The gray whales we see on the Oregon coast spend their summers and falls feeding in the Pacific Northwest. Do they stay here year-round? Most don’t. But some do. Sort of...
The OSU Marine Mammal Institute is a multi-disciplinary facility incorporating the work of academics from engineering, genetics, agriculture, aquatics, ecology, veterinary medicine, biology, and communications.
As the only institute of its kind, the Marine Mammal Institute combines the efforts of top researchers from around the world to continue the legacy of discovery and preservation of critical habitats of target species and to understand how those species interact with their environment and human activities.
Marine Mammal Institute
Marine mammals are protected by federal law. It is illegal for unauthorized persons to disturb, handle, or feed them.
Learn more about Stranding Do's and Don'ts.
The Whale Telemetry Group uses satellite-monitored radio tags to determine the distribution and critical habitats of endangered whales.
The Cetacean Conservation and Genomics Laboratory explores the genomes of whales and dolphins to understand the past, assess the present, and conserve the future.
The Pinniped Ecology Applied Research Laboratory investigates the ecology, behavioral physiology, and conservation biology of pinnipeds.
The Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Laboratory focuses on the ecology, behavior and conservation of marine megafauna including cetaceans, pinnipeds, seabirds, and sharks.
The Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network documents occurrences and investigates the causes of marine mammal strandings in Oregon.
After more than three years of rest in the Yaquina Bay in Newport, the skeleton of a 78-foot blue whale was brought back to dry land this week so it can be preserved and prepared for a public display.
Using drones deployed in the air and GoPros underwater, Oregon State University marine ecologist Leigh Torres recently completed her fourth field season documenting previously unseen behaviors of gray whales – and gathering their poop – off the Oregon coast.
