The Biennial Conferences were a successor to Tom Poulter's "Annual Conference on Biological Sonar and Diving Mammals" held at the Stanford Research Institute (formally separated from Stanford University in 1970 and now known as SRI International) in Menlo Park, California, beginning in 1964.

All was firmed up by correspondence, and at the Fourth Biennial in San Francisco in 1981, Norris presented the need and plans for a society to a meeting of those conference participants interested in forming one.

He then launched into the knotty tasks of confirming charter members, drafting a constitution and by-laws, getting the Society officially incorporated, recruiting people to act as interim Secretary, Treasurer and chairs of the committees on membership and nominations/elections, and helping start organization of the Fifth Biennial and the first full election.

The next major step for the Society after its formation in 1981 was the creation of a new journal devoted to the biology of marine mammals.

Joe Geraci was the first Editor, followed by Doug Wartzok, William F. (Bill) Perrin, Don Bowen, Jim Estes, and Daryl Boness (current).

To address these issues of concern, the SMM employs three strategies: The Society for Marine Mammalogy holds international meetings every two years, with the goal of enhancing collaboration, sharing ideas, and improving the quality of research on marine mammals within the scientific community.

Marine Mammal Science publishes significant new findings on marine mammals resulting from original research on their form and function, evolution, systematics, physiology, biochemistry, behavior, population biology, life history, genetics, ecology and conservation.