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.
Using satellite-monitored radio tags to determine the distribution and critical habitats of endangered whales.
Exploring the genome of whales and dolphins to understand the past, assess the present and conserve the future.
Ecology, behavioral physiology, and conservation biology of pinnipeds.
Documenting occurrences and investigating the causes of marine mammal strandings in Oregon.
An Oregon State researcher is raising some new scientific doubts about the National Marine Fisheries Service Sea Lion biological opinion. Markus Horning has been tagging Sea Lions in Prince William Sound and finding that predators like Killer Whales and Sharks are killing a larger proportion of their pups than expected.
Researchers at Oregon State University and the Alaska Sealife Center started tracking 36 juvenile Steller sea lions in 2005. By November, 12 had died, a death rate that's not exceptional, OSU marine mammal expert Markus Horning said Thursday.
A new study suggests that the impact of predation on juvenile Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska has been significantly underestimated, creating a “productivity pit” from which their population will have difficulty recovering without a reduction of predators.
