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The Whale Research Lab at the University of Victoria has always been shaped by a small nucleus of graduate students, interested faculty, research associates and visitors from a number of places. We have grown from a small field research-based project, begun in the late 1980's by Dave Duffus, Phil Dearden and Robin Baird to a small field research-based series of projects now. The early studies on whales and whale-watching around Vancouver Island have evolved into a variety of studies of cetaceans (and sirenians) in many different geographical, ecological and social settings. We have had the benefit of a long string of talented and determined students, hardy interns and skilled research assistants that have kept us involved in field sites from Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, to the Mekong River, the Andaman Sea, to Alaska. Our approach to marine mammal research is a little unusual, beginning with our presence in a geography department. Many of our studies have begun from a spatial viewpoint, because, with good luck and bad planning, locating whales is the first order of business and those locations usually lead to the ecological heart of the matter. Throughout the history of our research projects we have tried to illuminate a variety of views of marine mammals including socio-cultural studies and management, currently, however, our studies are aimed at ecological matters. Our lab arose out of, and has been maintained by a small group with large logistical, academic and financial needs. Thus, we rely on the support of many. For the particulars in that regard each student’s thesis identifies their important contributors, yet some individuals and organizations arise time and again. Around the University of Victoria many staff and faculty have given freely of their time and expertise. Most frequently the staff of the geography department have cut through bureaucratic red tape and solved our problems: Kathie Merriam, Ole Heggen, Rick Sykes, Ken Josephson, Diane Braithwaite, Jill Jahansoozi, Phil Wakefield and John Newcomb are among those. Faculty in the Geography Department and their respective research groups particularly Phil Dearden, Olaf Neimann (CARMS), Dennis Jelinski, Mark Zacharias and Trisalyn Nelson (SPAR) have made numerous contributions. Pat Gregory, John Taylor, John Dower and Lou Hobson from Biology and Richard Dewey and Svein Vagle from Earth and Ocean Sciences have also been highly supportive of the students and their work. Several staff from outside agencies have helped us in a number of ways, Mark Zacharias, Govt. of BC, has been pillar of logistical and intellectual support, Phil Lambert from the RBCM, Ron Tanasichuk from PBS, and others have made key contributions to our work. In the communities where we work we have received extraordinary support from some people. The late Earl Maquinna George played an enormous role in our work in Clayoquot Sound. His own graduate work and subsequent book publication gave us an insider’s deep appreciation of history and culture or the region. His and Josephine’s small mansion on Sunshine Bay was a summer home for us for almost a decade. Earl’s sense of humor and wealth of experience are missed. For many years Hugh Clarke at the Ahousaht General Store has been a source of sharp wit, good advice, tools, supplies, and facilities and more recently he has generously provided a place for us to live during the field season. Between Earl and Hughie we have had amazing and amusing insights into the nature, history and people of Clayoquot Sound. David (Hooper) Sutherland, Matt Titian, Joe Titian, John Paul, the Ahousaht RCMP Detachment, James and Luke Swan, and many other community members have also been frequent visitors, often with fresh fish (assuming we could not catch are own???). In early years, our work in the Johnstone Strait was generously supported by the people at Stubbs Island Charters in Telegraph Cove. The Borrowman and MacKay families were always prepared for the summer onslaught of people with heaps of gear, and ready with a cup of coffee and ride down the Strait. Funding for our work has come to us from a variety of sources. The Province of BC, SSHRC, NSERC, The Vancouver Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, the ORE Society, MEC, PADI and the University of Victoria have been much appreciated in that regard. A Rare Personal Note from the Lab’s Erstwhile LeaderThe Whale Research Lab has always been all about students, often tossed unceremoniously into the westerly swell in a boat that looks way too small, their efforts in the field, at potlatchs, in workshops, at conferences, in classrooms, over a microscope, around the campfire, in various and sundry airports, cleaning houses, repairing engines, on pick-up runs to Tofino, working with anyone from the greenest undergraduate to overwhelmed peers, to community members, and to senior scientists, government staff and business/industry managers the research students from UVIC’s Whale Research Lab have engineered a trade-mark of character and intellect. It is no mystery how much admiration and affection I have for these people, and I recognize how much support from their (and my) family and friends has been given to make this all work. The opportunity to work with these people in the setting we do is a gift, thanks for that. Partners in CrimeCARMS - http://carms.geog.uvic.ca |
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