera system to separately track eye movements and record optic flow from homing pigeons (Columba livia domestica; hereafter pigeons) released several kilometers from their home loft. During flight, the eyes of pigeons exhibit slow, temporal eye movements consistent with a divergent optokinetic response. These eye movements matched optic flow along the horizon generated by forward flight. Head-restrained pigeons exhibited binocular divergent eye movements in response to computer-generated visual stimuli simulating self-translation. These results are consistent with pigeons stabilizing the horizon in the lateral visual fields during flight. By contrast, during landing, pigeons exhibited large, convergent binocular eye movements directed toward the perch, allowing for stereopsis. In summary, both optokinetic and convergent eye movements appear important for avian flight control.
Domoic acid (DA) produced by toxigenic species of the diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia during harmful algal blooms (HABs) bioaccumulates in filter feeders, bait fish, and commercial seafood products, posing a threat to marine organisms and public health. Copepodamides, a group of polar lipids exuded by copepods, are known to induce DA production in multiple species of Pseudo-nitzschia . However, copepodamides are not currently considered in HAB monitoring and prediction, in part because of challenges associated with measuring ambient concentrations of dilute and labile compounds. Here we employ solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) to measure natural concentrations of copepodamides over 28 mo in Monterey Bay, California, a known hotspot for HAB events. Copepodamides were significantly correlated to copepod biovolume, confirming utility as a zooplankton proxy. In generalized linear models, copepodamides from SPATT provided greater accuracy and lead time for predicting Pseudo-nitzschia abundance and DA concentration in sentinel mussels than DA from SPATT. Field experiments in the Northeast Atlantic assessed sampling methodology, and lab experiments demonstrated DA induction in Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries isolated from Monterey Bay. Results show potential for copepodamides to improve HAB predictions and encourage development of novel approaches to include top-down information in HAB monitoring systems.
Chemical signaling is ubiquitous in the marine environment. Plankton rely on chemical signals to find mates, hunt prey, and respond to threats, and these small-scale interactions can propagate into community-wide cascades and large-scale ecological changes. The chemical signaling exchange in the open ocean is poorly understood, and fundamental information about concentrations and spatiotemporal variability is lacking. Passive sampling has been used to monitor a wide range of dissolved chemicals, including anthropogenic pollutants and harmful algal toxins, but it is not generally applied to the study of marine chemical ecology. Here we test the compatibility of two resins commonly used for passive sampling via solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT), Diaion (R) HP20 and Sepabeads (R) SP207, with copepodamides, a group of polar lipid signaling compounds produced by copepods. We developed extraction and analysis methods that align with current SPATT practices for algal toxins and show the first measurements of copepodamides from Monterey Bay in California. In lab trials, mean copepodamide recovery from HP20 resin was approximately 240% greater than SP207. In addition, copepodamides were found to have a mean half-life of 34 h in seawater. Adsorption to HP20 stabilized dissolved copepodamides, increasing the mean recovery after 168 h from 0.62% in seawater to 65.2% from SPATT. Results suggest that SPATT is a sensitive and effective tool for obtaining integrated copepodamide concentrations, spotlighting a novel method to include information from copepod mesozooplankton in time series and field studies.
Limited reporting of Indigenous-led planetary health education programmes has constrained efforts to expand planetary health education, in Indigenous communities and beyond, despite urgent need. Although incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and cultures cannot be standardised, showcasing successful programmes could reveal good practices and aid replicability. In this Personal View, we highlight how shellfish toxin education programmes, designed and organised by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, reduce local environmental health risks and support youth in pathways towards careers in planetary health. We describe how programmes build awareness and understanding of the local environment, environmental and health risks, and context-appropriate adaptation strategies by centring Tlingit culture and using hands-on activities that integrate Tlingit culture with western science. Lesson plans and resources created by Sitka Tribe of Alaska staff for these programmes are available in the US National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences Partnerships for Environmental Public Health resources web database.
