The restoration of large whale populations (e.g., blue, fin, humpback, right) around the world continues to be challenged despite decades of whaling moratoria. The measures currently in practice for whale restoration have had some success but remain insufficient, particularly in the face of increasing human uses of the oceans. Protected areas and suggested guidelines are no longer sufficient to save whales; active and informed solutions are critical for building on successes as well as kick-starting restoration of some imperiled species, e.g., North Atlantic Right Whales.
Innovative Direction
For whale population restoration to become an effective conservation tool, we must both improve the efficacy of restoration designs and enhance large-scale monitoring to identify when and why restoration succeeds—and how to amplify successes. The Duke RESTORE Share our Seas Team will address both needs by partnering with industry and conservation organizations while training the next generation of marine scientists and engineers in cutting-edge restoration science, engineering, and practice.
Our Team
Our Goals
With this core team, we aim to build the Duke RESTORE Share our Seas Team as both a scientific hub and a driver of durable solutions for whale conservation and restoration. The Center will provide training and generational information transfer while contributing to that information and solution base necessary for tackling the wicked problem of sharing the seas with our mammalian cousins.
- The team will pursue parallel efforts to address vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglement, and noise disturbance through integrated education, outreach, and research.
- Effective whale conservation and restoration require input and genuine engagement from all stake holders: NGOs, industry, academia, government, and civil society (e.g., fishers). Duke RESTORE will collaborate and coordinate with all stakeholders to build durable restoration strategies capable of withstanding future environmental and anthropogenic change.
- To scale innovations, Duke RESTORE will partner with colleagues already identified as well as innovation startup companies like Fathom Science, which is building an AI-assisted tool to assist with vessel strike mitigation.
Activities
The Duke RESTORE Share the Seas Team will unite innovative science, engineering, education, outreach, and partnerships to help transform whale restoration from disparate ideas into a scalable, sustainable model.
