The Costa Lab

Ecology, Physiology, and Conservation of Marine Animals

Our research group is interested in the adaptations of organisms to life in the marine environment, especially the movement, foraging ecology, and energetics of pinnipeds, cetaceans, and seabirds.

Seabirds

An albatross in flight against a clear blue sky.

Seals and Sea Lions

Two sea lions rest on a sandy beach with gentle waves in the background, illuminated by a warm sunlight.

Whales and Dolphins

A whale partially submerged in icy water surrounded by floating ice slabs in a polar region.

Media and News

A seal lying on snow-covered ground with its head raised and one flipper visible.

Latest News

  • Why Bad Weather and Resights Don’t Mix
    As those who live in Santa Cruz can attest, the weather as of late has been pretty tricky. And by tricky weather, I mean sideways-raining, road-closing, tree-falling, flash-flooding weather. While these storms are excellent for cuddling up inside with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book, they are not very conducive to collecting…Continue Reading Why Bad Weather and Resights Don’t Mix
  • California Sea Lion Tracking, 2023
    The Costa Lab, in partnership with the Block Lab at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station and the Garza Lab at the University of Washington, has begun studying how the distribution of white sharks relates to California sea lion distributions and behavior. In October, 2023 we outfitted 10 sea lions with biotelemetry instruments that transmit information on…Continue Reading California Sea Lion Tracking, 2023
  • Whale tail above water with a boat and distant mountains in the background.
    Cetacean Field Work Update, Summer 2023
    This summer 2023, Costa Lab graduate students Haley Robb, Theresa Tatom-Naecker, and Florencia Vilches received UC Santa Cruz EEB Department summer funds to support their field research efforts. Read more about their adventures below! Sampling humpback whale blubber and hormones in Juneau, Alaska – Haley Robb This summer, I traveled to Juneau, Alaska, to collect…Continue Reading Cetacean Field Work Update, Summer 2023
  • A group of nine people standing on a wooden observation deck, looking out towards the rocky ocean shoreline.
    Citizen Scientists Find my Seal!
    Back in August, we started the story of Toby and Xena (link), two juvenile elephant seals that are part of my graduate research investigating how marine mammals thermoregulate while diving. I don’t know if researchers are allowed to have favorites, but Toby definitely had me and my team feeling grateful for such a cooperative seal,…Continue Reading Citizen Scientists Find my Seal!
  • Sandy beach with numerous resting seals, blue ocean waves, rocky outcrops, and a distant small rocky island under a partly cloudy sky. Text "NMFS 19108" in bottom left.
    Déjà Vu
    Translocations Season 1 Recap Last season, Obedient Juvie (a.k.a. O.J.) and Curious Juvie (a.k.a. C.J.) helped me out with my first pilot study to test heat flux biologgers (what are these?) on freely swimming juvenile elephant seals. Not only did we learn what worked and what didn’t work in terms of sensor attachment and configuration, we also…Continue Reading Déjà Vu
  • Seal with a numbered tag resting on a gravel shore amid rocky tide pools with seabirds, calm sea, distant coastline, and mountains in the background.
    Translocations: Science with some Plot Twists
    The anticipation I felt was more than I expected—every couple of hours I was logging into the Argos system database to check the latest satellite hits. Where were my seals going? Earlier that day: As a first-year graduate student in The Costa Lab at UC Santa Cruz, I was conducting my first field experiment with juvenile elephant…Continue Reading Translocations: Science with some Plot Twists