Written by Brijonnay Madrigal False killer whales (FKW) ( Pseudorca crassidens ) and short-finned pilot whales (SFPW) ( Globicephala macrorhynchus ) are resident, toothed whale species to the Hawaiian archipelago. In Hawaiʻi, they are colloquially referred to as ‘Blackfish’ as they are largely dark gray in color, often appearing all black. Both FKW and SFPW exhibit complex social structure which translates into complexity in their communication systems. These two species gen

Members of the MMRP and Pacific Whale Foundation spent the first half of November doing fieldwork off the coast of Lānaʻi. The primary goal of this fieldwork was to deploy Customized Animal Tracking Solutions (CATS) suction-cup tags  on false killer whales ( Pseudorca crassidens ) as part of Jens Currie ʻ dissertation research (read more about these tags and this project in last yearʻs Lānaʻi blog pos t!) Video made by Jens Currie featuring the tag deployment on a false kille

Written by Gussie Hollers Members of the MMRP spent the last ten days working with the Pacific Whale Foundation off the coast of Lānaʻi. The primary goal of this fieldwork was to deploy Customized Animal Tracking Solutions (CATS) suction-cup tags on false killer whales ( Pseudorca crassidens ) as part of the dissertation project for new MMRP graduate student Jens Currie . With this data, Jens will be able to gather new insights into the foraging ecology of the endangered Mai

by Brijonnay Madrigal Ever heard the saying, more heads are better than one? Here at MMRP , we strongly believe in this motto. As scientists, we cannot work in a vacuum. We benefit from engaging with other scientists, learning new techniques, and sharing new ideas which advances our science. Our work at MMRP is highly collaborative with every student working with multiple collaborators for their projects and helping their fellow labmates. For example, Martin Van Aswegen , a

Written by Brijonnay Madrigal Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist. I always loved the ocean but my desire to become a marine biologist started with a National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) marine science camp I attended when I was in the 6th grade. I remember how captivating it was to hear the scientists talk about underwater research and how excited I was that people had these amazing jobs that allowed them to explore the oce