BMMRO: Three Decades Tracking Whales and Dolphins in Bahamian Waters

Growing out of a survey begun in 1991 and formally established as a Bahamian nonprofit in 2006, BMMRO conducts small-boat photo-identification surveys, stranding response, and genetic sampling of whales and dolphins around Abaco and across the archipelago. Published research from the program's first two decades documented more than 1,900 marine mammal encounters spanning 20 species, and the organization's rapid response to a mass beaked whale stranding in 2000 helped establish the first documented link between naval sonar exercises and beaked whale deaths. BMMRO's ongoing surveys have since identified a resident population of beaked whales living in the Great Bahama Canyon. The organization also runs Whale Camps for Bahamian students and internships for marine biology trainees.