Speaker: Josh Stewart, Assistant Professor, Ocean Ecology Lab, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University

Topic: How modern human impacts prevent the recovery of endangered whales

Humans decimated whale populations through hundreds of years of industrial whaling, leaving some species and populations on the brink of extinction. Despite these impacts, many whale populations have made remarkable recoveries, demonstrating the ability of threatened and endangered species to bounce back from intense human pressure. Whales have now been protected from industrial harvest in most of the world for decades, removing the most acute threat to their populations. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been enough to set all whale populations on the road to recovery, and many remain far below their pre-whaling abundances. Joshua Stewart, new faculty at OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute, will discuss his research on two endangered populations of whales—North Atlantic right whales and Southern Resident killer whales—and how ongoing human impacts have prevented their recovery. Dr. Stewart will also present recent findings on the drivers of mortality events in gray whales, a species considered an iconic example of recovery from whaling impacts, and what these mortality events mean for other whale populations approaching their pre-whaling levels.