History
Ocean Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1971 by Roger Payne. Dr. Payne has conducted research on whales in all the oceans of the world, and has been an eloquent spokesman for their welfare for over three decades. In the early 1970s, he was among the first to sound the alarm about the threat of worldwide pollution of the oceans that most people are only now learning about. In the January 1979 issue of National Geographic, Dr. Payne said, “Pollution has replaced the harpoon as a mortal threat to whales, and in its way can be far more deadly."
Believing that rigorous science and widespread public education are basic requirements for long-term conservation, Dr. Payne founded Ocean Alliance for the purpose of carrying out both those missions. Ocean Alliance is headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, but our areas of activity are global. We have research partnerships in South America and our research vessel Odyssey (a 93-foot, steel, ocean-going ketch) operates in all the oceans of the world from her home base in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Dr. Payne's work with whales first came to the public's attention in 1967 when, along with colleague Scott McVay, he discovered that the eerie sounds made by humpback whales were actually complex, repeated patterns of sounds and thus songs. He and the members of his laboratory determined that these songs change constantly and when complex, often include rhyme. National Geographic’s January 1979 publication included Dr. Payne’s playable recording called, "Songs of the Humpback Whale". It was this recording which presented most of us with our first opportunity to hear and appreciate these songs.
Over the years, the songs of the humpback have had a powerful impact on the public’s consciousness.
Another of Dr. Payne’s contributions to the welfare of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) came in the early years of his career, when he revolutionized cetacean research by introducing and refining benign research techniques. These innovative techniques demonstrated that it was possible to learn more, faster by not killing whales.
For his work, Dr. Payne has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, the 1994 Lyndhurst Prize, a knighthood from the Netherlands, and has been named to the United Nations Environmental Program's Global 500 Roll of Honor. The National Geographic Society has referred to him as "the Dean of modern whale research," and his work has appeared four times on the pages of the National Geographic as well as in many technical publications. He is the author of books about whales for both technical and popular audiences published in several languages, his most recent in English is Among Whales (1995), in which he examines whales and their environment from a personal perspective, drawing on his experience during more than thirty years of studying them.
He is a well-known and respected figure at international meetings, conferences, and symposiums, including the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission.
His work has been the subject of more than thirty television documentaries, including 1991's popular, Emmy-nominated "In the Company of Whales." In 1995 Dr. Payne co-wrote, and co-directed the IMAX production, "Whales," which was well received by critics and the public alike. An audience estimated at 40,000 people from all over the world currently sees this film each week. It has always been Payne’s hope that films and publications directed at the general public will help to educate the world about whales and their uncertain future.
In recent years, Ocean Alliance has widened its interests to include the study of marine pollution using whales as a model subject. The amounts of harmful chemicals making their way into the sea by land and by air is of great concern. Understanding the health of the oceans is more important now than ever before. Recognizing the urgency for information to better deal with this problem, Ocean Alliance set out to do what no government agency or organization had ever attempted to do before: spend 5½ years aboard their research vessel, Odyssey, collecting samples from sperm whales from around the world, and analyzing their levels of heavy metals and synthetic contaminants; thus, achieving a baseline study of the levels of pollution in the oceans.
For almost 40 years, Ocean Alliance has made a positive difference in this world. Our dedicated staff works hard to carry out its on-going mission and to do so with scientific integrity foremost. Ocean Alliance pledges its continued commitment to help protect and preserve the marine environment on which the lives of all of us, people as well as whales, are utterly dependent.
