This course will examine the biology of whales, pinnipeds, and other marine mammals and their conservation. Topics will include general adaptations of mammals to a marine existence; systematics and biogeography of marine mammals; reproduction; energetics and physiology of swimming and diving; vocal communication and echolocation; feeding and migratory behavior; and marine mammal/human interactions. A necropsy of a beach-stranded marine mammal and field studies of harbor seals, sea lions, and gray whales of the Oregon coast will be conducted.

Instructor: Dr. James Sumich, Grossmont College, San Diego

My research focuses on the study of the interactions between newborn gray whale calves and their mothers and the way each budgets its energy expenditures during the period of calf nursing. In 1986, I completed a Ph.D. program at Oregon State University with Dr. Bruce Mate on the distribution, growth patterns, and reproductive energetics of gray whales, and have continued to conduct research in Baja California Sur, California, and Oregon. A young gray whale (JJ) held at Sea World, San Diego for rehabilitation provided 14 months of opportunities to address in a controlled situation several questions related to the development of metabolic rates of very young gray whales. Currently, I am enjoying the recent publication of the 8th edition of a widely adopted marine biology text and lab manual, and am hard at work on a 2nd edition revision of a textbook on the evolutionary biology of marine mammals co-authored with Dr. Annalisa Berta and Dr. Kit Kovacs.

HMSC Homepage