Major Focus Funding of Marine Environment Concerns:
	The Ocean Foundation ($368,000) In 2008, the Pacific Life Foundation created the Pacific Life Foundation Whale Research Fund with a $218,000 grant to The Ocean Foundation.  In 2009, we will contribute an additional $150,000 to the fund.  The Ocean Foundation will assist Pacific Life Foundation in determining which research grants for marine mammal protection should be funded.
	American Cetacean Society’s Gray Whale Workshop ($30,000) A grant to underwrite the Gray Whale Research Workshop which took place following the American Cetacean Society’s Conference in Monterey, CA in November 2008. The purpose of the workshop was to bring together a group of marine scientists with broad research interests to review and discuss gray whale population dynamics and behavior change in the context of environmental changes that are being observed throughout the gray whales’ North Pacific and Arctic range. The goal of the workshop was to assist in the development of a qualitative framework for integrating gray whales and other marine mammals into ecosystem and climate change studies.
	Aquarium of the Pacific: Seafood for the Future ($441,000) Pacific Life Foundation began a partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific in 2008 with an initial grant of $142,000 towards a $441,000 commitment to fund “Seafood for the Future”, a program which will promote the consumption of seafood from sustainable sources – both wild caught and farm-raised.  The aquarium will accomplish this through a public education campaign as well as partnerships with Southern California restaurants and seafood suppliers.
	Oregon State University/Marine Mammal Institute ($55,000) In conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Northwest Fisheries, the Pacific Life Foundation is jointly funding a study by Oregon State University which will provide an independent estimate of the illegal and undocumented killings of minke whales and other large whales in South Korean waters.  This survey will be presented to the International Whaling Commission in 2009 in an effort to counteract South Korea’s efforts to increase their commercial catch allotment.
	Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO) ($54,400) A foundation grant supported the Corsair Project, a component of the 2008 Vaquita Expedition which monitored the critically endangered vaquita (also known as the Gulf of California harbor porpoise) who are only found in the Northern Gulf of California.  The vaquita is the world’s most critically endangered marine mammal with about 150 remaining.  Under current fishing practices, it is estimated that 40 vaquita are killed each year in nets.  This number far exceeds the number of calves that are produced by the remaining mammals.  At this rate, vaquita are likely only two years away from declining to a level where extinction may be inevitable.  The Corsair Project surveyed the vaquita population in fall 2008 by acoustic detection of vaquita vocalizations using a passive hydrophone arrays towed behind a sailing vessel (Corsair) and we expect a report to be published on this survey in early 2009.
	Scripps Hildebrand Lab/University of California, San Diego ($15,000) This grant was used to hire an undergraduate research assistant (Sara Kerosky) to produce a report that summarizes current cetacean research and conservation efforts worldwide and also U.S. government policy regarding marine mammals.  This report highlights current research needs and ongoing conservation issues.  To view a copy of the report, please click here.
	University of Alaska Southeast ($30,000) This grant was made in collaboration with the Whale Fund of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which provided $89,000 towards the survey.  These two grants funded the collection of data about whale-ship encounters from observers on cruise ships in Alaska and the creation of models to test how factors like ship speed influence these encounters.  The project’s aim was to implement more effective, evidence based management strategies and influence cruise ship itineraries or routes in order to reduce encounters or strikes of humpback whales.
	International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) ($300,000)  For the past 20 years, there has been a ban on global whaling.  A current multi-year foundation grant is supporting IFAW’s public relations campaign to encourage local governments of selected Caribbean islands to support the international ban on whaling at the International Whaling Commission.  IFAW (www.ifaw.org), along with other non-governmental organizations and some governments, have made significant progress in the past two years to bring several Caribbean and Central American countries over to the anti-whaling side.
	The Whale Center of New England ($30,000) This center was founded in 1980 to study whales using the waters off the coast of Massachusetts. In 2007, this pre-eminent research institution was in need of a larger vessel to increase its capacity to conduct whale research further offshore. A one-time grant from the foundation helped to make the purchase of a new research vessel possible.
