Oregon Public Broadcasting

An Oregon State University marine biologist is celebrating an Oscar win. A film he helped with --called The Cove --  was recognized as best documentary.

Scott Baker runs the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University.  Scientists there work to preserve critical ocean species and habitats.

Baker joined director Louis Psihoyos and a team of filmmakers looking into the practices of a Japanese fishing community.

The team needed Baker’s expertise to identify dolphin and whale flesh sold on the Japanese markets.

Scott Baker   “We do that with a  portable DNA lab we pack up and take and set up in a hotel room in Japan, and usually there’s only enough room for that little lab and 1 or 2 people that do that, but with Louis, along came the entire film team. It was a little like all the clowns you stuff into a Volkswagon Beetle.”

A crowded set notwithstanding, Baker says it was fun. He’s very proud of the resulting, thriller-style documentary. 

Baker credits his Japanese colleague,  Naoko Funahashi , who’s been raising awareness about dolphin fishing for decades.