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One of Heather Welch's jobs — before she was fired via an email giving her just 90 minutes to pack up and leave — was to prevent collisions between the ships and whales navigating the water along the US West Coast.
Welch, who was an ecologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for nearly a decade, specialized in mapping the movement of marine animals. This information helped ships map their routes, and fisheries improve their catch, while avoiding accidentally scooping up and killing sea lions or turtles.
Welch is just one of more than 1,000 people who in the past few weeks have been laid off from NOAA, the nation's top weather and climate agency. It was already understaffed before President Donald Trump's cuts, and there are more to come.
NOAA's remit is wide, but one of its most critical roles is to observe the oceans. Multiple scientists told CNN the layoffs are taking expert eyes off the oceans at the worst possible time: as the oceans undergo extreme change — some of which remains largely unexplained — with deep impacts for humans, wildlife and economies.
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📸 : Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
