David Mattila-Humpback Whales in the North Pacific

Dave Mattila is the science and rescue coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary where endangered humpback whales come every winter to breed, calve, and nurse in the shallow warm waters around the islands. Dave is a specialist in whale disentanglement from marine debris and conducts research on Humpback whales with a collaborative of scientists in the Pacific ocean. The study titled SPLASH, (Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance, and Status of Humpbacks) is an international effort to understand the population structure of humpback whales across the Pacific. Hear about the study and stories from the field of disentangling whales