Living Whales in the Southern Ocean Symposium 27-29 March 2012

The Symposium and Workshop on ‘Living whales in the Southern Ocean: Advances in methods for non-lethal cetacean research’ is scheduled for 27-29 March 2012, in Puerto Varas, Chile. The symposium and workshop are an initiative of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP), a multi-national programme to advance the conservation agenda in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and to improve our scientific understanding of the population dynamics and ecological roles of whales in the Southern Ocean.  Please check the website for registration information.

Whale Watch Training November 22-23, 2008 at HMSC

Internationally recognized whale expert Bruce Mate will lead off training for "Whale Watching Spoken Here" volunteers Nov. 22-23 at the Mark O. Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

Mate, the director of the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute, will introduce trainees to Pacific gray whale biology and natural history at the Nov. 22 (Saturday) session. He has helped lead the training since co-founding the whale watching program in the late 1970s. For more information and to sign up, read article below:

Paternity study of right whales finds local fathers most successful

AUCKLAND, NZ – The first paternity study of southern right whales has found a surprisingly high level of local breeding success for males, scientists say, which is good news for the overall genetic diversity of the species, but could create risk for local populations through in-breeding. Results of the study, by researchers at the University of Auckland, Oregon State University and the New Zealand Department of Conservation, have just been published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

Dispatch from Ireland: Using DNA to track Humpback Whales

DUBLIN—Dr. Scott Baker, a pioneer in the use of DNA to better understand the population structure, abundance, and genetic diversity of dolphins and whales, spoke recently at University College Dublin about new research that could help shape conservation measures for North Pacific humpback whales.

BBC Interviews Scott Baker about Humpback migration
Scott Baker was interviewed by the BBC regarding humpback whale migrations for their website "World on the Move".  For a link to the website and audio recording, please click on link to story.
Pew Marine Fellow Scott Baker Studies Dolphins in Gauguin's Paradise

Scott Baker is investigating genetic diversity of dolphins around the South Pacific as part of his Pew Marine Fellowship project, “A Pattern of Dolphins.” Baker, a 2011 fellowship recipient and a professor and associate director at the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, and his Ph.D. student, Renee Albertson, recently participated in a survey of the islands’ waters.

Beastly Appetites: The Animals We Love Too Much to Eat

"Hambleton took the meat, froze it, and the following morning sent it by courier to Scott Baker, the associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University and an expert in cetacean molecular genetics. Baker, who recently established a database of whale, dolphin, and porpoise DNA, identified the meat as sei, the fourth largest of the baleen whales."  [The New Yorker, Nov. 4, 2013]

'Flex' Leads Researchers to Five Endangered Western Gray Whales

The saga of Flex the whale continues to deliver surprises a year after the 13-year-old male western (North Pacific) gray whale was tagged and took scientific observers on a four-month, satellite-tracked ride, far from the Asian coast where he was expected to migrate, across the Bering Sea, through the Gulf of Alaska and down the west coast of North America.

Coastal visitors may encounter whales – but what kind are they likely to be?

For the past several weeks, gray whales that spent the spring breeding or calving in the waters off Mexico have been arriving in the Pacific Northwest to feed for the summer and fall, including areas along the Oregon coast. But gray whales aren’t the only species of whale that can be seen off Oregon, according to experts at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute.

New study identifies five distinct humpback populations in North Pacific

“Though humpback whales are found in all oceans of the world, the North Pacific humpback whales should probably be considered a sub-species at an ocean-basin level – based on genetic isolation of these populations on an evolutionary time scale,” said Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center and lead author on the paper.

Whales tagged in anticipation of another marathon journey

Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, who has been part of the satellite tagging team both years, said he expects the Russian whales to stay around Sakhalin Island until January, which is when Flex took off.

Psst. Wanna Buy a Whale?

Second, if trade in whale meat is legalized, it could be difficult to identify black market meat. Monitoring and enforcement would be a challenge. "These problems are not easily solved," adds Scott Baker of Oregon State University, Corvallis. His molecular sleuthing of whalemeat markets has shows a large trade in illegal or unreported whale products. A return to commercial whaling, he suspects, would provide even greater incentives for illegal hunting.

National Geographic Magazine article on blue whale

Read the National Geographic story about blue whales online.  This article by Kenneth Brower, tells about the second part of a National Geographic-funded expedition to discover breeding and feeding grounds of the world's largest mammal, the blue whale.   National Geographic Channel will first air this TV special on March 8th - please check for times on your local TV listings.

See the...

Terra Magazine Article features Markus Horning - "Polar Plunge"

Markus Horning, pinniped ecologist for the Marine Mammal Institute, will venture to the Antarctic in October to study Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), the southernmost mammals on the planet.

New species of river dolphin born of Amazon rapids

"It's exciting evidence for a previously unrecognised species within the ancient lineage of Amazon river dolphins," says Scott Baker of Oregon State University in Newport. "Yet it's already rare, and its habitat is now fragmented by dams."

Bycatch whaling a growing threat

Scientists are warning that a new form of unregulated whaling has emerged along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea, where the commercial sale of whales killed as fisheries "bycatch" is threatening coastal stocks of minke whales and other protected species.

NOAA and University Scientists Launch Research Cruise to Determine Effects of Oil Spill on Endangered Whales

NOAA ship Gordon Gunter departed July 1st to continue its mission to evaluate the effects of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill on whales and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, including the endangered sperm whale. This project includes leading researchers from Cornell University, Oregon State University, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who will work with NOAA scientists to monitor the distributions and movements of whales over the next several months.

Heceta Head Coastal Conference set Oct. 26–27

Global connections across the Pacific Ocean in science, economics and policies — and how these things affect Oregon's ocean — are the focus of the eighth annual Heceta Head Coastal Conference, Oct. 26–27 at the Florence Events Center. Scientists, policy-makers and community leaders — including Oregon first lady Cylvia Hayes and Oregon State University marine mammal specialist Bruce Mate — will address the theme “Oregon's Oceans: Bringing the High Seas Home” during the two-day conference, which is open to the public.

A whale’s tale: Fighting for survival

Mate is now a professor in the department of fisheries and wildlife and is the director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Hatfield Marine Science Center.

Chasing Giants: A whale tracker reflects on four decades of searching for answers
1859 Oregon's Magazine:

Every spring for almost thirty years, Bruce Mate makes his way down to Baja to reconnect with the same female gray whales. Over four decades, he’s witnessed their transition from smooth-skinned youth into mothers. More recently, he’s seen wrinkles start to appear around some of their eyes, each eye roughly the size of a baseball. He’s met and played with their offspring, even seeing some from the next generation become mothers themselves. These whales feel like family to him. 

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