Wednesday, February 17 at 1:00pm
Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with industrial whaling, the killing of whales for commercial purposes between the late 1800s and the mid 1900s, ultimately responsible for the removal of 2.9 million large whales from the world’s oceans. The Essex of In the Heart of the Sea was a vessel of this era. Fewer are aware of large scale illegal whaling that occurs in contravention of national laws or international agreements, of “scientific whaling” that is allowed through a provision in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, or of aboriginal whaling that is practiced by many indigenous peoples all over the globe, including here in the Pacific northwest. I will provide an overview of each of these and touch on current hot topics and long-standing ethical debates.
Dr. Lisa T. Ballance is the Director of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute and Endowed Chair of Marine Mammal Research. Dr. Ballance comes to OSU from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), where she spent 30 years conducting research on cetaceans and seabirds around the world, including the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, Antarctica, the Bering Sea, and the Mekong River in Cambodia. She holds a PhD in marine ecology, an MS in marine science, and a BS in biology. Her significant positions include Director of NOAA’s Marine Mammal and Turtle Research Division in La Jolla, CA, providing scientific leadership and oversight of a division consisting of 70 scientists with a $9M annual budget; Chief Scientist of NOAA’s Eastern Tropical Pacific Dolphin and Ecosystem Assessment Surveys, which provided the scientific basis for the “Dolphin Safe” label found on tuna cans in supermarkets all over this country; and Professor (Adjunct) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, through which she advised master’s and doctorate students and taught courses in marine mammal and seabird biology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, working papers, and technical reports; given invited scientific presentations at scientific conferences, universities, public lectures, and congressional briefings; been awarded research funding from a wide variety of sources including National Science Foundation, US Navy, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; and is recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze and Silver Medals, NOAA Fisheries’ Supervisor of the Year, and cover feature of the Association for Women in Science.
