DR ROGER PAYNE

DEAN OF MODERN WHALE RESEARCH
(Photo courtesy of Chris Johnson - Ocean Alliance)

"A growing number of Gray Whales in the sub Arctic waters are contaminated. As bottom feeders, these whales are vulnerable to toxic pollution.  Recent data from our worldwide sampling of sperm whale blubber - The Voyage of the Odyssey - show that many whales are polluted to levels that make their meat unsafe for human consumption-a sufficient cause to discontinue whaling."

Dr Roger Payne founded the Ocean Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization in 1971. He has conducted research on whales in all the oceans of the world, and has been an eloquent spokesman for their welfare for over three decades. In the
early 1970s, he was among the first to sound the alarm about the threat of worldwide pollution of the oceans that most people are only now learning about. In the January 1979 issue of National Geographic, Dr. Payne said,
³Pollution has replaced the harpoon as a mortal threat to whales, and in its way can be far more deadly."
 
Dr. Payne along with colleague Scott McVay, discovered that the eerie sounds made by humpback whales were actually complex, repeated patterns of sounds
and thus songs. He and the members of his laboratory determined that these songs change constantly and when complex, often include rhyme.
 
For his work, Dr. Payne has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, the 1994 Lyndhurst Prize, a knighthood from the Netherlands, and has been named to the United Nations Environmental Program's Global 500 Roll of Honor. The
National Geographic Society has referred to him as "the Dean of modern whale research," and his work has appeared four times on the pages of the National
Geographic as well as in many technical publications.
He is a well-known and respected figure at international meetings, conferences, and symposiums, including the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission.
 
His work has been the subject of more than thirty television documentaries, including 1991's popular, Emmy-nominated "In the Company of Whales."
 
In recent years, Ocean Alliance has widened its interests to include the study of marine pollution using whales as a model subject. The amounts of harmful chemicals making their way into the sea by land and by air is of great concern. Understanding the health of the oceans is more important now than ever before. Recognizing the urgency for information to better deal with this problem, Ocean Alliance set out to do what no government agency or
organization had ever attempted to do before: spend 51Z2 years aboard their research vessel, Odyssey, collecting samples from sperm whales from around the world, and analyzing their levels of heavy metals and synthetic
contaminants; thus, achieving a baseline study of the levels of pollution in the oceans.
 

SIGN THE PETITION

"I request that the new US Congress take all necessary steps to fund a comprehensive review of all the major threats facing the California Gray Whale."

"A growing number of Gray Whales in the sub Arctic waters are contaminated. As bottom feeders, these whales are vulnerable to toxic pollution.  Recent data from our worldwide sampling of sperm whale blubber - The Voyage of the Odyssey - show that many whales are polluted to levels that make their meat unsafe for human consumption-a sufficient cause to discontinue whaling."

DR ROGER PAYNE

"The California Gray Whale is an indicator species of the sub Arctic and Arctic Oceans.   With major changes taking place in the polar marine ecosystems, ensuring ongoing research into the major threats facing these majestic whales is critical.  In the light of these changes, Gray Whales deserve the highest legal protection."

DR SLVIA EARLE




"Gray whales face many pressures, such as lack of food, coastal development and increasing ocean noise.  They need better protection."

JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU

"And God created the great whales
there in Laguna San Ignacio"

HOMERO ARIDJIS

"the possibility that we might drive these magnificent creatures into extinction is unimaginable and unacceptable."

DARYL HANNAH

"Life began in the sea.  So goes the whale...so goes mankind.  An effort to save the whales benefits us all."

BEAU BRIDGES

"Thanks for leading the fight to save
the Gray Whales"

ED BEGLEY JNR




"The Gray Whale is the marine mammal symbol of California.  It deserves to be protected and honored.  I support the creation of a "Whale of a Day" tribute to this magnificent animal."

PRINCE FREDERIC VON ANHALT

"The Gray Whale faces a myriad of threats from climate change to sonar testing and oil exploration. They need our help and the California Gray Whale Coalition is a leading advocate for this important keystone species."

PEDRO NAVA

"When we fully understand and begin to meet the threats to the California Gray Whale, we will be addressing the problems that face North America's entire Pacific coastal ecosystem."

LYNN WOOLSEY

"Saving the Gray Whales from extinction is an absolute must.  This magnificent, intelligent species cannot be allowed to perish from this earth.  If we ignore their plight we ignore the eventual impact on all species, including our own, of the rapacious practices of mankind."

SARA WAN

"Gray whales need our immediate attention! Due to climate change, their Arctic food supply is diminishing and the numbers of mother-calf pairs on the long migration are the lowest in years."

DICK RUSSELL

Grateful thanks to Baja Eco Tours for these images.