The Scoop on Poop

Crappy in a scientific way

Scientists need to know what Steller sea lions are eating in the wild. Since it’s hard to be there when a sea lion catches and eats a fish, they have to wait until it comes out the other end.

Picking up after dinner

In the summer, Andrea and a team of 4 or 5 other marine mammal scientists head up the coasts of British Columbia and Alaska to find the small, rocky islands – or islets – where Stellers rest. The team works over 14 hours every day to collect sea lion scat – otherwise known as poo.

It’s not a glamorous job; they have to find an islet with sea lions, sneak onto the rock while the sea lions are off feeding, and scoop up what they can. Each team member is given a pair of gloves, a tablespoon, and lots of plastic bags. These marine detectives are really getting down and dirty to solve their mystery!

Learn how scientists can tell what Steller sea lions have eaten based on the evidence they leave behind. It's a lot like panning for gold!

Cleaning the remains

Once the scat has been collected, it’s sent to the Vancouver Aquarium. There, Marina separates the fish bones from the stinky, organic stuff using a hose and a special water pump. She then filters out the bones with a coffee filter and a plastic knife.

Since cleaning scat really stinks, Marina first sprays it with a lemon-scented household cleaner. In the future, she’ll be using a washing machine to do the separation instead of doing it herself.

The bones are then identified to see what fish they’re from and how many of that fish the sea lion has been eating.

It’s all for a good cause

Collecting scat allows scientists to find out what Steller sea lions are eating without harming them. In the past, researchers had to look in the stomachs of sea lions, which required killing the animals first. Andrea and Marina’s jobs might stink, but they provide important clues in solving the mystery of the disappearing sea lions.