Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals

Monitoring killer whale body condition amidst a pandemic

November 18, 2020

Aquablog, Research - Species Under Threat, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Site - CORI

By: Amy Rowley, Photogrammetry Research Assistant This summer, Ocean Wise’s photogrammetry team were lucky enough to return to Johnstone Strait to continue our fieldwork to monitor the body condition of nor...

The Good Kind of Research Flukes

Marine Mammal Research

November 10, 2020

Aquablog, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Initiative - Conservation Through Citizen Science, Research Site - CORI, Whale Sightings

By: Julie Merchel, Ocean Wise research assistant at the North Coast Cetacean Research Initiative Everybody wants to be a whale researcher! But what do whale researchers do when they’re out on the water? And...

Can Whales Mitigate Climate Change? Whales and the Carbon Cycle

Marine Mammal Research

September 30, 2020

Aquablog, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Site - CORI

By: Kaitlin Yehle, MSc Student The skies of metro Vancouver have been an orange haze for much of September; smoke from wildfires to the south, in Washington, Oregon and California, sitting heavy in the air....

One ringed seal claw; Years of data on mercury exposure

Marine Mammal Research

August 27, 2020

Research - Special Places, Research - Species Under Threat, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Site - CORI

By: Marie Noel, Research Manager, Ocean Pollution Research Program I was lucky to spend a few summers in the Western Arctic studying beluga whales during my PhD and I have to say that the Arctic is truly a...

Tracking Contaminants in Killer Whale Habitats

Sarah Wilson

August 20, 2020

Aquablog, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Initiative - PollutionTracker, Research Site - CORI

By: Joseph Kim, Research Scientist Contaminants in coastal British Columbia (BC) It is late at night and I notice that more data have been uploaded to the PollutionTracker database. I am using these data...

What’s in a name? Studying the calls of wild belugas

Marine Mammal Research

August 10, 2020

Research - Species Under Threat, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Initiative - Vulnerable Species and Habitats, Research Site - CORI

By: Valeria Vergara, Research Scientist It is late in the evening, the Arctic sun still bright on the horizon, and I am recording a group of belugas that has become temporarily entrapped at low tide in a ri...

Just Another Day Collecting Whale Poo

Sarah Wilson

August 4, 2020

Aquablog, Research - Species Under Threat, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals

By: Kaitlin Yehle, MSc Student It’s 6:00am and my phone is buzzing beside my pillow, letting me know it’s time to get ready for another day on the water collecting Northern resident killer whale feces. I...

A stressful environment: examining stress in resident killer whales

Ocean Wise

June 15, 2020

Aquablog, Research - Species Under Threat, Research Initiative - Biology, Ecology, and Health of Marine Mammals, Research Initiative - Marine mammals as Sentinels

By: Brittany VisonaResearch Biologist at Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Conservation Research Program Stress. You’ve experienced it in one form or another, whether you were late to catch your bus, ran into a bea...