Marine Mammal Research Unit UBC (MMRU)

01/15/2024

03/07/2023

Hot off the press!

Researchers at the Marine Mammal Research Unit UBC (MMRU) in collaboration with Monterey Bay Marine Life Studies, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and The Transient Killer Whale Research Project have just produced a new publication on transient killer whales.

McInnes, J.D., Mathieson, C.R., West-Stap, P.J., Marcos, S.L., Wade, V.L., Jeffrey E. Moore, Sarah L. Mesnick, and Lawrence M. Dill (2023). I dentification catalog and field guide for transient (Bigg’s) killer whales of Monterey Bay and California waters. NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

This publication, in conjunction with the 2021 published technical memorandum, Transient Killer Whales of Central and Northern California and Oregon: a Catalog of Photo-identified Individuals, provides additional user friendly natural history information and a photo-ID catalog for transient killer whales off the California coast.

NOAA Fisheries West Coast
Marine Mammal Institute
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Monterey Bay Aquarium
MBARI
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Link to the publication

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iQKIaO63nBtToC0CMDqXJjvV-yLW8oA3/view?usp=share_link

01/13/2023

Juan José Alava, a member of the Marine Mammal Research Unit, and the principal investigator of the Ocean Pollution Research Unit at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, said their findings left him and other researchers "shocked and saddened."

Chemicals used in toilet paper have been found in the carcasses of a dozen orcas around British Columbia, according to a new study.

01/07/2023

An unusual birth far from the lagoons of Mexico captured by a drone. Really remarkable footage showing the bonding moments following birth, and the relative ease that this gray whale mother appears to have with the presence of vessels.

The calf was born in Dana Point, California, hundreds of miles away from the lagoons of Baja California, where these whales usually breed.

01/04/2023

Many are claiming that the Salish Sea is out of balance, and are putting the blame on "invasive species" and "ugly, nasty blubberballs", They are pushing to turn the clock back to a by-gone era before marine mammals were protected rather than consider that a natural --- and potentially healthier --- balance is being re-established by the return of marine mammals to the Salish Sea.

A commercial fisheries group is dismayed by the appearance of the dolphins. Ocean is "out of balance."

11/22/2022

MMRU researchers look forward to sharing our research and learning from other marine mammal experts at the 30th Annual BC Marine Mammal Symposium on Saturday, November 26th, 2022.

Registration for in-person attendance is full, BUT presentations will be live-streamed on YouTube starting at 9:30 am (PST) this coming Saturday. Will you be joining us online? Please mark your calendars and bookmark the link below...

Join the University of British Columbia’s Aquatic Ecosystem Research Laboratory for presentations as well as discussion on issues that concern us all. This m...

11/02/2022

Whales ingest millions of particles a day, study finds
Blue consume up to 1bn particles over a feeding season with as-yet-unknown impacts on health

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

Blue whales consume up to 1bn particles over a feeding season with as-yet-unknown impacts on health

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween! Meet the spooky creatures of the deep.

Check out this amazing video titled Creatures of the Whale Fall by the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Deep-sea habitats, such as the Monterey Submarine Canyon, are typically oligotrophic or nutrient poor. Large cetaceans that die, such as gray and humpback whales, drift down to the depths where they provide a substantial amount of food and energy, for a diversity of species!

Hagfish, deep-sea octopus, crabs, large isopods, specialized worms, and even large Pacific sleeper sharks can be viewed at whale falls.
Certain species of worms are only found on whale falls, where they burrow deep into the bones extracting nutrients.

University of British Columbia
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries

Have you met any spooky creatures of the deep today? The organisms feeding on the body of this decaying whale are here to wish you an early Happy Halloween!W...

10/31/2022

Gray whale numbers continue to decline

New research by NOAA Fisheries Service scientists have published new reports from long-term monitoring studies along the Pacific Coast that highlights a decline in gray whale numbers the last few years.

According to the new research, gray whale numbers are now down to 38% from the previous peak in 2015 and 2016. In 2019 NOAA declared an unusual mortality event do to increased stranding's of dead emaciated whales.

Multiple environmental factors are believed to be the cause of such declines, including climate change and food availability in the high Arctic and predation by killer whales.

University of British Columbia
Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
NOAA Fisheries West Coast

Fluctuations have long affected the eastern North Pacific population.

10/28/2022

New research into the acoustic repertoire of Antarctic minke whales describes new vocalizations using Dtag technology.
New article vis Hakai Magazine.

For the first time, scientists have identified the calls of this elusive Southern Ocean resident.

10/28/2022

Narwhal migratory patterns are altering in response to increased pressure from changing conditions https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/53893/20221027/narwhal-migratory-patterns-altering-response-increased-pressure-changing-arctic-conditions.htm via Nature World News

Narwhal migration patterns are evolving in response to pressure from changing Arctic conditions, according to a new UBC analysis.

10/26/2022

A new study conducted by researchers at the Statistical Ecology Research Group at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia have highlighted changes in the migratory behaviour of narwhals in the Canadian Arctic. Such behavioural changes in migration timing is believed to be related to climate change.

This research was led by Dr. Courtney Shuert and Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé, senior faculty researcher at the MMRU. Paper published Decadal migration phenology of a long-lived Arctic icon keeps pace with climate change, was published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences.

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
University of British Columbia

Climate change and loss of sea ice is creating stressors for these animals, and they are adapting to a new life in the Arctic.