Coastal Carolina University, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI), and the city of North Myrtle Beach, is hosting a presentation titled, “The Whales in Our Waters: Sharing an Aerial Perspective,” on Friday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in Brittain Hall, room 112. This event is free and open to the public.

Shelby Yahn, CMARI’s South Carolina aerial survey team leader, will highlight findings from right whale aerial surveys off the Carolinas, conducted during the last three years. Following the presentation will be a Q&A session with all three members of the survey team, which also includes Natasha Telschow and Maeghan Connor.

Yahn has been leading the South Carolina-based aerial survey team for the last two right whale calving seasons. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and a master’s degree in marine mammal science. She has spent the last 10 years researching and monitoring whales, dolphins, and seals using aircrafts, vessels, land stations, and underwater acoustics.

Telschow has been a member of the South Carolina North Atlantic right whale aerial survey team since 2021. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology, she has worked on various long-term monitoring research projects that have focused on leatherback sea turtles, humpback whales, and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Connor is a North Atlantic right whale aerial observer with the South Carolina team. After earning a bachelor’s degree in conservation biology, she joined the Peace Corps as a coastal resource management specialist in the Philippines. Since then, she has worked in a variety of capacities in the marine mammal field, including rescue and response, research, and observer work.

For more information, contact Yahn at syahn@cmaquarium.org.