Organizations Filed Purposes:
OCEANS INITIATIVE IS A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS ON A MISSION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE AND THE ECOSYSTEMS ON WHICH THEY DEPEND, INCLUDING WHALES, DOLPHINS, SHARKS, SALMON AND SEABIRDS, IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND BEYOND. LIKE THE WHALES WE STUDY, WE ARE HIGHLY MIGRATORY. WE SPEND HALF OUR TIME GETTING OUR FEET WET IN THE FIELD WHEREVER OUR WORK IS NEEDED, AND THE OTHER HALF IS SPENT USING OUR SCIENCE TO INFORM SMART DECISIONS TO CONSERVE WILDLIFE.
OCEANS INITIATIVE IS A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS ON A MISSION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND BEYOND.
KILLER WHALE CONSERVATION: THIS PAST YEAR, OUR SCIENTISTS WERE ASKED TO GIVE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE TO GOVERNOR INSLEE'S SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALE TASK FORCE. OUR SCIENCE WAS USED TO GUIDE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS, NAMELY TO INCREASE CHINOOK SALMON AVAILABILITY BY 15% AND REDUCE NOISE AND DISTURBANCE BY 50%, TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE WHALES TO HUNT FOR CHINOOK SALMON USING SOUND. EARLIER IN 2019, GOVERNOR INSLEE SIGNED FIVE CRUCIAL ORCA RECOVERY BILLS INTO LAW THAT FOCUS ON PROTECTING ORCAS FROM VESSEL NOISE AND TRAFFIC, IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF OIL TRANSPORTATION THROUGH THE SALISH SEA, AND INCREASING FISH FORAGE HABITAT AND CHINOOK SALMON FOR THE ORCA'S FOOD SOURCE. ACCORDINGLY, OUR SCIENCE HAS BEEN SOUGHT AGAIN TO FURTHER INFORM SPECIFIC RECOVERY REQUIREMENTS, FILL IN DATA GAPS, AND MEASURE PROGRESS IN A QUEST TO SAVE SRKWS FROM EXTINCTION.
SOUND OCEAN: SOUND IS AS IMPORTANT TO MARINE WILDLIFE AS VISION IS TO HUMANS. WE MERGE ACOUSTIC SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION BIOLOGY TO KEEP IMPORTANT OCEAN HABITATS QUIET, AND TO MAKE NOISY AREAS QUIETER. IN 2019, WE WORKED WITH WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE TO REDUCE NOISE FROM SHIPS AND BOATS IN THE SALISH SEA, TO PROMOTE SURVIVAL AND RECOVERY OF ENDANGERED SPECIES.
BYCATCH AND SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES: OCEANS INITIATIVE PARTNERED WITH SCIENTISTS AT IUCN AND NOAA TO CREATE THE ANIMAL COUNTING TOOLKIT, A LOW COST SYSTEM FOR RAPIDLY ASSESSING MARINE MAMMAL POPULATIONS. WE THEN WORKED WITH UW FISHERIES SCIENTISTS TO BUILD STATISTICAL TOOLS TO HELP LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES COMPLY WITH A NEW U.S. SEAFOOD TRADE RULE THAT WILL BAN SEAFOOD EXPORTS TO THE U.S. UNLESS COUNTRIES CAN DEMONSTRATE THAT THEIR BY-CATCH MEETS COMPARABLE SUSTAINABILITY POLICIES AS THE U.S.
Executives Listed on Filing
Total Salary includes financial earnings, benefits, and all related organization earnings listed on tax filing
| Name | Title | Hours Per Week | Total Salary |
|---|
| Rob Williams | CHIEF SCIENTIST | 40 | $113,000 |
| Erin Ashe | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | 40 | $61,000 |
| Melissa Hornbein | BOARD MEMBER | 2 | $0 |
| Gae Weber | SECRETARY | 5 | $0 |
| Duschka Fowler-Dunning | TREASURER | 5 | $0 |
Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (
public 990 form dataset) from:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202033219349325213_public.xml