Helena Herr is a marine biologist specialised in marine mammals. Her research focusses on abundance assessments, the distribution and ecology of cetaceans. For many years she carried out aerial surveys for harbor porpoises in the North and Baltic Seas to investigate the influence of human activities on their distribution. Since 2009, she conducts ship-based helicopter surveys in the Southern Ocean around Antarctic to assess large whale distribution and abundance, investigating the population recovery of different whale species from whaling. Recently, she deployed satellite transmitters on fin whales at Antarctic feeding grounds to track their migration to yet unknown breeding grounds in lower latitudes.
Helena Herr is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), convener of the IWC sub-committee on Southern Hemisphere baleen whales and served as the Chair of the Southern Ocean Research Partnership from 2017-2022.
