Morgan Quimby

Morgan’s love of killer whales started before she could even talk after countless rewatches of the film Free Willy! Despite growing up for most of her life in landlocked Vermont, it didn’t stop her from researching everything she could about cetaceans so that by the time she got to college, she was able to focus her studies on her passions. Morgan spent much of her childhood and young adulthood as a wildlife photographer and birder. The identification and observation skills from these passions have been invaluable when transitioning to her dream of researching killer whales in the wild! Morgan graduated from the University of New England in Biddeford Maine in 2021 with her Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Behavior, where her studies focused on avian and cetacean behavior and intelligence.

In the fall of 2021, Morgan accepted a cetacean photo ID research internship with Monterey Bay Whale Watch in Monterey California and has been working there ever since! Shortly after starting at MBWW in the internship role, she became an onboard wildlife photographer for the public whale watch trips, provided customer service in the whale watch shop, helped to run the intern program and train new interns, and then became involved with California Killer Whale Project in 2022! Morgan worked on the 2023 field guide by editing and sorting ID shots for each individual included in the guide. From her experience with wildlife photography and looking for small details in nature thanks to being a birder, she really enjoys the photo ID aspect of the research with CKWP. Morgan’s hope for California Killer Whale Project is that we can continue to educate the public on how incredibly intelligent, family oriented, and integral to their ecosystem killer whales are, and in what ways we can help preserve and protect them for future generations. Morgan also looks forward to aiding CKWP in publishing more field guides and catalogues to further educate the public about the amazing transient killer whales that frequent our West coast waters!