Dr. Michael Poole, an American who lives in Moorea, French Polynesia as a NOS research associate has conducted scientific research on whales and dolphins since 1980. He received a Bachelor’s Degree from the university of Miami, Florida, assisting studies on manatees and false killer whales. His three years of Master’s Degree research (California State University, Sonoma) discovered the route and timing used by gray whale females and calves migrating north along the California coast. He was a student of Dr. Kenneth Norris, the world’s foremost authority dolphins/ whales. We believe that Dr. Poole himself is now one of the world’s experts on dolphins and whales. Remember “Humphrey”, the humpback whale stuck in the Sacramento (Calif) River in the early 1990′s? Dr. Poole’s efforts to rescue Humphrey were featured on ABC’s Nightline and Good Morning America. Over the years, his research has been featured in a variety of shows on international television, one of the more recent being the 1999 research featured on the Discovery and Animal Planet channels in a documentary called “Shark Central: The Secrets of Rangiroa Atoll”.
His specialty, however, is marine mammals in the French Polynesian waters….Stenella longirostris (Spinner Dolphins), Tursiops truncatus (Bottlenose Dolphins), Steno bredanensis (Rough-toothed Dolphins), and Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whales). Much of his efforts over the past thirteen years (partially modeled after Dr. Jane Goodall’s 38 yrs of chimpanzee research) has been on spinner dolphins in French Polynesia.
Dr. Poole continually needs donations in order to continue his work – If you would like to make a donation, or would like more information please contact us using the information to the left.