YOU can spot whales for us!
Though Southern Resident killer whales are heavily studied during the summer months, establishing winter critical habitat use is necessary to their long-term recovery. Your whale sightings play a crucial role in orca research, as it helps us fill in these data gaps for their travel patterns. There's so many things that are yet to be discovered about killer whales, and you can help us uncover their secrets!
How It Works:
1
Observe! Whales and dolphins can show up at any time of the year. Scanning the waves for splashes, body parts, bird balls, and blows (whale exhalation) can provide cues to the leviathans beneath. Attending one of our observer trainings can be the first step in whale spotting 101.
2
Practice! Training your eyes to find objects in the water is something everyone can do and even improve upon. Scanning the horizon and noting items that catch your eye such as a splash can greatly increase your observer skills. Quickly noting time and location, as well as practicing to judge distance from the shoreline are also valuable skills leading you to actual whale research data collection. If you're a photographer and can add a photo of the animal(s), this will greatly benefit the dataset.
3
Learn! Educating yourself on different whale species and behavior can greatly help add to the known dataset. Attending our public outreach lectures can help you understand the various species found off the NorCal coast. Becoming familiar with what types of environmental and behavioral data necessary will prepare you for real-time data collection when out on the water. Send in your photos as well and we'll help you identify it and maybe it's family pod too!
