Real-Life Decision Making
Every month, volunteers walk the shores of Monterey Bay in California.
"They identify and count anything they find dead along the shore," says Andrew
DeVogelaere, a research coordinator. The volunteers sometimes find sea lions,
harbor seals and seabirds.
A few months ago, they found hundreds of diving seabirds called common
murres. Were these deaths natural? Was something else to blame? As the research
coordinator, you decided to look further into the matter.
"You have many options at this point," says DeVogelaere. "You can assume
that it was natural mortality, pollution or something to do with fishing."
Recently, gill netting was banned in another area of California, so many
gill netters had moved into Monterey Bay. Gill nets are large nets slung into
the ocean. Common murres are deep-diving birds that could get caught up in
such nets.
You have your suspicions that fishing might be the cause, but is it worth
investigating?
Fishers have a difficult time earning a living, and issues surrounding
fishing practices have been in the news lately. If you delve into their practices,
you may have a long, heated dispute for the media to latch on to.
On the other hand, birds are dying and you don't know the cause.
What do you do?