Get drone in to this talk

For whale fans, Spring Break on the Oregon Coast heralds more than a break from classes — it also means that large groups of Gray whales will be passing by on the northern leg of their annual migrations.

The Pacific Coast Feeding Group of Gray whales spend their summers feeding off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and southern British Columbia. They forage in shallow, coastal water using a variety of techniques.

This Saturday, March 12, the Oregon Chapter of the American Cetacean Society will offer the chance to learn more about our great big neighbors to the west, when it welcomes guest speaker and OSU PhD student Clara Bird.

Bird will talk about an OSU research program that has been studying Gray whales foraging near Newport since 2016 using a variety of tools including drones. Drone footage provides a new perspective that provides the opportunity to study individualization and how patterns of behavior differ seasonally, across habitat types and between whales of different body condition and sex.

By gaining insight into what factors may affect Gray whale behavior in their foraging habitat, we can better understand how they are being affected by a changing environment.

Bird is a third-year student in the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna lab at OSU under the supervision of Dr. Leigh Torres.

The meeting will be held at 10 am via Zoom. You must register by 5 pm on Friday, March 11, to attend. For more information, go to www.acsonline.org or to the American Cetacean Society-Oregon Chapter on Facebook.