For three decades, Dr. Diane Gendron has been coming to Mexico’s Gulf of California each year to study the largest animals on the planet: blue whales. Her reverence for the species – and their surprising grace given their incomparable size – has grown hand-in-hand with her rich understanding of the whales’ behavior, growth, breeding patterns, and health.
At the core of her research is a database of close to 800 whales that she identifies by the unique spot patterns on their backs and the shapes of their dorsal fins. Seeing the same individuals through the years, she’s come to think of them as friends; sometimes even tracking multiple generations of a single family. Her work has also given her a window into the health of the population as a whole – of crucial importance for a recovering species that was once on the very brink of extinction. A whale whisperer if there ever was one, Diane shines and inspires as a lifelong field scientist with an unparalleled commitment and passion for her work.
