An Oregon State ocean expedition’s surprisingly close-to-home whale discovery
Oregon Public Broadcasting: 10/26/2021

Ballance and her team were on the trail of what they thought could be a totally new species that had been sighted, but not identified, near the garbage patch. But with more than half their time being eaten up by engine repairs and other delays, the team made the call to look for whales a bit closer to home.

Interior eyes Oregon for offshore wind energy development
Oregon Public Broadcasting: 10/20/2021

Last week, Oregon’s two U.S. senators announced a $2 million grant to OSU to study potential impacts of offshore wind developments to seabirds and marine mammals. Project leader Lisa Ballance, director of the school’s Marine Mammal Institute, says data gathered in the survey will help the Department of Energy site wind facilities.

OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute to develop wildlife distribution models to inform wind energy development
OSU Newsroom: 10/19/2021

Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute has been awarded a $2 million grant to collect data about distribution and density of marine mammals and seabirds that will be used to inform decisions about offshore wind energy development.

Gray whale hormones give off distress signal
Florida International University: 09/27/2021

Certain hormones in gray whales could act as a distress signal, revealing how whales cope when it’s harder for them to find food.

New forecasting tool enables proactive conservation of New Zealand blue whales
OSU Newsroom: 09/15/2021

Dawn Barlow is the lead author on a paper that describes new ways of predicting when and where blue whales will occur off New Zealand.

Gray whale found washed ashore near Yachats along the Oregon Coast
KGW8: 08/20/2021

In a video interview with KGW8 News, Stranding Program Manager Jim Rice talks about a dead gray whale that washed ashore near Yachats.

Don’t stand so close to me
Oregon Coast Today: 05/20/2021

A reminder to please give a very wide berth to seal pups on the beach, including keeping dogs far away. 

Ocean’s Mammals at Crucial Crossroads – 25% of Species at Risk of Extinction
03/25/2021

MMI Associate Professor and WHET Lab lead, Dr. Daniel Palacios, coauthored a paper released this week that evaluates the global threats faced by 126 marine mammal species worldwide and the conservation methods available to address them.

New insights into close encounters between albatross and fishing vessels could reduce bycatch risk
OSU Newsroom: 03/24/2021
Laysan albatross

A new paper by MMI Affiliate Rachael Orben and MMI Associate Professor Leigh Torres describes a new method of analyzing encounters between albatross and commercial fishing vessels.

Sperm whales have a surprisingly deep—and useful—culture
Popular Science: 03/19/2021

In his commentary on a recent study, MMI Associate Professor Daniel Palacios reflects on sperm whales' apparent ability to learn from each other and adapt quickly to human interference.

Give molting seal a wide berth
Newport News Times: 02/10/2021

Jim Rice, stranding program manager for the Marine Mammal Institute, said it’s normal behavior for what the seal is currently going through — catastrophic molting.

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.

Hormone metabolites found in poop give researchers new insight into whale stress
12/21/2020

A new paper authored by Leila Lemos describes the variability of hormones in the fecal samples collected from different age and sex classes of gray whales in Oregon over three years. The work was part of Dr. Lemos's graduate research at MMI.

Warm-Water Marine Animals Are Increasingly Becoming Stranded on Oregon Beaches. Jim Rice Is Trying to Find Out Why.
Willamette Week: 11/10/2020

Jim Rice was recently interviewed by the Willamette Week about the process of responding to marine mammal strandings on the Oregon coast.

Dead humpback whale in Strait de Juan de Fuca examined
Cascadia Research Collective: 10/05/2020

A humpback whale reported floating dead in the Strait of Juan de Fuca last week was examined by a team led by Cascadia Research Collective and aided by several organizations including the MMI.

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.

Oregon commercial Dungeness crab industry leading on reducing risks to whales
KMTR: 09/29/2020

ODFW is asking commercial Dungeness crab industry representatives to help design the next steps in reducing risk of whale and sea turtle entanglements in crab fishing gear. ODFW is hosting virtual public meetings Oct. 8 and Oct. 22 to further develop the draft conservation plan describing Oregon’s actions to both support this culturally iconic fishery and reduce entanglements.

This Is How Dolphins Get Their Skin So Good
The Cut: 09/23/2020

The Cut reached out to Dr. Renee Albertson, a marine biologist at the Marine Mammal Institute, who was able to shed some light on why dolphins excel at achieving every skin-care goal we strive for without a 12-step routine, pricey facials, or even thinking about it at all, really.

MMI Joins Global Call to Protect Cetaceans from Extinction
09/18/2020

MMI scientists have joined cetacean experts from around the world in signing an open statement that calls attention to "the real and imminent extinction risk to whales, dolphins, and porpoises."

Pages