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Research Biologist |
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Telephone: |
(206)-526-4035 |
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National Marine Mammal Laboratory |
Current Activities
Shawn Dahle is a fishery biologist working with the Polar Ecosystems Program since 2002. Shawn began working at NMML on a multi-year, multi-dimensional study to determine the potential impacts of cruise ship traffic on a harbor seal population in Disenchantment Bay, Alaska. He has also helped conduct several field studies to determine the distribution, abundance, and movement patterns of harbor seals in Alaska, which have involved aerial photogrammetric surveys, shipboard observations, seal capture to attach satellite time-depth recorders, and GIS/photo analysis. Recently, Shawn has also helped conduct similar studies on ice seal populations (i.e., ribbon, spotted, bearded, and ringed seals) in the eastern Bering Sea.
Background
Shawn received a B.S. in animal ecology with a minor in environmental studies from Iowa State University in 1996 and worked seasonally as a fisheries aide with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for three summers before going to graduate school. For his master's, Shawn studied the life history and distribution of an endangered minnow species (the Topeka shiner) at the University of Minnesota and received a M.S. in fisheries conservation in 2001. Shawn's first marine mammal experiences during graduate school included working on a Weddell seal population dynamics project in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, for two field seasons and then participating in a New Zealand fur seal census on Kangaroo Island, Australia.
