J40 in front of the Center for Whale Research
(Photo: Courtesy Center for Whale Research)
Ken is one of the greats. He is among the first generation of whale researchers. He has spent the past four decades studying the Southern Resident killer whale population of the Pacific Northwest and has shared his house, his yard, his run-down cars, his boat, his beer, his data, his equipment, his enthusiasm, his time, and his ideas with scientists, students, volunteers, and killer whale lovers all over the world.
Ken never followed a well-defined academic career path. There’s been no office with his name on the door, no promotions, no pay raises, no prestigious publications, no institute, no health insurance, and no ambitions beyond learning and sharing as much as he can about whales. As a teenager, he walked the vast and wild beaches of Point Reyes, California, searching for whale bones. After earning his bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of California at Davis, he worked as a volunteer researcher tagging gray whales in Baja California and then landed a job as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist dissecting whales at a commercial whaling station in the Bay Area.