Jens Currie

Jens Currie is the Chief Scientist at Pacific Whale Foundation, directing research activities across Hawai‘i, Australia, Ecuador, and Chile. His work focuses on understanding the ecological and physiological responses of whales and dolphins to environmental and human-induced stressors, with the goal of informing conservation strategies. His recent research has explored whale-watching impacts and guidelines to minimize disturbance to humpback whales, the use of drones to assess dolphin growth and body condition, and bioenergetic modeling to evaluate prey requirements for at-risk populations. Jens has a diverse background in marine science, including studies on fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic, aquaculture impacts on marine ecosystems, and marine debris effects on Hawai‘i’s coastlines. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he is investigating the impacts of fisheries on false killer whales, with a focus on developing recovery strategies for the endangered population. Jens has published over 35 peer-reviewed publications and two books, contributing to the broader understanding of marine mammal ecology and conservation.

Memberships and affiliations:

Jens advises on anthropogenic impacts to cetaceans to: the USA Marine Mammal Commission, USA National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Jens currently serves as the primary research chair on the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary advisory council, is an invited member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, a first responder for NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding and level 3 responder for NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Large Whale Entanglement Response team.