Friday, November 18, 2005

Wilmington, N.C. - A radio segment featuring University of North Carolina Wilmington research associate William McLellan received a 2005 Science Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). “Dolphin Necropsies” aired March 21 on National Public Radio and was hosted by John Nielsen.

Nielsen set out to find out why 65 rough-toothed dolphins stranded themselves in a mangrove swamp near Marathon in the Florida Keys. He suspected Navy sonar had affected the dolphins and turned to McLellan, the federal government's go-to-guy" for marine mammal necropsies, for an explanation. Nielsen said, "He turned out to be so interesting we just followed him.”

McLellan is coordinator of the N.C. Marine Mammal Stranding Network and has been working on stranded marine mammals for more than 20 years. In 2005 he investigated stranding events from the Florida Keys to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. McLellan recently received two grants for over $400,000 to investigate right whale strandings and distribution patterns along the central U.S. Atlantic coast.

The AAAS awards are sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. A record high 386 entries were received this year. A panel of science journalists selected those which exemplified excellence in science writing in print, radio, television broadcast and the Internet. The awards will be presented Feb. 17, 2006, at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis during the AAAS Annual Meeting.

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