(Alaska Dispatch)
Innovative Sitka whale scientist earns award
Alaska Dispatch | Feb 18, 2012
NOAA photo
Sperm whale
According to KCAW in Sitka, local scientist Jan Straley will pick up an Ocean Leadership Award on Saturday from the Alaska SeaLife Center for decades of work involving the large whales of the North Pacific.
Her focus these days: working with fishermen and researchers seeking a way to discourage sperm whales, the world's largest toothed cetaceans, from invading fishing gear searching for food, often the black cod pursued by commercial fishermen.
One enticing prospect: acrylic beads attached to lines that are designed to confuse a sperm whale's built-in sonar, echoing back a signal that resembles a tasty sablefish. Straley hopes the whales will mix up the signal returned by a fish and the signal from the beads.
"It's inexpensive and it doesn't damage anybody's gear," she told the Associated Press. "If it works, it will be great. It's passive deterrent."
Straley is an associate professor at the University of Alaska Southeast and science director for Sitka's WhaleFest. She's married to popular author John Straley. In addition to her research, she's mentored an array of other scientists and is adept at interpreting science to the public.
"Many people hear the word science, and they think it's some mysterious, deep subject that they might not know about," WhaleFest executive director Lily Herwald told KCAW. "Jan has dedicated much of her time and effort toward helping make science accessible to everyone, and to link how important the research is to our everyday lives. She's an amazing advocate for science outreach."
The Alaska Ocean Leadership awards will be given out Saturday at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage.
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