Meet the Right Whale Expert

• About Ask the Expert
• Submit Your Questions
  Paid subscribers only. Deadline May 5, 1997

  Anne Smrcina, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

  Hi, this is Anne Smrcina from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

  I bet a lot of you have questions about the whales, and I'm looking forward to exploring these issues with you during the Ask the Expert week for humpback and right whales. First, I have to admit I'm not an "expert" in whales. I'm the education coordinator for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary with offices located in Plymouth, Mass. But although I can't claim any time spent in whale field research, I have had a long-standing personal interest in marine mammals. I was co-author of the right whale curriculum book "From Whaling to Watching" produced by the Gray's Reef and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuaries, and have written several other publications and articles on whales for newsletters, brochures, curricula, etc.

  Over the course of my time here at the Sanctuary, I have sailed out on several commercial whale watches and have gone out into Cape Cod Bay with right whale researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies.

  I will attempt to answer the questions for which I have personal knowledge, and will consult with top whale researchers for those questions to which I have no answers. Among the technical specialists I will be calling on are:

  Scott Kraus, Philip Hamilton, Amy Knowlton, and Chris Slay from the New England Aquarium's right whale research group; Greg Stone, also from the NE Aquarium, and a humpback whale specialist; "Stormy" Mayo, Marilyn Marx, and Dave Mattila from the Center for Coastal Studies; Idelissa Bonnelly and Kim Beddall from the Dominican Republic; and other researchers and whale experts as needed.

  My love of the ocean has roots all the way back to elementary school, where ocean life was always a fascinating subject (although I think I found dinosaurs even more interesting then). At sixth grade graduation, I listed working at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography as one of my career goals in my autograph book. During my jr high and high school days (at Hunter College High School, grades 7-12, in New York City) my interest in oceans and science continued. I still have a paper I wrote in eighth grade science about underwater geological features and ocean currents. In high school I had tentatively decided on a career in medicine, but by college had changed my mind. At Cornell University I majored in biology, and took a wide range of science courses. I liked science, but couldn't decide on any one field in which to specialize. Instead, I decided that I would write about all kinds of science as a science journalist.

  With a science writing goal in mind, I attended Boston University's Graduate School of Communication and received a Master's in Journalism (science communication). After an initial jobs with a laboratory equipment company and a computer company, I then landed a job with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where I served as a public information officer (including the incredibally exciting days during the two TITANIC Expeditions). I moved on to the Mass. Coastal Zone Management Office as information and education specialist for 7 years, before taking on the task as Sanctuary Education Coordinator in 1994. I absolutely love the incredible variety of projects that are happening here -- from writing newsletters and brochures, to producing videos and a CD-ROM on the food web. I also get to design curricula and exhibits, travel for speaking engagements, and contact the media about Sanctuary programs in resource protection, research and education. And, of course, I always look forward to my weekly contribution to the Journey North project. I certainly have learned a lot in producing these weekly reports, and I hope they've been of interest to all of you.

  I look forward to your questions.

  Anne

  Visit Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary