Irwin fund to underwrite Oregon State whale research projects

A breaching humpback whale is a spectacular sight for researchers. Terri Irwin, widow of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, has signed an agreement with Oregon State University to fund two collaborative humpback whale projects by the University's Marine Mammal Institute in conjunction the Australia Zoo - one in September, the other in October. Cost of each expedition is estimated at $250,000. OSU will use the funding to establish the Steve Irwin Whale Research Fund. (Courtesy photo from OSU Marine Mammal Institute)

Eugene native Terri Irwin, widow of famed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, signed an agreement Wednesday with Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute (MMI) to fund two humpback whale research ventures.

Irwin and Bruce Mate, the institute's director, announced the signing that will send Mate-led research teams to American Samoa and Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to do intensive studies of humpback whale breeding, foraging, migration, and stock identification.

Irwin and her children, 9-year-old Bindi and 4-year-old Robert, spent a quiet Tuesday afternoon in Newport at Hatfield Marine Science Center, where MMI operates under the auspices of OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences. She and Mate signed the agreement Wednesday afternoon at the OSU Alumni Center in Corvallis, with OSU President Ed Ray on hand for the ceremony.


Funds for the research trips - estimated to cost about $250,000 each - will derive from the Australia Zoo's Wildlife Warriors USA, providing the seed money to create the Steve Irwin Whale Research Fund. The magnanimous offer is a testament to Steve Irwin, who died Sept. 4, 2006, when a stingray - a normally shy, docile creature - unexpectedly and inexplicably pierced his heart with its barbed, razor-sharp tail.

Terri Irwin, a vocal opponent of harvesting whales for research purposes, said the non-lethal methods used by MMI to study humpbacks and other whale species can provide much of the same information. The partnership with OSU to perform research to save whales goes to the heart of her efforts to carry on her late husband's legacy and protect wildlife, efforts that have earned Irwin international renown for conservation advocacy.

She called the Steve Irwin Whale Research Fund "a legacy of Steve's love of whales." The fund, she added, "stands as a reminder that one man can make a difference. I want it to be known all over the world that these projects prove it is possible to gather biological research about whales without harming them. It is unacceptable that whale research is still an excuse used to cull whales."

Although recent studies indicate that humpbacks have made a comeback during that past 40 years, the whales remain protected under federal laws, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. They are on the Endangered Species List in the United States, and listed as "vulnerable" in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Redbook.

Mate said Irwin's generosity and enthusiastic interest in protecting whales will significantly boost the Institute's research capacities. "We hope to show that it's quite possible to gather the rich breadth of critical information we need to help protect whales without killing or injuring them," he noted.

Irwin invited Mate and his wife to the Australia Zoo, which Irwin owns, to discuss research collaboration. The zoo is what Mate described as "fairly unique," where animal keepers at each exhibit tell visitors about conservation issues related to the animals on display, their habitat woes, and how people can help.

OSU is also fairly unique, being one of only two U.S. universities designated as a land-, sea-, space-, and sun-grant institution. It is also Oregon's only university designated in the Carnegie Foundation's top tier for research institutions, garnering more than 60 percent of the total federal and private research funding within the Oregon university system.

In September, the Mate-led OSU research team and Australia Zoo will collaborate on a project to tag up to 25 humpback whales near Unimak Pass at the eastern end of the Aleutian Island chain. During that time, huge concentrations of krill thrive in the region, drawing millions of seabirds and hundreds of whales of different species, including the humpback. The idea is to tag the humpbacks and determine how much they intermingle in the feeding area, then track the timing, route, and rate of speed of their migrations back to their respective breeding areas.

"We'll use this project to develop sound methodology and statistical data that will help guide future studies in the Antarctic," Mate noted.

In October, the research team will travel to the South Pacific, where the scientists will tag humpback whales at American Samoa (northeast of Tonga) near the end of their reproductive season, and use satellites to track their spring migration to Antarctic feeding grounds. This effort will reveal much-needed information on whale movement, possibly around the other islands of Oceania, and where they go specifically in Antarctica to feed.

"This is a little-studied population of humpback whales," said Mate. "Some groups of whales in this region are small and not recovering as well as populations in other areas, so it is important to better understand their movements. Harvesting humpbacks in the 'wrong' feeding areas of Antarctica could impede their recovery."

These studies are the first of several planned tagging projects to link humpback breeding and feeding areas.

"Steve was very passionate about whales," Terry Irwin noted. "They are extraordinary creatures, and it is so important that we do everything we can to save them. Learning about whales is part of a bigger picture. Our oceans are in jeopardy, and the more research we can gather about whales, the more knowledge we have to help us save protect, and preserve our delicate oceans."

Both Irwin and Mate said more collaborative research is possible in the future.

MMI's researchers conduct diverse work on a variety of marine mammal species, including whales. More information about the Institute is available online at www.mmi.oregonstate.edu/.