Whale research lab – The experience of a lifetime

WWF Canada

By Rachel Speer
Cetacea Lab, run by Janie Wray and Hermann Meuter, is a remote whale research station located at Gil Island along the north coast of British Columbia. This is an amazing place, filled with people doing key whale research that is providing evidence in hopes of preserving this pristine environment. Coming out to Cetacea Lab has been one amazing moment after another, with incredible whale encounters along with experiencing a different way of life and meeting people from around the world.

© Rachel Speer

This is a truly special place and one of the most untouched environments left on the planet serving as a safe haven not only for the orca, humpback and fin whales that Cetacea Lab studies, but so much more. There are many species of birds and fish as well as wolves, bears and all the intertidal species that are so interconnected to one another.
Having spent almost two months in the area I can say that I have seen whales every single day without fail and had some close encounters I will never forget. From the lab, situated right on the rocks, looking into the ocean, humpback whales have been just twenty feet away, sea lions and harbour seals swim around daily, bald eagles catch fish and salmon jump continuously. All the interns sleep in tents situated on a small peninsula. Going to sleep and waking up to the sound of whale blows just outside your tent is just incredible.

© Rachel Speer

We have six interns here at a given time, four at Whale Point (the home base) and two at Ulric Point, the out camp almost 17 miles south. Every morning we are up at 6am scanning for whales and recording their behaviour, along with boat vessel surveys and all other marine mammal activity. The day continues until 10pm, each of us taking shifts alternating between the scans and working on data entry and identifying whales. Along with this, 24 hours a day we are listening to the four different hydrophones in the area for humpback whales and orca calls, and recording whenever we hear a call.
We conduct boat surveys to search out whales in the area and collect identification photographs and prey samples. Perhaps the most amazing experience of my life was on one of these surveys when we found a pod of transient orca. We watched them from a distance for a while then turned the boat off. The orca came right up to us on their own terms and swam around and under the boat several times leaving us in complete awe.

© Rachel Speer

In contrast to all the beauty I have seen here, I have also learned about the proposed Enbridge oil pipeline. This project has the potential to introduce unimaginably large oil tankers to this coast, placing everything that is amazing about this pristine habitat at risk. Aside from the obvious risk of an oil spill, there are other inevitable threats including interference in whale communications and sonar from the deafening sound of the oil tankers to ships striking whales in travel. It is clear after experiencing this area for two months that such a disturbance would lead to the deterioration of this natural refuge. Maintaining a clean, undisturbed environment and continuing whale research to learn more about their intrinsic behaviour is the main goal of Cetacea Lab; their work will continue to make a difference in the region and around the world.
Rachel, chatting with WWF-Canada Communications Specialist Weiwei Su:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DR6JciV05Q&feature=g-all-u[/youtube]

Rachel Speer is a fourth year Biotechnology student at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, USA who is looking to dedicate her life to the conservation and studies of cetaceans.