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[ocean sounds] [music throughout]

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Narrator: Cape Cod, MA is known for its beautiful beaches.

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This scenic landscape is also home

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to one of the most frequent marine mammal stranding sites in the world.

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[dolphin breathing]

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these animals to strand.

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What has been proven is that a quick and efficient response in these moments

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is a matter of life and death.

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Katie Moore: If we can get there quickly and provide supportive care they have a much better prognosis

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in terms of survival.

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Narrator: Katie Moore works on the front lines, as the Deputy Vice President of Conservation and Animal Welfare at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

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Conservation and Animal Welfare at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

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Through Moore’s fine-tuned rescue efforts, she has increased the survival rate

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from 14% to 75%, but the question remains:

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Could it be possible to predict, rather than

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react to, these events?

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Katie Moore: If we develop an algorithm that pieces together the different variables

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that may be causing mass strandings or driving driving them,

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we'd have the ability to then prevent them.

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We can have teams out on the shore, looking for animals in those hotspots, knowing that all those variables

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have come together, and this is the likely point in time where we are likely to see it.

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We can also have teams ready to respond, so that if they do strand, we are there that much faster,

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and more animals will survive the event.

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Narrator: In Cape Cod, the annual number of stranded animals ranges from less than 10 to over 200.

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Some of the most affected species include

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pilot whales and whitesided dolphins,

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creatures that are typically found in deeper water, rather than along the coast.

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The ongoing search for answers began 400 miles

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away at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in Sterling, VA.

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There, fellow marine biologist Desray Reeb had some initial thoughts on

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triggers for these events.

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Desray Reeb: For the large proportion of these strandings the animals

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are across the ages, in pretty good health, and there's no really

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immediate evidence as to why they actually strand.

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[water sound] Narrator: Geomagnetic perception,

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the ability to navigate using Earth’s magnetic field,

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is a feature thought to exist in marine mammals.

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Could changes in the magnetic field confuse the animals?

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All the way down to the sea floor,
Sensors like magnetometers can detect changes

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in Earth's magnetic field - called geomagnetic pulses or storms -

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One cause of such changes is activity from the sun known as space weather.

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Desray Reeb: Geomagnetic perception is one of the theories.

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I thought, well, hmmm...if a magnetometer

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can pick it up, maybe the animals actually can pick it up.

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Dr. Reeb brought her hypothesis to Antti Pulkkinen, Research Astrophysicist

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from the Heliophysics department at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

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Antti Pulkkinen: The coolest thing was we realized

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that nobody had really taken a cold, hard data science analysis look at this problem

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Narrator: By combining Katie’s records

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on marine mammal strandings in Cape Cod and Antti’s records of the changes in Earth’s magnetic field,

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the team of researchers had a starting point.

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Katie Moore: What we are trying to look at here was if there was a potential driver or

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relationship or correlation between the occurrence of mass strandings

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and any solar activity.

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Antti Pulkkinen: So, the data we have correlated or analyzed so far is information about local geomagnetic conditions.

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We have long data records from geophysical observatories

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of the local geomagnetic field variations

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and marine mammal strandings.

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Narrator: When the team analyzed all the data, they found that measurements from the the same

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time period or random time periods

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produced similar results, meaning that there is no obvious

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relationship between geomagnetic changes and stranding in Cape Cod.

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If space weather wasn’t the trigger, what could be?

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Desray Reeb: The easy fix correlation between the geomagnetic pulse

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and “Ohh! A stranding!” doesn't seem to be very

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evident, but what it does show is that there are multiple variables

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involved in this equation. The geomagnetic storms could

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be one very small part of it - significant still - but

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it looks like there are multiple oceanographic and environmental elements

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Narrator: The scientists considered what other variables

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may exist in the air or water that could change animal behavior.

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Tides or winds could be disruptive.

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Ocean color - measurements of the water’s chemical and particle content -

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could reflect changes in the food chain.

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Perhaps sea surface temperature

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was a factor too.

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With the help of data from NASA Earth Science missions, they could also explore these possibilities.

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[Antti talks to team]

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Narrator: With more data in hand, it was time to expand the team.

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They recruited statisticians, and the expertise of NASA Earth Science

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data analyst and oceanographer Erdem Karaköylü.

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Erdem Karaköylü: A data set, no matter its shape or content, it always

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has a story to tell.

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Trying to figure out how the different data are connected

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requires a wide diversity of stills and background knowledge.

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Katie Moore: For example, I'll be explaining

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how a mass stranding how we respond to try and understand why

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we are presenting the data in a certain way, and my colleagues from NASA will look at me and ask

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questions that I wouldn't think to ask, because I take for granted my understanding, and they are coming

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at it from a totally new angle with no background.

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Narrator: The group hopes to combine these data sets in a way that reveals a pattern, allowing them to predict

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the likelihood and location of mass strandings before they happen.

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Desray Reeb: We've really just slowly peeled the first layer of this onion back.

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I think there is so many more layers

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that still need to be addressed and looked at.

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I hope that we can actually find additional collaborators and funding partners to really bring all the data

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that is really available to really give this the study

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and the scrutiny that it deserves.

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Antti Pulkkinen: And we are also going to make all these data sets available to the entire scientific community,

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so that we can utilize the entire scientific community to attack and approach this problem.

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and approach this problem.

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Narrator: The project’s legacy rests not only in a predictive tool, but also as an example

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for collaborative research moving forward.

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Erdem Karaköylü: I think that there will be other things to take and run with,

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get new ideas, maybe add more data. I'm hoping also that it will be a model

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for how projects can then be open to the wider public.

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[rescue volunteers talking]

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Narrator: With the potential for an even broader collaboration ahead,

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Katie's rescue team is optimistic that they will gain a deeper

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understanding of strandings - and ultimately - save more lives.

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Katie Moore: The ability to release animals after they have stranded is tremendous.

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When we do that, that's the best feeling in the world after all that hard work.

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Desray: those questions that seem unanswerable,

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if you give them time, and support,

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and effort, and put people on them, we can do amazing things.

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[music]

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[water sounds]

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learn more at www.nasa.gov/beachings

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special thanks to International Fund for Animal Welfare.

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All marine mammal stranding activities are conducted by

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International Fund for Animal Welfare under a permit agreement

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with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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special thanks to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

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[tone] NASA Heliophysics