About OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center: The center is a research and teaching facility located in Newport, Ore., on the Yaquina Bay estuary, about one mile from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. It plays an integral role in programs of marine and estuarine research and instruction, as a laboratory serving resident scientists, as a base for far-ranging oceanographic studies and as a classroom for students. In addition to Oregon State researchers and students, its campus includes research activities and facilities from five different state and federal agencies.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Dynamic and changing Arctic Ocean conditions likely caused three major mortality events in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population since the 1980s, a new study has found.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Commercial whaling in the 20th century decimated populations of large whales but also appears to have had a lasting impact on the genetic diversity of today’s surviving whales, new research from Oregon State University shows.
Researchers compared DNA from a collection of whale bones found on beaches near abandoned whaling stations on South Georgia Island in the south Atlantic Ocean to DNA from whales in the present-day population and found strong evidence of loss of maternal DNA lineages among blue and humpback whales.
NEWPORT, Ore. – A minor-league baseball promotion rooted in a quirky bit of Oregon history will culminate this weekend in Eugene with a fundraising auction to benefit Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute.
The Eugene Emeralds, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have played several games this season using the alternate identity Eugene Exploding Whales. The moniker is a nod to the infamous 1970 incident near Florence where highway officials used dynamite to blow up a whale carcass, with unexpected results.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Gray whales that spend their summers feeding off the coast of Oregon are shorter than their counterparts who travel north to the Arctic for food, new research from Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute shows.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Rates of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Pacific hake fishery rise during years when ocean temperatures are warmer, a signal that climate change and increased frequency of marine heatwaves could lead to higher bycatch rates, new research indicates.
During years when sea surface temperatures were higher, including during a marine heatwave, Chinook salmon were more likely to overlap with the Pacific hake and raise the risk of bycatch as they sought refuge from higher temperatures.
NEWPORT, Ore. – As a key food supply declines, the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales, known to frequent the Salish Sea off the coasts of Washington and British Columbia, is spending far less time in that region, a new study shows.
The Salish Sea around the San Juan Islands has traditionally been a hotspot for the whales. The Southern Residents would spend the summer months feeding on Chinook salmon, much of which belonged to the Fraser River stock that passes through the islands on its way to spawning grounds upriver.
NEWPORT, Ore. – New research by an Oregon State University-led team is beginning to unravel the times of year and locations where whales are at greatest danger of entanglement in fishing gear on the Oregon Coast.
“We’ve been able to geographically locate some areas where the risk of entanglement for whales is higher,” said Solene Derville, a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State’s Marine Mammal Institute. “We’ve also discovered that risk varies with time. It’s a very dynamic thing. And it varies with responses to ocean conditions.”
NEWPORT, Ore. – Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center will host its annual science fair and open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 8.
Marine Science Day is a free, family-friendly event showcasing the diverse marine research occurring at Hatfield. It was held virtually during the pandemic but returns to an in-person event this year.
NEWPORT, Ore. – By working together, dolphins and net-casting fishers in Brazil each catch more fish, a rare example of an interaction by two top predators that is beneficial to both parties, researchers have concluded following 15 years of study of the practice.
“We knew that the fishers were observing the dolphins’ behavior to determine when to cast their nets, but we didn’t know if the dolphins were actively coordinating their behavior with the fishers,” said Mauricio Cantor of Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, who led the study.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Sixteen ocean-themed films will be featured during the inaugural Big Blue Film Fest Jan.
