London FLetcher
London A. Fletcher - Founder - Principal Researcher
London is a 13 year old from Washington state who has a deep regard for the ocean and marine mammals. She is the youngest person in the world to earn an internship for cetology which she completed with Dr. Ingrid Visser at the Orca Research Trust in New Zealand during the summer of 2017. At 10 years old, London is the world's youngest member to join the ranks of the Society of Marine Mammalogy. London is also the youngest member in the world to join the American Acoustical Society. London also advocates on behalf of Chinook salmon and critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, educating the public on the plight of Southern Residents and the need to breach the lower four Snake River dams to restore wild salmon runs on the Columbia and Snake River.
Dr. Ingrid Visser - Scientific Director
Principal Researcher/Founder of The Orca Research Trust New Zealand
Born in New Zealand, Dr Visser remains the only researcher specializing in orca in New Zealand waters.Her research officially began in 1992 when she embarked on her lifelong dream to study the orca. Since then she has worked with orca not only around New Zealand, but also in the waters of Antarctica, Argentina and Papua New Guinea.Whilst travelling abroad eco-tourism ships or on private expeditions, she has also contributed to orca research projects in the Kamchatka region of Russia; Washington, Alaska and British Columbia off North America as well as Iceland (where she worked with the team releasing “Keiko” the star of the Free Willy movies).Her work has appeared in various magazines and on numerous documentaries made for TV. She has written two children’s books as well as an autobiography “Swimming with Orca” which was a finalist in the 2005 NZ Montana Book Awards. Since the tragic death of the trainer at SeaWorld in Florida, Ingrid has been actively speaking out for orca held in captivity. She is a co-founder of the Free Morgan Foundation, working to raise awareness of her plight as she is used commercially at the entertainment theme park Loro Parque, in Spain.
Phil Clapham directs research on large whales Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington. Cornish by birth, he followed a girlfriend to the U.S. in 1980 and somehow never got round to going home. Despite having entered the field of whale biology more or less by accident in 1980, he is now acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on large whales.
Phil has more than a quarter century of experience with cetaceans, and at one time or another has worked with most species of whales in various places worldwide. Prior to his current position, he worked at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, and before that directed a long-term study of individually identified humpback whales at the Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts. He is also a Research Associate with the Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of Natural History). Phil holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), and has advised several governments and other bodies on whale research and conservation. In his current position, he directs a program of large whale research and advises the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service on science and conservation at levels ranging from local to international. He is also an advisor to several Masters and PhD students (including one Nan Daeschler Hauser!)
Phil edits for three scientific journals (Marine Mammal Science, Mammal Review, and the Royal Society's Biology Letters), and is a member of the U.S. delegation to the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee. He has published four books and about a hundred peer-reviewed papers on whales and other cetaceans. A few of these are:
BOOKS
Clapham, P. 2004. Right whales: natural history and conservation. Baxter Press, UK.
Reeves, R.R., Stewart, B.S., Clapham, P.J. & Powell, J.A. 2002. The Audubon Guide to Marine Mammals. Knopf, New York.
Clapham, P. 1996. Humpback whales. Voyageur Press, Stillwater, Minnesota.
Clapham, P. 1997. Whales. Baxter Press, UK.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
Clapham, P., Childerhouse, S., Gales, N., Rojas, L., Tillman, M. & Brownell, B. 2006. The whaling issue: Conservation, confusion and casuistry. Marine Policy (in press).
Clapham, P.J. & Link, J. 2006. Whales, whaling and ecosystems in the North Atlantic. In Whales, whaling and ecosystems (ed. J. Estes), pp. 241-250. University of Chicago Press.
