FW302 Conservation and Biology of Marine Mammals, an online undergraduate course, is being offered by one of the top programs in the United States.. This 4 credit course is currently offered Fall, Winter and Spring quarters by Oregon State University. Each week is centered on a different topic themed by a recent peer-reviewed journal article. Topics include an examination of the biology of cetaceans, pinnipeds, and other marine mammals, adaptations of mammals to a marine existence; systematics and biogeography; reproduction; diving physiology; communication and echolocation; feeding and migratory behavior; the role of genetics in conservation, the effect of current whaling practices on cetacean stocks, marine mammal policy and current anthropogenic threats to marine mammals. The course incorporates a variety of technology components to illustrate contrasts in feeding behaviors, diving profiles, sound production, habitat use and locomotion of different species. Students synthesize a necropsy report from an investigation in a “Virtual Fieldtrip” to a recent stranding site of a baleen whale. Marine mammal policy and sustainability of current whaling practices are discussed after considering impacts of drive kills, fisheries bycatch and illegal whaling. Students use DNA to identify species; the same methods recently used to discover the identity of whale meat that was being sold illegally at a sushi restaurant in LA. Registration is now open for Fall 2010 at: http://catalog.oregonstate.edu/CourseDetail.aspx?subjectcode=FW&coursenumber... Admission information can be found for domestic and international degree seeking and non-degree seeking students at: http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/services/admissions/ Additional questions or comments? You can reach the instructor at gibbg@onid.orst.edu.