2021 Marine Research & Education Society Online Auction

Click Here for MERS 2021 Online Auction

The 2021 MERS online auction will be held from Friday, April 9th at 5 pm until Sunday, April 18th at 7 pm PDT.

View the auction items at this link. 
(items will be added up until the start of the auction)
Auction items are sustainable, locally produced, have a marine theme/connection and have a proven retail value (min. $100). See past auctions here: 2018, 2019, 2020. If you are interested in contributing to the auction, please e-mail us at info@mersociety.org.

The online auction is directed at covering Marine Education and Research Society operating costs. Below is a list of some of the work accomplished in 2020 with less than 3 full-time positions. We hope this summary reflects how efficient and productive an organization MERS strives to be. This is possible through the support of many and, while we have been successful in achieving funding for some of our work, it remains challenging to cover operating costs. 

Highlights of work achieved by MERS in 2020 (up to November 20^th)

• Adapting to the necessity for online, virtual education, including:
• • Delivering 14 webinars aimed at reducing risks to whales and further marine life, reaching 750+ people in coastal BC;
  • Conducting live Q & A marine education sessions on social media;
  • Creating video shorts to support boater education e.g. “What Every Boater Should Know: The Flags”; and
  • Developing a standalone boater education resource supported by video to increase knowledge of the Marine MammalRegulations and best practices regarding vessel operation around marine mammals. 
• Strategic positioning of 102 additional “See a Blow? Go Slow!” signs to educate boaters on how to reduce risk to whales for a total of more than 350 signs now posted on British Columbia’s coast (see map at this link);  
• Coordinating an initiative focused on incorporating Canada’s Marine Mammal Regulations into both Transport Canada’s and the Canadian Power Squadron's boater courses;
• Promoting and distributing Whale Warning Flags;
• Creating an educational member-only online resource for our Humpback Whale sponsors; and
• In development: animations to raise awareness about, and reduce, marine debris.

Research

• Over 1,330 database entries for sightings of Humpbacks in 2020 with an additional 1,000+ entries for sightings from previous years;
• Further data collection and analysis of scars on Humpback Whales that indicate they have survived entanglement(s) and drafting a manuscript focused on the scope of this threat to Humpbacks in BC waters for publication (work conducted in collaboration with DFO);
• Continued data collection for Humpback Whale population studies and feeding strategy research;
• Coordinating the efforts of those studying Humpback Whales off the coast of British Columbia to consolidate data sets and develop a Province-wide Humpback Whale catalogue to enable further research collaboration;
• Conducting multi-species marine mammal surveys to inform seasonal and annual changes in distribution;
• Compiling Mola / Ocean Sunfish sightings to support a study into species distribution off the coast of British Columbia; and
• Addition of Humpback Whale mouth ID photos to our cataloguing efforts, to allow identification of trap-feeding whales by their distinctive mouth markings.

• 9.5 days of monitoring commercial fisheries overlapping with areas of high whale density, to improve reporting of incidents and to respond, or provide support to rescue efforts, when needed;
  
• 5.5 days of support for whale entanglement response by coordinating and undertaking search efforts for known entangled Humpback Whales; and
  
• Communication / coordination for 23 marine mammal incidents, ranging from violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations to marine mammal entanglement. 

Staffing

• Hiring our second full-time employee, Chloe Warren, enabled by funding through ECO Canada.