Responsible Whale Watching

WHALE RESEARCH
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
WHALE RESEARCH IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
At OrcaLab on Hanson Island (British Columbia, Canada), Paul Spong and Helena
Symonds have been researching the acoustics of the Northern Resident orca
population since the 1970s. They set up a hydrophone network and record and
analyze the dialects of the different family groups. The Orca Live Community
offers people around the world the opportunity to listen to the hydrophones and
also watch live footage from a camera network also featured on Explore.org.
Cetacea Lab, situated further north on Gil Island, established a humpback
whale photo ID catalogue and also records every orca sighting in the area. Both
research projects are land-based and also study the impacts of human influence
on the whales.
The Center for Whale Research has been monitoring the Southern Resident orca
community for 40 years and is responsible for maintaining the official census of
the population. It is located on San Juan Island.
WDC has been supporting OrcaLab for many years with the Adopt an Orca
Programme. Adopters get to know individual orcas from the Northern Resident
population and help WDC and OrcaLab to protect these magnificent marine
mammals.
© Ulla Christina Ludewig
e Sunrise Hanson Island | Orcas of the A5 pod | Observing orcas from OrcaLab
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