Ocean Alliance

In late 1960s, renowned cetacean biologist Dr. Roger Payne made a groundbreaking discovery that humpback whales sing songs, leading to the birth of the the global movement of whale conservation. In 1971, Dr. Payne founded Ocean Alliance, a whale-conservation and marine-protection nonprofit organization. In the decades since, Payne and Ocean Alliance have been internationally recognized, making critical advancements in the field of marine conservation. 

For more than 50 years, Ocean Alliance has studied southern right whales, the most endangered of the great whales. Through this program — the longest running study of its kind — Ocean Alliance tracks the activities of more than 2,600 whales. The Gloucester, Massachusetts-based organization also conducted the Voyage of the Odyssey expedition (2000-2005), during which scientists traveled 87,000 miles across every major ocean and collected nearly 1,000 blubber biopsies from whales. The findings were critical in exposing chemical pollution as a severe threat to the world's oceans and whale populations.

In 2014, Ocean Alliance strengthened its conservation efforts through emerging drone technology. Its Drones for Whale Research (DFWR) program champions the use of drones in marine mammal science. Through its innovative initiatives and tenacious commitment to restoring cetacean populations, Ocean Alliance remains one of the world's preeminent marine conservation organizations.