The WHET Lab logo was created in collaboration with renowned natural history illustrator Uko Gorter.
"Developing tag technology, advancing ecology, and informing conservation of the largest animals on Earth"

About us

At the Whale Habitat, Ecology, and Telemetry Laboratory (WHET Lab) we work on the development, advancement, and application of electronic tag technologies for studying whales. We use telemetry and bio-logging as tools to improve our understanding of foraging ecology, migration and movement patterns, species-habitat associations, population dynamics, and ecosystem and trophic interactions.

Vision

The WHET Lab’s vision is three-pronged, involving:

1. Tag technology development,

2. Addressing important but unanswered scientific questions in whale ecology, and

3. Addressing interactions with human activities and the effects of anthropogenic factors.

Mission

Since these questions have relevance for the management and conservation of whale populations, the WHET Lab's mission is to ensure that the new information generated reaches natural resource managers and that it is presented in ways that can most effectively lead to improved conservation measures for the whales and their habitats.

Because whales migrate over large ranges that cross political boundaries, our program has a strong international emphasis.

History

Created in 2020 by Dr. Daniel Palacios, the WHET Lab is the successor to the Whale Telemetry Group, the original lab founded in 1983 by Dr. Bruce Mate, who did the first successful deployment of a satellite tag on a whale in 1986. With many tag deployments since then, we now hold a substantial amount of whale tracking data from across the globe. The WHET Lab honors Dr. Mate's legacy by using this data in combination with other earth observations to advance our understanding of whale habitat and to inform management strategies for whale populations.

Additional info

Please follow the links in the navigation bar on the right to find information about our projects, lab members, and to explore the various facets of our research.

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