Decoding the secret lives of killer whales one micro-second at a time
Using methods to detect when the animals are catching prey and to model their energy expenditure will be key to understanding the differences between these neighbouring whale populations.
New FCRRs: Historical Ecology in Burrard Inlet and Reconstructing the pre-contact shoreline of Burrard Inlet
These two new Fisheries Centre Research Reports will help us understand the overpowering changes that colonial settlement and development has had on the marine ecosystems surrounding the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia.
Grey Whale Watching in Baja California Sur, Mexico
It’s that time of year again, when people and grey whales head to the lagoons of Baja California Sur for the annual winter event.
How big is that whale?
New data from stranded whales is yielding better estimates of body sizes needed to determine drug dosages, as well as assess the health and food requirements of whales
Enhanced statistical models will aid conservation of killer whales and other species
The whale used to develop the model preferred to save energy by gliding through the water when making deep dives, and when it was closer to the surface, it moved more actively, accelerating faster and ‘fluking’ its tail more often.
No apparent shortage of prey for southern resident killer whales in Canadian waters during summer
Researchers reported that Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea in summertime are four to six times more abundant for southern resident killer whales than northern resident killer whales.
PROFILE: Using mathematical ingenuity to solve ecological puzzles
“Ecology has a lot of difficult data to handle, and a big part of my research is developing new statistical methods to tackle these problems,” says Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé.
How to spot the elusive narwhal
“We brought an infrared camera mostly to see if we could find walruses, seals, and polar bears on the ice, but when we looked at the infrared footage, we saw these narwhals swimming.”
The Killers of California and Oregon
Thirteen years of photo-identification data of killer whales observed in California and Oregon provide new insights into the distribution and population structure of mammal-eating killer whales in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.
Partnership between researchers and whale-watch operators makes for big whale behaviour insights
Based on their findings, the researchers recommended that whale-watchers keep some distance from foraging areas to avoid disturbing the whales while they eat.