Near Mallory Square
Ocean Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1971 by Roger Payne. Dr. Payne has conducted research on whales in all the oceans of the world, and has been an eloquent spokesman for their welfare for over three decades. In the early 1970s, he was among the first to sound the alarm about the threat of worldwide pollution of the oceans. In the January 1979 issue of National Geographic, Dr. Payne said, “Pollution has replaced the harpoon as a mortal threat to whales, and in its way can be far more deadly.”
Believing that rigorous science and widespread public education are basic requirements for long-term conservation, Dr. Payne founded Ocean Alliance for the purpose of carrying out both these global missions. Ocean Alliance has research partnerships in South America and a research vessel, Odyssey (a 93-foot, steel, ocean-going ketch), that operates in all the world’s oceans from her home base in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Additional information on the history and research of Ocean Alliance can be found here.