Ocean Wise – South Coast Cetacean Health and Monitoring
Project Details
Location
Ocean Wise's South Coast Cetacean Health and Monitoring is a local hub of marine mammal expertise that performs rigorous research, provides engaging education, and policy support in collaboration with the broader conservation community.
Placement Details
The Whales Initiative is one of the core initiatives of Ocean Wise’s conservation strategy. The initiative aims to conduct applied research to ensure the recovery of at-risk cetacean populations is not compromised by depleted prey resources, ship strikes, pollutants, inbreeding, or loss of genetic diversity. Current projects focus on conservation genetics, cetacean health and nutritional status, citizen science-based cetacean monitoring, photo ID-based monitoring of killer and humpback whales, and anthropogenic disturbance impacts and mitigation.
Participants in this placement provide support to through the following duties:
- assisting with processing whale, dolphin, porpoise, and sea turtle sightings submitted to the Ocean Wise Sightings Network (OWSN)
- assisting with OWSN data management, including organizing images from OWSN observers
- supporting the South Coast research team with field-based data collection in the Salish Sea, which involves photo-identification, collecting and processing eDNA and prey samples, and helping with vessel-based cetacean surveys and data entry.
Placement Category: Field Research and Monitoring; Wildlife Advocacy or Rehab
Placement Season: Winter
Placement Type: Field Urban
