Specific funding opportunities you can contribute to in AWF:

Research and Conservation Projects:

• The Hobart Bay Project - Assessing how marine mammals will coexist with the development of a cruise ship resort destination in the remote site of Hobart Bay on Frederick Sound in Southeast Alaska.
• Humpback Whale Prey Abundance and Distribution in Frederick Sound Research Project - Understanding the distribution of humpback whales in Southeast Alaska by understanding the distribution of prey in the environment. Principal Investigator: Andy Szabo, Associate Investigator: Dana Lundstadt
• Humpback Whale Communication and Impacts of Anthropogenic Noise Research Project - Studying the communication system of humpback whales and attempting to understand the impact of human-generated noise on whale communication. Principal Investigator: Sean Hanser, Associate Investigators: Fred Sharpe, Brenda McCowan, Laurance Doyle
• Whale Disentanglement and Rescue - Funding will help us maintain equipment and team readiness for disentanglement emergencies. Funding will also help us meet operating costs during responses to entanglement events. We project that we will participate in two to eight disentanglement attempts every field season.
• Digitizing Whale Profiles - We have hundreds of pictures and recordings that identify individual whales. These media can be made available to the public and interested scientists through our web site.

Foundation Funding Needs and Objectives

• The General Fund - General operating expenses and any immediate needs are addressed by money from this fund.
• Vessel Insurance - This is a major funding priority at this time. In order to operate safely this year, we need to renew our insurance for the year. This is estimated to be between $5,500 and $6,500 for the entire year.
• Maintenance and Enhancements of R/V Evolution - Although we have about $20,000 for vessel improvements from National Fish and Wildlife Federation through our collaboration with University of California, Davis, we estimate that we need to match that amount to bring Evolution up to top condition. Improvements include adding a hydraulic actuator and anchor winch, adding safety rails and seating to the flybridge, increasing the fuel capacity by 1/3, and increasing the fresh water carrying capacity.
• Adding Salaried Scientific Positions to the Foundation - There are no salaried positions with AWF at this time, but we feel that establishing funded positions will allow AWF to continue to conduct quality research and maintain continuity in our science and conservation activities for the long term. For single donations large enough to establish fully-funded positions, AWF can discuss establishing chairships in the donor's name.
• Establishing Invested Principle to Ensure the Longevity of the Foundation - In order to establish consistent funding and budgets from year to year, AWF needs to establish funds that can be placed in low-risk investments that provide consistent dividends to help with operating expenses.