Wade, P., Barrett-Lennard, L., Black, N., Brownell, R.L. Jr., Burkanov, V., Burdin, A., Calambokidis, J., Cerchio, S., Dahlheim, M., Ford, J., Friday, N., Fritz, L., Jacobsen, J., Loughlin, T., Lowry, M., Matkin, C., Matkin, D., Mehta, A., Mizroch, S., Muto, M., Rice, D., Siniff, D., Small, R., Steiger, G., Straley, J., Van Blaricom, G. & Clapham, P. 2007. Marine mammal abundance, biomass, and trends in the eastern North Pacific – a reanalysis of evidence for sequential megafauna collapse. Marine Mammal Science 23: 1-67.
Gales, N.J., Kasuya, T., Clapham, P.J. & Brownell, R.L. Jr. 2005. Japan’s whaling plan under scrutiny: useful science or unregulated commercial whaling? Nature 435: 883-884.
Clapham, P.J. 2005. Publish or perish. Bioscience 55: 390-391.
Clapham, P.J., Berggren, P., Childerhouse, S., Friday, N.A., Kasuya, T., Kell, L., Kock, K-H., Manzanilla, S., di Sciara, G.,
Perrin, W.F., Read, A.J., Reeves, R.R., Rogan, E., Rojas-Bracho, L., Smith, T.D., Stachowitsch, M., Taylor, B.L., Thiele, D., Wade, P.R. & Brownell, R.L. Jr. 2003. Whaling as science. Bioscience 53: 210-212.
Baker, C.S. & Clapham, P.J. 2004. Modeling the past and future of whales and whaling. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 365-371.
Clark, C.W. & Clapham, P.J. 2004. Acoustic monitoring on a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) feeding ground shows continual singing into late spring. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 271: 1051-1057.
Clapham, P., Good, C., Quinn, S., Reeves, R.R., Scarff, J.E, & Brownell, R.L. Jr. 2004. Distribution of North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica) as shown by 19th and 20th century whaling catch and sighting records. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 6: 1-6.
Clapham, P.J., Barlow, J., Bessinger, M., Cole, T., Mattila, D., Pace, R., Palka, D.. Robbins, J. & Seton, R. 2003. Abundance and demographic parameters of humpback whales from the Gulf of Maine, and stock definition relative to the Scotian Shelf. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5: 13-22.
Clapham, P.J. 2002. Generosity and curiosity of a great scientist: Victor Weisskopf. Nature 417: 788.
When not pursuing whales, Phil's interests include travel, fine wine, Russian women, and spending far too much of his disposable income on old books.
Jessica Farrer - Pinniped Science Advisor
- National Geographic - SR3 - Pinniped Scientist
Jessica graduated with a degree in evolutionary biology from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. Since graduation she has worked in fisheries management on commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea, counted Steller sea lions from cliffs in the Aleutian Islands, tagged sea lions in the Galápagos and monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and for four austral springs she lived in a retrofitted refrigerator container on the Antarctic sea ice near McMurdo Station. In Antarctica she worked on a long-term population study of Weddell seals and hopes to continue working in this ecosystem on predator-prey dynamics of the Ross Sea. Over her years in the field working with various research teams, Jessica has gained a broad understanding of marine ecosystems and the controversies surrounding marine protected areas. This experience, in combination with her other field work, fostered a strong desire to become more involved in outreach. She believes that there needs to be more transparency between the scientist conducting research in the field and the interested public. To that end she has contributed video and photographic work to assist the projects she works with in their outreach goals. She has also been privileged to work with the BBC's Natural History Unit while filming for Frozen Planet in both Antarctica and Alaska. She currently lives in Friday Harbor, Washington with her husband and young daughter.
Katy Foster
Katy Foster works in the field of marine mammal research, rescue, and rehabilitation. Her research work has been focused on cetacean health studies and field assessments, examining the social behavior of numerous species, and helping to develop field diagnostic and treatment methods for free-ranging whales. Katy’s rescue and rehab work has been focused primarily on marine mammals, with species ranging from dugongs to killer whales and large baleen whale disentanglements and live stranding response. She is also an underwater photographer & videographer, working as a team with her husband Jeff Foster to produce environmental PSAs. Katy is currently working with the Whale Sanctuary Project to develop a model seaside sanctuary for killer whale and beluga.
