Fred Sharpe

Fred is entering his second decade of research on the humpback whales of southeast Alaska. He is currently spearheading the Alaska Whale Foundation's scientific programs, and is a Ph.D. Candidate at Simon Fraser University. His principal area of endeavor is the social biology of cooperative foraging humpback whale groups.

Fred's research has received international recognition; he has been awarded the Fairfield Award for Innovative Marine Mammal Research, and the Society for Marine Mammology Award for Excellence in Scientific Communication. Closer to home, he has received the Science Teaching Award in Biology at Simon Fraser University. Although his current passion is humpback whales, Fred is also a naturalist in the classical tradition. He is co-author and illustrator of various books including Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands, Birds of the San Juan Islands, and the soon to be released Songbirds of the Olympic Peninsula. Fred is also scientific author of Voyaging with the Whales, a book on the cooperative foraging behaviors of humpback whales.