 |
PETER
C. HOWORTH
SENIOR BIOLOGIST, PRINCIPAL
Qualifications
Peter Howorth has been involved with marine mammals since
1964, when he began collecting live specimens of whales,
dolphins, seals, and sea lions for marine life parks and
for the US Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, which started
at Pt. Mugu, California, and is now based in San Diego.
Soon afterward, he began to provide logistical support
for a variety of government marine mammal research projects,
including the annual censusing of pinnipeds at San Miguel
Island by NOAA Fisheries, which he continues to do to
this day.
In the 1980s, Howorth also began
supplying logistical support for the censusing of pinnipeds
at Santa Barbara Island by NOAA Fisheries. Howorth has worked
as a consultant for numerous government agencies, providing
environmental planning for various projects. He has also
provided expertise, equipment and training for numerous
projects that involve the capture and tagging of marine
mammals, including satellite telemetry of harbor seals,
elephant seals, California sea lions, and blue whales. He
has also provided environmental planning for various government
agencies. Such agencies include NOAA Fisheries, California
Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
U. S. Navy, California State Lands Commission, and various
municipalities. Howorth has helped collect biopsy samples
from cetaceans to measure pollutants, such as heavy metals
and pesticides, as part of a NOAA Fisheries study.
Howorth provided vessel support
and expertise for a California Department of Fish and
Game fisheries observer program investigating the impacts
of gill nets on marine mammals at the Channel Islands and
along the mainland coast from Pt. Arguello to Malibu.These
longstanding professional relationships with the regulatory
agencies demonstrate considerable trust built over the years.
<<
Back to Top
Served as a mitigation consultant
for oil companies. He helped design and implement the
mitigation strategy for Exxon's Las Flores and Santa Ynez
Project northwest of Santa Barbara, a $5 billion operation
spanning several years. Howorth also was involved in pipeline
and pier repairs conducted by Chevron and Venoco that extended
through a harbor seal rookery in Carpinteria. These projects,
spanning several weeks each, were carried out with no significant
impacts and no complaints even though the site was within
50 yards of a bluff occupied by an environmental group that
watched each project, plus allowed immediate access to the
media.
Decades of experience among the Channel
Islands. Many projects have involved setting up base
camps at the islands for monitors and landing biologists
in remote locations. Such operations necessitate positive
communications links to coordinate these efforts as well
as alternate forms of transportation in case of bad weather,
fog, breakdowns, and other contingencies.
Besides marine mammal work, such
projects also included sea bird studies, peregrine falcon
research––including radiotagging some falcons––brown
pelican research, and much more. Howorth has a strong, ongoing
working relationship with island landowners, including the
National Park Service, the U.S. Navy, Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuary, the Nature Conservancy, the Santa Catalina
Island Conservancy, and many others.
<<
Back to Top
In 1976, Howorth founded the nonprofit
Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Center. He continues to
serve as its director. This clinic has the highest success
rate in the world: some 90 percent of the animals that come
in for treatment are saved. Howorth has a Letter of Authorization
from the NOAA Fisheries that allows his organization to
rescue sick, injured, orphaned, and stranded marine mammals
on the mainland coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Howorth is also authorized to rescue animals at all of the
Channel Islands, including San Miguel and San Nicolas, both
owned by the U.S. Navy.
Recognized as a world expert in the
capture and rescue of marine mammals. He has conducted
capture workshops for government agencies, the military,
other rescue organizations, and research institutions throughout
the west coast. He also provides rescue training to Mexican
wildlife officials in the Sea of Cortez and the west coast
of Baja California, as well as Ecuadorian officials at the
Galapagos Islands. He has provided video programs on rescue
techniques in numerous countries, including Japan, which
recently established its first rescue center. Howorth has
also been invited to provide the marine mammal capture sections
of Marine Mammals Ashore, A Field Guide for Strandings.
This text is sponsored by NOAA Fisheries and is distributed
worldwide to rescue centers, research institutions, conservation
and management agencies, and many more.
Howorth and his team have received
numerous awards for their work, including a Senatorial
commendation for whale rescues. Howorth was named a National
Environmental Hero and received awards from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and from U.S.
Senator Barbara Boxer. <<
Back to Top
|
