Protected whales found in Japan’s supermarkets

Many of us get a feeling of satisfaction when we learn that governments or international bodies have issued regulations to protect imperiled wildlife. Such as whales. Then we encounter a paper like the one in the October Animal Conservation that snaps us out of our complacency. Its new data drive home once more that rules have value only if they’ll be enforced. [read the article]

“FLEX” UPDATE: WHALE FROM ENDANGERED POPULATION SURPRISES SCIENTISTS

A lone western gray whale, tagged off Russia’s Sakhalin Island by scientists in September and tracked for more than 70 days, has suddenly taken off from its feeding area and sped across the Sea of Okhotsk to the west side of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Predators may block recovery of Alaska sea lions, scientists say

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.

Want to help others spot whales? This training is just for you.

One of the highlights of the two training sessions they attended in Newport was the presentations by Dr. Bruce Mate, director of the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute, Flugum said.“That’s one of the big perks of being a volunteer is being in on one of his sessions,” she said. “Bruce Mate is a world-renowned gray whale researcher, and he’s an individual that gets so excited about what he’s talking about, and at times, he’s in tears.”

Scientists spot rare blue whales off New Zealand coast

Rare blue whales have been spotted by NIWA scientists on a research expedition in the South Taranaki Bight.  NIWA marine ecologist Dr Leigh Torres is leading a team of blue whale researchers in the Bight on a journey that aims to collect critical data to enhance understanding of the blue whale population in the region. In the past week, the team has observed nearly 50 blue whales.

The Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute is a collaborating sponsor of this research. Dr. Torres will be joining the MMI faculty in spring 2014.

“Genome 10K” proposal aims to sequence 10,000 vertebrates

11/04/2009

An international group of 50 scientists, including Scott Baker, a leading OSU geneticist, have announced a project to sequence the genomes of 10,000 different vertebrate species. 

Endangered whale's swim captivates researchers

Maybe it's food, the prospect of sex or some deeply rooted memory, but, whater the motivation, an endangered whale is astounding researchers with a marathon swim which, so far, has taken him from Russia's Sakhalin Island to the waters off Alaska.

Alaska Public Radio Network interview with Markus Horning

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.

Genetic study pursues elusive goal: How many humpbacks existed before whaling?

Scott Baker, Associate Director of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute and a co-author said: "These genetic estimates greatly improve our understanding of the genetic diversity of humpback whales, something we need to understand the impact of past hunting and to manage whales in the uncertain future."

Taking the Measure of Seals and Those Who Study Them

In a new article in Terra magazine, Mee-ya Monnin talks about the trials and joys of working in the coldest place on earth. Mee-ya is working on her undergraduate honors thesis in Dr. Markus Horning's Pinniped Ecology Applied Research Lab.

Scientists use DNA to identify species killed during early whaling days

“From a preliminary look at the DNA sequences, it appears that there was a high level of genetic diversity in these whales, which is what we’d expect from pre-exploitation samples,” said Angela Sremba, a doctoral student in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University and lead author on the study.

Officials buoyed by mooring placement

One small plop for the ocean. One giant leap for wave energy research.

Antarctic minke whale abundance disputed
A new genetic analysis of Antarctic minke whales concludes that population of these smaller baleen whales have not increased as a result of the intensive hunting of other larger whales – countering arguments by advocates of commercial whaling who want to “cull” minke whales.  

Researchers fail to detect signal from rare whale

"I think our adventure with Flex is over for now," said Bruce Mate, director of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, which worked on the tracking project with the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "We've got a great track record and lots of great stuff to look at."

Markus Horning at Science on Tap

NEWPORT – Oregon State University marine mammal researcher Markus Horning  steps to the bar for this month’s Science on Tap lecture, with The secret lives or seals: Using high-tech marvels to pry into ocean depths.

In recent research, the high-tech tools have helped show that more juvenile Steller sea lions are falling to predators than had been thought, casting doubt on prospects for the animals’ ability to recover from recent population decline in Alaskan waters.

Scientists still following far-ranging Varvara as Russian whale returns

NEWPORT, 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.

Scott Baker visits South Africa to lecture on conservation genetics

Professor Scott Baker, Associate Director of the Marine Mammal Institute, was in South Africa this month (May 2013) as a contributing lecturer at a workshop on Advances in Conservation Genetics. The workshop was sponsored by the American Genetic Association and hosted by University of Pretoria and the Southern African Wildlife College.

Beached whale will be buried

The whale was already dead when spotted from the air earlier this week, said Bruce Mate, executive director of Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine ...

Scientists find evidence suggesting herding behavior in sperm whales

Toothed whales are known to form long-standing social groups – especially among females – and scientists have hypothesized that these bonds are created to fend off sub-dominant males interested in mating, and to watch after each other’s offspring while individual females dive for food.

Scientists think whale's tracking device on fritz

Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, who, with Russian colleagues, tagged Flex last fall in his summer feeding grounds in the Sea of Okhotsk, suspects the tag has fallen off.




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