But we cannot fix this human impact until we understand it better. Because whales travel so far, the problem is a global one. Mate said there is a growing threat to their whales from fishing nets, ships, pollution, global warming and other human impacts, placing some whales in as much peril as whale did in the past. Yet he is confident that the research that he and others conduct can provide the raw data vital to understanding the creatures' habitats and determining how to lessen the human impact. I can't explain to a seventh-grader.
Whales are phenomenal creatures.
But they need our help. Mate's whale research is profiled in the most recent issue of Oregon's Agricultural Progress, a magazine published by the OSU Agricultural Experiment Station.