Log Transcript

Kim Marshall-Tilas, Chairman of the Board - Tom Tilas and Trustee Lorraine Downey have flown to Christmas Island from Boston to join the Odyssey in the central tropical pacific as we continue our search for sperm whales. While Kim has worked for the Ocean Alliance for over 9 years and has spent months at sea aboard Odyssey her role as Sr Director at the Ocean Alliance has kept her on shore for the last 3 years. It great to have her back on board.

Hello, this is Kim. My role at OA is to manage the day to day operations and oversee the many projects within the OA family. My job includes shore support for the Voyage, program planning, fundraising, office management, coordination of the right whale program and overseeing our education and communications efforts.

I have worked closely with our VP Iain Kerr and President Dr. Roger Payne over the last 9 years during which this voyage has been in the making, I am very excited to see the program in action. The Voyage, now in its 230th day, is proving to be not only a source of valuable data about ocean pollution, but also an effective way to educate people who share our interest in helping this fragile planet.

Formally trained as a biologist my experiences at OA include working in Argentina where I assist in surveys in which we photograph the heads of right whales from the air. These photographs are later used to identify individual right whales. I also participate in data collection that ultimately helps to protect this critically endangered species of baleen whale. They were hunted almost to extinction and have still not made a full comeback.

My first field experience at OA was aboard the Odyssey during a passage to the Galapagos Islands in 1993. This trip was designed to test the efficiency of the Voyage of the Odyssey concept and demonstrated that it would be possible. I have since worked aboard the Odyssey in Alaska and Mexico.

Back home I still get to spend time with the whales when I work as a naturalist aboard our affiliated whale watch company, Cape Ann Whale Watch, (CAWW).

As I return to the Odyssey this time I realize that my dreams and early visions have become a reality. A reality that has pulled together some outstanding scientists and a crew and staff that are dedicated and committed to quality research and education. It is our full time mandate to bring important scientific information to you via this web site and the scientific community in an accessible form.

Log by Kim Marshall-Tilas

| Back |