Dane McDermott

Dane was born and raised in California near the Bay Area where he grew up volunteering at the Oakland Zoo as an interpreter. Constant trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium growing up was a must. He later moved to Monterey to earn a B.S. in Environmental Science Technology and Policy with an emphasis on Marine Ecology from CSU Monterey Bay. It was there that he fell in love with the Monterey area, the diversity, rich history, and access to unique ecosystems. He traveled to Australia in 2014 and was a volunteer on university-led cetacean research projects. In Western Australia he assisted in the quantitative modeling of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) populations, and a genetic and toxicology study of Australian snubfin (Orcaella heinsohni) and humpback dolphins (Sousa sahulensis) in Queensland.
Dane moved back to Monterey in 2018 after the realization that Monterey uniquely boasts more access to year-round cetaceans than arguably anywhere else on Earth. In 2020, he began naturalizing with Monterey Bay Whale Watch and found ways to help contribute to research efforts wherever he could. Dane began volunteering with CKWP in 2024 and works with the team to primarily help collect and organize killer whale photos. He hopes to help the project produce more field guides and catalogs to foster connection between this awe-inspiring population of killer whales and the public.