Project Grant N000142612038

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program provides $643,665 to the National Marine Mammal Foundation, Inc. to conduct collaborative research on oxygen transport mechanisms in elite diving mammals. The 4-year project, beginning December 1, 2023, will evaluate and model in vivo oxygen delivery during dive simulations with California sea lions and bottlenose dolphins. It will also elucidate the biochemical mechanisms regulating red blood cell oxygen...

This $418,546 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program supports collaborative research to investigate oxygen transport mechanisms in elite diving mammals. The research team from San Diego State University will evaluate and model in vivo oxygen delivery in California sea lions and bottlenose dolphins, elucidate the biochemical regulation of oxygen off-loading in these species, and examine oxygen storage and diffusion in their skeletal muscle. This...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a $133,417 Project Grant under the Marine Mammal Data Program (CFDA 11.439) to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to study acoustic and environmental cues associated with mass stranding events (MSEs) of marine mammals. The primary goal is to develop a predictive model for MSEs using acoustic and environmental variables that could aid in an early warning system to improve stranding outcomes. The project also...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $1,363,205 Project Grant under its Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to conduct collaborative research on oxygen transport mechanisms in elite diving mammals. The project aims to investigate differences in how oxygen is delivered to skeletal muscles in pinnipeds (e.g., sea lions) versus cetaceans (e.g., dolphins) during long-duration dives. The research team will evaluate in vivo oxygen...

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) awarded a $582,778 Cooperative Agreement to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to conduct a field study on the behavioral and physiological effects of pile driving from offshore renewable energy construction on key Atlantic fisheries species. The three-year project, spanning December 2023 to December 2026, will provide data and analysis to support BOEM's marine environmental assessments and decision-making related to offshore energy...

The National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs awarded $500,233 under a Project Grant to the Regents of the University of California, doing business as the University of California, Berkeley, to support collaborative research titled "Role of Endothelial Cell Activation in Hypoxia Tolerance of an Elite Diver, the Weddell Seal" from July 15, 2021 to June 30, 2025. The research aims to strengthen understanding of fundamental biological processes related to hypoxia tolerance in...

This three-year, $551,413 National Science Foundation project grant supports research into the origin of large brains in cetaceans. Funded under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), the award to Northeast Ohio Medical University will analyze fossil collections to identify factors contributing to brain size expansion in early whales. Researchers will test the hypothesis that the acquisition of echolocation led to increases in brain size by studying changes in ear shape over time. They will also...

This two-year, $465,684 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Polar Programs will support research exploring the role of bubble-net feeding cultural innovations in humpback whale populations in the Antarctic Peninsula region. The University of California Santa Cruz will leverage long-term data from the LTER study on the western Antarctic Peninsula, including from animal-borne tags, behavioral observations, biopsies, photo-identification, and drone footage. Researchers will model...

This federal Project Grant award from the Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) under CFDA 12.300 - Basic and Applied Scientific Research provides $124,698.00 in funding to the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) to conduct research on "PHYSIOLOGICAL RESILIENCE IN MAMMALIAN DIVERS- THERMAL VULNERABILITIES AND SYNERGIES IN CETACEANS FOLLOWING ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCE". The research project, which runs from Dec 1, 2025 to Nov 30, 2026, aims to advance...

The University of California Santa Cruz received a two-year, $203,531 Project Grant from the Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research to support a multi-purpose research platform for ecological and applied research on cetaceans in California. The platform will conduct basic and applied scientific research on whales and dolphins under the Basic and Applied Scientific Research program (CFDA 12.300), which aims to improve naval operations through externally-performed research with...