Because our oceans face so many challenges, we work to help shape ocean management to reduce threats and ensure sustainable human uses, giving time for wildlife to adapt to climate change.

We invite agencies, universities, NGOs, and other partners to collaborate with us to conduct applied science and implement actions that protect biodiversity, aesthetic value, and recreational uses, while promoting sustainable fisheries, alternative energy, carbon sequestration, water quality, and habitat connectivity.

Our work is focused on sustainable fisheries and improved ocean zoning strategies that protect wildlife and ecosystems by engaging decision makers and the public in support of healthy oceans.


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Jaime Jahncke, PhD

Email: jjahncke@pointblue.org

California Current Group Director

Sustainable Fisheries

We take an ecosystem approach to protecting fisheries. We conduct the science needed to sustain the integrity of marine ecosystems for wildlife and people.

Our work focuses on understanding the complex ecological relationships between marine life species and providing recommendations to ensure healthy fish and wildlife populations while allowing for human needs.

Forage Fish: Unsung Heroes

Our science helps protect the invisible superheroes of the sea: krill, anchovy, juvenile rockfish, market squid, and others. Absence or decline in these forage species can lead to devastating collapses in other species higher along the food chain, like salmon, seabirds, and whales.

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Understanding Predators

We also document and share the needs of forage fish predators, like seabirds and whales. We include this information in stock assessments and management plans to help ensure ecosystem-based management approaches and preserve healthy overall food webs.

Seabirds as Indicators

Sometimes, the best way to learn about the ocean's health is by studying the birds that depend on it. We're conducting seabird studies that provide additional information on fish not captured by more conventional fish surveys. This information helps managers better understand local fish community patterns for multiple and individual species.


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Jaime Jahncke, PhD

Email: jjahncke@pointblue.org

California Current Group Director

Informed Ocean Zoning

Alternative energy installations and commercial shipping are just a couple of the activities that can have an impact on marine wildlife. Point Blue’s long-term research and monitoring makes us well-positioned to help guide these important ocean management decisions. Our results have already identified areas of high use for whales, which have helped guide where shipping lanes should be placed to reduce ship strikes to whales. Identifying where wildlife and human activities overlap is key to finding solutions that work for both people and wildlife.

Saving Whales from Ships

Nearly 80 whales die off the west coast from ship strikes during each year’s peak abundance period from June-November. Point Blue is working with agencies, conservation partners and the maritime industry to develop coastwide strategies to decrease whale mortality.

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Managing Human Uses

The West Coast's continental shelf has significant renewable energy potential. Point Blue is working with agencies, conservation partners, and industry to develop tools to protect wildlife and existing human uses, facilitate future monitoring, and streamline decision-making.

Adding Knowledge to the Pot

We're working with agencies, conservation partners, and fishers to make science-based recommendations to reduce whale entanglement during the crab fishing season. To stop whales from getting caught in fishing gear, we're working on a key first step: understanding when and where whales and gear co-exist.

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Pete Warzybok

Email: pwarzybok@pointblue.org

Senior Marine Ecologist

Farallon Islands

We’re proud and honored to be protecting and conserving the largest seabird colony south of Alaska with over 350,000 breeding seabirds, as well as more than 5,000 seals and sea lions. We’re working to understand and predict the effects of a changing climate and other environmental conditions on island wildlife and initiate effective conservation and management actions. Since 1968, we’ve been conducting research on this National Wildlife Refuge, in close collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We document population dynamics, diet composition, and reproductive success of 13 seabird species, 5 seal and sea lion species, and white sharks.

Explore the Farallones

Even though the Farallones are closed to public access to protect the sensitive wildlife and habitat, you can still explore the "Galapagos of California" from the comfort of your home. Keep an eye on our events page to tune in live.

Farallon Islands Live Webcam

Overview of Point Blue on the Farallones

Live from the Farallones Video Playlist

The Farallon Island Experience mini-documentary

The Farallon Islands, "California's Galapagos" - KQED QUEST (2009)

Farallon Restoration

Point Blue works with our conservation partners to support the restoration and enhancement of habitat, removal of invasive species, and protection of resources for the Farallon ecosystem. We conduct scientific evaluations to determine the impact of habitat alteration and provide recommendations for conservation actions.

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50 Years of Accomplishments

Since April 3, 1968, our research program has led to:
* The 1994 ban on gill-netting protecting seabirds from being killed as bycatch
* The 1993 ban on White Shark hunting in California
* The 2010 establishment of Marine Protected Area regulations around the islands
* Detection of climate change signals in the SF Bay Area’s backyard
* Close to 1,000 interns trained in conservation science

Explore a small selection of our scientific publications below (more can be found on our tools & guidance research page).

Impacts of winter storms and oceanic conditions on survival of Elephant Seal pups. Published in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Oceanographic drivers of winter habitat use in Cassin’s auklets. Published in Ecological Applications.

Fluorescent ornamentation in the Rhinoceros Auklet. Published in the Ibis.

Multiple double broods within a lifetime associated with higher quality Cassin’s Auklets. Published in Proceedings of the Royals Society B.

More frequent El Niño Southern Oscillation might not be bad for seabirds. Theoretical Ecology.


