It is with the greatest sadness that I must report the death of Oswaldo Vasquez, who died in Cyprus on November 15th. He was far too young at 65. Oswaldo was a leading marine biologist in the Dominican Republic, whose passion for research, for whales and for conservation was unmatched. In 1986, the Dominican Republic established the first humpback whale sanctuary in the world, focused on the North Atlantic’s largest breeding ground on Silver Bank (Banco de la Plata); Oswaldo, together with the great Idelisa Bonnelly di Calventi, were the primary drivers behind this pioneering conservation action. The sanctuary has since been expanded to include other areas and additional marine mammal species.
Beginning in the late 80's, he began collaborating with the humpback whale research program at the Center for Coastal Studies, and became the principal Dominican scientist in the first detailed research on humpbacks in Samana Bay. This was followed by the ground-breaking multinational ocean-wide study, Years of the North Atlantic Humpback (YONAH), which conducted large-scale photo-identification and biopsy sampling. Oswaldo played a key role in the Dominican field work for this, and for its successor, the MONAH project in 2004/2005. Speaking personally, I never knew a more charming man than Oswaldo; he was my best friend and my compadre. He spoke fluent Spanish, English, Russian and Greek, and was accomplished at everything from martial arts to professional dancing. He was a lovable rogue whose zest for life was unmatched; to say that he lived life large is a huge understatement - his was the definition of a life well lived, and he was a legend to those of us who knew and loved him. He will be returned to his beloved Dominican Republic for burial, and there will a memorial service for him there in the next few weeks. Phil Clapham -- Phillip J. Clapham, Ph.D. Seastar Scientific Inc. Vashon Island, WA
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