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DNA from discarded whale bones suggests loss of genetic diversity due to commercial whaling
OSU Newsroom: 10/02/2023

Angie Sremba and colleagues identified bones of humpback, blue, and fin whales near abandoned whaling stations on South Georgia Island. They found that while genetic diversity among the whales remains high, there are indications of a loss of maternal DNA lineages in the blue and humpback populations. The findings were published recently in the Journal of Heredity.

Good news for world’s rarest marine dolphin?
University of Auckland: 09/29/2023

Postdoctoral Scholar Keith Hernandez is first author on a new paper that indicates the median age of critically endangered Māui dolphins has shifted one year younger than previously measured. This was determined with a minimally invasive "epigenetic clock" that uses small skin samples of living animals.

Marine Mammal Reproduction Rests On A Precarious Tipping Point Of Ocean Resources
Daily Guardian: 03/08/2023

“Conceptually it makes sense that an individual would have to gain enough energy to survive and reproduce, but we were able to demonstrate how entwined these are and suggest when survival may be prioritized over reproduction,” said co-first author Keith Hernandez, who worked on the study as a postdoctoral scholar at UCSC and is now at Oregon State University.

Visiting professor to study dolphin-teeth jewelry
Otago Daily Times: 02/25/2023

Professor Scott Baker is spending his sabbatical in New Zealand researching the historical practice of making jewelry from the teeth of dolphins.

Study reveals influence of krill availability on humpback whale pregnancies
UC Santa Cruz: 01/23/2023

Debbie Steel and Scott Baker are co-authors on a new paper that describes how reduced krill supplies lead to fewer pregnancies in humpback whales.

OSU researcher revisits dead orca saga through genetic analysis
KLCC: 01/02/2023

Charles Nye, a graduate fellow with OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, said he was able to examine some organic material from the crabbing gear line. Nye has determined that the dead orca was not [endangered Southern Resident killer whale] K44. 

Tohunga Tohorā: Ramari Stewart awarded Honorary Doctor of Science
NZ Herald: 08/30/2022

In 1995, Professor Scott Baker established research on southern right whales at the Auckland Islands, the same time as Stewart's research at Campbell Island. This collaboration led to a joint publication and acknowledgements of support in subsequent work.

Ten remarkable new marine species from 2021: Ramari's Beaked Whale
LifeWatch Belgium: 03/19/2022

A team of international collaborators examined a dead female whale in New Zealand whale found that it was morphologically and genetically different from all other whale species, and so Ramari’s beaked whale was described. Scott Baker initiated the DNA and tissue archive used for this study when he was a professor at the University of Auckland.

Study Finds Sharp Decline in Alaska Humpback Whale Population Due to Marine Heatwave
National Park Service: 03/14/2022

Scott Baker is a coauthor on a new study concludes that the humpback whale population in Southeast Alaska waters was disrupted by the massive and intense 2014-2016 Northeast Pacific marine heatwave.

Genetic technique brings biologists closer to solving beluga mystery
KDLL: 02/10/2021

Dr. Ellie Bors and coauthors were interviewed by Public Radio for the Central Kenai Peninsula about their recently published work on a new method to determine the ages of living beluga whales.

New DNA-based technique allows researchers to determine age of living beluga whales in Alaska
OSU Newsroom: 02/04/2021

Thanks to a new genomic-based technique, researchers can now determine the age and sex of living beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.

The Mystery of Mass Whale Strandings
BYU Radio: 09/30/2020

In this 15-min interview, Professor Scott Baker speaks to BYU Radio about mass strandings of whales. Last month, hundreds of pilot whales were found stranded on a sandbank in Tasmania.

Solving the great NZ whale mystery
newsroom: 07/28/2020

Dr. Emma Carroll will be traveling to the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands to try to answer one of the big whale mysteries: where do New Zealand southern right whales go when they leave the sub-Antarctic, and which route do they take to get there? Dr. Carroll was a PhD student under Professor Scott Baker. Her research builds on the long-term population study of New Zealand right whales initiated by Prof. Baker at the University of Auckland.

What happens when hunting history, whale culture, genetics, and an international collaboration work towards a common goal?
06/24/2020

In an interview for the American Genetic Association blog, Professor Scott Baker describes how genetic studies can reveal migratory culture of of right whales.

What can we learn about marine mammals from a liter of water?
American Genetic Association: 05/20/2020

With support from The American Genetic Association, a workshop on marine mammal eDNA was held at the World Marine Mammal Conference in Barcelona, Spain, in December 2019. Professor Scott Baker provided examples of successful application of eDNA approaches to detect killer whales. 

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