Tales of Northern California Whales

Biologist Bill Keener of The Marine Mammal Center will present the results of the latest studies on the cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in San Francisco Bay and coast of Northern California. This is a story about the health of this busy marine ecosystem, and how we are learning to live with four species that we can all see from shore: harbor porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales and gray whales.

Bill Keener is a scientist with The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California where he studies the local whales, dolphins, and porpoises. He documented the return of harbor porpoises to San Francisco Bay after an absence of 65 years and studied their unusual social lives. He created the first northern California bottlenose dolphin photo-ID catalog. His latest research is focused on gray whales and humpback whales, and the conservation implications of increasing numbers of whales along our coast.

Gray Whale in SF Bay. Photo: Bill Keener