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The OSU Marine Mammal Institute is a multi-disciplinary facility, incorporating the work of academics from the realm of Engineering, Genetics, Agriculture, Aquatics, Ecology, Veterinary Medicine, Biology and Communications. As the only Institute of its kind, top researchers from around the globe will utilize their combined efforts to continue the legacy of discovery and preservation of critical habits of target species, and understanding how they interact with their environment and the human activities affecting them.

Whale Telemetry Group

Whale Telemetry Group (WTG)

Using satellite-monitored radio tags to determine the distribution and critical habitats of endangered whales.

Cetacean Conservation Genetics Lab

Cetacean Conservation Genetics Lab (CCGL)

Exploring the genome of whales and dolphins to understand the past, assess the present and conserve the future.

Pinniped Ecology Applied Research Lab

Pinniped Ecology Applied Research Lab (PEARL)

Ecology, behavioral physiology, and conservation biology of pinnipeds.

Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network (OMMSN)

Documenting occurrences and investigating the causes of marine mammal strandings in Oregon.

News and Events

C Scott Baker conducts research on world's smallest and rarest dolphins

The population of the world’s smallest and rarest dolphins has dropped by half in the past seven years to an estimated 55 individuals, according to research released March 13 by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC), the University of Auckland and Oregon State University.

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Scientists still following far-ranging Varvara as Russian whale returns

Varvara thumbnail imageNEWPORT, Ore. – After visiting three different lagoons in the Pacific Ocean side of Baja Mexico, a rare western gray whale named “Varvara” is migrating up the West Coast – presumably en route to her home range near Russia’s Sakhalin Island....By Friday, the 9-year-old female was near the Washington/Canadian border, traveling northward at a rate of up to 100 miles a day.

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Bruce Mate tracks rare whale migrating up West Coast

NEWPORT, OR (KPTV) - Scientists are eagerly following the path of a rare western gray whale as she migrates up the West Coast. Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, says there are only about 130 western gray whales in the world and Varvara's behavior has significant ecological and management implications.

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