Whale Research

Whale Health and Monitoring Program

Since the mid-1980s, Ocean Wise has conducted conservation-oriented research on killer whales, belugas, and other marine mammals. Today, the Whale Health and Monitoring Program focuses on both applying cutting-edge science to monitor at-risk whale populations and developing novel conservation tools to protect whales from starvation. This pillar conducts applied research throughout the BC coast and includes a thriving, state-of-the-art Environmental DNA Laboratory in West Vancouver. Whales Initiative researchers use conservation-orientated tools including drones, bioacoustics, artificial intelligence, and environmental DNA to collect and analyze data on the health of at-risk whale populations and inspire conservation action where the whales need it most.

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Research Highlights

Environmental DNA

Environmental DNA (eDNA) offers a minimally invasive avenue for monitoring whales through the collection of seawater samples from ‘flukeprints’ – the calm patch of water created when an individual dives. For this project, our main objective is to optimize, validate, and standardize eDNA methodology for wider adoption of eDNA tools for monitoring at-risk cetaceans.

Photogrammetry

Since 2014, our researchers have used aerial images collected by vessel-launched drone to measure the body condition of killer whales and humpback whales. The main goal of this work is to address the conservation threat of insufficient prey availability by assessing links between inter-annual fluctuations in prey abundance and changes in body condition.

Population Assessment

Starting in 2023, Ocean Wise embarked on a targeted field study to establish a winter sampling program in the Salish Sea to address critical knowledge gaps surrounding habitat use and diet of at-risk cetaceans. The primary objective of this study was to document, sample, and assess winter distribution and foraging of four cetacean populations listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA)

Threats

Wild whales face many threats. Of the 23 species of whales, dolphins, porpoises, and sea turtles found in the waters of British Columbia, 12 are listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act as Endangered, Threatened, or of Special Concern. These animals face many anthropogenic (human-caused) threats that negatively impact critical life processes necessary to maintain healthy populations. Explore the primary threats impacting cetaceans and sea turtles in British Columbia below.

Threats