Our mission

GREATER UNDERSTANDING FOR BETTER PROTECTION

This is the heart of the GREMM's mission! Founded in 1985, the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals is a non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research on the whales of the St. Lawrence and education for the sake of marine conservation.

MAKE A DONATION ONLINE to support our mission, research projects, and educational programs: choose GREMM Fund – Mission     

About us

ENCHANTMENT AND EDUCATION

Whales have fascinated mankind since the earliest of times. Nourishing and perpetuating this fascination is what drives our team. Whether at the museum or on the Internet, we combine research and education to share the most up-to-date knowledge available. Our messages are simple and often humorous, yet always scientifically accurate and conservation-oriented.

- Marine Mammal Interpretation Centre (CIMM)

The CIMM is the most popular museum in the Côte-Nord region, receiving nearly 30,000 visitors a year. It's an unforgettable experience!  Specialists are on hand to answer your questions, and the purchases you make at the boutique will contribute to funding whale research projects.

- Whales on line

Ever since it went live in 2000, WhalesOnLine.org has become THE reference and news source for whales­ of the St. Lawrence. Enriched by observations coming from a vast network of collaborators, BaleinesEnDirect is a unique portal for the promotion of projects dedicated to St. Lawrence whale research and conservation.

- Jardin de la Grève

Lying between the CIMM and the dry dock, the Jardin de la Grève is an area for relaxation, contemplation and activities. In addition to its 5,500 plants typical of the Côte-Nord region, the garden features five life-size beluga sculptures.

- Whale Portraits

This weekly newsletter is addressed to members of the tourist industry in the St. Lawrence-Saguenay Marine Park. Portrait de baleines relates whale stories gathered from researchers, captains and naturalists in an effort to enhance the quality of information shared with visitors, maximize the awareness potential of marine mammal-watching activities, and promote respect for whales and the adoption of environmentally friendly practices.

MAKE A DONATION ONLINE to support our educational programs: choose GREMM Fund – Education

GREATER UNDERSTANDING…

Whales have a life expectancy comparable to our own and complex social lives. To understand these animals, they need to be monitored from generation to generation. To unravel their mysteries, one needs to enter their universe, follow them under water and study their habitats. To rise to these challenges, the scientific research conducted by the GREMM combines a long-term approach with cutting-edge technologies. Our vast network of collaborators favours a multidisciplinary approach and allows us to offer training and guidance to master's and Ph.D. students.

- Offshore Monitoring Program – St. Lawrence Belugas

Every summer, the research team aboard the Bleuvet spends hundreds of hours at sea with belugas to update the family albums and understand the animals' social organization and use of habitats. This work revolves around photo-identification, biopsies, monitoring and describing of the herds. Collected over the long term, these data help answer various questions raised by the multidisciplinary studies of the St. Lawrence Beluga Project, studies in which the fields of genetics, ecotoxicology, animal health and bioacoustics all come into play and overlap.

-  Offshore Monitoring Program – Large Rorquals of the St. Lawrence Estuary

Year after year, our team tracks these long-distance migrants that spend their summers in the waters of the Marine Park: photo-identification, biopsies, monitoring of individuals or groups and documentation of interactions with watercraft make up our day-to-day work with these titans.

MAKE A DONATION ONLINE to support our research projects: choose GREMM Fund – Research    

…FOR BETTER PROTECTION

The threats faced by whales are many, varied, and increasingly well understood. Protecting their habitat requires concrete actions sustained over the long term. Our team has played a leading role on numerous committees to develop strategies and implement action plans for the protection of whales.

- Marine Mammal Emergencies

In 2002, the GREMM established the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network, which is responsible for organizing, coordinating and implementing measures aimed at reducing accidental mortality of marine mammals, rescuing marine mammals in difficulty, and facilitating the acquisition of data from dead animals. The network currently numbers 18 partner organizations and handles an average of 350 calls a year.

- Eco-Whale Alliance

The Eco-Whale Alliance was created in 2011 to encourage environmentally responsible whale-watching in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. The objective is to continually improve offshore whale-watching practices so that they represent a model of sustainability. The Alliance comprises the GREMM, whale-watching companies as well as Parks Canada and the SÉPAQ, co-managers of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. The Alliance also created the Eco-Whale Fund for whale research and education in the Marine Park.