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Jaime Jahncke, PhD

Email: jjahncke@pointblue.org

California Current Group Director

Gulf of the Farallones

The Gulf of the Farallones, bounded by the Golden Gate Bridge, Drakes Bay, and the Farallon Islands, is a global hot spot for marine wildlife. This is because it’s a key upwelling area, where winds help deliver cold, nutrient-rich waters to the ocean’s surface to feed small plant cells called phytoplankton that fuel the entire marine food web, including krill, fish, birds, and whales. Along with our on-island research, we’re also conducting in-depth, long-term studies on these gulf waters.

Research Cruises

The Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) is a long term partnership between Point Blue, Cordell Bank, and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries, where we document changes in wildlife and the marine environment from research boats along set transects.

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Protecting Whales

In partnership with National Marine Sanctuaries, Conserve.IO, and International Fund for Animal Welfare, we're working to help prevent whale deaths from ship strikes. We're engaging mariners and ocean lovers to gather whale observations using the app, Whale Alert West Coast.

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Graduate Studies

There are ample opportunities to engage in our Gulf of the Farallones work as a graduate student. Explore what past and current students have done and are doing and get in touch with us if you're interested.

Contacts


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Dan Robinette

Email: drobinette@pointblue.org

Senior Marine Ecologist

Coastal California

Point Blue studies marine bird communities along the coast of California to inform resource management and guide actions to reduce human impacts on wildlife populations.

The research places emphasis on comparing marine bird colonies inside and outside state Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to determine how human activities and changes in the amount of availble food impact these populations.

This research informs management actions aimed at recovering endangered species as well as guiding future management of California MPAs. In addition, we raise awareness among key coastal user groups to minimize future human-caused disturbances.

Vandenberg Air Force Base

Vandenberg Air Force Base is the initial study site of the Coastal Marine Program established in 1999. Here, we monitor the annual population size and reproductive success of five seabird species and two shorebird species. Our research is used to guide the management of these species and the ecosystems on which they depend.

Video

Citizen Science

Citizen science engages coastal communities in conservation issues surrounding marine wildlife, habitat conservation, and climate change. Since 2013, we have been working in the Morro Bay and Trinidad areas to educate the public about coastal seabird conservation.

Video

Seabird Aware

Seabird colony disturbance by ocean users can lead to major breeding failures and even abandonment of breeding sites. Since 2011, we have been using our science to guide outreach by the Seabird Protection Network and decrease major causes of disturbance throughout California.

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Grant Ballard, PhD

Email: gballard@pointblue.org

Chief Science Officer

Antarctica

We are investigating how Adélie Penguins cope with changes to their environment, including those brought about by growing fisheries and global climate change. We helped facilitate a collaboration of more than 50 researchers from six countries to establish the scientific basis for the Ross Sea marine protected area—one of the largest ever proposed. The present phase of the project was initiated in 1996 in collaboration with H.T. Harvey and Associates, Oregon State University, and Landcare Research in New Zealand, and with financial support provided by the National Science Foundation. Visit Penguin Science to learn more.

Ross Sea Protected

Join us in celebrating the 2016 designation of the largest marine protected area in the world: the Ross Sea in Antarctica. We are proud to have contributed scientific publications to this landmark decision.

News Article

Penguin Science Education & DVD

We have a full-scale education program to teach about climate change and the ongoing research to understand its impacts. Visit Penguin Science's education section to find extensive information, including webisodes, about how penguins are coping with a rapidly changing world.

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Jaime Jahncke, PhD

Email: jjahncke@pointblue.org

California Current Group Director

Ocean Research Opportunities

Interested in ocean research? There are several opportunities to help you gain experience and knowledge of the marine ecosystem. Internships on the Farallon Islands and Antarctica are field research opportunities, while the Marine Lab (located at our Petaluma headquarters) provides research opportunities in a laboratory setting.

Farallon Island Internships

Help Point Blue study marine widlife on a remote island located 27 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. The Farallon Islands host the largest seabird breeding colony in the contiguous United States and are an important breeding site for seals and sea lions.

Careers Page

Marine Lab Internships/Volunteer Opportunities

Help Point Blue track the health of the ocean by examining diet samples of marine predators and zooplankton samples. Internships are full-time, year-long positions. If you can't commit to a full-time internship, volunteer opportunities are also available.

Careers Page

Volunteer

Antarctica Internships

Help Point Blue study Adélie Penguins at two colonies on Ross Island in the Southern Ross Sea, Antarctica. We study many aspects of the penguins' breeding and wintering ecology to increase our understanding of how they respond to change through time.

Penguin Science Internships

Careers


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Diana Humple

Email: dhumple@pointblue.org

Oil Spill Response Coordinator

Oil Spill Response

Point Blue scientists are trained and ready to respond in the event of a local or international oil spill. Our team was formalized in 1994 under contract with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

In the event of an oil spill in California, we conduct “wildlife processing,” which includes species identification, evidence collection, and data collection from all wildlife collected during a spill. We also help in the field with search and collection efforts for oiled wildlife. We conduct these activities as part of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (UC Davis).

If you observe live or dead oiled wildlife in California, call the Oiled Wildlife Sightings Hotline: 1-877-823-6926 (1-877-UCD-OWCN)

Get Involved

Get Involved

You can help the environment and support our work in lots of ways: becoming a conservation volunteer, attending our events, or following and sharing our blogs and newsletters.

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