About GWC

The world’s great whales face more serious threats today than at any time in the last 100 years from ship collisions, habitat destruction, chemical contamination, impacts on sonar communication, challenges to navigation, and increased hunting. If these magnificent animals are going to survive, they will need people to speak and work on their behalf. The Great Whale Conservancy was launched in 2010 to meet that need.

Our Mission

The Great Whale Conservancy aims to protect the world's great whales and their habitat.

Our Campaigns

Stopping Ship Strikes on Blue Whales in the Pacific

Location – Identification – Observation

Our People

Michael Fishbach, a staff member of the Earth Island Institute's Campaign to Safeguard America's Waters (CSAW), is co-director of the Great Whale Conservancy. Michael has been actively involved in conservation efforts, scientific research, education, and ecotourism related to blue whales for 18 years. He focuses on implementation of public outreach  for the past two years, and has been actively involved in conservation efforts, scientific research, education, and ecotourism related to blue whales for 18 years. For GWC Fishbach focuses on implementation of public outreach and education. He is also currently working on blue whale habitat protection in the Sea of Cortez off Baja California.

Gershon Cohen, Ph.D., founder of CSAW and its Project Director for the past thirteen years, is co-director of the Great Whale Conservancy. He focuses primarily on implementing GWC’s political and market-based objectives. CSAW has been the lead organization working to stop the dumping of polluted wastes from cruise ships since 1999. Cohen co-authored the Alaska Cruise Ship Ballot Initiative adopted by statewide vote in August 2006, establishing the world’s strictest pollution rules and oversight policies for the cruise industry. He holds a Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Environmental Policy.

John Calambokidis, research biologist and co-founder of Cascadia Research, a nonprofit organization formed in 1979 and based in Olympia, Washington, is an advisor to the GWC. He periodically serves as Adjunct Faculty at Evergreen State College, where he teaches a course on marine mammals. Calambokidis’s primary interests are the biology of marine mammals and the impacts of humans. As a Senior Research Biologist at Cascadia Research he has served as Project Director for over 100 projects. He has authored two books on marine mammals (one on blue whales and a guide to marine mammals) as well as more than 150 publications in scientific journals and technical reports. Calambokidis has conducted studies on a variety of marine mammals in the North Pacific from Central America to Alaska. His work has been covered by the Discovery Channel and was featured in a National Geographic TV special and magazine article released in March 2009.