Critic of Japan Whaling Plans Nonlethal Research

The Oregonian, published Dec. 26, 2007

Sydney, Australia - The widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin said she will launch a nonlethal whale research program in Antarctic waters next year to prove that Japan's scientific whaling cull is a sham.

Terri Irwin, who is from Eugene, Ore., announced Thursday that the whale-watching program she started to honor her late husband would expand into scientific research. Steve Irwin died in a freak stingray attack in Sept. 2006 off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

"We are working with Oregon State University to do formalized research in the Southern Hemisphere," Irwin told the Nine Network television. "We can actually learn everything the Japanese are learning with lethal research by using nonlethal research."

Tokyo had defended its annual cull of more than 1,000 whales as crucial for research purposes. Japan says killing whales is necessary to gather information about breeding and migratory habits.

Environmentalists and anti-whaling nations condemn the killing as commercial whaling in disguise.

Dr. Bruce Mate, director of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, said the proposed research does not aim to discredit the Japanese work. Instead, it intends to demonstrate an alternate means of gathering information about whale movements.

He said the institute and Irwin are discussing a draft agreement, and the scope and cost of the research haven't been determined.

OSU gets $1 million for whale research

Follow up story, Gazette-Times, Jan. 12, 2008

‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin’s widow, Terri, funds endangered whale study

Terri Irwin, the widow of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, is giving Oregon State University more than $1 million to tag, track and research endangered whales through new studies scheduled to begin this year.

“We’re still in the midst of negotiating the specific species and locations,” said Bruce Mate, director of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute and an internationally recognized expert in whale migration and behavior.

“This is a huge gift directed specifically at active research,” said Scott Baker, associate director of the institute. “I think it’s an indication of the growing reputation of the institute.”

The research will span several oceans in both the northern and southern hemisphere, and should continue into 2009, Mate said. Researchers will identify the migratory routes, range and critical habitat of humpback whales and blue whales, which will be the primary species studied.

Months before Steve Irwin’s death, he had chartered a vessel as part of preparation for filming a special in the Antarctic. Terri Irwin gave the use of that charter to OSU.

“It was (worth) probably $80,000 or more ... We got to go tag humpback whales off the Antarctic Peninsula in February. We named a whale after Steve,” Mate said. The “Steve” humpback ended up traveling farther than any other humpback whale tracked.

“That was really neat because of Steve’s reputation as a gung-ho outdoors person, with a lot of energy,” Mate said.

And when Terri Irwin was presented with an “adopt-a-whale” certificate given to donors, Mate learned that the date the whale was tagged was Steve Irwin’s birthday. “That was pretty eerie,” Mate said.

Terri Irwin first announced the OSU research plans to Australian journalists last week, timed to coincide with Japan’s controversial whale hunt, ostensibly to gather scientific data.

The Japanese had planned to kill up to 50 endangered humpback whales this year, but backed off amid an international outcry. They still plan to kill nearly 950 minke whales and 50 fin whales. Meat from the hunt is sold to markets and restaurants, which funds the research, Mate said.

“A lot of people feel that’s a pretty strong conflict of interest. It’s not just science. It’s got the consumptive values rolled into it, and the science is part of the justification,” he said.

The OSU research work funded by the Irwins is likely to focus on humpback whales in the southern hemisphere, but may also collect data on humpback whales that migrate through Oregon waters. The study won’t occur off the coast of Oregon because more pressing problems are happening elsewhere, Mate said.

For example, OSU is looking into how wave energy buoys will impact gray whales off the state’s shore.

The Marine Mammal Institute receives about half of its funding from private donations.

The institute is allocated for $12 million in the Campaign for OSU, and half of that is designated to create a new building at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. The university likely will ask the Legislature for another $6 million for construction, Mate said. The number of faculty and students educated also will increase with campaign funding.

“It’s exciting. I’ve been at OSU since 1973. I’m eligible to retire. But this is an exciting period of growth for us,” Mate said.

“Dr Bruce Mate was co-founder of the “Whale Watching Spoken Here” program that observes whales along the Oregon Coast. The program is now in its 30^th year.”

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