Current Projects
Southern California Behavioral Response Study
Foraging Ecology of Humpback Whales in Relation to Krill Catches
Foraging Behavior and Ecological Role of the Antarctic Minke Whale
Palmer Station Long Term Ecological Research Project
Measuring Heart Rate to Assess the Stress Response in Large Whales
Using Baleen to Study Historical Whale Populations
Protecting Blue Corridors: Challenges and solutions for migratory whales navigating national and international seas
Recent News from the BTBEL Lab
To check out other media outlets where our work has been featured, click here.
Tracking Humpback Whales to Antarctica
October 17, 2023
Members of the Bio-telemetry and Behavioral Ecology Lab deployed to the Golfo de Tribugá, Colombia in collaboration with our partners at Fundación Macuáticos Colombia and Dr. Natalia Botero-Acosta, to deploy satellite-linked tags in humpback whales to track their southbound migration back to the Antarctic Peninsula. To keep updated with the migration of the whales we tagged this breeding season, follow the map on the right!
Antarctic Krill Fishing
How the latest tech is shaping the future of whale conservation
June 5, 2023
In this recent Science Focus article, James explains how our research team employs different tools to collect data in the Antarctic during each field season. His explanations of our drones, tags, and biopsy equipment are spot on. Click the picture on the right to access the PDF.
How much longer will Antarctic be a place of solace for whales?
May 15, 2023
Climate change is hitting the Antarctic Peninsula especially hard. It's one of the fastest warming regions of the planet. We're losing sea ice, which will most likely affect the availability of krill – whales' main food source down here. Commercial fisheries are quite literally taking food from the whales' mouths. What's going to happen?
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Can Whales Save the Planet?
April 20, 2023
Our team has just finished an incredible field season in the Antarctic. We collected several hundred biopsies of whale tissue, paired many of these with measurable images of body condition using drones, placed tags on several animals, and conducted exposure experiments for a new study on the impacts of tourism on whale behavior. A film team from NowThis Earth joined one of our teams on an Intrepid Travel ship to tell our story.
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Using AI to Listen to Whales
November 3, 2022
In an exciting partnership with the Earth Species Project, we're working on our ability to understand other species, like whales. There could be a number of benefits, and challenges, involved with decoding the language of other animals. Check out this panel discussion led by Aza Raskin from the World Economic Forum held in San Francisco on October 25, 2022.
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