	Pro Peninusla ($68,000) A two year grant designated to the Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program to help fund the 2006 and 2008 field studies of gray whales by Dr. Steven Swartz and Dr. Jorge Urban.
	SPLASH/Cascadia Research ($260,000) In 2005 and 2006 the Pacific Life Foundation was a major funder of the SPLASH (Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance, and Status of Humpbacks) Project which was one of the largest international collaborative studies of any whale population ever conducted.  It was designed to determine abundance, trends, movements, and population structure of humpback whales throughout the North Pacific and to examine human impacts on this population. This successful study involved over 50 research groups and more than 400 researchers in ten countries.  In 2008, a foundation grant was given to ensure that all the data that was collected will be available to future researchers through an online catalog.  The catalog is expected to be the largest and most complete catalog of humpback whale identifications ever compiled, with over 10,000 unique identifications.
	Pacific Marine Mammal Center ($60,000) Pacific Life Foundation contributed $40,000 in 2005 & 2006 towards the center’s Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades, which included installation of a wheelchair lift and other capital improvements.  In 2009, Pacific Life Foundation contributed an additional $20,000 to support their renovation of the center’s nursery and ICU.
	Aquarium of the Pacific: Voices in the Sea ($275,135) Beginning in 2003, the foundation funded the development and implementation of Whales: Voices in the Sea, an interactive exhibit that was unveiled in 2004 at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.  The exhibit is a collaboration between the Aquarium of the Pacific, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and several leading whale researchers.  The award-winning educational exhibit is housed in a large kiosk and is designed to educate aquarium visitors about whales and porpoises by having them listen and learn about the sounds of the whales, watch videos of the marine mammals in their natural habitat, learn about conservation issues, and view recorded interviews with scientists. An online version of the exhibit was also developed and can be accessed at www.voicesinthesea.org. Over the years the exhibit has been expanded with information about other species of whales and porpoises. In addition, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the NOAA Fisheries Service partnered with the Pacific Life Foundation to provide the Voices in the Sea exhibit to three other aquariums – the Birch Aquarium at UC San Diego; the National Aquarium in Washington DC; and the Seattle Aquarium in Seattle.
	The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($150,000) The Pacific Life Foundation supported the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) (www.nfwf.org) National Whale Conservation Fund in 2002 and 2003.  The fund supports research, management, and education to protect and restore whale populations in the U.S. waters.
	Ocean Alliance ($500,000) A multi-year grant from the Pacific Life Foundation helped support the Voyage of the Odyssey, a five-year (2000-2005) research trip conducted aboard the Ocean Alliance’s research vessel Odyssey (www.oceanalliance.org).  The Odyssey circled the globe to gather baseline data on levels and effects of synthetic contaminants in all of the world’s oceans by taking thumbnail-sized tissue samples from more than 900 sperm whales.  The sperm whale was chosen because they are a species that can be found in every ocean on the planet, have long life spans, and feed high on food chains thus making them a good measure of ocean pollution.  The research turned up shocking evidence of contaminants in marine mammals including high levels of toxins such as DDT, PCB, HCB, mercury, chromium, and aluminum, among many others.
	Whale Conservation Institute / Ocean Alliance ($129,000) In 1998, the Foundation funded the W.H.A.L.E. (Whales Higher Appreciation Learning Experience) education program, presented to 100 primary and secondary schools in the fall of 1998 to educate teachers and students about marine mammals. WHALE '99, the second phase of the program, was a collaborative effort between the Whale Conservation Institute/Ocean Alliance (WCI/OA), Destination Cinema (national distributor of the IMAX film, Whales), and ten science museums in major metropolitan areas throughout the nation which hosted the project. WCI/OA staff visited museums to show the IMAX version of Whales and then presented a lecture following the screening to educate and inspire 600 students at each museum to learn more about marine mammals and how to protect them. In addition, each participating student’s classroom received the W.H.A.L.E. program materials, which included classroom curriculum, reference books, CDs, a CD-ROM, video tapes and a poster.