Iain Kerr, CEO of the Ocean Alliance, will be the second speaker for the 70th season of the Amos Fortune Forum, held at the Jaffrey Center Meeting House. On Friday, July 15, Kerr will ponder the question “Why whales?”
Just back from a SnotBot expedition to the Sea of Cortez, Kerr will talk about his 30-plus years in the field of marine mammal science, developing benign research tools and what it is like to work with the largest animals that have ever lived on this blue planet. Found in all oceans of the world, feeding at the top of ocean food chains, whales are humanity’s proverbial canary in the coal mine.
According to the Huffington Post, the SnotBot is the latest tool to help in whale research. It is a drone that actually flies over the whale to collect DNA, viruses and hormones from what the whale exhales from its blow hole, thus keeping the whale untouched and safe.
The Ocean Alliance is an organization recognized as an international leader in whale research and ocean conservation since its founding by renowned scientist Dr. Roger Payne in 1970. Ocean Alliance programs include the Voyages of the Odyssey and the Patagonia Right Whale Program, the longest continuous study of any great whale species.
Speakers at the forum are presented at 8 p.m. sharp on Friday evenings in the summer.
As is the custom of the Forum, no admission is charged, however, donations are accepted. After each forum, a brief reception is held with each speaker next door at the First Church in Jaffrey parish hall.
The next speaker on July 22 will be writer and New York Times columnist Dan Barry on “Baseball, Bunkhouses, and Burlesque: Travels Across America.”
For more information on the forum, visit www.amosfortune.com.