Marine mammal scientist remembered for contributions, and character

SARASOTA — Nationally renowned marine mammal scientist and head of Mote Marine Laboratory's Manatee Research Program, John Reynolds, passed away Dec. 23 at 65, leaving behind a legacy dedicated to conservation, scientific community and environmental policy.

Reynolds died last Saturday after a long battle with cancer, said Mote's spokesperson. He is survived by his wife, sister, son and grandson.

The scientist and conservationist was known in the marine mammal community for his passion for teaching and generosity toward those wishing to enter the field. Before coming to Mote in 2001, Reynolds served as professor of marine science and biology at Eckerd College for more than 20 years, playing a large role in developing the school's Marine Science program and establishing the Eckerd College Dolphin Project, according to a spokesperson for Eckerd.

During his time at Eckerd, Reynolds was appointed to chair the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, overseeing all research and management of marine mammals in the U.S., which he did from 1991-2010. Years later, in 2013, he created the International Consortium for Marine Conservation, a community for scientific and conservation organizations across the world. He also worked with the United Nations Environment Programme to create and undertake a Caribbean-wide Marine Mammal Action Plan.

At Mote, Reynolds helped the institution become one of only three groups that maintain a statewide catalog of Florida manatees. His team has completed more aerial manatee surveys than any other group of scientists across the globe.

But it is the man, not just the accomplishments and research prowess, that had an impact on so many at Eckerd, Mote and in the scientific community at large. Reynolds first struck a friendship with Dana Wetzel, now a senior scientist with Mote's Environmental Laboratory for Forensics, when she was a graduate student at the University of South Florida. Introduced to Reynolds by a geologist friend, Wetzel was immediately impressed with Reynolds, who was already chairing the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission at the time.

"I can promise you, I was in awe of his status," Wetzel said. "But animals were far from what I was interested in, which was chemistry, and I never envisioned that John and I would ever intersect and find any common interests to work on anything."

After debating the merits of marine mammals versus chemistry with Reynolds, Wetzel eventually realized they had much more in common than she initially thought. Their discussions birthed a research partnership that continued right up until Reynolds' last days, when he would still email Wetzel and ask to review proposal drafts.

His dedication to helping others was clear to Wetzel even as she was getting to know him. While she was finishing her Ph.D. research, she asked him to sit through 20 practice presentations of her dissertation defense.

"He was kind enough to sit there and smile each of those 20 times, because that's just how John was," Wetzel said. "He lived to help people. He was never too busy to be able to answer questions. He did it with his whole heart and whole soul. He was truly interested in everyone else's perspective."

Wetzel was excited to find that Reynolds and she would cross paths again when he accepted a job as senior scientist at Mote in 2001. The position was a departure from teaching for him, a fact he initially struggled with until he decided he wanted to focus on research, Wetzel said.

The two scientists found a way to combine their areas of research in studying the chemistry data behind the marine mammal population. They conducted multiple projects in Alaska, studying beluga whales, polar bears, sturgeon and, of course, manatees. One research development involved measuring the level of amino acids in the lens of a bowhead whale's eye to determine its age. The research caused Reynolds and Wetzel to discover that bowhead whales can live to about 200 years old, a fact that was corroborated by at least one whale  found with an unexploded bomb embedded in its shoulder from the late-1880's.

Research in the field in Alaska could turn into 10-hour days or more, often in bitter cold "surrounded by nothing but more ice and the occasional polar bear," Wetzel said. Reynolds would often offer a break for Wetzel, saying he could cut something up or dissect something instead of her. She would refuse.

"My first response was, 'How dare you, I'm as strong as you are,' but then I realized what a gentleman he was," Wetzel said. "That was the very first thing he would think of — someone else's welfare over himself."

Most importantly, Wetzel said, she could always count on Reynolds to be a calm, guiding force when conditions were rough.

"In all of the years that John and I worked together, we disagreed a lot, but I never heard him get angry," Wetzel said. "He was always calm, collected, he was a rock. You could go to him and know he was going to be the calm in the storm."

Those interested in sharing a memory, tribute or condolence for the family may email rememberingjohnreynolds@mote.org.