Dr. Deborah Giles - Advisor
Research Director - Wild Orca, NOAA, Conservation Canine.
Dr. Deborah Giles (she goes by her last name) received her PhD from the University of California Davis in 2014. Her master’s thesis and PhD dissertation both focused on the federally listed southern resident killer whales. Formerly the research director at the Center for Whale Research, she is currently a resident scientist and lecturer at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, where she teaches Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea and Marine Biology. Since 2009 Giles has been the vessel captain for Dr. Samuel Wasser’s project – University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology – utilizing a scat detection dog to locate floating killer whale scat to monitor the physiological health of southern resident killer whales.
Starting in 2010, Giles also began work with an ongoing collaborative project with Cascadia Research Collective and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service deploying acoustic suction-cup recording tags on killer whales to measure received noise levels by whales. Giles is the killer whale scientific adviser for the Orca Salmon Alliance, a program advisor for Killer Whale Tales, and is on the Steering Committee for the Salish Sea Ecosystem Advocates (SalishSEA).
Dr. Krista Hupman,
NIWA - Leopard Seals.org - New Zealand
As a research associate of the Coastal-Marine Research Group, Massey University, New Zealand, I undertake research on marine mammal ecology and conservation. My research focus specifically examines the use of photo-identification for gregarious low marked delphinids to determine abundance, social structure, movement and site fidelity. I am also focused on the effects of anthropogenic influences on marine mammals within New Zealand waters.
Skills and Expertise
Conservation Biology, Conservation Ecology, Marine Ecology, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Ecology, Digital Image Processing, Biodiversity & Conservation, Zoology, Distribution.
Howard Garrett - Orca Network
Howard is the Co-Founder of The Orca Network, and The Langley Whale Museum. Howard began working as field researcher with the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island in 1981. He then spent 10 years as a naturalist Massachusetts studying humpback whales and the habitat that supports them. Howard returned to San Juan Island and the Center for Whale Research in 1993, and since 1995 he has helped conduct a campaign to return Tokitae, a Southern Resident orca captured in 1970, back to her home waters in Puget Sound. He and his wife Susan Berta founded Orca Network, based near Bush Point, Whidbey Island, in 2001, and opened the Langley Whale Center in 2014. Howard gives presentations on orca natural history, conservation and captivity issues in Washington and beyond, and is often interviewed by media for stories about orcas, including Blackfish in 2012. He has written a three-volume series of books about the Salish Sea Orcas - Orcas in Our Midst, and during his time in the East Coast he wrote New England Whales.He is beloved by Orca Advocates Worldwide for his kind demeanor and willingness to involve anyone and everyone in the efforts to save our Southern Residents.
Ken Balcomb - Advisor
Principal Researcher / Founder - The Center For Whale Research
Ken obtained his Bachelor's degree in Zoology in 1963 from UC Davis and soon after was employed by the US government as Field Biologist GS5-7, first in Eastern Pacific large whale research and later in Central Pacific marine bird research. During the Vietnam era, he was a commissioned US Navy pilot and oceanographic specialist. He then did his graduate studies at UC Santa Cruz with Dr. Ken Norris, the world-famous marine mammal biologist. While a graduate student, Ken conducted Humpback whale research in the North Atlantic with colleague Dr. Steve Katona and taught marine biology aboard r/v Regina Maris for Dr. George Nichols of ORES and Harvard University. Ken is a pioneer in photo-identification of cetaceans and is the founder of Orca Survey (1976), a study of Pacific Northwest Southern Resident killer whales (orcas). He founded the nonprofit Center for Whale Research in 1985 and is its volunteer Executive Director and NWFSC contract Principal Investigator of Orca Survey. Ken is a Charter Member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy