2. To develop and offer electronic and on-site field courses (training, practice and experience) to students of marine mammal ecology, coastal, ecology, conservation ecology, and marine environmental studies.

3. To liaise with existing educational institutions in the development and implementation of courses in marine environmental studies, marine mammal ecology, coastal ecology, and conservation ecology.

4. To make available to the public in general information concerning marine ecology, and environmental principles through courses, talks, lectures, seminars, publications, and learning materials.

5. To liaise with government, educational, and other institutions in research activities and in the dissemination of information.

Studying The Feeding Giants
A major research focus for the group is our work on the marine mammals of the east coast of Canada. Beginning in 1978 we established a seasonal research station on the Québec north shore (near Bergeronnes) at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Saguenay rivers.

Specifically, without limiting its activities, the group has concentrated on the foraging and behavioural ecology of rorquals (finback, blue, and minke) and sperm whales, population abundance estimation methods (minke and beluga whales), non-intrusive observation and identification techniques (photo-identification and sound-signatures), the study of shared habitat use, and the collection of baseline data on all species.

We have produced numerous scientific papers and reports, made presentations to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee, the Society for Marine Mammalogy, national and international forums, and consulted to Parks Canada and the Canadian Atlantic Fisheries Scientific Advisory Committee.

Sharing The Knowledge With You
Education in its academic, information, and self-learning aspects is an important function of the Centre. We conduct on-going undergraduate summer field courses for North American and European universities. We also provide undergraduate stages and facilities for graduate theses field work in marine research for students at numerous Canadian, American and European colleges and universities.