OSU's Marine Mammal Lab takes starring role

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"The Cove"

Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute is in the limelight these days as as "The Cove" a high-profile documentary about dolphins snagged an Academy Award nomination in the documentary category.

Called an "eco-thriller," the movie takes on dolphin exploitation in a Japanese fishing village and features the work of OSU's Scott Baker, the associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute. A cetacean geneticist, Baker covertly conducts genetic tests on “meat” samples purchased in Japanese grocery stores in the film to identify the species of dolphins, porpoises and whales sold for human consumption.

Since it first aired last year, The Cove, which was produced by the Ocean Preservation Society, has won more than 40 awards, including prizes from prestigious film festivals at Sundance, the Director’s Guild and the Screenwriters Guild, the National Board of Review.

Baker's science-based scenes of the DNA identification and his comments on the threat of mercury contamination in the dolphin meat are a counterpoint to the movie’s main storyline: An intrepid team of cinematographers and activists (including the dolphin trainer of the 1960s TV series Flipper), wearing camouflage and night-vision goggles, risk arrest and even death to capture video and underwater acoustics during the slaughter of dolphins.

Baker is one of the first scientist to use DNA to identify the species of whales being butchered and sold as meat. He appears in "The Cove" both as an expert and as a DNA detective, hunkered over a portable genetic laboratory in a cramped Tokyo hotel room.

Baker is a leader in international efforts to uncover black-market trade in marine mammals.

The Marine Mammal institute is located in Newport at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center.