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Research Biologist |
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(206)-526-4020 |
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National Marine Mammal Laboratory |
Current Activities
Marilyn Dahlheim is a wildlife biologist with NMML's Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program. Marilyn has conducted research on several cetacean species in places ranging from Mexico to the Arctic with a primary focus on abundance estimation, distribution, and movements. In 1989, she initiated studies in Southeast Alaska on cetacean biology and ecology, studies which have continued each year to the present. In particular, she has been involved with long-term studies on Southeast Alaska killer whales; she has published several papers addressing abundance, stock structure, contaminant levels, and dietary preferences of killer whales from this region. Recently, she has been working on population studies of harbor porpoise and Dall’s porpoise in Southeast Alaska.
Background
Before joining NMML in 1978, Marilyn worked at Marine World (Redwood City, California) with captive killer whales and bottlenosed dolphins. Between 1974 and 1978, she worked as a biologist/acoustician at the Naval Undersea Center in San Diego. She received her B.S. and M.S. in biology from San Diego State University. Her master’s degree reported on signature information in the calls of captive killer whales. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation was titled "Bioacoustics of the Gray Whale."
