| The WHET Lab logo was created in collaboration with renowned natural history illustrator Uko Gorter. |
The Whale Habitat, Ecology, and Telemetry (WHET) Laboratory was led by Daniel Palacios. The lab focused on the development, advancement, and application of electronic tag technologies for studying whales. The WHET Lab used 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.
The WHET Lab’s vision involved:
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.
Since these questions have relevance for the management and conservation of whale populations, the WHET Lab's mission was 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, the program had a strong international emphasis.
Created in 2020 by Dr. Daniel Palacios, the WHET Lab was 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, MMI now holds a substantial amount of whale tracking data from across the globe. MMI 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.
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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